Mike Peterson spent the weekend at the New England Webcomics Weekend. He’s posted his impressions and observations on his blog.
To begin with, I really didn’t know how big a deal the New England Webcomics Weekend was until Saturday morning, when I discovered that the place was sold out for that day and I’d have to scramble to get in on Sunday. Fortunately, I discovered this on-line and not at the door, so I dropped Christopher Baldwin an email and a text (the electronic equivalent of belt-and-suspenders) and he set aside a Sunday ticket for me so I wouldn’t drive two hours and find myself on the outside looking in.
NEWW is a pretty big deal. The place was full but not crowded and the majority of cartoonists had a steady stream of fans, to the point where I felt sorry for the newcomers who weren’t well-known enough to draw a constant crowd. But people did wander by their tables to have a look and a bit of conversation, and I think they made some good new contacts over the course of the two days.
As someone who is somewhat knowledgable about the web form but more oriented towards syndicated strips, I found the conversations interesting.
Mike goes on to talk about how Howard Tayler, Dave Kellett and others approached selling books and interacting with fans.
Mike is doing a great job of providing an interesting perspective of not only NEWW, but also the webcomic business model as a whole. You can check out part 2 of his report here
http://www.weeklystorybook.com/comic_strip_of_the_daycom/2010/11/in-which-i-visit-new-england-webcomics-weekend-part-two.html
NEWW was a great event, and it was good to see Mike there. I just wish I’d had time to sit down and talk to him for an hour or ten. If the event taught me anything it’s that I still have a lot to learn about this business.
Y’know If Mike really tried, he probably could’ve gotten in on Saturday. Since it was being held in a public building, it wasn’t exactly being guarded like Buckingham Palace. Which is one of the main issues I had, as it just felt like I was in another building with established businesses, and they decided to put on a convention in the hallyway.
I know its only the second year, but they would benefit themselves by moving to a more expanded location. I only went Saturday, but I felt the show could be so much more than what it was. It just felt like a “con” to me, which for the Webcomics community seems a bit boring.
Part of the charm of the event was this particular venue. I didn’t mind the low security, especially not since the attendance cost was so low.
There’s a large exhibitor space that they originally planned to use, but it was being renovated so they couldn’t.
They could have rented a bigger, more tricked-out place instead of using their own building — and then charged people $30 instead of $6, but, for instance, the brownies were really very good and there was a McDonald’s just down the road, so there was no real need for a full-blown concessions stand.
I also liked the fact that I could go out to the car and drop off my swag and come back in without a hassle. The honor system works for me (which is why I was willing to wait until Sunday rather than try to crash the gate on Saturday).
What a great report. Mike I hope you don’t mind… I’m going to link Webcomics Community to these reports. They really are very well done. Thanks.