What an amazing time, so many cool new and unique things to see, and it is a very small con. First off, I hate it when I “skunk” at tables, but they are usually 100 - 350 dollars, and this was not what I thought this con would be. I thought more actual Cons would be here, talking about marketing, scouting new or unknown artists and booths and see what may or may not be available to go to, or where my wands would fit in. I thought they could wander and see your “setup” and your wares and ask questions about what you do, I thought wrong.

I will admit, I was 7 wands short, with the #wandsforkids and a pretty good Christmas season, I was ok with it. Also I am refinishing my high end wand stand, so space performance was not peak. Also, I got moved out of my original spot (which I had a different set up idea) and I am not sure why, so were a lot of people. I had soooo many questions about my process, the woods that I used, and even the reason I make my own display boxes. I really did enjoy my time,

As many of you know I did not want to “Make it Big” but I would like to break even, last year I did this, actually I was a few dollars in the black, this is really a hobby I paid to get a business license for, and to the surprise of many, I never wanted to make money doing this. I raised the prices a bit to support my new #wandsforkids project, but I think I need to reevaluate this idea. Many old friends showed up, and thanks to my buddy Alex from Miniature Dragon Comics, I met even more people (he really knows everyone).

Alex (left) and Woody (right) setting up the Miniature Dragon Comics booth

I do wish that more cons would have shown, a small table for them would be pretty awesome, but that they would wonder, ask questions of each of the owners, and even gave feed back to what was at each booth. Pretty happy though over all talking with people asking them about their items and even meeting new people in the community. I will end up going back if I am still making wands again next year, but only time will tell.

If you have any questions or comments about the Kick off the Cons event, write them below, I would love to hear from you. For now and as always, Keep it Nerdy and Live Your Dreams. - Doc

Thoughts from Kick off the Cons - Renton, Washington - February 1, 2020