con report: farpoint 2009

Whew! I’m sorry this con report is coming so late – normally I try to get them written immediately after the con, so the memories don’t fade! But I’ve been crazy busy with all sorts of things, including a lot of tasks that came directly out of our con experience, so I apologize.

With that out of the way, WOW. What a con this was. I can definitively say that this was our best con yet – we hit a major sales milestone that, frankly, we didn’t expect to hit in just our second year of doing this. It was also a completely atypical con in many ways, and we’re at a loss to figure out why (although we aren’t complaining!). In our previous con experience, earrings and pendants have been our big sellers – sometimes to the point where Lindley has to frantically make earrings during off-peak hours to replenish the stock. At this con, I sold maybe three or four pairs of earrings total. The big sellers were necklaces and bracelets, which is wildly unusual. Not only that, but people were buying some of our ‘big-ticket’ items – expensive necklaces and bracelets. And the most atypical situation? We dealt almost exclusively in cash! Normally, we do a very high volume in credit cards. I’ve always thought that this is because people bring a cash budget to cons for things they know they want to get there – autographs, cards, posters, t-shirts, etc. The jewelry is often an unexpected purchase, which makes our ability to take credit cards really valuable. This weekend, though, people bought some of our most expensive items with straight cash.

Obviously, I’m not complaining – cash means no credit card processing fee – but I did find it strange. Atypical con or not, we did have a fantastic time. Some of the highlights:

-Several of the named guests on the program bought jewelry from us

-One of them commissioned a custom bracelet which Lindley made for her then and there

-We literally have no amethyst jewelry left in stock – people were buying it out of my hands as I unloaded. Same with clockwork jewelry.

-We discovered that we have veered away from making blue and green items – Lindley says it’s because she likes it so much for herself that she consciously makes the decision not to make it so that it won’t overwhelm the table, except that she’s gone too far in the other direction and failed to make any! It was a lack we didn’t really notice until several customers specifically requested blue and green.

-First sales of every day were to the con’s staff who were watching me set up – that’s a mark of a successful display!

-I forgot the dowels I use to create the bracelet rack; fortunately, a chainmail vendor was behind me and she had extra, which she let me borrow for the weekend (bless her!).

-Late Sunday evening, as our neighbor vendors were packing up, one of their (empty) plastic shelving units fell on my head. It was startling for all concerned. (I’m fine.)

-The biggest news of the con (for me, anyway) was that one of the game store vendors came over to discuss a wholesale purchase of dice pouches from us. I’ve been planning on making some girl-targeted pouches to combat the sheer ugliness so prominent in the market, and he was very interested. I’m also pursuing a game-centered line of jewelry; it’s in the research stages now.

Now that this con is over, it’s time to implement the Great Anapurna Advertising Blitz of Aught Niner. We’re finally going to set up some online advertising. I’ll be posting about the process soon – but right now I need to get to putting together some ads!