Anime Festival Orlando

This year was my first time tabling here. As a matter of fact, I've never been to this con even though I'm a local. I wasn't sure what to expect, but hearing it's a smaller con than Megacon '19 (which I did very well at for it being my first AA con), I was afraid I wouldn't make as much. Well, I made more at Mega, but my friend and I still made a lot here!

I think a big part of it is the fact that the AA was placed in an area that had free access; the vendor's room was not free, so I heard not a lot of people went there and it didn't seem like a lot did (we were situated near the doors to the room). There was a nice, constant flow of people and, unlike Metrocon, people were willing to buy all sorts of stuff! My large prints and commissions sold the most, whereas my friend's smaller items (charms and stickers) were their best seller. The staff was great and the attendees were amazing- save for a few nuisances, but they were handled well.

I hope they keep the same layout next year because it was great. Though one bad thing to note, as someone else mentioned, I did notice that some tables may or may not have been selling well? I think it was due to where they were placed: I believe my friend and I were placed near where most people were entering, but I noticed there were not as many people entering the other side. Not sure why, but if there's a way to fix the traffic flow, I think it'd be great for everyone.
Also, the timing was great. The free part of the con was basically open 8am-2am (5pm Sunday), and because AA was located there, you were allowed to be there as early and stay as late as you wanted. Most artists arrive at around 9-10am and left at around 7-8pm.
All in all, I definitely want to table here again next year.

I just the 2019 event, and even working the artist alley I had a lot of fun! The con is small, but the attendance was pretty large. Majority of the attendance were cosplayers, which as an artist usually makes me nervous bc cosplayers do not tend to spend money, but I was surprised. I had a lot of customer engagement and interested buyers.

The AA was open to the public (no ticket needed to shop at AA), and we can be in business as early and late as we want. I made great sales from the early birds on all three days and the partying drunk crowds on Friday and Saturday nights.

I’ve honestly never done so bad at a convention in my life! Everyone who came to my booth was so interested in my art and grabbing business cards, but it seemed so rare that anyone actually purchased anything. At other conventions this size . I typically make around 3k, but I could barely make back the cost of the booth alone at this one. The layout is pretty horrible and gives certain people way more business than others. It felt like only about five people actually passed by my booth an hour. It sucks because I had high hopes for this convention, but I definitely won’t be returning 🙁

This con was a huge success for me! I was sweating it at first because we drove 9 hours and spent over $500 for the hotel, table, and gas. It was my first big risk con, but luckily it was a big reward too! The attendees were ready to spend money, and I even had my first commissions ever! (I don't even offer commissions, but had two attendees ask for them.) The AA was located in the lobby of the convention center right outside of the vendor hall, so attendees typically walked through AA before going to the vendors. AA also opened a few hours earlier than vendors, and you could stay open as late as you wanted. Although our tables were not in a locked room, I had no issues with theft. The layout of tables was a little awkward. I wasn't able to hang up my banner because we were on the curve of a semi-circle line of tables, and it would've blocked the walking path. Regardless, I loved all the artist there. I made great connections within the AA and with attendees. Definitely planning to make the trip again next year!

I really enjoyed this con! The location and people were great. The customers seemed really interested in looking at all the art and everyone brought lots of money to spend 😀 My high-priced items (large prints) sold best! I enjoyed the location of this con because there was lots of food and shopping nearby (for all budgets). I'm not sure if I would return next year because my travel expenses were so high. Flights to Orlando in the summer are not cheap! But I would DEFINITELY recommend it if you are local or within driving distance! The hotel was only $113 a night--not bad!