San Diego just hosted Comic-Con International with upwards of 150,000 attendees, exhibitors, and guests–most paying $75 or more to attend (2007 had over $5.2M in revenue tax free )

Anime Expo started in a small hotel and today takes up the Los Angeles Convention Center with 103,000 attendees getting their fix of Japanese animation. Even though most collectors use the Internet with sites like eBay, the live collectibles convention business is clarly booming.

So, let’s say that you wanted to get into the convention business. Let’s start by looking at what it would cost to put on your own.

Assumptions

You are going to start small, and build your core audience, by hosting a one-day convention (Saturday or Sunday) in your local city. Basically, you start by creating a “dealer’s room”, where vendors set up tables of their goods for sale, and you charge admission (or let people in for free) to let people come in, shop, and mingle. Your specialty can be anything like comic books, sports cards, coins, games, toys (action figures, beanie babies, etc.), Japanese animation, stamps, and whatever else is hot at the moment.

Start-up Costs

$1000-1500 – Room rental (will vary by city)

$200-250 – Table and chair rental, if not included in the room rental

$50-100 – Marketing materials (flyers, business cards)

$1250-$1800 Total

Most small conventions make their money two ways: They rent out table space to vendors (which usually covers most of their costs) and they can charge admission to guests. Of Comi-Con’s $5.2M in 2007, $2.2M came from admissions and $2.7M from space rentals. There are arguments for charging admission and for not charging admission, and most of that will depend on whether your area already has local conventions in your collectibles area. If there’s no consistent local show, and there is a demand, you can probably charge anywhere from $2 to $5 per person. Anything above $5 requires you provide more than a dealer’s room, like an appearance by a special guest or a programming event like a panel discussion or movie screening. (You can start by planning a large convention, but here, we will start small, build our audience, and grow the convention)

Tip: Always make it free for children under a certain age, like 10 or 12, to attend. This encourages the parents to bring their kids to the event, and the kids will normally tug on Mom or Dad’s sleeve to buy something, which will make your vendors happy. Plus, the parent(s) will have to pay admission, and a full room of attendees makes your event look more professional.

Let’s say that you sell 50 tables and get 500 people to show up. Your potential revenue will look like this:

Revenue

$2500-4000 (50 tables at $50 to $80 per table)

$1000-2500 (500 admissions at $2-5 per person)

$3500-6500 Total

Even at our low estimates, one convention could net you $1700-2250. (And, at our high estimates, you could make upwards of $5,000) If it’s a successful show, you could repeat it every quarter or every two months, and grow the show to collect more revenue from both your vendors and attendees. If you’re really lucky, you can find a space where you can run your own concessions business and make thousands of dollars more.

Bonus tip: Many local conventions get started because the organizer also sets up their own table of goods for sale. Being the organizer guarantees you get the best spot in the room, and as many tables as you need. I have known collectibles organizers to generate $5,000-$15,000 in revenue in one day and only focus on breaking even for the event.

How To Do It

Ok, I’ve talked about potential, now let’s talk turkey. The main things you have to do are:

1. Find the space. This is a critical step, because especially for a first-time convention, you want the facility to be easy to get to, with ample parking (if possible), and easy to explain to people how to attend.

Depending on your location, a local hotel may fit the bill, but your costs will be high. Hotels will charge you for every single table, chair, and square foot of space that you use, plus they own the concessions business in the room. The benefit is that the space is usually professional looking, parking is ample during the day, and they can handle any last minute needs.

On the other end of the spectrum, a local community center, Freemasons center, or Veteran of Foreign Wars hall, will probably be cheaper, give you more control over the event, and still have parking. It may not be easy to get to, and that’s the tradeoff. If you can find a center like this that’s near a highway or major street, go in and inquire about room rates. Other places to consider include fairgrounds, local convention centers, and local schools. (Several schools will rent out their gym on the weekend, plus you can market your show to their students if it’s during the school year)

Tip: Look and see where other conventions are held in your area, whether or not that convention deals in your specialty.

2. Sign a contract, leave a deposit, and file the permits. Once you identify the space, you will need to sign a contract with the event hall or hotel, and leave a deposit, anywhere from 25-50% of the cost of the room rental. Also, the event organizers will let you know what permits are required. Basically, you will need to let the local police or fire organizers know about your event, provide a map or schematic of the event that they will keep on file, and carry some sort of insurance policy on the room. You can buy a one-day policy and usually, the hall or hotel organizers can provide a list of organizations that offer the policy. (Hotels are normally covered, and your room rental should cover the insurance policy. Be sure to confirm that when you are signing the contract.) Ask for samples of room schematics that you can use for your convention. (Picture a map of the empty room, with tables lined up in rows, and aisles in between for people to walk.)

3. Start signing up vendors. Some people may start lining up vendors before a date and location are picked, and that’s up to you. Pick a date that allows you enough time to fill the room and market the event. (2-3 months is a minimum) The easiest way to find vendors is to hit up the local collectibles shows in the area and offer the store owner a chance to set up a table at your show. This is important also because you want to use them to market your event, like providing flyers of your event to their customers. Give these store owners a special rate, or free admission for their customers, to help encourage attendance. Attend other shows in your larger area and approach vendors there to sign up for your show. I would recommend having business cards or postcards w/all the information printed on it, to hand out when you talk to vendors. The key here is to convince them that you will bring a crowd of people that are ready to shop. Be ready to discuss how you will market the event.

4. Start marketing the event. You can start this after you have picked the date and location, and what to do is really up to you. Start by making up flyers to be distributed at local collectibles shops, your event location, and anywhere else that will carry them. Notify your local newspaper and alternative weekly newspapers and get included in their Calendar section. Use the Internet, like Craigslist, MySpace, and Facebook, to let people know about your show. Have flyers distributed at other collectibles shows outside your immediate area, but close enough that some attendees may come down. Prepare e-mails and offer them to your vendors to e-mail any customers they may have about the event.

5. Fill that room. Do what it takes to fill that room, so at least it seems like a full show. Nothing brings down the mood at a local convention more than lots of empty tables throughout the room. Offer a free or cheaper 2nd table to dealers who have already signed up. If you have to, give away a few tables to local artists, fan clubs, or big shops in your area. Consider adding other collectibles specialties to your show, if you haven’t already. (Comic books and sports cards, for example) If necessary, change the floor layout to have less tables, and wider aisles for walking.

6. Think of the extras. If you want to create a long-term revenue stream, the best key of success is to make sure that everyone who attends your first show has a great time. This means you have enough help or personnel around the day of the show to handle admissions, helping out vendors, and administering the event. It means approaching manufacturers in your specialty (comic book publishers, sports card makers, etc) and asking for free giveaways you can use to create free gift bags for the first 200 people, or gift bags for all the children who attend. It could mean creating a “green room” for your vendors to get lunch, drinks, or snacks throughout the show, or having local shops donate material for a raffle or giveaway during the show.

7. Run the event. Get there early the morning of the show, make sure people are ready to take admission money, stamp hands so people can get back into the room, and your vendors know which table is theirs. Then, just be ready to handle any emergencies that come up during the day. Trust me, before you know it, the day will be over, and you will be exhausted.

Don’t forget to follow-up with your vendors at the end of the day, if for no other reason than to personally thank them for coming. You’ll know if they made money if they ask you when your next event will be. Have a date in mind, just in case, and be ready to put on another show if the momentum is right. The default answer can be that you’ll try again next year, if attendance wasn’t so great or your vendors/dealers didn’t make that much money.

I may discuss starting with a large convention in your area, in another article. All the rules I’ve discussed above still apply, but your startup costs are higher, and of course, the revenue potential is higher too. Happy conventioneering!