IndyFurCon 3
IndyFurCon, the Indianapolis furry (anthropomorphic animal art and costuming) convention was held over the weekend of August 10-12, 2012, at the Sheraton at Keystone at the Crossing. This is a new hotel for them, and its compact layout meant the dealers' room was on the second floor, with attendant logistical difficulties for loading in and out.
This year they had a Thursday evening load-in session, which is always much appreciated, especially for dealers with a large amount of stock. We made sure to get there early, since the weather forecast has changed markedly for the worse and we wanted to get everything in before the storms hit. However, when we arrived the dealers' room it wasn't properly arranged and the coordinator was nowhere to be found. So we sat around for a while and I did some work on a story while we waited. We also ate supper.
Registration opened first, which meant we were able to get our badges before we were franticly pulling stuff in. However, the clips were just awkward enough that we both agreed we'd use our lanyards during the actual con.
Finally they decided to let us load in. We were able to get one of the hotel's bell carts, which meant one of us could be taking stuff up while the other set up a fresh load. All the time we kept an uneasy watch on the ever-darkening sky. We got the last load in right as the first spits of rain started. We took a little time to do some sorting before we headed home. By that time it was raining hard, with some pretty spectacular displays of lightning.
On Friday we had to get up early to get our cat to the vet clinic when they opened. She'd been having trouble with her teeth, and that was the soonest we were able to get her in. Fortunately for us, we didn't have much trouble catching her and getting her into her carrier, but if she wasn't feeling well, she probably didn't have as much energy as usual.
Once we got the kitty checked in for surgery, we headed on up to the hotel. We did have to wait a little while for them to open the dealers' room door, so I did a little more work on my con report. As soon as we could get in, we started setting up our displays and organizing our merchandise. We were able to get done by the time the dealers' room opened for business, and I even was able to get my art on the art show.
By then it was time to call the vet clinic and check on our cat. She'd come through fine, so I went down to pick her up and pay for the procedure. She was extremely unhappy with me and made the weirdest noise at me when the vet tech brought her carrier out to the front. But by the time I got her home, she'd settled down and was meowing more normally.
After picking up a few things we'd forgotten, I headed back up to the hotel. We were having pretty good sales, much better than the previous year, but most of our sales volume was t-shirts with designs we hadn't been selling the previous year. So it looks like shifting our business model is working for us.
At least the weather was better when we headed home. We did a few things online before heading to bed.
At least on Saturday we didn't have to get up quite so painfully early, but it was still early enough that I spent most of the day tired, multiple cans of caffeine notwithstanding. We had fairly good sales, but there were several lulls in which I tried to write. However, I was simply too dog tired to write actual fiction, so I ended up writing a bunch of notes for new projects for approaching deadlines.
Also I spent a little time visiting the dogs and cats that Southside Animal Shelter had brought in. Even the dog that tended to be shy took right to me once he'd gotten a good sniff of my scent, which includes our cat's scent.
When the dealers' room closed for the evening, we headed back home to have supper. In the evening I ran some errands, and then we turned in for the night.
On Sunday we got up early and headed in for the final day of the con. We brought a little extra merchandise to fill some gaps in our stock, and when we got in we had to do a little rearranging.
Then we settled in to sell. However, sales were slow compared to the first two days, and I had a lot more time to make story notes before it was time to start bringing in boxes so we could get packed for loadout.
This time some friends were able to come and help us, so we got out in good time. We even got to salvage some stuff that was by the trash barrels, including a perfectly good box and a bag of art supplies. Once we had everything loaded and had verified we hadn't missed anything, we headed back home.
Copyright 2012 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated October 21, 2012.