Tampa Bay Comic Con 2021
Tampa Bay Comic Con is a large comics and general media convention that has historically been put on by the Imaginarium Agency. This year it was held over July 30-August 1, 2021 at the Tampa Convention Center, after having been canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. So everyone -- vendors, artists and attendees alike -- were eager to get back after having everything roll over to another year.
Because of the distance, we always have to start our journey on Tuesday and stay someplace midway to Tampa. However, this year friends had invited us to visit on our way down, so we left on Monday to stay the night in their beautiful apartment in a historic part of Lexington, Kentucky. Listening to a jazz station through their computer took me back to my days at Illinois State University, when I worked at WGLT-FM, the campus radio station.
On Tuesday morning we said our good-byes and hit the road once more. On the way out of Lexington we stopped at a branch of our bank to purchase change, but were surprised to discover that they were short of quarters and were rationing everyone to one roll. Since I'd already written out my check to save time, this created a bit of awkwardness. We ended up compromising by getting some extra dimes and some dollar bills, which are often in short supply if we get a lot of small purchases. We also got gas at the Kroger right beside the bank, since we'd heard stories of gas shortages and didn't want to get too low.
The trip was pretty good until we were approaching Chattanooga. We had encountered a bad backup on I-75, so when we got off to get gas, we asked for directions to side roads that would take us around the backup. It was a rather pleasant drive through the country, until we were approaching the next exit. Suddenly this guy in a little blue Kia Soul came whipping around in front of me, so close it felt like there were mere molecules of air between our bumper and his. I hit the brakes and blew the horn, but I was still very shaken at how easily it could have ended very ugly -- and I thought I'd seen kids sitting in the back seat of the car, which was even more upsetting.
As it turned out, all his ridiculous haste only gained him a longer wait at the stoplight shortly before the interchange. As we pulled up behind him, he opened the door as if to get out, then suddenly got back in. My husband and I speculated that he may have seen our dash cam on its mount on our windshield and decided that no, he really didn't want photographic evidence of him perpetrating a road rage incident.
All the same, I was still shaken as I continued through Chattanooga and across the Georgia state line to Dalton, where we stayed at the hotel where we'd stayed in 2019. Overall it was pretty much the same, except for one thing: they had no breakfast whatsoever, not even wrapped pastries. Fortunately we'd come prepared for the possibility, with plenty of protein bars.
I think we were in the exact same room we were in when we stayed there in 2019. At least this time I was able to carry our essential personal belongings in fairly quickly, since I'd rebuilt my strength with plenty of yard and garden work in the intervening time. I fixed supper and we set up our computers to get on the Internet. I did my Odd Prompts writing challenge, although what little I could write was a very unsatisfactory version of the images in my mind. Then we turned in fairly early, since we knew we had a long trip ahead of us.
The next morning we were able to get a fairly early start for the simple reason that we didn't need to go to the breakfast nook. I just carried out our personal belongings and we hit the road with two protein bars in our lunch bag. We ate them on the road, once we were back on I-75.
We made good time around Atlanta, but when we got to Florida, we discovered a long line at the Agricultural Inspection Station. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned on the bypass lights right after we joined the line. And just to make things worse, when we got to the window, the guy just waved us on. Didn't even ask us what we were carrying or anything. And then we hit a huge backup around Ocala, which meant we ended up losing all the time we'd gained.
We arrived at our hotel just about suppertime. This time we were staying at a LaQuinta closer to the airport, because they appeared to have a larger lot than the Quality Inn we'd used in 2019. However, when we checked in, the desk clerk huffily told us that they did not take cash at all, and our payment would have to stay on the credit card. Maybe it was the result of COVID-19, maybe it was a regular policy, but we both decided that would be the last time we'd stay at that place.
It was another outdoor property (one in which the doors of the rooms open right onto the parking lot), so we parked the van in front of our room and I carried our personal belongings in. Then I made supper and we settled in to do some stuff online. I also made some notes toward my newest Odd Prompts writing challenge, although it would've been better if I could've seen the prompt before we hit the road and been thinking about it on the drive.
On Thursday we got up and headed to the breakfast nook to pick up the grab-and-go breakfast, which was pretty meager and mostly carbs. Then I tried to get as much stuff dealt with as possible before we headed downtown to load in and set up. Normally we'd leave shortly before noon and eat lunch while waiting in line. However, this year we'd been put in the second wave, which was rather surprising when they'd always tried to prioritize larger dealers in years past. We figured we'd try to go a little early and see if we could get in before the actual second-wave starting time, for the simple reason that we needed every minute we could get of setup time.
On the other hand, perhaps it was just as well that we were in the second wave. About the time I started gathering stuff to put in the van, we started hearing rumbles of thunder. Within minutes, the sky went black and rain started pouring so heavily there was at least an inch of water on the hotel parking lot. If we'd had to try to load in under those conditions, it would've been pretty much impossible.
By the time we actually left the hotel, it had slacked up enough that carrying out the personal belongings we take to the convention center wasn't quite as much of a nightmare. On the way to the convention center, we stopped at a branch of our bank to see if we could exchange some of our excess rolls of dimes for rolls of quarters. Then we stopped at Walmart to pick up some items, and discovered they had the best gas prices in town.
Then we headed downtown to the convention center. By the time we got there, we discovered an enormous and very confusing line that branched at least twice as people came in on different streets to form up, and instead just stacked up. While we were waiting, I pulled out my phone and did some looking, and discovered that the rumors were true that Imaginarium had sold to a new promoter -- someone had a picture of the aisle signs with "FanX" (the name of the promoter that runs Salt Lake City Comic Con) at the top. It probably explained the problem with us being put in the second wave -- a lot of the institutional knowledge that made load-in run smoothly didn't get carried over in the transfer.
As it turned out, by the time we finally got onto the loading dock, it was actually time for the second wave to begin anyway. Once again we got put on the far side of the loading dock, so we had to haul everything clear across it.
Although there wasn't standing water on the loading dock floor like 2015, when we'd had a massive storm about fifteen minutes into load-in, the concrete was most decidedly wet, and seeing that didn't me eager to set cardboard boxes full of product onto it while digging out our cart. However, my husband was able to snag a convention center cart, so I just started piling stuff onto it and pushing it in. As soon as I could get to the mini-grid units and their connectors, I took them in so he could start putting together our structures, just in case another round of storms came through. I did not want to lose time like we had in 2015, when we didn't prioritize our structural units and got stuck standing watching the walls of water pouring down off the convention center overhangs.
Fortunately, the weather stayed clear long enough for me to get everything into the convention center. It also helps that I was much stronger than I had been in 2019, when I was still recovering from three months of untreated hypothyroidism at the beginning of the year. Having been treated for it for two years by a proactive endocrinologist, combined with a lot of work in the garden over March and April had built my strength back up enough that I could keep a reasonable pace and push heavy loads, even in the muggy Florida heat.
Once the van was empty, I had to take it to a parking lot. Fortunately, I knew how to get up to the parking lot just northeast of the convention center, and was able to get the van parked quickly and efficiently. They now have a new system which also allows you to give your cellphone number, and they can text you when your parking is about to run out, so that you can request an extension. It's much better than having to take time out to run back to the parking lot and buy more parking.
I headed back to the convention center and tried to build as many of our structures as I could before they chased us out for the night. If we'd been able to get in at the beginning, we might well have been able to build all our structures in time. Instead, we still had several structures that needed building, which meant that we'd start Friday already behind.
Because my husband isn't able to walk the distance back to the parking lot, I had him sit on a bench by the side of the plaza in front of the convention center, then hiked back and retrieved the van. We got back to the hotel in a reasonable time. Then I did a little more writing before going to bed, although that was pretty much a few jotted words on my Odd Prompts writing challenge.
On Friday we got our grab-and-go breakfast and headed downtown to finish setting up. I was able to drive onto the loading dock to drop off my husband, then took the van over to the parking lot and walked back up the loading dock ramp to avoid security theater at the attendee entrances. Then I dug in on building the remaining structures and getting them loaded with merchandise. Because I knew we were going to be running behind, I made sure to get all our boxes out of the aisles and into our booth spaces as quickly as I could manage.
At least we weren't scrambling to deal with stray boxes when the doors opened, but we were still visibly not finished setting up, which probably kept people from being eager to interrupt us. However, once we got things reasonably organized, the sales started coming in. We had fairly decent sales, if not spectacular ones. We sold a number of our Asian porcelains, including a tea set that we didn't have a duplicate for.
Once the vendor hall closed for the evening, we went over to the Marriott so my husband could sit in air conditioning while I went to retrieve the van. We got back to the hotel while it was still light out, and we actually had time for a more relaxed supper, as opposed to bites grabbed haphazardly while setting up. I also had time for some actual writing, trying to thread my way through my Odd Prompts writing challenge.
On Saturday we grabbed our breakfast and headed back to the convention center, following the usual process of dropping my husband off at the loading dock, then parking the van and returning through the back of house areas to avoid security theater. At least this time we just had to uncover our tables and finish getting signs up, in hopes that people would be more likely to buy when they didn't have to ask about prices.
Sales came in spurts. There were times when I was standing around idle, and others when we were so busy that the two of us couldn't keep up with the flow of traffic. By the time the dealers' room closed for the evening, I actually felt like we might be in good financial shape again. We headed back to the hotel where we had supper and I counted our cash. I was noticing a pattern very similar to what we'd seen at InConJunction -- relatively little cash, but lots of card transactions. I also got a little bit of writing done before we turned in for the night.
On Sunday we dragged out of bed to grab our breakfast, then headed downtown for the last day of the convention. Once we got our tables uncovered, I went through and restocked product from the back stock under our tables, particularly the hand fans and the Chinese massage balls. Then it was time to start dealing with customers.
Things were slow at first, but by noon they were really picking up. I figured that people were settling up with their hotels and knew how much they could spend and still leave enough money for gas and meals on the way home. However, it wasn't long after that before we started needing to put away the merchandise that hadn't gotten much attention. By some careful and judicious thinning of our displays, I had most of the time-consuming stuff packed before the doors closed, without looking like we were breaking down before the show closed.
Unlike previous years, we didn't have a lot of people still trying to give us money when the promoter's staff went around shooing everyone out. The crowds had thinned down about half an hour before, and I was able to pull the t-shirt boxes out and get them all packed so they'd be tight but not bursting. I'd hoped we would actually have some reduction in the t-shirt volume, but they must've relaxed some when people pulled shirts out of the stacks, because I had every single box filled to capacity.
Then I headed over to the parking lot to retrieve the van. It took a little longer than I would've liked to get through the line to the loading dock, but at least this time the dock master put me closer to the entrance, rather than on the far side. However, we weren't able to get our hands on one of the convention center's big flatbed carts until very close to the end, which meant that most of the loads had to be taken out on our little cart. Only at the very end, as it was getting time to load the things that go around the cart, were we finally able to get a flatbed and I could put our cart into its place and work things in around it. However, my biggest problem was things not wanting to fit properly now that we'd sold stuff. I ended up with some voids I couldn't get rid of in the back, and there was too much stuff in the middle, which meant we'd still be cram-packed on our return trip.
At least this year we were able to get finished before security was itching to close and lock the loading dock gates. We were the last ones to get our stuff off the show floor, and I inconvenienced another dealer (one of our neighbors all weekend) with a miscommunication because I was getting so tired that I wasn't tracking as well as I should've. But there were still several dealers loading stuff into their vehicles when we pulled out and headed down the ramp. It was a rather strange feeling, knowing there was a very real possibility that the new owners of the convention would change it in ways that would not be a good fit with our business model, and thus we may well have just left our last Tampa Bay Comic Con ever.
We got back to our hotel in good time, had supper and did a little winding down before turning in for the night. I was able to get a little writing done, if only a few ideas scribbled down.
On Monday we got up and grabbed our breakfast, then carried our personal belongings out to the van. As I had expected, fitting everything in there made it thoroughly cram-packed, which could be a good thing if it meant that nothing had any room to move. On the other hand, it could be awkward if we stopped on the way only to discover that things no longer fit as they had previously.
The first part of our journey wasn't all that bad, and when we got to Gainesville, I thought we'd be making good time. As we passed one exit, we had an extremely close call with a driver who tried to forcibly merge right into where we were. I barely avoided a bad accident, and then saw the warning that traffic was congested a mile ahead because of an accident.
We spent the next hour creeping forward, trying not to overheat the engine as we made our way through what turned out to be a multi-vehicle pileup. There were two jackknifed semis that had slid off the road, one with its trailer rolled over and mangled, and there were multiple cars and SUV's that were badly damaged. One car had its trunk ripped open at at least one basket of clothing lying on the pavement beside. Since I was driving, I couldn't get a good look, but it was a very definite mess.
So I was rather shaken as I proceeded to the state line and the Agricultural Inspection Station. This time the guy at the window actually asked me what we had, but waved us on as soon as he heard we were hauling t-shirts, porcelains and collectibles.
Once we crossed the state line, we stopped at Valdosta to get some gas and stretch a bit. Then we made the final push to Macon, where we were planning to stay two nights before doing Atlanta Comic Con (or ATL Comic Convention, as it was being formally known) the next weekend. I'd thought it'd be a relatively easy trip, but we ran into heavy rain that slowed us down. As a result, we ended up having to make an additional stop at a gas station to get in a much necessary break before continuing to Macon.
By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was getting dark. At least the rain had pretty well lightened up, so I didn't have too much trouble getting parked. The desk clerk had no trouble taking a cash payment, and I then carried in our personal belongings so we could settle in until it was time to head to Atlanta and our second convention of the journey.
Copyright 2021 by Leigh Kimmel
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Last updated August 30, 2021.