Salute 2019!Hello, I’m Annie from Bad Squiddo Games and here is my round up of Salute from a trader’s view. I’ve never been as a punter, so I only see set up and take down and anything on the route to the loo.
We manufacture 28mm believable female miniatures and recently launched a line of scatter terrain.
FootfallI am terrible with guessing numbers of people but suffice to say we were rammed all day! Occasionally there would be a point of breathing and “oh wow I can see my stand again” and then a fresh wave of metal hungry folk would pour in. We use a open walk in stand and it always seems really great in both being accessible but also welcoming. We have no quibbles with takings or busyness and it was our most profitable show ever, which is super encouraging.
CustomersThere was a huge amount of positive energy around our stand which I am still feeding off! We put a lot of effort into making it as welcoming and supportive as possible, with the staff being up to scratch with physical and mental issues and… not dicks. That’s the best way to put it! Salute and Crisis are the two shows we notice much more diverse numbers in terms of ages, genders and ethnicities. We’re still minorities, but it’s much less of a “deal” than it can be at smaller shows. The energy was very vibrant and encouraging.
Sophie from Needy Cat Games was working for us, and she got so excited when this chap asked her to sign his copy of Hellboy!
Weirdo FactorBad Squiddo is a company about women, run by a woman, in a largely male environment. We have enough terrible experience content for a book. Despite having 6 female staff on the day, we only had one reported incident. Yes, the bar is that low. And for such a large show, to just have one terrible person out of the thousands… wow. Again, sometimes at smaller shows there can be several incidents in a day. I think the diversity of the show adds to the…safety of the show? The staff member dealt with it herself and was aided by other customers in the area. We get a lot of crap online, yet when faced with us in the flesh, suddenly much quieter 😉 The outrageous business of creating tiny metal ladies with clothes on seems to cause some sort of intense rage in some people, so it was nice to have so many reassuring compliments, and of course people talking with their wallet.
Colouring inWe had our now traditional colouring in table, which was a roaring success as always and makes my heart grow so much. Basically anybody can come over…and colour in! The pencils can be taken away so you can even grab a few sheets and pencils to take home for someone – for free!
As you can imagine, it was a big hit with kids who I imagine get a bit of lead blindess being dragged around, as well as adults who just needed a sit down or time out. Many mental health suffers or neurodiverse folk can get overwhelmed in situations like a large show, so to have a quiet space is really important, and I am proud of it. It’s the second year of doing this and we’re going to do it every year now. Many thanks to Martin Whitmore – he’s done a load of our artwork but also let us use some of his other drawings for the colouring in purposes so there were fresh pieces to choose from.
StaffThank you so much to my Salute staff – Hayley, Sophie, Gayle, Claire, Trina, Paul & Ian for being incredible. I do all the prep and organising all the little details but they take over on the day and run a tight ship and let me pretty much do the schmoozing and information, so seeing them just be brilliant with everyone was fantastic. Ian from Fenris last minute got roped into being king of pre orders, Claire and Trina were delightful looking after the colouring in folk (and learning what Fortnite is), and the others just had the stand under control! The whole gang was just a dream team.
PositivityBeing told all day how much people love our stuff is such a huge boost. Especially when the internet can be full of negativity. I often work long hours and my health isn’t the best, so it can be a bit of a grind sometimes when you get hassle online, so just seeing so many happy faces, selling kids their first ever minis – just incredible.
This photograph is my favourite from the weekend. We were so tired and failing to take the picture that we just erupted into giggles that echoed across the hall.
What it means for Bad SquiddoI often get told off from my friends for running myself into the ground with Salute prep but I do see it as a sort of New Year, and push myself to get as many new releases and other new shinies sorted for the day, and it pays off. We had a tough time last year due to my move to Nottingham and other personal circumstance which made us massively underprepared, and I really wanted to make this year the “comeback”, and we definitely did it, with balloons and all. It was lovely to have people notice too. The takings have cleared off some big bills and now that it’s “Wargaming New Year” we’ve got a fresh slate to start on our next projects. We have a dwarf adventurer Kickstarter coming up soon, as well as quite a heavy focus on small and regular WW2 releases, with other bits thrown in (Amazons anyone).
Despite appearing like a highly oiled large machine on the day, Bad Squiddo day to day is just me (Annie) spinning many plates, with occasional packing help from my most amazing mum. So all your support is absolutely adored by this overworked pixie.
Thank you!
…Best start prepping for 2020!
Annie
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April 24, 2024, 11:05:16 PM
