---
My full review:
O.M.G. (Otaku Market Gathering) is a 1-day gathering/event organized by the people who runs Ronin-Expo and TitanCon. I did OMG in Nov 2019 and Feb 2020, which happened to be their 1st and 2nd event.
Location: The Source OC (an outdoor shopping center in Buena Park, CA)
My commute: 15 minute drive
Artist Alley/Vendor 6x6ft spot: $40 + $4.06 eventbrite fee
It's juried and there were 40 spots available. But you had to bring your own table and chair! You can use your spot as artist alley, retail vendors, or swap meet. I used my spot to sell stickers. The event was technically outdoors, but took place at the center of The Source OC (2nd floor) and so the vendors were surrounded by high walls and ceilings shielding you from all wind and rain. I didn't have to weigh anything down.
General admission and parking were free. Because OMG was at an outdoor mall with free admission, anyone could just walk-in and so there were a lot of window shoppers and people passing by. For those who registered for free admission via eventbrite, they received an OMG wrist band which allows them discounts at the food court, etc.
Attendee count: Nov 2019 felt very small. And that included passersby. Feb 2020 had 800 registered attendee via eventbrite (according to staff). Definitely seems more people present compared to last time.
My gross (NOT net profit): $210 in Nov 2019, $280 in Feb 2020.
Nov 2019: at first I was disappointed cause I expected a better turn out from a free event. I have done many small 1-day events with 400-500 attendees and still made more than OMG. And the other events included table and chair and cost less! OMG was also supposed to give out a $100, $50, $25 gift card prize for their cosplay contest but I guess not many people signed up so that was scrapped 2 days prior. On the upside, I had a steady flow of people engaging with me so that kept me busy.
Feb 2020: I gave OMG another go. This time there were more people, more stage performances. Sales were slightly better. I love that that the event is so local to me, only 1 day, and it's free to the general public and so my friends can easily hang out with me and bring me food. Parking is also very close-- less than a 3 min walk from my parking spot to my table spot. So having to carrying in my own table and chair wasn't a deal breaker. Unfortunately, sales weren't good.
I think OMG is heading down the path of having 2-4 gatherings per year. As long as the event remains free, I can see them gaining traction and becoming a good event to sell at in a few short years.
