AnimeIowa 2022
AnimeIowa is Iowa's largest and oldest anime convention, run by the same non-profit organization that runs ICON, the eastern Iowa science fiction convention. This year's AnimeIowa was held over the weekend of July 22-24. 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Convention Center in Coralville, Iowa.
Although we could've driven all the way from home to Coralville, I wanted to visit family on the way over. Thus we left on Tuesday rather than Wednesday, which also enabled us to do a little shopping along the way. We arrived at my dad's place in the middle of the afternoon and had plenty of time for visiting and a good supper. Then I dug in on my Tuesday writing challenges, although it meant I was a bit later getting to bed than I would've liked.
On Wednesday we were able to eat breakfast around the table before carrying our belongings back out to the van and saying good-bye to Dad. The trip went pretty smoothly and we actually got to the hotel early. Because the room wasn't ready for us to check in, we drove over to the convention center and scouted out the area, figuring out where we'd be loading in.
Then we went back to the hotel and got checked in. Once we were settled into our room, I got my laptop out and drafted newsletters for my cosmic horror and retail newsletters for both that weekend and the following weekend. That way I'd need only make last minute changes to finalize them, then send them off to my subscribers on the appointed days. Once they were lined up, I started sketching out a new writing challenge.
On Wednesday we had the hotel's complimentary breakfast. Then we headed over to the convention center early so we could get one of the best spots to load in, relative to our booths. However, when the doors did open, we discovered an unpleasant problem: that door had a threshold significantly above the sidewalk into it, so that it would not be possible to just roll carts straight into the convention center. As a result, we ended up having to carry everything back to another door, then make an awkward turn to get through it.
After a while, the convention was finally able to get the venue to open the rollup door. They'd been balking on the grounds that it was too hot outside and there was air conditioning inside. But the sheer crowd of people finally convinced them to get it open and speed up the process. Getting some good help also enabled us to make a lot more progress than we usually would. As a result, we had most of our setup done by the time they chased us out and closed the doors for the evening.
When we got back to our hotel room, I made supper and then did a little work on a writing challenge before turning in for the night.
On Friday we got up and had the hotel's breakfast, then headed back over to the convention center to finish setting up. It was mostly putting stuff atop the displays and getting signs hung up. Then we could walk around the vendor hall and enjoy ourselves for a while before the doors opened and we needed to be ready to do business.
When the doors did open, we got some fairly decent traffic, if not a huge amount. It was definitely busier than JAFAX, but not to the level of the huge comic conventions. There were some lulls, sufficient that I could make a decent start on a writing challenge.
When we got done and closed for the night, I forgot the WiFi hotspot. I only realized it after we'd gotten the van parked. Given the crowded parking lot and the difficulty getting parked by myself, and the minimal distance to the main hotel, I decided to just make the trip on foot. I actually managed to get there before the end of dealer prep time and grab the hotspot off the top of the display where I'd put it. I also discovered that we'd forgotten to turn off the blinking lights, so I turned them off.
By the time I make the return trip to our hotel, it was getting dark. I carried in the stuff that I'd left in the van because of the pressing nature of our situation, then made supper and did some preparation work for the next day. I also did some more work on the writing challenge.
On Saturday we got up and had breakfast. Then we headed back over to the convention center, where I made sure that the WiFi hotspot would be somewhere that I wouldn't forget it. Then I took another brief walk around the dealers' room before the doors opened and it was time to buckle down on the selling.
We had some decent traffic, and we actually sold quite a few of the anime and manga we were selling on behalf of a friend's estate. We also sold quite a few of our own things. Now and then I had some lulls to work on my writing challenges.
However, we also made an awkward discovery -- a box of t-shirts had been shipped to the convention hotel's front desk, and I didn't even know about it. So after the vendor hall closed, we had to go to the front desk and pick it up. Fortunately it was no big deal: I just showed ID and the clerk brought it out to me. She even carried it out to the van.
In the evening we returned to our hotel, this time with the WiFi hotspot safely in my computer bag so that I could recharge it. I got my newsletters for the weekend lined up to mail as I was eating supper. Then I inventoried the new t-shirts and took them back out to the van so I could carry them in the next morning.
On Sunday we had breakfast at our hotel, then headed over to the convention center for the final day of the convention. We got opened reasonably quickly, and I sorted the new t-shirts into the stacks with the existing ones. Then the doors opened and it was time to get selling.
Sales were slow at first, but they picked up right about the time I needed to start packing the figurines. Of course that made people less willing to shop, lest they disturb me, so we probably lost some sales.
When the doors closed at the end of the show, we had several helpers actually show up as promised. They pitched right in and we got packed and loaded out in record time. Near the end, they just hauled everything out and piled it beside the van. Because of a problem with the gate in the parking lot, we had moved the van to one of the handicap spots across from the main doors, rather than using the loading dock, and we still got loaded just about as fast as we'd gotten unloaded. By then someone from the venue had gotten the gates forced open, and we ended up not even having to pay for that day's parking.
We headed back to our hotel to have supper and wind down. I wrote up all my Sunday writing challenges and the Tuesday writing challenge that had a hard deadline. That way I didn't have to worry about it when we were doing the first leg of the long drive down to Tampa for Tampa Bay Comic Con.
On Monday we had the hotel's complimentary breakfast for one last time. Then we carried out our belongings and hit the road. Because of the time pressure we were under, needing to get back home and then get laundry done so we'd be ready to leave first thing on Tuesday, we weren't able to even stop by Dad's place for a brief visit. It felt really weird to drive right past US 51 as we went around Bloomington-Normal. The last time we'd done that was back in 2014 after Geek.kon in Madison, Wisconsin, so we could keep a medical appointment.
The drive was pretty decent, and I actually had time to get the laundry done and go through a shipment of merchandise that had arrived right after we left. I was disappointed to find some damaged teacups, but otherwise I was able to get us ready to take off for our next convention.
Copyright 2022 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated August 19, 2022.