Fantasy Conventions come in all
shapes and sizes, offering everything from: panels, workshops, celebrity
appearances, vendors, performances, and so much more!
For me, summer is
convention season.
I know conventions happen all year long, but being a mom, my life
tends to
revolve around the free schedule time of school break. From that moment until the
kids return in August, I do my best to pack in as many events as I can,
sometimes
employing the minions to help sell some books. So when I attend these
events, it’s usually as
press, vendor, and occasionally (when the stars align)
as an official guest. Keep that in mind as I post further reviews of
summer
2019 convention season.
The official convention, for me,
that opens
the summer season is, Phoenix Fan Fusion, formerly
Phoenix Comic Con and Phoenix Fan Fest. (I know…. Too many names.
You
can thank SDCC for that.)
This 4-day convention
is held annually at
the Phoenix Convention Center on Memorial Day Weekend. It’s the largest pop
culture convention in Arizona (to my knowledge) and does what it says on the
tin: Fuse members of all fandoms.
What impresses me, as an attending
author and vendor, about this convention is the fact it goes beyond catering to
comic and movie fandoms.
PhxFF also includes a healthy dose of writers in its
stable of creative celebrities. From panels on craft and storytelling to
special meet and greet, signing opportunities, there is a definite appreciation
for fantasy writers. And that’s one
of the reasons I’ve kept this
event on my “must go” list every year.
It’s not without its
issues, however.
Square
Egg, the company that runs this event has had shakeups in the last
few years, and the ripple effects are still being felt, not just from a vendor
standpoint, con-goers have also reported more than a few issues over the last
couple of years.
It started in 2017 when a gunman
made it past security, intending to target one of the celebrity guests. He was,
thankfully caught before anything bad happened, but as someone who was there, I
can tell you that is exactly where the trouble began. Tightened security led to
fans being left out in the Arizona heat for hours waiting in security lines to
get in. Props
were universally banned for attendees
as well as vendors, causing
more than one to pack up and leave, along with many of the con-goers standing
in the summer heat. As a guest that year, I was busy with a full panel schedule,
and didn’t have much time to sell books, but I was very well aware of the
rumbling from other vendors about flat-lining sales, and questions on whether
the event would be worth returning to the following year. 2018 should have made
for a great comeback for Square Egg, but they
failed to account for the
previous year’s issues causing con-goers to
loose faith. That, combined with
higher
prices, and continuing issues with security meant they just couldn’t
regain the momentum they needed
to fully recover. Following their lackluster
showing in 2018, Square Egg
was forced to cancel other shows they’d planned in
Las Vegas,
as well as their Fall appearance at the
Phx convention center.
Many
employees at Square Egg were laid off as a result, some of whom I
’d come to
call friend, and had been my contact for the annual summer event. I’ll be
honest, I had serious questions about whether 2019 Fan Fusion
was going to be
worthwhile to booth. As a vendor, no matter how much I love the event, the
first thing I have to consider is whether I will make my table fee.
The people at Square
Egg seemed to understand that point and brilliantly held back their traditional
price increases, keeping their booth fees down at previous year’s levels, which
helped to entice my group,
The
League of Fantasy Authors, to return.
After suffering through two years of
security issues, that was my first concern when arriving at
load in. Being a
vendor, I have a lot of material to bring in, not just books to sell, but
materials to build my booth. I try to get everything in during that first
loading day, but occasionally I need to bring things in each day (especially
when I cosplay at the booth). The security area this year
was noticeably beefed
up, as it had been the year before including: bag checks (every pocket, every
zipper), metal detectors, and a security guard to wand you after walking
through the metal detector. For those who got in early (before the show floor
opened), and didn’t leave at all during the day, it was manageable.
But, if you attempted to get through during any active show time… can we say
bottleneck?
Thankfully the
weather was on our side this year. I can’t fault Square Egg too much for this
as they have to follow local law
as well as Phoenix Convention Center rules for
covering entrances and exits. That said, this is the only event where I, as a
vendor, have had to go through more security than TSA before entering a
convention I paid to sell my wares at.
Beyond that little
annoyance, there was another questionable change to the convention. Admittedly,
I probably felt this one more than most. I’m an author, have I mentioned that?
Sometimes I get to attend this convention as a guest author, but most times I’m
a vendor who
participates in creative writing panels. I’m happy to do either,
it’s all excellent exposure. Typically, on the vendor floor, there is an area
designated as Authors’ Alley. It’s an offshoot of Artist Alley and houses the
guest author booths
as well as booths
like Changing Hands bookstore and various
Big5 publisher booths. It’s a great place to meet and greet, or hang out with
some of the wonderful people who write (many of them local talent). This year,
the authors
were shifted to the third floor along with Changing Hands (no
publisher booths this year) and while it made room for a longer Artist Alley,
it further divided the sales floor from what draws most people to the
convention, the guests.
Every convention has vendors. We’re
not
that special. I mean, we are the
lifeblood of the convention, but we’re not why people pay VIP ticket prices.
Having your “draws” in a variety of areas keeps traffic flowing. This year
there was a noticeable change in traffic patterns. With all the guests,
cosplayers, photo ops, and celebrities on the 3
rd floor, the event
felt lopsided.
Yes people still came down to the basement level vendor hall,
but they had much more reason to linger upstairs. Something I hope Square Egg
addresses
in the future.
To use a phrase I wish I could claim
as my own, (credit goes to another vendor I spoke with), “We don’t want
Walmart-
ization at Comicon.” I agree wholeheartedly. You need to spread your
points of interest far and wide so you encourage people to wander. You want
them to spend as much time as possible exploring every inch of the event, eager
to see what’s around the next corner. When you create specific
departments you
eliminate that need to
explore, and create bottlenecks and barren wastelands.
Third time’s the charm? Something else for Square Egg to address.
I don’t want to
come
off as a Debby Downer, other than those two issues,
PhxFF was a lot of fun. As
always, Arizona knows how to do cosplay right. The people that attend these
events are true fans who love to show off their passion for all things fantasy.
As for myself, it’s what I like to
call, my working vacation. The place where I
can geek out with the best of them and share my creativity
as well as my
fandom
spirit. I spoke on panels about Star Trek, Writing Apocalyptic fiction, and
debated on how much
Science is needed in Sci-Fi. The after-hours events were a
treat, as always, my favorite being Drinks with Creators, hosted by the
wonderful people of
Kids Need to Read. And as a
vendor, I can confidently say I made back my table fees, so it was worth having
a booth, and the League of Fantasy Authors plan to return for 2020. I
have faith that Square Egg truly wants to make this event the best and that
they are working toward that goal.
