By Todd Allen
Day two and attendance is up a bit. I’m hearing a couple long time residents talking about how much larger the crowds at Wonder Con were, the last couple years it was in this venue. To me, it looks about right for the first year of a new show. the amount of space to move around on the floor is roughly what you’d be looking for at a business to business show (as opposed to consumer shows, where you pack them in like sardines). You could add maybe 20% before it started getting to be annoying trying to move around the floor.
Early on, lines dominated the floor. Big line for the Walking Dead actors. Good line for Whilce Portacio in the artist’s alley area. Bryan K. Vaughan looked to be doing good business. The booth has a constant scrum around it. Past that, it’s fairly light traffic and easy to talk to people. 5 minute or less wait for most people and everyone getting a little bit of traffic.
The strange thing is the utter lack of costumes. I haven’t seen a single fan costume yet. Odd for a Saturday.
Photos from the floor:
Aspen’s endcap.
San Francisco icon Ed Luce
No truth to the rumor Return of the Dapper Men was named for Derek McCulloch.
Arachia! Fraggles! Mel recreating Isiah Mustafa’s knowing look!
Marat is just a little too happy to be in the front row of artist’s alley.
Shaenon Garrity was into Kickstarter WAY before it was cool.
mp Mann digs his own grave.
Witch Doctor’s Brandon Siefert demonstrates his babysitting prowess.
Nice representation of pros from http://www.sequentialworkshop.com in this photo array!!!
Russ, you are such a groupie.
Nah, we’re all pals over there.
Sales were great today! Honestly, Friday was an incredibly light day, despite fairly good attendance, but this was a very nice Saturday. I agree that it’s much more fair to compare this to a brand new con rather than an extension of the Oakland-era Wondercon, and by that criteria it’s doing pretty well.
I’ve found it to be a well-run con (again considering it’s their first time out!) and the only bad point would be the *horrible* PA system. Actually it’s kind of funny – you can’t hear one word of the announcements, just a loud noise that vaguely resembles a human voice. ;)
Think it’s funny that Marat Mychaels has a booth banner with Deadpool on it at an Image Expo. Also isn’t he worried that Marvel might charge him for any sales that brings his way? ;)
I’m happy as a clam in broth over my sales on Saturday. One of the great things about this con, is that Artists Alley is such a lively place. It doesn’t feel like an afterthought.