Appendix C A Short Guide to Publicity and Sales at Conventions
Conventions are good for more than binge drinking, hula-hooping, and leering at scantily clad women. If you play your cards right, you can get cost-effective publicity and you just might be able to sell a movie or two. To boost your sales at a convention, try to do as many of the following as (sub)humanly possible:
The following are some of the conventions where we have had the most success.
This is one of the best conventions for sales, but, due to border patrol and customs, it can be very expensive to get your product there legally. One way around this is to explain to border guards that you are only going there to promote and that all of your product is only for displays and giveaways.
Largest crowd and best media coverage of any convention, but the enormity of the con may adversely affect sales if people just can’t find you.
This is one of the largest of the hotel-located conventions. It always has a diverse guest list, as well as fun after-hours activities. Past parties have included circus-style sideshows and horror-themed concerts. Horrorhound also puts on another smaller con in Cincinnati in November.
Good mix of popular and rare stars. Sales can vary dependent on attendees waiting in line for stars. Monster Mania also puts on a couple of smaller cons in Connecticut and Maryland.
Smaller convention, but sales often equal that of larger ones. Film screenings and parties every night. Very diverse guest list. The majority of the guests do not appear at other conventions, so this one is a destination for many fans.
Very busy convention. Big crowds can sometimes make it hard for people to get to your booth.
Good guest lists and fun extracurricular activities make this a popular convention.
This is the last, large genre convention in Chicago. The city has a good monetary base, and the convention always has a good location.
Celebrities are only accessible after their Q&As, leaving attendees more time to shop.
Along with movie screenings, this convention also features readings by authors. Just over the Maryland border, this con pulls a large number of people from the Baltimore area.
Fun convention with a lot going on. And vendors get free passes to the concerts!
One final tip we’ve learned from years of conventions is to avoid any first-time convention like the plague. No matter what wonderful plans the organizer has, no matter what amount of advertising they do, no matter what grandiose guest list they have, you will tank at that convention. Run, screaming, from it, and stick to established conventions. If after a few years it still exists, then you might want to check it out.
1 At the Troma booth, we depend on our loyal Tromettes. Aside from being attractive/sexy/intriguing, the biggest requirement is that they must be willing to wear minimal clothing. On one occasion, when I didn’t properly screen a Tromette, the result was a very cute girl who absolutely refused to wear anything less than three shirts and a sweater. This resulted in Lloyd referring to her all weekend as Super Tromette 7-Layeria. It also resulted in countless emails from Lloyd before almost every convention since, reminding me to not be an incompetent dolt, and to make sure that the Tromettes were willing to dress sexily.