Oyyy, definitely a shame to see GalaxyCon was lowkey a bust in 2023 too. 😔 I tabled there in 2022, their first year in Columbus, and noticed all of the same problems you did! Mainly the "everyone only cares about autographs" issue. I think GalaxyCon is known for their celeb appearances, and they don't really seem interested in helping the Artist's Alley stand out to combat that. They kinda just shove it in a corner and that's that. :'^) When I attended, every artist I spoke to was doing really poorly, it was such a shame. I'm considering trying Animate! Columbus next year, which is run by the same team but seems at least a little more affordable. 400 bucks for a table at a convention as rough as GalaxyCon is INSANE!
GalaxyCon Austin had the exact layout, they attendees would come in either through the celebrity hall or vendor and they put all the artists on the back. The bigger artists didn’t even make table/broke even till almost at the end of the second day. I lost 500. Made back table but not anything else.
Hiya! I was also an artist here! (I go by TakeMyMora on everything) (I see the back of my bucket hat in a shot and I was next to jade ha) I flew in but I used a voucher that was expiring at the end of the year so I was able to justify going back to my home state (I am from Cleveland but am Boston based rn) I will say, the layout was awful. They opened the doors right by the celebs and that is like putting your eggs and milk in the front row. People spent all their money by the time they got to you (I was in the front of AA, and I do think I did better because of that) But this was just a game of too many exhibitors for the size and the layout needing to have artists in the front and celebs in the back. In the end, I did almost triple my expenses, and since this is my first year, tripling expenses is what I need to justify going back to a con. So, especially since id be paying for flight next time, I could never justify this con unless they make some dramatic changes. I use square and it broke on me about the same time. I lost a few sales unfortunately from that. I had a lot of fun in terms of meeting new artist friends since this was my first Midwest show, and my dad got to see me doing my dream job in person, which was really wonderful. However, I will say the vibes were...off. Especially Friday and early Saturday. It was the first con where people felt kinda....unimpressed? I usually have people running up and that sort of thing and there was a definite lack of interest. It may just be a culture shock, but at least I did better than lose who ended up losing. Also in the northeast, tables are notoriously overpriced (the smallest shows have 350 tables) so I didnt have a perspective on the table price, but the vibes of the attendees was really kinda a bummer those first two days, then this show ended up getting me triple the amount of followers I usually get, so it was a bit of a nice boost that people didnt just not like my work Hope I can see you at a future show though!
Can confirm - a lot of the drive is through the boonies. Fr thought id never escape the farm land lol. Also, yesss it was so crazy busy fr. It was so nice to see you there though! 💜 - Jae (Woodbunnycosplay, ie: IRL Amber )
thank you for letting us know about whether its worth it to go, especially as a fellow detroit artist. I debated applying for next year since its a columbus con i could use it as an excuse to visit my bff who moved down there. I'm hoping to get into matsuricon *fingers crossed* Looking forward to seeing you guys at some of the local cons! I'll be at isshocon in Novi, MI for its first year con and I'm really hoping it goes well cause youmacon has become absolute poop. Hoping you guys will be there too I'd love to get some of your genshin pins
Sorry that Galaxy wasn't the best for you! It was still a fun con as an attendee, but it was definitely different than what I'd expected. Not to mention, it was VERY crowded, especially in dealer's, on Saturday. I don't even think I even got to see all the artists even though I spent hours in there. But I'm really glad I had the chance to stop by, say hello, and get a couple super cute Frieren stickers from you! Can't wait to see you again at the next con!
Sucks the con was a bust! But I am curious about your point of sale issue. I also use PayPal Zettle. I haven't had issues with it before (luckily!!), but I'd love to know what the issue was and if it can be avoided. I can't switch to Square because they couldn't verify my identity, the bastards.
They locked my account and said they needed to know "what I was selling". So I had to go through 30 different transactions and tell them what they were for lol Then I had to wait for them to unlock my account which was going to take 5 business days. When I called regarding this they just said there was nothing I could do and had to just wait. Why did they decide to do it right then and there? No idea 😅
@@luckycatmarket Fucking wacky! Sounds just like PayPal though. I'll just cross my fingers and hope it doesn't happen during an event. Wouldn't be the first time I've had to be cash only. Seriously frustrating that this happened on top of a slow event. Wishing you better luck at your next event!
Loved the Vlog!! Even though the con wasn’t the greatest😔I’ll hopefully be uploading my vid soon too:) Thanks for showing off my boi Appa💕💕And just from what you said, I had a feeling that Ohio people just like looking and not buying! I need to come to Michigan cons!!
You were not alone on the paypal front. Midwest furfest was the same weekend and the table next to me had the same problem. And turns out paypal was limiting everyone for some reason.
SO THANKFUL TO BE NEXT TO YOU THE WHOLE TIME AND NOT MENTIONED ONCE ❤❤❤ JK i luv u and was glad we got to watch that Adam Sandler lizard movie together
Hey girly! It's lizzy (Sew Yummy Crafts) I'm happy you like your gift! I really do enjoy watching your vids even if you don't enjoy looking at yourself lol I hope to see you again at another con! 💛 maybe one close to you this time instead of ohio 😂
I feel like a lot of Galaxycon branches that aren't the main one didn't do well at all. The one in Austin was v disappointing for my friends. What also sucks, though, is that they decided to run the same weekend as a well-established con in Texas called San Japan. There was no way it was going to survive. Another thing is that I believe they had the same, if not similar, layout where people walked to the celebrities first before getting to AA, which also sucked for everyone.
I will say when it comes to conventions. I am very much a window shopper. Mainly because it does take a lot out of me just to buy anything, and I'm that person who talks themselves out of buying stuff. But I'm also very used to doing meet and greets at a store that near me. So I'm not as used to artist alley stuff cause, literally it is just me buying an autograph and leaving. It really sucks knowing you did, really poorly at this con. And I want every artist to make their expensives back and a lot more money in their pocket.
LOL oh boy I should have found this video before applying and being accepted by Galaxycon San Jose!
Oyyy, definitely a shame to see GalaxyCon was lowkey a bust in 2023 too. 😔 I tabled there in 2022, their first year in Columbus, and noticed all of the same problems you did! Mainly the "everyone only cares about autographs" issue. I think GalaxyCon is known for their celeb appearances, and they don't really seem interested in helping the Artist's Alley stand out to combat that. They kinda just shove it in a corner and that's that. :'^) When I attended, every artist I spoke to was doing really poorly, it was such a shame.
I'm considering trying Animate! Columbus next year, which is run by the same team but seems at least a little more affordable. 400 bucks for a table at a convention as rough as GalaxyCon is INSANE!
GalaxyCon Austin had the exact layout, they attendees would come in either through the celebrity hall or vendor and they put all the artists on the back. The bigger artists didn’t even make table/broke even till almost at the end of the second day. I lost 500. Made back table but not anything else.
Your booth was so cute. I love Beans 😻 I had a 10x10 space at this one. Definitely felt like everyone spent at the celebrities over shopping.
This is such a fun video, watched till the end ❤❤❤
Hiya! I was also an artist here! (I go by TakeMyMora on everything) (I see the back of my bucket hat in a shot and I was next to jade ha) I flew in but I used a voucher that was expiring at the end of the year so I was able to justify going back to my home state (I am from Cleveland but am Boston based rn) I will say, the layout was awful.
They opened the doors right by the celebs and that is like putting your eggs and milk in the front row. People spent all their money by the time they got to you (I was in the front of AA, and I do think I did better because of that) But this was just a game of too many exhibitors for the size and the layout needing to have artists in the front and celebs in the back. In the end, I did almost triple my expenses, and since this is my first year, tripling expenses is what I need to justify going back to a con. So, especially since id be paying for flight next time, I could never justify this con unless they make some dramatic changes.
I use square and it broke on me about the same time. I lost a few sales unfortunately from that. I had a lot of fun in terms of meeting new artist friends since this was my first Midwest show, and my dad got to see me doing my dream job in person, which was really wonderful. However, I will say the vibes were...off. Especially Friday and early Saturday. It was the first con where people felt kinda....unimpressed? I usually have people running up and that sort of thing and there was a definite lack of interest. It may just be a culture shock, but at least I did better than lose who ended up losing.
Also in the northeast, tables are notoriously overpriced (the smallest shows have 350 tables) so I didnt have a perspective on the table price, but the vibes of the attendees was really kinda a bummer those first two days, then this show ended up getting me triple the amount of followers I usually get, so it was a bit of a nice boost that people didnt just not like my work
Hope I can see you at a future show though!
Can confirm - a lot of the drive is through the boonies. Fr thought id never escape the farm land lol. Also, yesss it was so crazy busy fr. It was so nice to see you there though! 💜 - Jae (Woodbunnycosplay, ie: IRL Amber )
thank you for letting us know about whether its worth it to go, especially as a fellow detroit artist. I debated applying for next year since its a columbus con i could use it as an excuse to visit my bff who moved down there. I'm hoping to get into matsuricon *fingers crossed* Looking forward to seeing you guys at some of the local cons! I'll be at isshocon in Novi, MI for its first year con and I'm really hoping it goes well cause youmacon has become absolute poop. Hoping you guys will be there too I'd love to get some of your genshin pins
Sorry that Galaxy wasn't the best for you! It was still a fun con as an attendee, but it was definitely different than what I'd expected. Not to mention, it was VERY crowded, especially in dealer's, on Saturday. I don't even think I even got to see all the artists even though I spent hours in there. But I'm really glad I had the chance to stop by, say hello, and get a couple super cute Frieren stickers from you! Can't wait to see you again at the next con!
Sucks the con was a bust! But I am curious about your point of sale issue. I also use PayPal Zettle. I haven't had issues with it before (luckily!!), but I'd love to know what the issue was and if it can be avoided. I can't switch to Square because they couldn't verify my identity, the bastards.
They locked my account and said they needed to know "what I was selling". So I had to go through 30 different transactions and tell them what they were for lol Then I had to wait for them to unlock my account which was going to take 5 business days. When I called regarding this they just said there was nothing I could do and had to just wait. Why did they decide to do it right then and there? No idea 😅
@@luckycatmarket Fucking wacky! Sounds just like PayPal though. I'll just cross my fingers and hope it doesn't happen during an event. Wouldn't be the first time I've had to be cash only. Seriously frustrating that this happened on top of a slow event. Wishing you better luck at your next event!
Loved the Vlog!! Even though the con wasn’t the greatest😔I’ll hopefully be uploading my vid soon too:) Thanks for showing off my boi Appa💕💕And just from what you said, I had a feeling that Ohio people just like looking and not buying! I need to come to Michigan cons!!
You were not alone on the paypal front. Midwest furfest was the same weekend and the table next to me had the same problem. And turns out paypal was limiting everyone for some reason.
SO THANKFUL TO BE NEXT TO YOU THE WHOLE TIME AND NOT MENTIONED ONCE ❤❤❤ JK i luv u and was glad we got to watch that Adam Sandler lizard movie together
States to avoid: Tennesse, Georgia, Ohio, FL, and Texas. They're all lookers from my past experiences.
This is really good to know 👀
Hey girly! It's lizzy (Sew Yummy Crafts) I'm happy you like your gift! I really do enjoy watching your vids even if you don't enjoy looking at yourself lol I hope to see you again at another con! 💛 maybe one close to you this time instead of ohio 😂
I feel like a lot of Galaxycon branches that aren't the main one didn't do well at all. The one in Austin was v disappointing for my friends. What also sucks, though, is that they decided to run the same weekend as a well-established con in Texas called San Japan. There was no way it was going to survive. Another thing is that I believe they had the same, if not similar, layout where people walked to the celebrities first before getting to AA, which also sucked for everyone.
From the sounds of it, it's a Galaxy Con issue all over the US. Tons of other artists have had massive problems from GC's events.
I will say when it comes to conventions. I am very much a window shopper. Mainly because it does take a lot out of me just to buy anything, and I'm that person who talks themselves out of buying stuff. But I'm also very used to doing meet and greets at a store that near me. So I'm not as used to artist alley stuff cause, literally it is just me buying an autograph and leaving.
It really sucks knowing you did, really poorly at this con. And I want every artist to make their expensives back and a lot more money in their pocket.
Yea Galaxycon wasn’t it 😭😭 even tho I made profit it wasn’t worth❤❤ I love ur vlogs fr 💕🫶🏻