Fun, Fever, Felix, and Friends-The closest to official After Con Report-Pulp Ark 2012!

Pulp Ark 2012.

It is in the books.

Done.   Complete.   Conquered.   And a dozen other words to describe the finish of something, many said words being of a triumphant, jubilant nature.

Many expect me to go on ad infinitum with paragraph upon paragraph about the Con from Day -1 to the final moment as I have been prone to that in the past.  But no, the flow of this blog...and the way I tend to handle things of late... demand that this be more of a rat-a-tat-tat tommy gun version of how things went, so that's exactly what you'll get.  So slide up to the bar or into a corner booth, tip your fedora back, get something wet and...well, however you want it.... and settle in.

PULP ARK 2012- WHAT WORKED/WAS BETTER (as compared to Pulp Ark I and in general)

ATTENDANCE-Pulp Ark I was 142.   Pulp Ark 2012 clocked 462 attendees for THE ENTIRE CONVENTION. This includes both what came in through the dealer area and after.  Roughly fifty attended the evening events that did not go through the dealers' room, so what actually went through with buying potential was closer to 412.   Now, a major part of that number had a lot to do with the fact that prior to officially opening the doors, we had 200 5th graders from local schools come in for a special School Tour Show.  This is a bit of programming genius I learned from the minds behind Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention, but other cons have done it as well.

Now, some of you are saying-'Wait, that's a special event.  You brought those kids in special.  They shouldn't count toward your numbers.' Well, here's why they do.   Those kids came through, saw the show that greats like Felix Silla, Allan Gilbreath, Big Daddy Cool Johnny Delarocca, Stephen Jared, Jennifer Mulvihill, Kat Hibpshman, Lee Houston Jr., Sean Taylor, Andrea Judy, Order of Tyr, The Pulptress, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting put on for them, THEN they went into the dealer's hall and spent MONEY!  And I don't mean a dollar here or there.  The vendors who were set up when they came through, some didn't sell a thing, but several sold a lot.  So by the fact that the students spent money like any con goer on any day of a con, yeah, they count.

And costumes!  Yes, costumes around all weekend, and not just The Pulptress!

FACILITIES- Last year, our first year, we had a cool outlet, the old opera house in Batesville.  It was neat, cool, but really just a one-off location.   With the increase in guests and such we wanted this year, a new spot had to be found so off to the Independence County Fairgrounds we went.   Yep, The Fairgrounds.  Where there was a cattle show thrown into the mix at the last minute.  So, odd?  Yes.  Some have said 'the strangest venue for a con' they've ever been to.  But as far as functionality and improvement over last year, you bet your bottom dollar it was.    We filled the dealers hall with vendors and guests and used one corner for a panel area. We made full use of their kitchen and then we had the pavilion which contained a performance stage.    This location definitely lent itself well to the con.

GUESTS/VENDORS- Double the number of the previous year.   Including Felix Silla, celebrity guest of honor.    And Anthony Tollin, noted Pulp Expert/Historian/Publisher.  And more publishers, writers, and artists as well as several returning from last year!  And new vendors along with stalwarts like Dave White and Ric Croxton.  Two podcasts in attendance making interviews.  Video games.  Sword fighting and such with the SCA.  A Time Traveling Magician.  And Shorty, Con Cook Extraordinaire!  And so much more... So, yeah, definitely a win here.

CELEBRITY GUESTS-We had several that would fall into this category, most definitely Felix Silla.  Yeah, this is something that worked well.

PROGRAMMING-  Lots of positive comments about the programming, about the panels, about the classrooms, and more.  

In final total, between the auction and the trivia contest, a total of $800.00 was raised for the local Literacy Project (Nicole, I have 25 dollars for you that came in on the last day!)

PUBLICITY-Definitely an improvement over last year.  Lots of coverage, particularly in the two weeks prior to the show.  Many fans came in saying they heard it on the radio or saw it in the paper.

PULP ARK 2012-WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER/NEEDS IMPROVING
(Notice, some of the headings will be the same as above as this is written with an eye toward growing the Con over its two previous years)

LOCATION- Lots of comments made, particularly by Con Guests from beyond Memphis, that a location change might benefit the con.  A Change as in to Little Rock or Fayetteville, a larger population area.  And although many people completely enjoy Pulp Ark being in Batesville for many reasons, this is something that we considered last year and are considering for next year.  Definitely having a larger base of people around the Convention might help, but Cons in larger Arkansas towns in the last 10-15 years have not quoted better numbers than we did this weekend on the whole, so that means it has to be considered where it would be best to have Pulp Ark.

ATTENDANCE-Of course bringing more people in would potentially help.   Several vendors/guests made good money this weekend, several didn't.  Would a higher number of fans through the door help with that?  Maybe, possibly, probably even highly likely.   Increasing attendance is always on our minds.

We are definitely wanting to increase the school trip attendance.  As said above, we count those as solid numbers and have the potential of tripling that next year, if not more.

FACILITIES-Although definitely an improvement over last year, more Con like facilities would probably help on a variety of levels.  There are a couple of other avenues in Batesville that we may explore.   But the Fairgrounds may also figure in for a second year.

CELEBRITY GUESTS- This was a whole new arena for Pulp Ark!  Although things went rather smoothly, there were enough bumps and bruises and lessons learned for me personally that a few things will be different last year.  Part of what we have to look at is how many celebrities we can bring in, making sure their needs are met as they should be regardless of what they tell you they don't need, and things such as that.  Mr. Silla was a perfect first celebrity for Pulp Ark and is definitely one we want back.  He and his 'people' were patient and allowed me to learn how to handle this different end of things as I needed to.

PUBLICITY- Again, this is one of those things we can always do more of.   Being largely a free Con, one of the questions that was asked all weekend was how we funded what we did.  Not going to go into that, but one consideration for charging a mite to fans or to the vendors for tables would be to augment several budgets, including publicity, celebrities, etc.  Again, a question we considered last year, one we definitely will for next year.  But we have to up the visual presence of Pulp Ark, booth in amount and sooner than we did this year.

PROGRAMMING-Not that there would be things to improve here, but of course making changes, additions, subtractions, etc. is something every Con will do year to year.  Definitely some things we'll keep, for sure some things we'll let go of and others we'll add.

ORGANIZATION-  This is probably the one section most people wouldn't put in an After Con report...but as many know, I am in no way most people.

This is the one area that could improve in a variety of ways.   Pulp Ark 2012, though many people go into helping put it together, is largely for most of the year prior to it happening in one place.  My head.  My addled brain.    And for it living there for most of the time, both years have been pretty good.  But it is no secret that I am not a paragon of organization, a maven of planning, etc.  

A few comments this weekend have talked about Pulp Ark being a 'devil may care' con, a 'fly by the seat of your pants event' and these have been presented as compliments.  And in part, they are.  But I also recognize that many of the guests who came would have preferred things to be more streamlined and less haphazard.  Some got downright frustrated that a panel or a classroom or something else didn't go exactly as they felt it should have or if they'd had more notice about X event, they could have helped or done more.  All of this is completely 100 percent true.

When one guy is the one completely in charge, things get forgotten, lost, confused.  Especially when its a guy who is trying to shove everything into one metaphysical blender and turn it on without losing a finger.  So, expect some changes in how things are set up, organized, handled, in the planning stages and throughout the weekend.     I'll still be the organizer and riding lead on Pulp Ark as it continues, but there may be other names you'll get used to seeing doing other things as we go along.

So was PULP ARK 2012 a success?  You bet!  Definitely an improvement over last year and growth in several ways!  Will there be a Pulp Ark 3?  At this point, don't see why not.  Will it be bigger, better, and more than this year?   That discussion is relative as to what you (or we who put Pulp Ark together) think those terms mean.  There are several directions that Pulp Ark could go next year and in the future and that decision probably has to be made first-  What sort of Con do we want Pulp Ark to be?   It's sort of neat that we are at a point to where that is a question to answer and that we could really go a variety of directions, depending on what and how much of various things we want to put into it.

And before I close this, the list of people to thank is way too long.  Fuller Bumpers, my partner in Pro Se, and the entire Pro Se  Crew (Nancy Hansen, Megan Smith, Ashley and Will Mangin, Frank Hansen, Lee Houston, Jr., Don Thomas, and more) worked their tails off this weekend while I ran a fever of over 100 every day.   Every single guest, vendor, and fan-thanks for making this a fantastic weekend!

Pulp Ark 2012!  Done!   Pulp Ark 2013!  Several Fans and Guests have already said they will be back!  
Stay tuned!