Looking back, October was a fun and busy month for us! With the exception of enjoying all of the fall activities, I feel like I spent most of it preparing for another show called Monster Bash! It was my second local event hosted by Elite Comics and once again, it was a great learning experience. 

If you missed reading about my first Free Comic Book Day, check it out here.

So how did it go?

Overall, the event was awesome!

It was on October 30th - the day before Halloween, and like last time, it was held at the Overland Park Convention Center. We hung out on the main floor this time. I liked it better because they set up the artists’ tables differently compared to May. The galley-style arrangement was more spacious and made it easier to maneuver around the hall. Bonus: I wasn’t directly in front of a bathroom. 

Since the hype around Monster Bash was abundant on social media, I expected the turnout to be bigger. I think the weather was a factor because it was a bit chilly. More so, I assume it had to do with being the day before a holiday. Families were probably out doing other activities with their kids. I imagined the nearby pumpkin patches and apple cider mills being completely overrun.  

I really enjoyed all the children (and adults) in costumes though! I’m glad my Manager Babe suggested bringing candy to give out to people as they passed my booth. It was a great way to start an interaction without seeming awkward or forceful, and seeing the kids’ faces light up at the sight of chocolate was an extra delight for me.

We actually dressed up too! My husband and I decided to go as the Marvel superheroes, Vision and Wanda, a powerful duo indeed. We were even asked to participate in a short video for the children at Children’s Mercy, a local hospital. It’s fun to think about children watching us say, “You’re super!” to them in our superhero costumes.

Despite the small crowd, I still managed to make a decent amount of money! I added more items to sell, like smaller sized prints and stickers, and I think more options and price points helped aid in my success. 

Speaking of adding more items, I expanded my inventory to include two more print designs which happened to be really popular! Since Monster Bash was in the spooky season, I wanted a print to showcase the theme. Thus, a new mash-up involving Jack Skellington and Pennywise was born! 

I also added a new size of prints. I already had the 12x18” size, but this time around, I was able to offer a smaller, cheaper option: the 8X12” size.

The other design that I’m proud of was my colorful Groot and Grogu mash-up (I just really like mash-ups). In the scene, they are both snacking and watching fireworks in Star Lord’s ship, the Benatar. I even made the cuties into a sticker! I love the design - the sticker company I used? Not so much, but I talk about that more below.

My Key Takeaways

Order Your Inventory in Advance

Ok, I’m sure you’re saying, “duh, Cassandra,” but I’m speaking to the procrastinators out there like myself. I’ve ordered prints the very week of an event and then the whole time, I was sweating bullets hoping they would arrive on time.

Don’t do that to yourself! 

For Monster Bash, I ordered my stuff three weeks in advance. This was a good move, because I had to send some of the stickers back due to unsatisfying quality. I spent extra time talking to customer service, going to the post office to send an order back, waiting until they received it, and then having them process and send me another order. All of that took about a week and a half to two weeks. So, you’ll want to take any foreseeable issues like that into account.

Having all of my inventory a week or so before Monster Bash also gave me time to prepare everything. I packaged the display prints and fixed the prints I was displaying on my backdrop with boards and magnets. I pre-packaged plastic sleeves with card stock to protect the prints my customers would buy. I also counted my inventory and organized everything to my liking without having to rush or stress out about the approaching event. 

Practice Setting Up Your Table 

I’m so glad I took the time to set everything up! I planned out the arrangement of prints on the backdrop behind my table for display. I ordered new supplies, like the grids and the bulletin board and figured out how to arrange them on the table. I played with different ways to display my smaller prints, stickers, and greeting cards which helped me realize other supplies I needed, like binder clips and specific push pins. 

Click on the images to enlarge

Another benefit of practicing my booth setup at home was that the operation was much smoother on the day of Monster Bash. Plus, doing the process ahead of time helped me pack up the supplies in an orderly way. This, in turn made my system quicker and more efficient because I knew where everything was.

Bottom-line: I definitely recommend doing a test run.

Test Different Companies for Products

As I mentioned before, I added a new product to my inventory - stickers! But holy macaroni, there are a lot of sticker companies! I did a large amount of research on which ones offered what features, which were highly rated, and which options were more cost effective, yet were of good quality. 

I tested three of them with different designs and ended up liking two. Sadly, I will not be using one of the companies in the future, but I go into more detail on the companies I researched and used in another post: “Comparing 5 Sticker Brands.” If you’re interested in my findings, give it a read!

This takeaway relates to my first key point in that I ordered in advance and was able to try out multiple companies. Now, I have a better idea of what options are offered and what I need to do with my sticker designs moving forward. Another perk: since I signed up for newsletters from certain companies, I’ll be aware of when they have sales and other cool offerings.

So What’s Next?

Like I said before, Monster Bash was a great way for me to level up my booth setup and my variety of products. My display was a little more elaborate, my inventory was more organized, and I had more items to sell. I feel like this was a necessary stepping stone to another, bigger event that I attended - Wichita’s Air Capital Comic Con! 

I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I’m sure I’ll have even more takeaways to share, so until next time - stay stellar!  

I’m curious: who is your favorite superhero? Let me know in the comments below!