Salt Lake Comic Con + JEFbot 2013Hey, all! SO sorry for the lack of updates the past couple weeks but I’m back from the Salt Lake Comic Con and nearly ready to continue jefbot and Mu’s adventure! Well, after I recover from the con crud I’ve been battling for the past week, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what went down in Salt Lake City for those that couldn’t make it:

First of all, I’m extremely happy to report the convention was an unmitigated success! I was a bit skeptical when my buddy Joe, who was producing a reality show near Salt Lake City, told me the con was getting a ton of publicity in the area and I should look it up. I checked out their site and immediately booked a table (one of only two left at the time) and was driving the 700+ miles to Utah in the BOTmobile a couple weeks later. Now, by the time I arrived and started setting up the BOTbooth, I was still skeptical as I had a small, one-table booth (I prefer corner booths since I can spread the BOTmerch out) and was placed right next to Comcast which had a huge blue wall obscuring my area on one side. The con was also limited to a preview day on Thursday, two full days on Friday and Saturday, and… that’s it – the con wasn’t open on Sunday, which was a first for me in the past four years I’ve been doing conventions. Fortunately, my skepticism proved unnecessary as we had a solid first day, and that momentum kept building until we had the best single day ever financially for a con! And, once the tallies are in, I’m fairly certain that SLCC will go down as the best convention for JEFbot, Inc. ever. Pretty awesome. What was even cooler was that I got to interact with a bunch of BOTreaders I’ve never met before, and several of them were long time readers. And “long time” as in some of them have been around since before I booked that movie an eternity ago, so I’m grateful Salt Lake granted me this opportunity to meet them.

Not to say SLCC didn’t have its hiccups – checking in for setup wasn’t exactly smooth, there was a noticeably empty section at one end of the hall (probably due to the con making a last-minute venue change to a bigger space), many visitors had to wait in huge lines for hours to get in, there were no pre-booking opportunities for next year’s con, the groupings (i.e. comics, videogames, webcomics, retailers, toys) were a bit muddled throughout the floor, etc. But most of these errors were fairly minor and I’ve just chalked ’em up to rookie mistakes. If they do another one next year – and I’m hoping they do – I’m sure they’ll iron all that stuff out.

In addition to all the excitement and buzz happening every day in the convention hall, a lot of fun stuff happened outside the con, too. My friend Joe introduced me to a couple of his buddies in the area, who took us to some awesome local bars and eateries, including The Garage, located just outside an oil refinery, where we watched Joe McQueen play jazz and the Red Iguana, where we had some delicious enchiladas (the “Enchiladas Suizas” were soooooo good – get ’em if you’re ever there.) We also hung out a couple nights with my awesome buddy and peer, Ryan (and his super wife, Vee!) of Channelate – one of only a few webcomics I saw at the con – for food, beer and laughs.

All in all, it was great to stumble into such an awesome con. I think in 2014 it’s definitely going to vie for the title of “favorite con” with Seattle, Phoenix and San Diego, and it’s going to be a tough fight. A huge thank you to all the BOTpeeps who showed up and made me feel welcome in their city, the city itself for providing such an awesome con and nightly entertainment, and my buddy Joe for letting me know about the con in the first place!

Rose City Comic Con logoNow, for those wondering if I’m going to give away some BOTtons like I did with the San Diego con, the answer is: YES! I held back a few pins for another raffle, but I’ve decided to do a Double Giveaway with a few BOTtons from the upcoming Portland con, so expect another contest when I get back from that! Which reminds me: the Rose City Comic Con in Portland is happening this week (September 21-22!) so if you’re planning on going to that one, stop by the BOTbooth (Booth #730)! Once again, this means I’m going to have to ask for your patience  while I put JEFbot on hold for this convention. I’ll do everything I can to get another strip out before leaving on Thursday, so expect one in the next few days (I’m aiming for Tuesday or Wednesday.) I hate to put the comic on hold again but these comic cons are an important part of keeping this comic strip going by keeping my bills paid. They take a huge amount of time, effort, energy and planning, so I’m looking forward to not having any other cons for this year (at the moment, anyway) so can concentrate on getting back to the strip once I return. Again, thanks for your understanding and patience! You all are what keeps this webcomic alive and I have the upmost appreciation for your enthusiasm and readership!

Okay, I’m off to fight this lingering con crud, get some work done for Rose City and get some drawing done for the new strip! Talk to you soon. – Jeff