Chicago Zine Fest recaps? pictures? highlights? thoughts/comments/etc?

[ramsey everydaypants]

Hey! 

 

I had such a fun time this weekend with all of you. The Chicago Zine Fest went better than any of us organizers could have possibly hoped. Anyone want to share highlights? 

 

Consider answering these questions just for fun:

 

1) What was the best place you ate while in Chicago?

2) Any intriguing zines you picked up that you hadn't heard of before?

3) Favorite CZF event?

4) Highlight of the weekend (czf or non-czf related!) 

 

 

We also wanted everyone to know that we've put up a survey so you can help us improve CZF for next year! Please please please send us feedback and be brutally honest! It's the only way CZF can get better from year to year. Either send us a message on our contact page, or fill out our survey at http://www.tinyurl.com/czf11survey.  

 

If you have photos from the Chicago Zine Fest, add your photos from CZF 2011 to our flickr pool so everyone can see them! 

 

 

[Derek Neuland]

How can I pick the best food of the weekend? Handlebar, Earwax, Sultan's, and Flying Saucer were all so delicious.

The zine about mixtapes I picked up (sorry, the name is eluding me at the moment and it's packed in my bag right now) seems really awesome. I'm also excited to read the Cometbus "manifesto". Should be interesting. There are a lot more zines that really caught my eye, but I could go on for days talking about them.

Zinester Karaoke was really fun and hilarious. Zine Organizer Event was really informative and I feel like everyone got a lot out of it. The Q &A was good, except all the questions Aaron Cometbus avoided/half answered. All the readings were really amazing and everyone did a great job. I wish i wasn't so tired after tabling, i really missed out on the zinester prom.

So many fun times with new and old friends! I really enjoyed CZF and I already can't wait for next year.

[Dan C]

I really liked Jeffrey Brown's workshop.

[friend prices]

this was my first zinefest, and it left a very delicious taste in my mouth, it was the guacamole of my 2011.

-you can never fail at chicago diner.

-the kids from waterbear appreciation society blew me away

-john porcellino

-seeing people laugh from across the room while reading a comic i wrote.

[Bradley Adita]

Just finished the survey. CZF2011 was awesome and can I venture to say historic? Wow. I didn't eat much, but the Eleven Street Cafe was pretty awesome and the food was almost as good as the company of Milo and Chris from QZAP. I picked up around 30 zines in trading and I am still going through them all. I've only read My Little Friend #4 so far (which I hadn't heard of before). My favorite CZF event was a tie between ZOE and the Cometbus reading/tabling - wow! on both counts. The highlight of the weekend for me was walking straight through the new nearly all-glass Apple store at the Red Line Elston stop - just kidding.

[Derek Neuland]

I think separating tables by genre is silly.  For one, people define genres of zines differently.  Plus, where would you put zines that skate the line between several genres?  Also, a lot of people make zines of all different types.  So while they might have a bunch of comics, they might also make a per-zine or a poetry zine.

Most importantly, I think sectioning off tables by genre goes against the idea of community of a zine fest.  It eliminates the possibility of stumbling upon a zine you might not normally like.  So if the program said all the comic and poetry zines were on the 8th floor, someone who didn't like those types of zines wouldn't even go up there.  But one of those zinesters might also make really interesting patches or a really great how-to zine.

[Becky the Evil Flower]

I didn't get any cutesy comics, maybe it was just the tables you were stopping at.

It was my first zine fest and I had been looking forward to it since I found out about it. It totally exceeded my expectations.