MoCCA ArtFest 2007 (Notes and Links)

Okay, here are my notes from June's MoCCA ArtFest in New York City. I had a wonderful weekend of comics, old friends, new faces, sidewalks, trains, city sights and smells... in many ways the most intense four days of the month. I traveled by train with Colin Tedford, and we got to talking about lots of stuff we'd noticed, both in our own experiences and in watching others. Here are my reactions and observations about the convention scene, presented as advice... as much to MYSELF as to all my Trees and Hills cronies who joined us at the convention.

Table Display & Presentation -- How you set up your artwork and your table seems incredibly important. I keep thinking Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Thousands (or at least hundreds) of people are going to walk by your table, and they all have to be able to understand several things:

• Who you are
• What you do
• What it's all about
• What style you use
• How to buy/get/read it

They have to understand that in a matter of one or two seconds, too. It's fascinating to watch people walk by the table; their eyes move over certain comics, catch on others... If they feel comfortable enough, they'll approach and look at a book, maybe even flip through the pages... I found it incredibly helpful to just walk around the convention floor and see what tables I found myself stopping at (or passing by), and why. My suggestions for table displays:

• LIMIT the number of choices. One or two products is better than a hundred, if you want people to focus in and look seriously at something. Choose your "flagship" title and eliminate the more peripheral "C-list" options.
• Give passersby a NAME or WEBSITE they'll remember. Make a sign and make it bold and/or colorful. Even if they don't stop to read your stuff this time around, the next time they come through (maybe even next year?) they'll remember your name! RECOGNITION IS THE FIRST ESSENTIAL STEP IN INITIATING BRAND LOYALTY!
• SMILE and TALK to people. Let them know you want them to spend some time at your table.
• Have an introductory SENTENCE or PHRASE (or two) that simultaneously DEFINES and DESCRIBES your comic and makes them WANT TO KNOW MORE about it. (This is the sentence you find yourself repeating over and over again by Saturday afternoon.)
• Put your comic IN THEIR HANDS. Give them a guided tour.
• Have something NEW, even if it's just a freebie preview or something like that. People should walk away from the table with a sense of something to come from you in the future.

Commerce & Culture -- Also, I just want to note that I spent ALL of Saturday at my table talking to readers/shoppers. While it was fun, it was also draining. I left the convention Saturday feeling pretty wiped out, isolated, and strangely disconnected from all the activity and action around me. Sunday, I took the first few hours of the day to roam the convention floors, hunting down artists and publishers I wanted to meet, giving out and trading copies of my zine, making contacts and meeting new people and convention buddies. I came back to my table refreshed and energized by all the interaction with my favorite artists. Yes, I'd missed a few hours of business, but the trade was well worth it. We're at that convention to NETWORK with each other and DISTRIBUTE our artwork! Next time, I'm going to try to give away even more of my work to other creators.

Links -- The corollary to that sentiment is that we need to let each other know we appreciate our artwork. In that spirit, here are a few of my favorite titles from the piles and piles of EXCELLENT comics I collected at MoCCA '07:

• Bisk -- Wordless Norwegian dog comics by Bjorn O.
• Tragic Relief -- Colleen Frakes' folktale-inspired comic about... well, you'll just have to read it. It's creepy. (Colleen's also leading a Comics Camp with me this summer!)
• Pizza Wizard -- Sam Gaskin's been eating too much pizza.
• Field Guide to Cartoonists of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Western Massachusetts -- Trees and Hills gives you the most cartoonists for your dollar.
• The Bird and the Bear: Doormats of Life -- One of my favorites, by Alex Kim. It's a slow, heart-ringing look at a young couple who decide to become superheroes.
• Papercutter anthology -- a fun selection of up-and-coming artists.
  Phase 7 -- Alec Longstreth awesome award-winning comic... The only other issue #11 (that I could find) at the convention!
• Syncopated -- Brendan Burford's anthology of journalistic and non-fiction comics.

There are lots of other great comics in my travel-bag, but that's it for tonight. Before I close, I should just say thanks to everyone who traded with me, thanks to my Auntie Lindell for lunch on the way to the convention, and thanks especially to my college buddies Adam and Margaret for lending me a comfy couch with a breakfast balcony 20 stories above Lexington Avenue!