No EF for us this year...

I talked to the organizer of the Dealer's Den. Apparently the main reason why , , and me didn't get a table this year was because we mentioned we wanted to sit next to each other. They could have found a table for one or maybe two of us still, but since there are many big groups this time and they didn't want to separate ours they decided none of us would get in. Yay.

They have a very well located Artist Alley this year, but with no guarantee to get a table, it's first come first serve. We don't know how many people will try to get a spot there and how early they'll wait there, so it's too risky for us, especially because we all planned to earn back the costs for hotel, con ticket and food. Worst case would be to travel there, pay for everything, having prepared a heap of art and then not getting a table or only for a day or only for one or two of us. Each of us is dependant on the money so we have to stick together and can't be like "Don't care what you're gonna do as long as I get to sell my stuff!".

So we decided to cancel the hotel now.

I still don't know if I get my two panels at the art-show. In case I do I'll travel to EF to set them up and once more to pick up the leftovers and the money. Fortunately Berlin isn't that far away from where I live, so and me will use the chance to roam the city on those days.

It's a huge bummer that it didn't work out this year....

What I'm gonna do is an online Dealer's Den table. I'll prepare all the things I planned to and will put them online at the end of July / start of August. Sketches, prints, magnets, original art + sketch commissions which will be sent to the clients.

About your comments, questions and suggestions :

"Go to smaller conventions instead."

That's not as profitable as one big convention. You have to take into consideration that for each con you have to pay hotel, con ticket, travel and food. I went to Nordic FuzzCon in March and the costs where the same as for EF. Let's say 500€ alltogether. That's 500€ you have to earn back BEFORE you make any profit. If you sell art for 800€ you have a profit of 300€. But then remember how much time went into preparations, you had to draw pictures for the art-show, prints, sketches, buy frames, etc. If you had used all that time, the preparation time and days you spent at the con, for regular commissions, you probably would have earned the same amount, without all the extra stress. That's how I calculate.
And I can tell you, EF is a LOT more profitable than such small cons.

"Sell your stuff in your room."

No, just no. I don't want to let strangers in my room, none of my friends do. We don't want to sit in our room all day long and hope someone will show up. The hotel is HUGE and we would have to place a dozen signs everywhere to make people find our room. And no offense, but people are lazy, I doubt they would walk through half the hotel to look at art from artists they might have never heard of.

"Wait some more, maybe you get a table later when someone else cancels."

But chances that all 4 of us would get one are pretty much nonexistant. Like I said, we're friends and can't push the others away and stomp forward like "Go away, this is MINE!". We also can't wait until it's only a few days before EF in hopes to still get a spot, since we have to prepare art, take holidays and the hotel has to be canceled early and not one day before EF.


"It's common for dealers to rotate so everyone gets a chance."

Yes, it sounds fair. What irks me is that popular furs who are there EVERY year got their tables, artists who are less well known but attending regularly also got their tables and complete newbies who were never there before also got theirs. The main reason why we didn't get in is because there are so many dealers this time and they didn't want to separate our group. Instead of, I dunno, offering us to share tables with each other, which wouldn't have been a problem. Smaller selling space would still have been better than no selling space at all. And btw, I highly doubt the the popufurs won't get their tables next year.