UNTIL WONDERCON 2010...
The end of WonderCon finally came to a rest yesterday evening. After 3 days of countless droves coming in from all over the world throughout the weekend, the affair came to a rest at 5pm. 5pm for the crowd that is. While the attendees and fans were off to their final destinations, we as well as the other exhibitors had to pack up and ship out within 4 hrs. after the show ended. Aside from waiting in line in our vehicles for an extended amount of time to get back into the Moscone center to load our stuff, overall the show went 'EXTREMELY' well. For those who are unaware, this was our very first show since our inception back in MAY 2008. Just in these 3 days we learned a lot about ourselves as a company, I might add. From the feedback from numerous attendees, customers as well as friends and family members, we have a greater understanding of our demographics and our fan base. Everything about the show from beginning to end was definitely a great learning experience that is invaluable. We took away a lot of information from not only observing and analyzing the show itself, but from feedback and insight of other exhibitors and customers/fans. Although, there were one too many key moments spread out across all 3 days, I wanted to highlight a few things that I recalled from the show: fans that are on our 'Don't be a Bastard FACEBOOK' group, MySpace page, those that discovered us on YouTube and some who heard about us from other people/outlets came out to show their love and support! We even had a bunch of them mention that they've never heard of WonderCon or it was their first time at the show, but wanted to come out just to see the items in person, meet us and hear the story and idea behind B&F in person; Ray (can't remember his store name) from LA checking out the show and came across us as he was browsing and was interested in our products. We seen him one day and chatted for a bit. Then he returned the next day because he thought our items would be a good fit in his store. Asked him if he was diggin' the items and his response was... 'If I wasn't, I wouldn't of come back;' there were also multiple people hanging out all 3 days just waiting to see if they won the box of Bastard & Friends goodies box; some even went to the extent of accessing handfuls of flyers/raffles from not only our street team, but from the booth itself in order to increase their odds; Some guy even said 'you guys have the sickest and most detailed packaging I've ever seen in my entire life;' Corrine also brought it to our attention that some person came by just to buy our boxes. Nothing else, just the boxes alone; I also remember standing behind this girl (I believe her name was Carmen) talking to Sharon asking who came up with the idea and how was the brand derived? Shortly after, her response was...'That's Genius!'..then she picked up a Can't Park Bastard shirt and Flat Fitty hat. There were too many incredible moments throughout the whole time especially on Saturday where, by rumor from a good pal at the Moscone Center mentioned 65,0000 tickets were allocated for that day alone, but had to go to a backup plan and sell the years' previous tickets due to them running out that day. The show was outright massive! I also wanted to apologize to those folks who emailed and called us to let us know that they attempted to get into the show, but either were turned away or left because the line was way too long and wrapped around the building.
I truly believe we couldn't of done it without the tremendous help and assistance by each and every one of our staff that manned the booth for 3 straight days (Sharon, Derek, Corrine, Fro, Leah, and Ruel the Artist sketching killer drawings for the customers). Long hours from morning until the night time was the standard. Not to mention our supporters/fans. From our marketing technique of attaching 10,000 raffle tickets to our flyers and having our street team members (Cel, Sunny, Marlon, Fro, Jordan, RJ, Adam, Nate, Casey, Bear, Aura, JC etc.) pass them out at all 4 corners of the corresponding Moscone Center block throughout the 3 days, traffic to our booth probably wouldn't have been as 'hectic.' Especially on Saturday where none of us manning the booth had any time to really breathe, use the restroom, or take a break from the 9hr action. I recall running back and forth from our storage location just to retrieve some of the inventory in order to keep up with the demand. Further, our family, friends and supporters who made an extended effort and commitment of promoting this event for us. Not only was the promoting going on before the show, but also during show hours as well where our supporters came out head to toe in B&F gear and represented all day everyday! WOW!... That is really showing dedication and backing of B&F! It also helped that we were next to some high traffic exhibitors as well: Bob Suicide and the gang from Suicide Girls, our good pals over at Waicom (Tony and Steve), Lindsay and the intriguing booth of Capcom where there were lines just to play Street Fighter 4; Aldo, the lucky Bastard who won the 10am Saturday drawing from Stylin Online whom had a monstrous booth; And the good fellas Curly, Matt and the crew from Halo 8 Entertainment. Moreover, being directly across from the lounge area helped out very well. And lastly, Mike Montes and his crew Eric, Jeff, and Rome for not only letting us store our excess inventory in their office at Moscone and giving us an abundance of privileges, but also for lending out a helping hand throughout all 3 days. Thus, providing us a seamless exhibitor experience! Right on gentlemen! I also wanted to note that our extended family of Dragatomi made the prizes even more appealing by offering some of their cool and collective toys as part of the prize giveaways! You guys are flippin' AWESOME!
Here's one of the emails I received in our inbox just today from a couple based out of Reno, NV named Janet and Robert:
'Hey guys,
Just wanted to say that you guys were a blast and we love your products. Hope to see you all at Comic Con this year but we know about the wait period. If you don't make it this year then we will keep our eyes out for ya all til you can. Thanks for the fun and humor that you bring with you. We will be telling everyone we know and then some with our MySpace Blogs. Keep cool and the humor coming. How about the leave the seat up bastard? Thanks for the great prize.
Janet and Robert'
Until next year WonderCon 2010!...Don't be a Bastard!
Some of our other lucky winners of the Bastard & Friends box of surprise goodies at WonderCon:
LeRoid.com and the gang
Derek and the Old School wrestlers Honky Tonk Man and Greg The Hammer Valentine
Jonathan (Bastard & Friends)
I truly believe we couldn't of done it without the tremendous help and assistance by each and every one of our staff that manned the booth for 3 straight days (Sharon, Derek, Corrine, Fro, Leah, and Ruel the Artist sketching killer drawings for the customers). Long hours from morning until the night time was the standard. Not to mention our supporters/fans. From our marketing technique of attaching 10,000 raffle tickets to our flyers and having our street team members (Cel, Sunny, Marlon, Fro, Jordan, RJ, Adam, Nate, Casey, Bear, Aura, JC etc.) pass them out at all 4 corners of the corresponding Moscone Center block throughout the 3 days, traffic to our booth probably wouldn't have been as 'hectic.' Especially on Saturday where none of us manning the booth had any time to really breathe, use the restroom, or take a break from the 9hr action. I recall running back and forth from our storage location just to retrieve some of the inventory in order to keep up with the demand. Further, our family, friends and supporters who made an extended effort and commitment of promoting this event for us. Not only was the promoting going on before the show, but also during show hours as well where our supporters came out head to toe in B&F gear and represented all day everyday! WOW!... That is really showing dedication and backing of B&F! It also helped that we were next to some high traffic exhibitors as well: Bob Suicide and the gang from Suicide Girls, our good pals over at Waicom (Tony and Steve), Lindsay and the intriguing booth of Capcom where there were lines just to play Street Fighter 4; Aldo, the lucky Bastard who won the 10am Saturday drawing from Stylin Online whom had a monstrous booth; And the good fellas Curly, Matt and the crew from Halo 8 Entertainment. Moreover, being directly across from the lounge area helped out very well. And lastly, Mike Montes and his crew Eric, Jeff, and Rome for not only letting us store our excess inventory in their office at Moscone and giving us an abundance of privileges, but also for lending out a helping hand throughout all 3 days. Thus, providing us a seamless exhibitor experience! Right on gentlemen! I also wanted to note that our extended family of Dragatomi made the prizes even more appealing by offering some of their cool and collective toys as part of the prize giveaways! You guys are flippin' AWESOME!
Here's one of the emails I received in our inbox just today from a couple based out of Reno, NV named Janet and Robert:
'Hey guys,
Just wanted to say that you guys were a blast and we love your products. Hope to see you all at Comic Con this year but we know about the wait period. If you don't make it this year then we will keep our eyes out for ya all til you can. Thanks for the fun and humor that you bring with you. We will be telling everyone we know and then some with our MySpace Blogs. Keep cool and the humor coming. How about the leave the seat up bastard? Thanks for the great prize.
Janet and Robert'
Until next year WonderCon 2010!...Don't be a Bastard!
Some of our other lucky winners of the Bastard & Friends box of surprise goodies at WonderCon:
LeRoid.com and the gang
Derek and the Old School wrestlers Honky Tonk Man and Greg The Hammer Valentine
Jonathan (Bastard & Friends)
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