Providence Zine Fest
Sep. 26th, 2005 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urbpanYesterday we went to the Providence Zine Fest
First of all, in case Randie is reading this, we had a fine time, and it was run in an organized, professional manner. I will go to other such events in the future.
We had a great time at the last one, in large part, because we had some good friends and familiar acquaintances there. There was also beer available at the even space. It was expensive, but that was good--it meant that those who only drink beer when it is free, and then they drink so much that they wreck things, did not. It was a very good day.
This time, we had kind of a mixed pleasant and crappy day.
I rented a car and it ended up being much more expensive than I thought it would be. My bad. The car rental place didn't open until 11, when the Zine Fest was supposed to start. We got to Providence just fine (I've gotten lost trying to get there before, and that's a pathetic thing to say. The cities are very close to one another and connected by major highways.) But when we got to AS220, the gallery/community space where the event was happening, there was no parking. No problem, just circle the block, right? We were pretty close to the Civic Center, where some big event was happening. Lots that would normally be free on Sundays were charging 10 bucks. We went around in a big sort of rectangle, but ended up far from where we thought we were (discovered after walking for 5 blocks carrying all our shit.) Back to the car, some aimless driving (Providence, like Boston, is not made on a grid) a tour through the "inner city" part of Providence (who knew?) and then the strip club part (down by the wharfs) and then eventually back on the highway to retrace our steps. At 1:30 we were at the 11:00 event. We were really looking forward to that beer.
(If Providence ever aspires to be more than Boston's largest moon, it needs to have lines painted on the roads--you know, for lanes and such--and it needs to be open on Sunday.)
The best part of the event was meeting some nice people, and remeeting zine fair regulars. There were no regulars that I was close to, but lots of people I've seen all the time, and it seemed like this was the first time they were friendly to us. We also met a couple of nice people, J. and A., who were spending the Summer and Fall in Boston, but were from Santa Cruz. We talked about the fact that we were thinking about moving there, and they encouraged us. After a long discussion about, I don't know, squirrels probably, J. said "I have a strange question: is there room in your car to take us back to Boston?" I was honestly pleased to have the opportunity to help someone out with a ride. It would be wasteful to have the too-expensive rental car and not give someone a ride.
Then there were the not so good parts. Because we were so late, we got the "booby prize" table. The organizers and the guy who worked at the space were very kind, making space for us and generally being accomodating. The space was organized like three sides of a square, with gaps between each table so we could get in and out when we needed to. Until someone else who was late came in and tables were moved about, and pushed next to each other.
(Warning: if you are still actually reading this, I'm going to get even more into detail about running a table at a trade show. I wish I could put a cut behind the cut, to spare those of you who don't care.)
We were sharing a round table, in a corner. This meant that we had a lot of space for the zines and the food (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cottonmanifesto always brings food to share because she's awesome) but we only had a tiny amount of space "facing" the room. At a zine fair (like any trade show or comic convention), you move from table to table looking at stuff. When you get to a corner, it's easy to ignore the table in the corner--a lot of the time, people would look at my stuff, and then simply pivot to be facing the next table. This meant that I had that much less time for people to hang out in front of the table, which is the whole point of being there.
The round table we were at was pretty big, too, meaning that I was further from the people on the other side than any of the other presenters. I like to engage people, if they seem interested or tentative, by talking to them about urban nature or by offering them an urban nature trading card, or telling them about the food. (Everyone likes free stuff.) I had to lean way over and raise my voice to do this. This became an even bigger issue when they put the movie on. It was a documentary on zines--not bad, and it was neat to see Shawn Granton, and the guy who does "On Subbing"--but the one of the speakers for the movie was directly behind my head.
This is as good a place as any to tell you that there was no beer.
Everyone suffered from the movie happening in the exhibit space. The organizers explained that they intended to screen it in a different room, but found out too late that there wasn't one. The effect on the room was immediate. Conversation was almost impossible, the lights were dimmed so it was hard to read zines, and the people who were there to visit the Fair (ie: the few people who show up at these things who don't make zines themselves) abandoned the place.
Exhibitors started to clear out, as well. At one point I said, "The handwriting's on the wall" and started to pack up. I got up to find J. and A., to let them know we were leaving, and bumped into the organizers. They were horrified that exhibitors were leaving, and were kicking themselves for putting the movie on. I explained that while things weren't perfect, that they did a good job with the event, and that I would come again. They tried to get me to stay (and as they shut the movie off, another stream of people came in off the street) but I felt like I was done and said my goodbyes.
We gathered our stuff, and J. and A., and left. J. had apparently spent a couple months traveling the country before getting to Boston (where A. had an internship), and his wanderings included a "Rewilding" event. We discussed this at some length, and I look forward to discussing it on this journal, as well. Another time. They live a short distance from us, and it was easy to drop them off and head home. We got a little more use out of the car by taking the dogs (and dogwalker) to the Arboretum. Then back home for cartoons and Chinese food.
And beer.
Pictures of Providence and our day are here.
First of all, in case Randie is reading this, we had a fine time, and it was run in an organized, professional manner. I will go to other such events in the future.
We had a great time at the last one, in large part, because we had some good friends and familiar acquaintances there. There was also beer available at the even space. It was expensive, but that was good--it meant that those who only drink beer when it is free, and then they drink so much that they wreck things, did not. It was a very good day.
This time, we had kind of a mixed pleasant and crappy day.
I rented a car and it ended up being much more expensive than I thought it would be. My bad. The car rental place didn't open until 11, when the Zine Fest was supposed to start. We got to Providence just fine (I've gotten lost trying to get there before, and that's a pathetic thing to say. The cities are very close to one another and connected by major highways.) But when we got to AS220, the gallery/community space where the event was happening, there was no parking. No problem, just circle the block, right? We were pretty close to the Civic Center, where some big event was happening. Lots that would normally be free on Sundays were charging 10 bucks. We went around in a big sort of rectangle, but ended up far from where we thought we were (discovered after walking for 5 blocks carrying all our shit.) Back to the car, some aimless driving (Providence, like Boston, is not made on a grid) a tour through the "inner city" part of Providence (who knew?) and then the strip club part (down by the wharfs) and then eventually back on the highway to retrace our steps. At 1:30 we were at the 11:00 event. We were really looking forward to that beer.
(If Providence ever aspires to be more than Boston's largest moon, it needs to have lines painted on the roads--you know, for lanes and such--and it needs to be open on Sunday.)
The best part of the event was meeting some nice people, and remeeting zine fair regulars. There were no regulars that I was close to, but lots of people I've seen all the time, and it seemed like this was the first time they were friendly to us. We also met a couple of nice people, J. and A., who were spending the Summer and Fall in Boston, but were from Santa Cruz. We talked about the fact that we were thinking about moving there, and they encouraged us. After a long discussion about, I don't know, squirrels probably, J. said "I have a strange question: is there room in your car to take us back to Boston?" I was honestly pleased to have the opportunity to help someone out with a ride. It would be wasteful to have the too-expensive rental car and not give someone a ride.
Then there were the not so good parts. Because we were so late, we got the "booby prize" table. The organizers and the guy who worked at the space were very kind, making space for us and generally being accomodating. The space was organized like three sides of a square, with gaps between each table so we could get in and out when we needed to. Until someone else who was late came in and tables were moved about, and pushed next to each other.
(Warning: if you are still actually reading this, I'm going to get even more into detail about running a table at a trade show. I wish I could put a cut behind the cut, to spare those of you who don't care.)
We were sharing a round table, in a corner. This meant that we had a lot of space for the zines and the food (
cottonmanifesto always brings food to share because she's awesome) but we only had a tiny amount of space "facing" the room. At a zine fair (like any trade show or comic convention), you move from table to table looking at stuff. When you get to a corner, it's easy to ignore the table in the corner--a lot of the time, people would look at my stuff, and then simply pivot to be facing the next table. This meant that I had that much less time for people to hang out in front of the table, which is the whole point of being there. The round table we were at was pretty big, too, meaning that I was further from the people on the other side than any of the other presenters. I like to engage people, if they seem interested or tentative, by talking to them about urban nature or by offering them an urban nature trading card, or telling them about the food. (Everyone likes free stuff.) I had to lean way over and raise my voice to do this. This became an even bigger issue when they put the movie on. It was a documentary on zines--not bad, and it was neat to see Shawn Granton, and the guy who does "On Subbing"--but the one of the speakers for the movie was directly behind my head.
This is as good a place as any to tell you that there was no beer.
Everyone suffered from the movie happening in the exhibit space. The organizers explained that they intended to screen it in a different room, but found out too late that there wasn't one. The effect on the room was immediate. Conversation was almost impossible, the lights were dimmed so it was hard to read zines, and the people who were there to visit the Fair (ie: the few people who show up at these things who don't make zines themselves) abandoned the place.
Exhibitors started to clear out, as well. At one point I said, "The handwriting's on the wall" and started to pack up. I got up to find J. and A., to let them know we were leaving, and bumped into the organizers. They were horrified that exhibitors were leaving, and were kicking themselves for putting the movie on. I explained that while things weren't perfect, that they did a good job with the event, and that I would come again. They tried to get me to stay (and as they shut the movie off, another stream of people came in off the street) but I felt like I was done and said my goodbyes.
We gathered our stuff, and J. and A., and left. J. had apparently spent a couple months traveling the country before getting to Boston (where A. had an internship), and his wanderings included a "Rewilding" event. We discussed this at some length, and I look forward to discussing it on this journal, as well. Another time. They live a short distance from us, and it was easy to drop them off and head home. We got a little more use out of the car by taking the dogs (and dogwalker) to the Arboretum. Then back home for cartoons and Chinese food.
And beer.
Pictures of Providence and our day are here.
