Wild Wild West Con II |
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Date: Date: March 8 - 10, 2013 Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
Two years ago, Wild Wild West Con (WWWC from here on out) was held at Old Tucson Studios and a hotel near downtown Tucson. It was a great time over all, but with a few flaws. At the end of the convention we were promised that it would come back even better in 2012. Well, as you may have noticed from my lack of con report, it never happened. Things just didn't work out for the promoters. But this year it came back with a different crew in charge, and they were prepared to avoid the mistakes that had happened in 2011. My brother and I, being crafty sorts, decided that we should try our hands at vending at this event rather than just attending. Because booths were a bit spendy, and because we wanted to be able to step out to go to panels, we decided to share a booth. So this con report will focus mainly on what it is like to be a vendor, with a bit about the convention over all. First let me say that while there were a few bumps in the road leading up to the convention, during the event the staff treated the vendors right. They were pretty frazzled when we showed up to set-up but were still polite and checked in a few times to make sure everything was going well for us. During the event, the vendor coordinator would come through at least once a day and ask if anyone needed anything. And on tear-down day, there were volunteers available to help people take down their canopies and tables and carry their things to their cars. We also got a discount sticker for the on-site food, which was a nice little perk. Sadly, I didn't do well as a vendor, and it looked like the other jewelers weren't selling a lot either no matter what their style was, so I would not really advise signing up to vend here if you make jewelry. Otherwise it might be a good business venture. My brother did alright, a few other vendors seemed to do really well, and in general people seemed to come back to the vending area pretty often to look around, so there was good traffic even though the weather. Oh, did I say something about weather? Normally March is a great time to be in Arizona, but this was the one truly nasty weekend of the month. It was cold, windy, rainy, and all around awful. At one point, a gust of wind blew one of the walls off of the outdoor vending tent, requiring 30-40 people, including all the volunteers they could find, my brother, several other vendors and even members of Abney Park to loop belts, chains and ropes around the tent to keep the entire thing from blowing away. The fault turned out to be with the company who set up the tent, by the way, not the convention, and they called the company to make them fix it, but I felt pretty bad for the vendors stuck in that tent until it got fixed (we were in the far sturdier barn). My one complaint about the barn was that there was also a stage in there, and while it was nice to be entertained all day by the music, it was also annoying that the music was sometimes so loud that it was hard to talk with would-be customers. Otherwise it was a pretty nice location. As a convention attendee, I got to get out of the booth and do a few things. I went to a steampunk hair and makeup presentation, which was fun and chatty but mainly covered basic makeup technique and didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. I was hoping for tips on updos for my long hair, but I guess I'll have to turn to Pinterest instead. I also went to an Astronomy in the Victorian Era presentation, which was more fun. It was very informative and covered the technology of telescopes, important discoveries made during those days, the scientists (and laypeople) who made them, and the impact they had on modern astronomy. It was nice to see that the room was pretty packed. Steampunks love science! The highlight was of course Saturday night's concert (I didn't go to Friday night's show), which featured Steam-Powered Giraffe, Abney Park, and Professor Elemental as the emcee. There was also a bellydance opening act by Osiris, but unfortunately I couldn't see them from the back row where I was sitting. It seemed like they were doing a theatrical number that was about a sheriff chasing a bank robber/safe cracker, so I approve of the choice even if I couldn't see it. Of course the show started late, just like they did in 2011 (I heard that Friday's show also started late), and it ran way late since SPG did a full set and Abney Park did two full sets. Everyone was great and I had an awesome time, but as a vendor who had gotten up early and had to get up early the next day, I was a little too tired to enjoy it. Some vendors left early, even though they loved the bands. My hope would be that next time they either start the shows earlier or keep them a little shorter. One HUGE improvement over 2011 was bringing in Professor Elemental to emcee. Last time they just had somebody from the convention talking and telling jokes and such between acts and it was frankly not very good. Professor Elemental was funny, charming, and did a few of his chap-hop rap numbers. This helped the concert really flow, instead of having awkward gaps while the bands set up/tore down. Aside from the improved concert, I also think they made a good decision in keeping all of the events at Old Tucson rather than having some at a hotel in town. For those of you out there who aren't familiar with the geographical situation, Old Tucson is WAY outside of town and there is really not anything anywhere near it. Going back and forth between two venues for different shows and events was a big pain. I was disappointed that there weren't really any major steampunk authors at the event (no offense meant to all of the authors who were there, I just remain incredibly skeptical about self published and small press books). They were supposed to have GD Falksen there but changed their minds about paying his travel expenses, which was not a smart move. Not only did they lose their author guest of honor, but they made themselves look pretty bad and I suspect this will make it difficult for them to get good GoHs for future events. It's a shame, because it would have been great if they could have had Gail Carriger there promoting her new Finishing School series (especially since our huge book festival was the same weekend, so she could have done both), or the Foglios with some Girl Genius merch. In general, the convention felt smaller this time around, and I think that's a good thing. Though I would have liked to see some famous authors and more performers and better vendors (a few of my favorites from 2011 did not return this year), I think the first one bit off more than it could chew and that lead to a lot of failure. WWWCII was still a big event, but more manageable. I think the new organizers put together something they could handle, and left it room to grow bigger than better. I hope they will learn from their mistakes, keep their successes in mind, and make this an annual event that I will be happy to return to. But I'll leave the vending to my brother!
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E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.net
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