Anime, Gaming and Cosplay Oh, My!
Anime, Gaming and Cosplay Oh, My!Using Library Comic Conventions
to Bring Teens to the Library
1
History of LIBCON
I wanted to share a short piece of a video about the history of
LIBCON. The interviewer is Councilmember Rene Lopez, who became
quite invested in our event. The two speakers are Elisia Simmons,
the former staff member who came up with the idea for LIBCON, and
Lauren, who won the logo contest 3 years in a row.2
Making a Con happen in your 5 extra minutes of time
Our team starts planning almost as soon as the last event is
over. As you can imagine, an all day event for up to 400 teens is
quite an undertaking. A good team is crucial to the success of the
project. So, bring together all of your teen people and get
started.3
Where, oh where can I hold my CON?
The place is the first crucial detail. If you have a library
with enough space to hold your audience and enough rooms for
panels, then you are lucky. None of our locations is really big
enough, and our library director was always concerned about the
noise level of hundreds of excited teens. We have held our CON at a
High School, but there was actually too much space for them to run.
To spread out and it lost that conference feeling. Weve had it at
the Senior Center and Community Center combined. For the past few
years, we have been at the Chandler Boys and Girls Club. This has
proven to be a great location, and a great collaboration. They have
plenty of space, a helpful staff and Wi-Fi.
4
All about the money, honey
Your CON can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. We never
pay for presenters, and the space is always free. If you can get
food donated, you can have a all day event with very little
expense. We have always had printing costs, and some years, costs
for renting tables and chairs. Badges have been an expense that the
team thought was important, since teens really seem to love them.
We have had AZHP Gaming provide all day gaming for us at a very
reasonable price. 5
Presenters
Its not what you know, its who you know. So start with people
that you know. Teens love hearing from other teens, so think about
starting at your library or local schools. Check out the anime
clubs, and comic book clubs. Talk to local authors and artists.
Move outward from there. Talk to comic shop owners . Anyone who is
passionate about something can be a good presenter. 6
Vendors
One decision that the team made early on was to not charge
vendors for space. Certainly we could have made some money, but we
would have limited how many people were willing to be vendors,
especially in the early years when we could not guarantee
attendance. We have lots of talented teens who are vendors, and
local entrepreneurs as well. We have had folks from as far away as
Sedona. 7
Panels
Deciding where each panel goes can be tricky. You have to take
into consideration the subject because you dont want all of the
Cosplay panels happening at the same time. The tech needs does the
room have WiFi? A Projector? And other needs do you need a sink?
Consider the flow of the day, and the needs of the presenters.8
This was last years schedule, but, of course, it changes from
year to year. We try and make sure that we have something for
everyone. The first few years, we had a keynote speaker, but we
found that wasnt very popular.9
Food or that food truck story
In 2013, we held LIBCON at Hamilton High School. The previous
year, we had arranged for participants to be able to purchase pizza
if they wanted it, but we were looking for some different food
options. I thought that a Food Truck might be a fun and easy way
for teens to buy lunch. I found a vendor who said that she had
experience working with teens, and told her that we might have up
to 200 teens purchasing lunch. Unfortunately, most teens wanted to
spend their money on stuff in Vendor Hall instead of food. After
lunch, I went out to speak to her and to apologize for the fact
that only about 50 teens had purchased lunch. She asked me if I
wanted to pay the balance by check or credit card. When I told her
that I had not promised her anything, she said that her lawyer told
her that an email was the same as a signature, and that she could
sue me. Nothing ever came of that. We have been very fortunate to
get businesses to donate food for LIBCON. We try and provide at
least one meal. Last year, we had Krispy Kreme donuts and Einstein
Bagels in the morning, and Jimmy Johns sandwiches in the
afternoon.
10
Keeping everyone safe or, why a crossbow is a bad idea
The year that we were at Hamilton High, a teen brought a
crossbow as part of his costume. A real crossbow. And then,
accidentally left it there. Imagine the delight on the faces of
school security. Now we make sure to mention a No Weapons rule in
our publicity. 11
Logistics making it happen
Presenter Promo 2012
Vendor Promo 2013
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Presenter Information Form
2016 Timeline
Marketing getting the word out
We have held a logo contest for the past few years. This starts
people talking and thinking about LIBCON a few months in advance.
We produce bookmarks rather than flyers because teens seem to like
them better. We send bookmarks to schools and community centers
that serve teens, as well as businesses such as comic book stores.
We also have an announcement on our webpage.14
Questions?Phyllis SaundersLibrary ManagerChandler Hamilton
Public [email protected]
Jill Baker Youth Services LibrarianChandler Hamilton Public
[email protected]
www.chandlerlibrary.org/libcon
Thank You!
