Golden-Con 2023
It has been QUITE the doozy since coming back from Golden-Con! I finally got out all my post-GC orders (thank you to everyone who was so patient!)
Day 1 - before they opened the doors. Look at this now, with fresh eyes, I can see that I should have displayed more totes hanging behind me. ::shrugs:: You live and you learn.
…but I have to be honest:
I went into the event with a sort of feeling of disillusionment before we even arrived in Chicago.
Courtney noticed it, too. At one point during the long ass drive to Chicago she said, “You don’t seem as excited as you were last year.”
She was right, and I couldn’t understand why I was feeling that way. As I’d been planning and printing, guesstimating how much apparel to bring and what people might love, etc. I felt this quiet but firm voice in my head repeating, This year will not be as successful as last year. Have you ever had that sort of gut, preemptive feeling?
It’s not that you’re being cynical or defeatist. It’s a feeling you have in your bones; a feeling that you know to be true.
And in some ways that feeling checked out.
Monetarily
…my gut was right. Unfortunately, I lost money with this event. I believe a few key factors contributed to this:
The attendance was down about a third to half (max!) of what it was in 2022.
The vibe of the attendees was different. 2022 brought out mostly fanatics and die hard fans. 2023 seemed like a majority were run of the mill fans of the show, or people who attended to support their friend who was a fan of the show.
The event was split between 2 floors. When it was panel or performance time, people cleared the eff out of the vendor’s market. If the main stage were on our floor people undoubtedly would have strolled, browsed and been more inclined to purchase (I certainly would!)
Relationship-wise
…it rocked my effing socks off. As requested, we were placed right next to our friends, twistedEGOS, which is how we met them last year. It was so good to see, talk and laugh with them again! We were even able to grab dinner together on the last night of the convention.
I freaking finally got to meet some people with whom I’ve only corresponded via instagram. It was so awesome to be able to meet in person, grab a meal together and get more in-depth conversation.
My biggest takeaway from this year’s Golden-Con is this:
Since I started Heck Yes, Y’all in 2017 I tried vending at different conventions and craft fairs and always thought, If only there were a convention solely for The Golden Girls, that would be the antidote to all this time that I spend trying to get my company name out there to this small but mighty subculture! I’d finally be able to tap into the fanatical base!
Well, a convention finally did happen in 2022 and it was very successful. I’d finally tapped into the core fan group and they knew that my products existed. I’d hoped that it would yield a greater following and a more consistent cash flow moving forward.
By the time Courtney and I packed up my car on the final day of Golden-Con 2023, the reality of it all was irrefutable.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cut the cake!”
It’s a tough pill to swallow but if HYY has not ‘exploded’ as it is after 5 years -
Selling on Etsy (a giant marketplace!)
RuPaul’s DragCon
2 BUST Craftaculars
Vending at Golden Girls drag performances
AND
2 fuh-reaking Golden-Cons
then no amount of cultivating and tending to this company will yield the growth I want to see. It’s also possible that my viewpoint of what ‘exploding’ looks like is unrealistic.
Maybe the growth I’ve seen and garnered up until this point is what explosion looks like for HYY when solely focused on The Golden Girls.
Regardless, the HYY garden will not expand in any direction unless I decide to plant more.
I doubt there are many farmers - actual farmers, not figurative ones - who only grow carrots. People love carrots but enough to keep coming back to a carrot farm when they could go to a farm that sells carrots as well as cucumbers and tomatoes and kale? #imjustsayin.
Beginning this summer I will offer products with myriad pop culture references. There are a handful of TV shows and movies that have timeless quotes that are not featured many places (if any!) Think:
The Office • Who’s the Boss? • Some Kind of Wonderful • VEEP • Schitt’s Creek • Pretty In Pink • etc.
Nothing changes if nothing changes, right?
Thank you for sticking around the past few years. Your support is immeasurably appreciated.
With heaps of gratitude and gusto,
