First if you are new to BlerdCon, let me give you some background info about it.
BlerDCon (Black Nerd Convention) is a convention that celebrates black nerd culture while also being inclusive of all backgrounds. The convention features panels, celebrity guests, presentations, workshops, gaming tournaments, cosplay contests, music, and dance. It took place in Arlington, VA at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel on July 12th through July 14th, 2024.
I was super excited to go to BlerdCon and I had heard nothing but good things about it from other creators. This was the first time I would travel by myself from Atlanta to set up and work my table. So I was definitely nervous. My Friday was super busy since I had to fly from Hartsfield at 6am. Once I got everything set up and got my first sale, my nerves started to calm and it was business as usual.
BlerdCon Vibes
I have to say that BlerdCon has serious party vibes. Music is constantly jamming from vendor tables, cosplayers are posing for fans and most of Saturday vendor table aisles are filled with people walking almost shoulder to shoulder. One of my vendor neighbors was a professional dancer named Stepz. Stepz kept the energy going all BlerDCon and graced us with a few moves as well.
Vendor Table Traffic
It started a little slow on Friday but that's the usual for most cons. I definitely had one of my better day of sales on Saturday. The Vendor Room had pretty good traffic with a few spots that were not as easy to access. I do think there was some room for improvement for how vendor spaces are organized. I also think it ended a bit early on Sunday for the vendor space. But that's my only real complaints. For the price of a vendor table, it was very reasonable with how much traffic I received. One of my vendor neighbors, Joseph Polite, absolutely crushed at BlerDCon. His Neogourds, were an absolute hit and at times I felt a bit jealous with how much business he was getting. In reality he deserved everything he worked for and I was happy to watch such an impressive salesman at work.
I'm joking about the jealousy part, I'm never that.
Cool Cosplay Moments
My top moment was watching one of my favorite comic book characters of all time, Grifter, sign up to join my email list. I don't usually stop cosplayers to get a picture just because I'm slow on getting my camera out but this time I had to get something to remember the moment.
Conclusion
Overall I would say this was one of the better cons I've tabled at this year. I thought the energy on Saturday and Sunday was really good and I would definitely advise any Blerd independent comic book creator to table there if they can. I might not go back next year since the date has moved up to March and that's a very busy time for me but if I can I definitely will.