this is a deeply unpopular opinion but i think in general we need to start holding conventions to higher standards wrt how they treat their indie artists. like when i went to momocon they set up mine and several other tables literally on top of each other and i had to chase down the staff to get us the spaces we paid several hundred dollars for. That sucked! but what REALLY got me is when i mentioned this was unacceptable the other artists involved nobody wanted to "make waves," one even told me i'd better not apply to heroescon because they'd laugh in my face for complaining. that was my first Big show, where i knew other artists even, and that response was so fucking weird i've never forgotten it lmao. then across a bunch of smaller shows:
-someone set off a fire alarm! there was no emergency exit plan in place, the staff disappeared and everyone in the artist alley just sort of had to Figure It Out
-some vendors being trapped in industrial loading zones for nearly /seven hours/ because the load-in info was incorrect and the people directing traffic were city police, who had no idea what the event even was
-me and several other vendors being locked OUT of loading zones and instructed to carry entire tables around the block, in the rain, because venue security "didn't like the look of us" and didn't want us bothering people attending a different event in the same building
-paying for a table, booking a room and traveling three hours and showing up to be told they had no record of me applying; if i didn't compulsively save all my convention correspondence i wouldn't have been allowed in
-"this 2020 season we'll be running our show As Usual but we understand if you want to back out because of personal reasons; we are unable to provide refunds"
also the usual stuff like lack of air conditioning or heat, shoving small artist tables right next to industry behemoths or resellers, or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by poor planning, lmao
anyway it's taboo to call out this shit because people are afraid of being blacklisted but god are we really SO scared of this industry we'll pay hundreds of dollars to get treated like this, do we need the tiny table shoved as far away from the main entrance as possible that badly? if a show blacklists you for asking for THE THING YOU PAID FOR is it really worth walking on eggshells?? we've GOT to respect ourselves more jfc
