Charmy’s Army – March 25, 2019

Hill Country Comic Con was a Huge Success!

A week has passed and the fire is still burning in my heart. I had the greatest experience in New Braunfels, Texas last weekend. I would love to share my experience with my readers and to thank all who made my show the most successful show I have ever had.

What is success?

By no means do I measure success monetarily. If that was the case, I would have had only one successful show in the past 6 years, lol. Money does make a successful show of course. For me, I just need to do a hundred bucks over break even to call a show a success. Every other artist I talk to say I am crazy and that they must make a thousand dollars over break even for these shows to be a so-so show. I have no idea how they make that kind of money at these shows. The guys are my neighbors and I do not see them doing any better than I am.

Success for me is measured by crowd enthusiasm and social media growth. When I ave a show where I just stand there staring at an empty aisle most of the show and afterwards I see no measurable growth in my followers on social media, I call it a bad show. Hill Country Comic Con had me talking the entire time to the attendees. The crowd was very family oriented which means they wear not making purchases, but they were very impressed and jumped onto social media to support my brand and my marketing endeavors.

The few that were making purchases were investing in art. This helps me break even. If original art is not moving, I am looking at a big loss. I had two commissions before the show began and I landed one on the last day of the show. I also sold a few original strips and a few sketch cards. That was enough to pay off the table and one day of hotel. Then the little dollar items made up for the remainder of the debt. After all was said and done I made just over investment.

That is a success for me.

Set Up the Day Before

Unfortunately, my day job had me flying out to St. Louis the day before to do demos of our new product for Sherwin Williams. I woke up Thursday at 1:00 am to catch a red eye flight. The trip home was marred by airport flight delays. I did not get home until 11:00 pm. I was up for nearly 24 hours.

Our plan before the last minute trip to St. Louis was to awake at 6:00 am and leave out from Houston by 8:00 am. I could not pack the night before as planned so a two hour window between wake up and drive off was out of the question. I was so tired as well that I did not wake up until 8:30 am, and then I had to pack. We did not leave until close to noon.

At that point, our plan to visit Gruene before setup was shelved. I felt bad because my wife was really looking forward to it. We love the little town of Gruene. The last time we visited there was about 12 years ago. Having to write this off our itinerary was a rough start to the trip. Next year when I make my second appearance at Hill Country Comic Con I will ask for Thursday and Friday off so I can take my wife back Gruene and actually make a vacation out of this for her. The only bad thing about the comic con was related to my day job.

We arrived around 4:00 pm and setup was a breeze. It did take about three hours, but that is because my table has a lot going on. The hotel was right next door which made life very easy. The size of the convention center was perfect for this first year show. Traffic flow was perfect. Spacing in the aisles was also perfect. Volunteers were checking on me all during the setup process.

We had actually checked into the hotel just before setting up. The hotel was small so I figured I needed to check in early to insure we received the King bed I requested. Upon check-in, I received a sketch cover a fan left off for me to draw in. I have been asked to draw on the first page of his brand new sketch book. I had already gotten the tight drawing approved a week ago. Now I just had to ink it and apply Copic markers later that night.

We walked across the street to eat and chill. These two days have drug by and taken its toll on me. I was wiped out! I had ordered some schnitzel and was not impressed. You could tell it was not fresh. 5 minutes prior, it was a frozen brick in their freezer. It was pretty nasty.

All in all, this was a terrible start to the weekend. I get back to the hotel and there is no desk for me to complete the commission on. I take one of the end tables, remove the lamp and straddle it between my long legs. I made do with what I had. As soon as I began inking, the disappointment in the unfortunate start melted away. I love inking. I underestimated the scope of this commission and spent the next four hours inking. I was in my zone and soaked in every minute of it. I was in my zone and finally feeling like success was just around the corner. Finally around 1:00 am, I went to sleep.

DAY ONE!

I awoke at 6:00 am and walked to the old bakery which was four blocks away. The Pigs in a Blanket and Kolaches were not what I remembered from the last time I visited this establishment. They were not very good at all. Dang it! Was this experience setting the course for the entire day? After two long days on the road for my day job and setting up for the weekend show without any fun time, I was bracing myself for this first year show to be another miserable experience. I have had so many first year shows crash and burn around me over the past two years.

After eating, I quickly returned to my tiny end table and applied the Copic markers. I was back in my zone. Gray Copic markers are so easy to apply and get my trademark style administered. Within ninety minutes, the commission was completed and we were ready to walk over to the comic con. Day one was about to begin!

Within minutes of the opening, Rudy popped by. Rudy was the owner of the sketch book I had drawn the commission inside. What an great guy! He was so very happy with the end result. Finally, I had something go right. Rudy also commissioned a second piece from me… a sketch card of Weaver as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

Rudy was so happy with both of the commissions. His excitement fueled my spirit and I was charged up for the rest of the day. I cannot thank Rudy enough for jump starting the show like he did or me. I needed this boost of encouragement after a long string of poor shows in 2018. Road shows are rough and when the turnout is low, it is hard to break even on the table much less the hotel and gas.

Hill Country Comic Con was a first year show, but it did not feel like it. The entire crowd interacted with me. Only 10% were making purchases at the show which was right on target with the crowd I was seeing. There were so many starter families which means young, married couples with kids age 4-7 years old. They do not bring a lot of money and make one or two purchases at these shows. The good news is that my table is perfect for this demographic. I have affordable art and prints for families looking for a few memories to take back with them.

At the same time, there were quite a few real comic con goers as well as first time comic con goes who were super into the comic scene. What was shocking for me was the amount of this demographic who ran up to me with huge grins telling me they were huge fans of Charmy’s Army! This was the first show away from Houston where so many readers showed up to support me. Nearly all of whom were people I have never met. I took so many pictures with readers that I lost count. These guys were all purchasing comic books and big prints. A few purchased art, which as I stated earlier, helps me pay off my investment.

I am so excited about what is happening. The comic strip is taking off. People are coming up to me asking for more Warrior Wench Wendy strips and more strips featuring Frenchy with Flimp the Chimp. All are begging me for more comic books. The last four months has seen a growth that was totally unexpected… and much appreciated.

The day ended with my cousin Jennifer stopping by the show at the end to whisk us off to dinner. I love my family. We had such a nice dinner and talked about all sorts of goofy stuff and family stuff. Our kids have all grown into amazing young men. I can still remember these kids hunting for Easter eggs at my grand mother Hoo Hoo’s back yard. My grandmother is the person I site as being my inspiration for becoming a cartoonist.

Saturday was amazing. I was very near the break even point as apposed to the break down point I found myself at some of my shows last year, lol. I was back at the hotel and looking at a good eight hours of sleep. All ended on a great note finally!

Day Two

Day two began great. Debbie and I walked over to a Mexican restaurant for breakfast tacos. The weather was cool, not cold, and felt electric. The tacos were amazing. I was ready for an exciting, eventful day.

I began the day talking with my neighbors who also had good shows so far. I had a panel scheduled for noon and the couple who were sitting on the panel was three tables down so I went to talk with them. I asked them if they were ready for our panel and they stared at me. “What panel?” they asked. I pointed to the video screen and their eyes opened up wide.

They had no idea.

The good news is that they were very excited about it. We talked for a few minutes. I wanted to download their backstory so I knew how to conduct myself at the panel. It is good to know who you are on a panel with so you have a nice balance to the answers you will be providing. Once I figured out what questions they were the experts on, I was ready for the panel.

The panel went great! I had people laughing again. I answered the questions well. I was careful never to overstep my fellow panelists. The most important thing was I made great eye contact with the audience. Eye contact is hard for me because I am very shy. Once the panel was over, the crowd actually applauded and cheered. That was a first for my panel appearances!

I return to my table and SO DOES the audience from the panel. Everyone wanted to see more and ask more questions. They also opened up their hearts and all became fans of my comic strip. I moved some merchandise as well which was awesome. I love doing panels and hope to be doing more soon!

Next up was Leslie looking for a commission! Yeah! Another commission!!! I am sketching it out this weekend and I am still not happy. More on that in a future blog. Ends up that we are both fans of Monty Python. She wanted an original strip and asked which comic strip was the closest in humor to a Monty Python sketch. I told here that I had a comic strip which was in honor of Terry Jones. I had heard the announcement of his illness a few years back and wrote a strip about Frenchy and a llama as a dedication to Terry. She loved it and the strip was sold.

The show ended with Rudy returning to tell me that the second commission of Weaver as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton was loved by his niece for whom he had purchased it for. He told me the story about how he gave it to her and how she lit up over it. His story was very emotional and warmed my heart. This was the perfect ending to this comic con.

We packed up in record time. There were no attendees on site that last hour so we began tearing down 30 minutes early as did everyone else. Load out was so smooth! We were loaded up and on the road in an hour. I drove away very happy and super impressed.

THANKS TO ALL!

First off, all of the volunteers were amazing. I had someone checking in on us every 15 minutes or sooner. The crowd was awesome and attentive. It was my pleasure talking to each and every one of you. I wanted to meet the voice talents but I was too busy. I have no complaints there. I would rather be too busy to walk the show than to be so slow I feel my time was wasted.

My time was well served.

Lastly, I wish to thank Vo. He is such a dear friend. I am so happy that your show was so successful. I cannot wait to come back and support your show in artist’s alley in 2020.

-Davy

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