Cranium Comics

March seventh finally rolled around and I realized once again it was time. I gathered up all my Cranium Comics gear and made the 40 minute hike from my house in north Austin to the Monarch Auditorium near Highland Mall. It was good to be participating again, especially seeing how many new vendors had registered early and what seemed like a flood of new attendees the day of the event. After an email exchange with “Uncle Staple” himself (Chris Nicholas), my guesstimate was pretty close. They had over 100 additional attendees than last year and continue to grow. The event even ran extended hours, which was nice for vendors looking to hang out a little later than normal.

Although I got some great feedback on our first issue of Brawn last year, I went in with only an additional “Sampler” promotional piece which included the cover of the next issue. While I was happy with everything I sold, as an owner it’s important to be realistic about what your goals are in attending any conference, including this one. While selling merchandise is nice, the convention scene seems to be more about connecting with your audience and meeting new potential fans. It hadn’t really identified that until my second year. I guess when you’ve got your baby sitting on the table you want everyone to show the same excitement that you have for your product. Those things take time. One of the things I’m most proud of is that we now have over 100 people signed up on our mailing list and are adding more all the time. Many had asked when the next issue was due to arrive and all I can say is that it is in the works.

I appreciated every opportunity to interact with people who approached me. The most rewarding thing for me was when someone asked for information about the character and I gave him my 30 second elevator pitch. The “you sold me” response afterward made it all worth it. This year, it wasn’t about selling more books, although I did sell a few more. It seemed to be about reconnecting with people who had either had seen it last year or were walking by and had an interest.

Thanks for everyone’s support in going forward on this. If you haven’t had a chance to see the latest Gray Matter, Cranium’s newsletter, feel free to take a look at that as well. We’ve got a couple fun and exciting projects that we hope to get people involved in, so look for those shortly. Until then, I look forward to hearing some of your feedback on our efforts thus far. Feel free to let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see on the site as well.