Gen Con 2015: That Time I Peed and Missed Wil Wheaton

Gen Con 2015 is now behind us and what an amazing show it was! In fact, it was the biggest show in our young company history! But before I go into the photos and the fun, I have to tell you one of the most iconic stories that is going to go down in infamy. That time I went to pee and missed Wil Wheaton's visit to my booth.

It was Thursday afternoon and we had been going strong with the pre-order pick ups and sales. Thursday ended up as our biggest day at the show. In fact, Ted and I skipped lunch that day, we just had no time. That afternoon, I finally ran to the bathroom. I left my phone in the booth, which is CRAZY because I never go anywhere without my phone. But I was in a hurry and didn't want to drop it in the toilet. Ew. So I ran around the corner to the restroom. On my way I stopped and talked with one of my Gen Con BFFs and another exhibitor about business. Then I ran into another exhibitor who I was introducing to LARPs the Series. Finally, I went back to the booth and it went like this:

Me: Ted I'm SO SORRY I was gone so long, I know you had to go too.

Ted: No, Shelley. No. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

Me: What???? What's wrong, Oh my God!

Ted: Wil Wheaton came to the booth and you missed him. I tried to call you, but your phone rang right next to me. He told his people about the journals and what a great idea they are. He hung out a little bit. He asked if I was the one who emailed him all the time and I said 'no, that would be my business partner, Shelley.' He left and I forgot to offer him a journal so I found him and did so. Then he was gone.

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 *currently taking a few minutes to pull my shit together*

Ok. So I did not immediately start sobbing in the booth. I had customers for eff's sakes. But I was shaken. I looked around and Ted said he was long gone. I texted my sister and my daughter about my agony.

Daughter: OH NO MOM!

Sister: Only you.

I tried to go to the Titan's Grave panel and it was sold out. I went by Geek & Sundry a few times. But it's hard to be gone from the booth that long for a panel or to walk the floor because we were working hard to try to sell our asses off. In fact, I lost my voice because I was pitching the journals so hard.

I sat down on Friday night and wrote him another email, thanking him for taking the time to come by the booth. That's when I cried, just a little. You see, I think he just seems so fun. I love to watch Tabletop. I'm a fan. And I'm really into building a business around doing things that I love. Just like Wil and his wife Anne and Felicia Day. *sigh*

At the time, I tweeted that this is simultaneously the worst and best Gen Con story EVER. And that's true. But I would rather have had the story be: THE TIME WIL WHEATON STOPPED BY MY BOOTH AND WE CHATTED AND HE SIGNED IT.

There it is. BUT we did have a fantastic show. And made some amazing connections! We didn't sell out, but we will next year.

And John Kovalic stopped by our booth! Amazingly, I was not in the bathroom when this happened so I got a picture with him!

Famed Munchkin Illustrator John Kovalic stopped by our booth!
Famed Munchkin Illustrator John Kovalic stopped by our booth!

Thanks to Gen Con, Scott, Megan, Jen, Roy, Tracey, Michelle, Doug, Kathy, Haley, Megan, Darrin, John, Dan, Liz and so many of our friends and family, we sold more journals than ever. And we were just so proud of the beautiful Gamer's Journals that Tracey Gurney designed. We really wanted to make something beautiful and unique as a thank you to the Gen Con Community for all of their support during our 2014 Kickstarter.

Here's our Gen Con love letter in pictures. We can't wait to get started on 2016!

xoxo,

Shelley

Announcement! New Fandom Inspired Journals Available!

We are so excited to announce two new fandom inspired journals designed by artist Tracey Gurney! Tracey is a designer, fangirl and artist who has created inspired and beautiful new journals and themed pages for our new Hunter's Journal and Companion's Journal. Both journals are now available for preorder to pick up in our booth #15066 at Phoenix Comicon or they can be shipped after the show beginning June 2!

Hunter's Journal Phoenix Comic Preorder here: https://conquestjournal.com/product/huntersjournalpreorder/

Hunter's Journal Shipping 6-2-15 order here: https://conquestjournal.com/product/huntersjournalshipping/

Companion's Journal Phoenix Comic Preorder here: https://conquestjournal.com/product/companionjournalpreorder/

Companion's Journal Shipping 6-2-15 order here: https://conquestjournal.com/product/companionjournalshipping/

Companion Journal Cover  Con*Quest Hunter's Journal

And now for the press release!

Con*Quest Journals™ Introduces Fandom Inspired Journals
Fangirl artist Tracey Gurney designs Companion and Hunter’s Journals

Indianapolis, IN, May 14, 2015 – Con*Quest Journals™ is proud to announce a new line of fandom based journals designed by fangirl artist Tracey Gurney of TAG Graphics. The first two new releases, the Hunter’s Journal and the Companion’s Journal, will be available for the first time at Phoenix Comicon May 28 to 31 in the Con*Quest Journals booth 15066.

Con*Quest Journals commissioned Tracey to create new interior pages as well as special custom binder covers. The Hunter’s and Companion’s journals, made especially for the capturing attendees’ experiences at cons, are based on two of their shared favorite fandoms and bring a new edge to the Con*Quest Journals product line.

“We wanted to create something special and unique that resonated with our favorite fandoms,” says Shelley Harper, partner at Con*Quest. “We knew that Tracey was just the artist to help us do that because she shares the same love for these shows and brings such an authentic depth to the designs.”

The new journals will each have 20 designed pages to capture quotes, autographs, photos and artwork. They will also contain two protective sleeves and a business card page and be housed in custom created binders. Individual extra pages, sleeves and pockets will be available in the Con*Quest Journal booth at each show. Their convention schedule can be found here: https://conquestjournal.com/where-is-it/.

“I am excited to work on something new and I think the con journals are a great idea,” says Tracey. “I created the designs as a fan, for the fans, and I wanted these journals to make a personal connection with them.”

“Who knew that our chance meeting of Tracey at a Horrorhound convention in 2012 would turn into the launch of our most inspired journals yet?” says Shelley.

The new journals will be available for pre-order and shipping on the website May 14 at www.conquestjournal.com.

About Tracey Gurney
Tracey is from Columbus, Ohio and is a full time graphic designing fangirl. She creates everything from company logos to tee shirt designs based on favorite shows and movies. Tracey even makes candles and jewelry. For more information, please visit traceygurney.com, esty.com/shop/TraceyGurney and she’s on Twitter @traceygurney.

 

About Con*Quest Journals
After years of going to cons, Ted and Shelley had bags, boxes and folders of stuff with nowhere to put it and no way to show off their haul. They created Con*Quest Journals as the place to stick, stuff and journal comic, fan and gaming convention experiences. For more information please visit conquestjournal.com, on Twitter @Quest_Journals or call Shelley Harper at 317-294-1567.

 

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Time to Get Your Con On! Wizard World Portland Comic Con Show Exclusive

We are kicking off our 2015 convention season in Portland in less than two weeks and we are PSYCHED! For the first time since launching our journals, we have created a very limited edition Show Exclusive version of our Con*Quest Adventure Journal. Our Wizard World Portland Comic Con Show Exclusive Journal. The WW Portland CC journal has all of the same inside journal pages as our existing book including Autograph Quest, Artist Quest, Cosplay Quest and Panel Quest, 4 plastic sleeves, a business card holder, zipper pouch and Sharpie™. We have used green canvas to cover this special edition, added the Portland Comic Con logo and dated it. We are only producing 50 total for the show! We have made pre-orders available for pick up in our booth, #339 at the show. And when you pre-order the Journal and Tote bag, you save $5 off the at show price! Order Here and have the best place to capture all of the autographs, sketches, cards and mementos from the show!

Portland Comic Con Show Exclusive

Portland Journal Sneak Peek Inside
Portland Journal Sneak Peek Inside

Give the gift of Con and get a little something for you!

Free with purchase! Logo embossed on cover.
Free with purchase! Logo embossed on cover.

We love Moleskine™ journals and used them every day for our To Do lists and conference call notes. But we really wanted our own version with our Con*Quest Adventure Journal™ stamp on them and when we love something, we make it happen. We had a small quantity of Neoskin red journals made with our logo embossed on the cover and want to share them with you! For a limited time (and while this small quantity lasts) we are giving away a lined, red embossed Neoskin journal with every order of a Con*Quest Adventure Journal™ and custom tote bag. Just order the bag and journal here and a Nesokin journal will be included with your order!

So order a journal for a con-going friend, get a personal journal for you and be set for the holidays AND con season!

 

My response to the Potato Salad Kickstarter

If potato salad can raise $40k, surely a freakin awesome journal of comic-cons can get to $10k, right? RIGHT? Just think of the benefits of the Con*Quest Adventure Journal! I call just a few out in my video response...

 

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