So last weekend was the first ever New England Webcomics Weekend, which took place in Easthampton, Massachusetts. This was sort of a momentous occasion for anyone in the webcomic world, fan or creator, as this was the first convention ever exclusively devoted to webcomics. The response was overwhelming, to the point that they had to start up registration for the event. Of course that ended up filling up after about one day. I was lucky enough to be able to attend, so here are my thoughts on the event.

First, I think a huge bravo and thank you has to go out to Meredeth Gran and all her helpers for organizing and running the event. You all did a bang up job and should be very proud of what you accomplished. That, and I like Meredeth’s sense of style.

Everything went down in the Eastworks building. It was an old factory that was converted into a space for a few small businesses and artists studios. Plus it had this really nice deli I ate at both days I was there. I’m gonna miss that place, their portions were astounding! (Before I continue, I should say that the pictures I took were taken with my iPhone, so the quality may not be that great)

Anyway, I arrived Saturday morning about an hour and a half before the event began after driving two hours to get there. I had the luxury of living relatively close to event, as opposed to a lot of people who were there (I mean, come on, Rene Engstrom came all the way from Sweden!). While I was waiting to get in, I got to strike up a conversation with a few very nice people. It was at this point that I gave out my very first “Alone in a Crowd” flyer to one of the people I was talking to, who graciously asked me to sign it for her since I was the first cartoonist she met at the show. Now THAT sure filled me with a whole new kind of happy right there. So thank you so much Katie!

The event was pretty small, but that kind of added to its awesomeness. It was easier to interact with people that way. Obviously when you keep bumping into the same people, you tend to start to get to know each other. Here’s a picture of the main floor, though this was taken on Sunday when things had started to die down a bit. That's Kris Straub there on the right:

http://twitpic.com/2jf6f

I got to meet a bunch of cartoonists I really admire, who were all more than happy to sketch in the books I bought from them. They were all really friendly and appreciative. Honestly, I came away having spent so much more money than I should have. I just couldn’t resist getting the books from the actual cartoonists themselves. For crying out loud, David Willis drew Joyce in my copy of Shortpacked book 1. JOYCE!

http://twitpic.com/2cioh

Speaking of, here’s a shot of Willis at his table:

And here we have Dave Kellet and Brad Guigar of Halfpixel hanging out at their table:

Man, these two guys have class. They were so nice to interact with too. I was really impressed with how Dave ran his business. He had such a professional way of going about it, while at the time being friendly and then some. Plus Brad was more then willing to give me some advice on improving the speed at which one draws there comic. I was even able to get a commission from him of his character Miss Match with Sara:

http://twitpic.com/2c3a3 

So that was cool of him to do that for me. Thanks Brad! Here’s a shot of Dave sketching in the books I bought from him:

Speaking of Halfpixel, here’s the other half of the team, Kris Straub and Scott Kurtz (people liked to turn their heads when I snapped pictures I noticed):

Kris actually complimented me on a picture I had of Hope, Faith, and Sara I had on my flyer. That really meant a lot to me, coming from someone as accomplished in the field as him.

While in line to meet Kris and Scott, I was able to meet David Wilborn, who draws the comic “Urban Jungle”

Anyway, the highlight of Webcomics Weekend would have to be the live recording of the Webcomics Weekly podcast. I haven’t laughed that hard in quite a while. Not to mention there’s was also very interesting discussions regarding the future of newspapers and transitioning to the web. If you want to hear it for yourself, head on over to webcomics.com, or look up “Webcomics Weekly” on iTunes.

Another interesting aspect of the event was the “Infinite Canvas.” What this amounted to was a all white room with a table of post it notes and pens, where attendees were encouraged to create their own little comics and such and stick them up on the wall for all to see. There were some pretty humorous things up on that wall, that’s for sure. Here’s a shot of part of it:

I added my own little, crudely drawn piece to the wall, based on Dave Kellet’s comment that there are no standout office webcomics out there:

http://twitpic.com/2cpnb

 Another highlight for me was meeting Danielle Corsetto of “Girls with Slingshots.” I honestly hadn’t gotten a chance to read much of GWS, so I wasn’t sure if I was a fan or not. My intent was to buy the first book and find out, since I’m more likely to get through a comic if I have it in the dead tree format rather than the web archives. I’ve gotta say Danielle is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, period. The amount of art that girl puts out at the quality she does is so inspiring. Plus I must say, after buying book 1 and reading only a little of it in the hotel room that night, I simply had to go back to her the next day and get the second volume. I’ve read through both books by this point and GWS is definitely one of my all time favorite comics now.

So Webcomics Weekend was quite the event. I feel privileged to have been a part of the very first one and very much hope it becomes a yearly event. If it is, I know I’ll be going again! Definitely one of those times you just didn't want to end. It really had a “for us, by us” kind of a feel to it, and I think an atmosphere like that is just very special. Really though, it’s something I can only imagine getting bigger.

I guess the only downside is a lot of people seemed to catch nasty colds after this thing. I know the one I got was kicking my ass hard. But hey, it was worth it!

Keep Hope alive and have Faith everyone! See you at the next Webcomics Weekend!