Hello again, everyone, and welcome to my first real post of 2025! Today I’ll be reviewing yet another experience as a vendor, this time at Norman, Oklahoma’s own furry convention: Anthro Expo.
Despite having been a bookseller at so many events in the last 11 months, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect from AnEx (as it’s affectionately called). After all, if there’s one thing I have learned from my vending as a Bluedrake rep, it’s that every venue and crowd is different! However, for a first experience of 2025, I will say it was good. Nothing spectacular by any means, but decent.
To begin with, the venue was a conference center attached to a very nice Embassy Suites in Norman, OK. It took place from January 31st through February 2nd, but the weather was actually quite amenable. The Bazaar, as it is called (the traditional Dealer’s Den and Artist Alley being combined into one room–artists to the middle and dealers around the outside) is a fairly spacious room next to the Main Events, and is apparently the pride of the convention. Attendance was fairly small (I’d say 1200 max), and the whole atmosphere rather laid back. I had plenty of downtime to work on other projects at my table.
My own setup was in the Artist Alley (Booth J, appropriately enough) behind the Bluedrake Books display. Crowds were fairly thick throughout, to the extent that the doorkeepers had to limit the number of entrants at times! Friday and Sunday tied as my best days for sales; Saturday faltered by comparison. As expected for a furcon, Sauragia reclaimed its crown as bestseller.
Now for the ups and downs. I feel I must compliment this event on its organization (it was very well organized despite the relaxed feel), the simplicity of the layout (basically one big “U” shape), and the convenient location of the doors for loading and offloading. I also enjoyed the fact that, as AA and DD were in one lockable room together, there was no need to tear down at the end of every day. As a bonus, for whatever reason, the only other bookseller left early on Friday for reasons unknown, giving me that coveted monopoly. If I had any critique at all, it would be that the vending hours were different every day, but that is a minor issue. The real handicap was the crowd size, though I do not blame this at all on the con. The fact that it takes place in midwinter in the middle of “nowhere” cannot really be helped. And at any rate, crowd size isn’t everything, as I have learned.
So what’s my verdict on AnEx as a bookselling venue? Well, if you’re a local and can easily get to it (and you have the kind of literature that would appeal to anthro lovers), by all means, go for it. If not…it’s up to you. Personally, I don’t see myself returning anytime soon. However, if things change in the future (and the event grows a bit), I would not rule it out entirely.
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