Youngstown Indie Creator Expo (formerly Youngstown Indie Comics Expo) happened back on September 9 this year.
(Yes I know I’m writing this over a month after the fact. Shush.)
Unlike previous years, this show was had in a church. At least it was roomy, and the acoustics were pretty top notch. The DJ who played there played his music just quiet enough so that one side of the floor didn’t have to shout to be heard, but the acoustics allowed the music to be heard on the opposite side of the room.
Another perk – the tables for exhibitors were FREE this year, thanks to a successful GoFundMe campaign that Carlos (the organizer and one of my lovely Patreon patrons) ran. I’m honestly surprised that more comic conventions and indie expos don’t do this strategy. It’s a great way to give free spaces to people AND gives the organizers an idea of the demand for their event.
Ok, back to the expo.
While there, I met the peeps who were there last year: Celestial Pulse, Craig Latchaw, Nate Dray, and the creators of “Adventures of Honzy and Joel” were there. There were also some new faces, like Dave Columbus and Don Pedicini Jr.
The scene for comics up in Youngstown is young, lively, and interested – it’s just a little on the broke side.
There’s one goal for next year that I would love to see happen, and that’s bringing in a publisher that has a big audience, but is still indie. My recommendation was Action Lab Comics: I see them a lot in Pittsburgh-area shows, and they even had a presence at WV Pop Culture Con. They have a lot of titles I think Youngstown locals would like in their comics.
Electromagnetic Press may be a good invite for next year, too. They appear at RathaCon every year I’ve been there.
I’m going to volunteer to publicize Yo-ICE again for next year, because I want it to succeed. I don’t want Youngstown to only be known for having a rally for the Dumpster Fire. Because that town is capable of better. It’s kind of like Wheeling, WV that way, but that’s a blog post for another day.
Thanks for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.
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