How was the Boston Zine Fair?

[NicoleIntrovert]

I am curious since i could not attend... who all went? Was it a good experience?

[Lucky Sia]

I went to the Boston Zine Fair and I liked it a lot! Spent too much money on zines, but I am still enjoying them. I took my step-daughter and our German highschool exchange student and broadened their horizons. My step-daughter and I want to get a table next year. I don't know anything about venues for hosting a zine fair, but I might have liked it even more if all the tables were in one giant room. Like I said, though, I don't really know.

[Ericfishlegs]

In previous years they had all the tables in one big room and I do think it worked out better, but I do like that the venue this year had easy access to convinience stores and the like. Because for me for me to have to spend the whole day w/o being able to grab a soda at my leisure is just cruel.

[Lucky Sia]

I see your point. We did actually go in and then duck out for a slice and a little soda pop. So, I guess it would depend on where the one big room was located, huh?

Ericfishlegs said:

In previous years they had all the tables in one big room and I do think it worked out better, but I do like that the venue this year had easy access to convinience stores and the like. Because for me for me to have to spend the whole day w/o being able to grab a soda at my leisure is just cruel.

[ciaraxyerra]

well, i was there, but you already knew that, nicole. i thought the organizers did a great job with advertising this year. everywhere i looked, i was seeing flyers & postcards for the fair. i was really impressed. i was sad about the venue change at first (it was at mass art the last several years), but it's true that mass art is a pain in the ass for grabbing a soda or coffee or anything. the art institute was closer to conveniences like that, which worked out well for me because i really needed the afternoon coffee infusion my boyfriend brought me. i thought the turn-out this year was a lot better than previous years. i felt like my table was busier than ever, & i made almost twice as much money as i'd been hoping to make. maybe the better turn-out had something to do with having workshops this year? not sure. i do know that the "future of zines" panel on sunday afternoon was very well-attended, which was great!

i was pretty much super-impressed with the whole thing. i only wish i could have gotten a little more time away from my table to see what else there was to see, but being booked for workshops during the busiest periods of both days, i didn't want to leave jared alone with the table too much more than that. this is where i sometimes think having someone else helping full-time with the distro would be useful, but i know i'd probably actually hate that when things are slow & there's not much to do.