by Mike Rhode
A few local cartoonists were selected to attend TCAF in Canada this year - it's a curated show, and not a lottery like SPX is. I think it has invited guests and people who apply to exhibit. I reached out to ask about their experiences. Here's Sierra Barnes' thoughts on it. Her 2020 interview can be read first here for background. And here's a brief 2022 interview about Lower Your Sights, a Ukrainian benefit anthology that I didn't know she had work in.
How did you get selected for this show? Did you have to apply?
This year was my 6th year applying for TCAF and the first year I got in! I'm not sure if it's a lottery or not, but I do know it's not uncommon to take a couple of years to get in and a ton of people apply every year.
So, this was this your first time?
Yes!
How was the experience? How does it compare to SPX or other local cons?
I had a fantastic time! The venue was different this year than in years past, it used to be held at the reference library in downtown Toronto but this year was at the Mattamy Athletic Center. There were two floors of comics--exhibitors were split between the hockey rink on the third floor, and the basketball court on the second floor. I was on the basketball court. The hockey rink had a majority of the exhibitors and I think all of the publishers, so if you wanted to go do a lap of the floor on a quick break, it was a bit of a pain to get all the way up and over unless you were already at the hockey rink. The big drama was on Saturday afternoon, when a pipe broke in the ceiling of the basketball court and water spilled onto the con floor. They managed to move the tables out of the way, but it was a pretty dramatic moment. I wasn't able to talk to anyone affected, but I could see it dripping from my table. I tried to get a picture but I don't know if you can really see it that well.
Biggest frustrations was the inability to take card--Square doesn't work out of country, and while the option existed for international exhibitors to rent Square readers from TCAF, the organizers recommended for first-time exhibitors to just use Paypal with a QR code. Most people didn't have Paypal, and when they did the app was a pain to use, so there was a lot of standing around frowning at phones involved. Fortunately word spread pretty quickly, and most people had cash by Saturday afternoon. If I can get in again, I'm definitely springing for the reader.
Getting Kate Beaton to sign my copy of Ducks was definitely a highlight. Lots of incredible artists were there, and I got to meet some Canadian artists I had been online friends with for a long time in-person and that's always a magical moment.
How were your sales? Did you reach a new audience?
My sales were great! I think with the conversion it was about equal to my SPX sales, maybe a little less, but I got to talk to all new people and meet some really incredible cartoonists.
How did Canadians react to Americans in light of the current administration's misbehavior to our ally?
At least in my experience, people seemed pretty understanding and sympathetic to us Amis. I think the understanding was there that the Americans coming to TCAF were not in support of the regime (if there were any, I certainly didn't see them!). Lots of people were curious about what it was like or what we thought about the news, especially when I told people that I was living outside of DC. I hadn't been keeping up with the news while traveling so I learned about some US news from the visitors!
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