So I went with a great group of girls to the New York Anime Fest on Saturday. It started slow, but later ended up being a blast once more people started arriving.
The day started with us at our studio, getting a good night’s rest before the con day. Well at least I tried to. I’d gotten sick thanks to a friend of mine –stares- so that night was a bit of a pain. It was like my allergy from the ac and my illness all decided to attack me at once and make that hour and a half before sleeping hell. Anyways, I managed to sleep somehow and rise before everyone else so I could get myself to breathe out of my nose again. There were lots of “Free Hugs” people at the con and I seriously contemplating giving them what they wanted so they would understand the consequences, especially with the swine flu scare going on (seriously did any of them think of that?) but I decided to be nice and avoid doing so. We got on the train to take our shift (Jen, Kate, and myself) and during the ride we made a few fun little signs to post up. One sign displaying the price and another to encourage people to take one of our free flyers, thus spreading the news of our studio and what we do.
Once we got to our table, just around the corner from this video game demo spot, it took a short while until we got into the swing of things. My voice wasn’t really up to par so I couldn’t really do much with bringing people over to the table, but luckily enough they did so on their own in flocks. We advertised the school; lots of the comics sold well due to SVA’s smart us of the “buy one get this cool shit free” angle. As the day went on I got into the routine of explaining about what we were doing with the school and adding in my own little bit about Pigtail with that. Lots of people liked the magazine, but of course didn’t buy. Though that’s where the handy ‘lil flyers came in. We passed out a lot, it was a short and simple way of directing people to go buy our magazine online. After our shifts we walked around admiring everyone else’s art at the artist’s alley. Too much fanart, but what can I say? Fanart sells, plain and simple. I did like a lot of the original works though. There was a watercolorist there that had amazing talent.
Once Maria took her shift from 3-4 we got back into business. We hung behind her like some weird lackeys, which was very amusing. We got a lot of cool people walk by and we had the pleasure of talking with them. I made sure to point out to Maria some of the ‘ press’ kind of people. Not sure if we’ll get any pics put up but at least we got a lot of word about us out. There were about 2 guys talking to us that were really interested in what we did so we’ll see what comes out of that. I’m still not sure what all of that was about, but I guess we’ll see. All and all the con was okay. Though I’d hate to say I still think NYAF could use some work, especially with the organization of things and better selection of events. Though it’s still a new con so I’ll make an exception. Another thing I didn’t like was my own fault. I had forgotten to bring my cell phone with me so that made it impossible for me to contact 2 of my good friends that I’ve wanted to see for a while. So if I didn’t see you I’m terribly sorry that I was so forgetful.
In other news Pigtail Studio now will be at Otakon 2010. We’re still thinking about getting a table of our own/splitting with someone or something like that so I’ll report on that once it’s more solid. We have a room booked already though so we’ll definitely at least be attending. Be sure to check out our site and please consider buying our first issue of StoryArk. We’ve worked very hard and are continuing to do so to pump out work for everyone to see. All the support you guys can give us will be very appreciated!
