On behalf of the Con and event industry at-large, we at Carolina Fear Fest Horror Convention want to ask a favor of you.
We know you plan months in advance for events that have now been cancelled or changed to a date you can’t attend. It sucks. It sucks for the event industry, too.
Almost all of the vendors you see at events such as ours, are self-employed small business owners, artists and craftsman. Many of these folks rely heavily on their event appearances as their primary source of income. With the mass-cancellations and postponements of events throughout the country happening now and the expected cancellations over the next month or so, the vendors you normally see at these events are being particularly negatively affected.
While we’re all still wait-and-seeing and riding out the Social Distancing policies aimed to reduce the spread of the virus and help keep medical care at a manageable level for our stressed hospital systems, here’s what you can do to help vendors and artists, and everyone involved in putting on large-scale events feeling these changes.
1: SHOP
Virtually every event like Carolina Fear Fest will have vendors listed on their webpages (here’s our 2019 list) and/or links on social media. Find your favorite vendors or discover some new ones!
Many of those vendors also sell through Etsy or social accounts. Find them. Seek them out. Begin stalking your faves by following them on social. Try to support them where and how you can.
2: SHARE
Help by sharing pages and posts to increase their visibility and help your favorite artists, vendors, businesses, and events find new fans! Assist your favorite vendors, events, shows, and conventions by sharing and engaging with their posts on social media and help them get the word out about their show and schedule changes.
3: GO
Once things begin to return to normal, start attending the events you can. Seek out new events, local and larger.
Not used to shopping at local craft fairs or bazaars? Try one, you never know what you might find.
Not a Horror fan? Go to a horror con, learn more about why the fans love it the way they do.
Never got into Sci-fi, or Anime, or Superheroes, or Fantasy? Who cares?
The vibe at a con where people come together with a shared love for a genre or fandom is amazing. Be a part of reviving our industry. Many of these fan or genre cons are all about having fun, some really cool shopping, and meeting awesome people. Even if not your favorite genre, you may be amazed by what you discover! There are fabulous events out there, both large and small. Some are major destination trips where you travel and take an entire weekend to immerse yourself. Others are smaller local events you can easily enjoy in a few hours.
Most importantly, remember that everyone has or will be affected by the event closings in some manner. Find ways to help all the communities you are a part of; the city you live in, the communities and small businessess you love and the fan groups you circulate among. Remember that, while staying at home more as asked right now, the event management teams have time additional time to plan and get creative. So, get ready to PARTY, darlings! Your favorite events are coming, and we are going to have a blast!
