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My First Tabling Experience


Well it's not my first first tabling experience. I tabled for fundraisers and event sign ups at my university, but this was different. This was the first time selling my own creations at a paid booth among other vendors!

I knew I wanted to do more to spread word of my work more instead of sticking to the Internet. I simply didn't know when. The ideas really spurred after attending my local comic convention and soon thereafter an arts and crafts festival. I saw a young boy tabling to sell scarves for dogs, and I was like, "if he can do it, what's stopping me from doing the same?" My mom suggested for me to look into tabling for the Taste of Soul event in California. The price was a bit steep for a beginner and the logistics would be a bit difficult for my first table, so I've decided to forgo that opportunity.

I was still interested in tabling somewhere!

Comic con season is coming to a close, so I researched for local events in the newspaper and online. Many of the events required me to have registered in the spring, others were too far, and a couple were still a bit steep. I found a farmer's market that had open registration. Unfortunately, the organizers didn't get back to me. Maybe next year!

Instead, I went to a flea market instead! I spent a few weeks researching and gathering everything that I would need. Jojo's tumblr blog was where I started, and it was super helpful. A packing list was even provided to help me figure out what I needed! Additionally, I watched Jennifer Charlee's videos about tabling which also provided some sweet tips! It was a bit of a waiting game for online orders and prints, but everything came in time for my first event!

Mom and I loaded in Saturday morning. I wasn't entirely sure if I was allowed to load in Sunday, the day of the event, so I brought everything just in case. The coordinators were really nice to help me find a spot with a lot of light to show off my art. Sunday, I had more items to display so we loaded in, and I was surprised at how many more vendors there were! I was excited.

People were coming in to browse/shop at the flea market early which was a sign that people knew about the event or were roaming about in the area at 10:00 AM. I was a bit concerned about the turnout, but learned that I had no reason to fret since a good number of people were floating about. It also wasn't crowded like a comic convention. People weren't shuffling about and riding the wave to get down the aisles. xD;

I definitely geeked out about all the firsts with my mom. People were actually looking at my work, complimenting the art, asking about prices, and opening up the opportunity to network!

I noticed a lot of people lingered on the side of my stickers and landscape prints. This made sense since I was at a flea market. The demographic was looking for things to spruce up their homes or to decorate a laptop or scrapbook.

My bug art did attract the attention of one woman and a sticker, don't quite know which, reminded another vendor of a collectible doll she had at home and forgot to bring. I didn't sell a lot, which I expected, but I treated this first time experience as a gallery to showcase.

I also gave people business cards when I noticed the lingerers would leave without taking something with them. I'm a shy person at heart, but all throughout college all I heard was "networking is the name of the game." Guys I networked, and that was my proudest moment! I was so excited to speak to a game developer since he was interested in my art style. Another customer told me he was interested in doing an animation for work. A teacher had a friend who was attempting to have her students work with digital media and may reach out to me as a guest speaker. I was given awesome advice in investing in enamel pins! They have a bit of an upfront price, but the markup and returns would be there! As a button collector from my run in high school robotics competition, I can understand the allure! Maybe one day! A fellow artist talked with me about how my art came from my intuition. It was amazing!

Everyone who stuck around with enough time for me to grab a business card received one! I even offered them to children.They received a sample of my artwork too, so I consider it a win-win!

Many were enamored by my animation, and it actually turned into a talking point for many visitors! I told them I went to school in NY for Mechanical Engineering and Animation so drawing static characters came naturally for me as well!