Rejiggering financial plans thanks to Facebook

[captain_slinky]

Every year, I get a table to the Bellingham Comic Con. Dozens of folks come up to our booth to tell us that we're the reason they come back every year, and I get to feel an awful lot like Santa Claus when I do it. It's also a great excuse for a "Mini Vacation" that allows Crystal and I to have some time together as a couple rather than as parents with a kid. And of course the BIGGEST advantage of the convention is that it's at the end of October, which means we get a nice little cash boost right before Christmas :)

Another reason I love it is because I used to do 3 or 4 conventions PER YEAR, but adulthood and parenthood have forced me to slow down a bit and focus my energies elsewhere... this one convention a year is my one constant link to my past.

And so I found out last night that not only are the tables for the Bellingham Comic Con sold out, but they've been sold out since MAY. The convention organizer tried to get hold of me several times, tried to hold my table for me... but the only real way he had to contact me was via Facebook. And Facebook, being the helpful little Social Media dungheap that it is, decided to put all these personal messages into an well-hidden "Other Messages" folder and hid any updates from Bellingham Comic Con from my Friends Feed because I would obviously be more interested in political rants from my cousin than actual information I actually wanted and/or needed >:(

The waiting list for tables is now so long that the only way I'm getting a table is if everyone cancels, then all the replacement people ALSO cancelled, and then THOSE replacements cancel as well. I don't think that's going to happen :(

So as I see it, I now have two options (and I'm glad I took a break from this before posting it so I could think it out before typing, because there HAD been THREE options before I realized that one just ain't gonna happen):

1) I could just open up my Storage Unit to any one of the five Convention Friend Resellers I've met over the years, the ones who always say "Let me know if you're ever looking to get out of this stuff, I'd love to see that storage unit of yours some time an make you an offer". Problem with this is choosing *which seller* to go with?

2) Get a (much more expensive) table at The Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma. And the more I look at this option, the more I like it - I could have one or more nieces come and help, even, which would be awesome, and the timing is just right with the convention being at the end of the first week of November... I think this is how I'm going to go :)

Comments

[xerhino.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid comic books and science fiction are too popular now. We'll have to take up fringe nerd or extreme geek hobbies like planetary geology, forensic investigation RPGs. and comics written in hieroglyphics.

[whiskeyjack.livejournal.com]

So... what does it mean that I really like the sound of all of those?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

See, and this right here is why Crystal and I are Wolfriders and you two are the High Ones :)

[whiskeyjack.livejournal.com]

The Wolfriders are way sexier, but do I get my own castle and human slaves?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Puh-LEEEEZ... Wolfriders smell like a sweat sock full of charcoal and wet dog. But yes, I see that there's a vacancy at Blue Mountain if you're interested...

(I haven't read beyond Siege At Blue Mountain)

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

I think the Jet City Comic Show is the best bet. That way you get to control the pricing, and have some fun with your nieces. Sorry about the B'ham Comic Con.

I also disagree about comic books and science fiction being too popular. They are FINALLY being given their due respect.

[xerhino.livejournal.com]

Holy cow! The ECCC, having sold out for the first time this year and done so early to boot, announced that tickets will go on sale for the 2015 show on Sept. 1st. Almost 6 months early! Guess I better set alarm.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of buzz going on about ECCC this year, too, it's being seen as one of the better alternatives to San Diego. Last year they sold out a week before the convention, this year I'm guessing several months!