Virtual Comicon Convention Hall

[Dick Pontoon]

I enjoyed it, though I'm still kicking myself for missing the boat on one book yesterday.

 

Everything Arex said is right on the money. Don't separate the ages, keep it on one "hall" and especially be careful about soliciting noobs. I appreciate Jive's desire to sell more and to a broader audience, but we already have an overabundance of spammers and shysters. Heavy advertising is only going to exacerbate the problem, perhaps until the Marketplace becomes untenable.

 

Every seller may not be in a position to do so, but flexibilty on price and rotating stock are also good methods to generate sales and keep the VCC fresh.

[Pirate]

I don't like the multiple threads as it means i have to watch three separate threads at all times. I had no trouble navigating through the 7.5 pages of sales

[njiron]

You know what guys, this was a stroke of brilliance! Everybody wins! I am the type of guy who doesn't like to go to cons too often because I really don't feel like driving really far to search for a few 20-50 dollar books that dealers may not even have.

 

The virtual con was great because I can browse everybody's stuff with no sweat. Best of all, even amateur sellers like me can jump on and sell some stuff.

 

Just some opinions:

 

1) The VCC should be no more than once every two months. I would like to see it more frequently, but in the end, I want it to be a novelty.

 

2) I'm not a big fan of separating ages because I think it makes buying more confusing. It will probably help sellers more if they have their inventory all in their own thread (just like a dealer at a con has their stuff all at one table.

[Buck Biggins]

1. I prefer not to seperate the ages. Leave it all in one thread.

2. Keep it a novelty. 2 times a year sounds about right. Gives people time to build up things to sell and gives buyers a chance to save up more dough. If you have it too often it will lose its novelty. If you make it 2x a year people will make sure to attend as it becomes a larger event.

[Nostalgic Attic]

This was a ton of fun. Definitely hope we do it again.

 

Thanks to everyone who moderated and/or contributed.

 

 

I sold a few and bought a few. I really enjoyed it. The advantages this format offers for both the buyers and the sellers are numerous.

We need to get the word out about this event so the dealers stock doesn't stagnate. Perhaps start a thread to kick around some advertising ideas?

[Nostalgic Attic]

1. I prefer not to seperate the ages. Leave it all in one thread.

2. Keep it a novelty. 2 times a year sounds about right. Gives people time to build up things to sell and gives buyers a chance to save up more dough. If you have it too often it will lose its novelty. If you make it 2x a year people will make sure to attend as it becomes a larger event.

 

Unless there is a really compelling reason, I think it should stay in one thread. I had no problem navigating, and my connection isn't very fast. I collect and sell late silver through early modern, but enjoy seeing golden age as well and liked seeing it all in one place.

[Jeffro.]

I enjoyed the whole thing, even though I only sold one book. It was a blast looking through other peoples stuff.

 

I'll echo others comments about more notice next time. Give folks a chance to plan both buying and selling.

 

Kudos to the organizers. Great idea. Looking forward to the next one.

[bubbagump]

I wanted to thank Donut, Sckao, and anyone else who helped organize the con. It was a great idea and lot of fun. Special thanks to Sckao, as I learned something new in how to spruce up my posts.

 

I think that everything should be kept in one 'hall'. There is a lot of stuff that I don't normally buy, but enjoy looking at (and will occasionally buy on a whim), that I might not go to another thread to see.

 

Also, I would like to see this done about every 2 to 3 months.

[djpinkpanther67]

This was a great idea & next time I will try to have a booth of my own, even though I don't have too much stuff to offer (but they are high quality h20)

[Ze-man]

I echo the sentiment already expressed by everyone.

 

Terrific job by all involved!! Sadly I was hosting my in-laws this week and was short on time, coupled with the little problem I am not in the market to buy right now. But I saw PLENTY I would have considered buying.. especially that ST #58 listed by Dad&Son. but I did snag a nice HOS I needed.

 

So I hope the VC continues for years to come, and is a viable alternative for both buyers and sellers to reach each other. It appears we need more buyers though.. it was like a party with 50 guys, and 5 girls. If anything this format can be used to transfer listed books to the regular MP threads after the Con is over.

 

Only thing I would have liked to have seen was a button to click when we entered the Hall so the organizers would have an idea of how much foot traffic there actually was. And coerce Redhook into coming up with a spiffy Inaugural VC brochure.. One we can all print out and sell on Ebay 30 years from now!!

 

Thanks again for everyone's effort. It was a singular experience strolling through the Virtual Halls. And a breath of fresh air for the Marketplace.

 

Huzzah!

 

Ze-

[Zonker]

Great job everyone!

 

My DSL choked on loading all the thumbnails-- maybe limit each seller's thumbnails to a single row across the screen? (i.e. their Wall Books) Then use links for all the other scans. Of course I could have chosen to reduce the number of posts/page if I had thought about it, but that would have also made it harder to thumb through everyone's stuff.

 

I'll echo the other comments in favor of keeping all the stuff together & 1 post per seller. Those ideas worked fine as far as I could tell.

[KingOfRulers]

Is it possible to come up with the next vcc date soon? It might be beneficial to get a date as early as possible, so we could give notices about it early on other message boards like CPG and comiccovers.

[towards2112]

I agree on a longer headsup date. I had a booth reserved, had about

60 books to go up, and the AS400 server at the store crashed about

3pm, and my asst mgr freaked out. I cussed and swore *spoon* the

whole 50 mile drive. I left instructions on how to edit and upload with

the wife, but, she's not forum savy, so nada went up. BUT I'll

definetly be there next round. I used Shin's format and it looked pretty

spiffy. GREAT JOB GUYS !!!

[shiverbones]

I also think all books should be together. Its part of the fun to gaze at everything, make sit feel more like a real con!

[Mr. Zipper]

Nice job everyone! A great concept done well.

[s-man]

This was a great idea...just one suggestion, make it really earlier (like starting in the morning) or extend it to two days for those of us who have night jobs and hold weird working hours

[Forbush-Man]

Just some thoughts/suggestions

 

1) Set the date now! for the next VCC (every 2-3 months to keep it an event)

 

2) Open the doors on a Sunday at 3:00pm EST and let it go for 6-10 hours, or not close at all....just leave them up. PM's still go out later.

 

3) Keep all the books in the same area: half the fun of a con is browsing

 

4) Pick your favorite layout and copy & paste the code to word for later use

 

5) Have all participants set up & ready to go no less than 1/2 hour before opening (buyers can browse/window shop early).

 

6) Maximum of 7 thumbnails across & only two rows deep. Then seperate next group with seller notes for those books (grade, OSPG $$, My Price= $$)

 

7) PLEASE include OSPG value in listing.

 

For a frist time VCC, it was very well done.

[followtheleader]

I agree with ArexCrooke's sentiments.

 

As someone else mentioned, it would be great if booth owners were ready by the start time. Maybe booth owners, who weren't ready by the start time, could delete their original post/booth and append to the end. That way it bumps the thread (giving more visibility), people don't have to search through the entire thread again, and it still allows the sellers to pre-show their VCC booth.

 

Pat

[Jeffro.]

Is it possible to come up with the next vcc date soon? It might be beneficial to get a date as early as possible, so we could give notices about it early on other message boards like CPG and comiccovers.

 

Agreed. Let's set a date then get the word out.

[FlyingDonut]

Some thoughts from the show promoter

 

1. I think the next VCC will be in April. I'll have to check the convention schedules and see when things are but maybe the weekend after Easter.

 

2. No separation of books by "Ages" - the whole point of a con is to have everything in the same room. This "show" had a little of everything, from dollar books to Filter's big ticket items. Gold, Silver, Bronze, Modern, there was everything here.

 

3. Next show will be longer, and will probably be on a Sunday. Maybe we'll have a "preview night" on the Saturday.

 

4. The single thread idea worked much much better than I thought it would - unless there's something very different coming down the pike, that's the way the next one will be set up. Hopefully we can get it pinned next time.

 

5. I'll put a "sign in" poll at the front of the next one - everybody just click the "I'm here" button and we can see the amount of traffic.

 

6. Maybe somebody (RedHook) with some art skills (Mica) could make a "flyer".

 

7. And again, I really want this to be open to anybody who wants to set up. If Neatstuff wants to set up here, more power to them. Same with Chuck. The same rules apply to them as apply to everybody else.

 

Thanks to everybody who participated, and special props to Shin for all of his work in getting everybody photobucket and listing ready.