Hey. This is more of a sharing a feeling than anything, but I've been doing solo-day conventions up until this point, my first big 3-day being about a month away. Does that feeling of "I haven't made enough stuff for this" go away after awhile?
Kiriska: The feeling goes away with experience, which you’ll have after the con! :D
Doing a new sort of con, whether in genre or size or location, is sort of like starting conventions in general for the first time. You’ll feel grossly underprepared no matter how much you’ve prepared, but once you get there and get into the flow of things, you’ll feel a lot better, I think.
Brought too much stuff? Well, less prep for next con. Brought too little? Well, pack it up early and just relax and enjoy the rest of the show! And bring more next time. :3
Nattosoup: I have done cons for…seven years now, I think? And I STILL feel this way! Every con is different, and every audience is different, and something I made in mass that sold at one con may not move at all at the next, so I’m always pushing myself to make new merch.
This ALSO means I have a lot of merch that needs to be stored or culled, and I don’t really like putting ‘sale’ signs on my stuff, as so much of it is handmade/handpainted. Even if I have lots of merch for the upcoming con, and did a great job prepping for multiple cons at the start of the year, I’ll still end up whipping myself into a frenzy to crank out something new.
Although I don’t like the fact that I treat myself so poorly (and juggle so many things before conventions), I like the fact that I’m still hungry, still eager to make my customers happy, and still wanting to do a good job. That “I haven’t done enough” feeling can be a good thing, because it shows that you still care. Just don’t let it take over your life.