the geekocracy

Windy City Comic Convention! A BLAST! EXCLAMATION POINT!

I’d like to talk about something in this post that is somewhat taboo for me: going outside. I went outside yesterday, specifically to 3656 N. Halsted on the North side of Chicago, not too far away from that place (Wrigley Field) where that  sports team (the Cubs) loses a lot of games. You’re probably thinking, “There’s only one reason Mason would leave his house, for a comic convention,” and you’d be right. Yesterday was the first annual Windy City Comic Convention.

It was small, I mean really small, probably a third of the size of Artists’ Alley at Wizard Chicago or Texas. And that’s basically what Windy City was, an Artists’ Alley. The key difference between Windy City and the Artists’ Alley at most conventions is the simple fact that everyone wants to be there. There aren’t any depressed looking artists behind tables half-heartedly attempting to sell you their work. There were happy artists behind their table whole-heartedly trying to sell you their work. And instead of ignoring them, or avoiding them, as if they don’t exist, most people were happy to hear their pitch for their books, or to just make small talk. Imagine that, an artists’ alley that artists and con-goers alike were happy to be in.

Now the question is this: why did Windy City have such a great atmosphere? Well, it was only one day, so no one had to dread doing the same thing the next day. I’m sure that helped. Windy City was also put together by Around Comics, a podcast about comics. This is certainly unique from most people running shows nowadays, in that most shows are no longer run by gun-ho fans attempting to put together a show they’d want to go to, as it has been in the past, but people who used to be gun-ho fans who are now just concerned with selling tables and getting movie stars in order to attract more people and sell more tickets. This is not, of course, a blanket statement, but I think it does apply to a lot of cons that exist today. Around Comics, without a doubt, just wanted to host a con that they’d want to go to, and it shows. Of course, Around Comics also had help from various Chicago based Stores, publishers and even other podcasts. The mood at Windy City was also well maintained by the stores and publishers that attended. There weren’t any publishers with booths surrounded by thirty foot banners and booth babes who were attempting to get you to care about their latest events. The Publishers there were very similar to the artists in that they seemed to essentially be there to shoot the shit with con-goers and possibly sell a few comics without being pushy. I also want to applaud the stores that attended Windy City, whose booths surrounded two of the outer edges of the con room. They had no gimmicks, no balloons, they weren’t yelling out sales that nobody cared about and they had no 80 foot t-shirt racks. The stores were, I guess you could say, on their best behavior. They were there to basically help you if you needed help, and to leave those alone who didn’t want to be hassled by their schpiel.

The combination of happy artists and publishers and well behaved stores led to a really fun convention that seemed very successful. I have no idea how many tickets they sold, or how many they hoped to sell, but there were definitely a few instances where isles were packed with con-goers, making it hard to walk through, and this is something that’s nice to see happen for a convention during its first year. I can’t wait till next year!