Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay is a new multi-genre fan convention in Tampa, Florida on December 10-11 at Tampa Convention Center. It’s an all-ages event focused on bringing an easy holiday shopping experience to nerdy families. Guests include four popular voice actors and a roster of the nation’s top cosplayers.
Here are seven smart reasons to be a vendor at Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay.
Smart Reason #1:
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay has the same organizers as the successful St. Pete Comic Con
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay is brought to fans by the organizers of St. Pete Comic Con, which recently drew 3,500 attendees to the Coliseum for the city’s first-ever comic convention. Fan reviews were glowing, news media reports were flattering, and a fan made a cool cosplay music video. In addition, Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine published a special edition on St. Pete Comic Con 2022.
Smart Reason #2:
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay creates a great vendor experience
The organizers of St. Pete Comic Con conducted a formal survey of vendors. “We wanted to listen to vendors on how we can improve,” said Dewey Caruthers, con organizer for St. Pete Comic Con, Anime St. Pete, and Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay.
Here are the vendor survey results from St. Pete Comic Con, which provide a glimpse into the exhibitor experience that will be present at Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay. (note, vendor survey conducted 45 days after St. Pete Comic Con, with one-third of vendors responding to the survey).
Many vendors reported very high sales
More than half (54%) of vendors said their sales were “much higher” (27%) or “higher” (27%) than similar size events. In addition, nearly half (47%) reported sales similar to larger size events.
The vendor experience ranged from great to good
It was unanimous: 100% rated their overall vendor experience at St. Pete Comic Con 2022 as either “great” or “good” (73% responded “great” and 27% said “good”).
Vendors were very satisfied with crowd size
Survey revealed a total of 87% were either “very satisfied” (67%) or “satisfied” (20%) with the attendance at the con.
Vendors also satisfied with venue, hours of convention, and hours for vendor set up
And 93% of vendors were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the venue (the Coliseum), hours of convention, and hours for vendor set-up.
Con organizer cared about vendors generating sales
All vendors, 100% of respondents, either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ the con organizer cared about vendors doing well (generating sales) at St. Pete Comic Con 2022. “It’s very important to me that our vendors do well,” said St. Pete Comic Con organizer Dewey Caruthers. “I love to see attendees approaching vendors to learn more about merch for sale!”
Smart Reason #3:
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay will be heavily promoted locally, regionally, and statewide
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay is investing significant time and money into marketing and public relations. For example, Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay has planned for nearly weekly blogs and more than 200 social media posts over the five months leading up to the convention (from mid-July to mid-December). There will be an abundance of quality content that will engage comic fans and convention goers.
Additionally, half of the budget will be used to promote the event on Florida Comic Cons, a popular news website that covers conventions and cosplayers, and Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine, which spotlights The Sunshine State’s best cosplayers each month. Both publications have statewide audiences. And one-third of the budget will be used to boost social media posts about Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay throughout the central Florida region. Moreover, there will be more than $1,000 spent on local advertising.
Lastly, public relations professionals will be sending news releases and reaching out to local media to garner news coverage. These PR pros had significant success with St. Pete Comic Con 2022 (click here for news coverage), and we’re hoping for the same for Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay 2022.
Smart Reason #4:
Vendors can optimize sales and promote booth with Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay vendor toolkit
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay has created free resources for vendors to optimize sales and promote booths, all of which has been packaged into the ‘HCTB Vendor Toolkit.’ Here is what’s in the toolkit:
List of Notable Characters Portrayed by Guest Voice Actors
“One of the most unfortunate things I see at conventions is vendors not having a sufficient supply of merchandise that is in high demand,” said Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay convention organizer, Dewey Caruthers.
To address this, Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay will provide a list of notable characters portrayed by the voice actors appearing at the con, which can help guide vendors on the merchandise or artwork to exhibit. For example, the list of POP figures of characters voiced by the voice actors is helpful information for vendors who sell them.
Social Media Graphics that Can be Customized with Vendor Logo
Social media graphics are provided for vendors to use to promote being at Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay. Social media graphics are designed to be customized by vendors adding their logo. Furthermore, the social media graphics are sized for Instagram (1080×1080).
Promotional Page
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay will feature a page on their website promoting the vendors, which will include a listing of all of the exhibitors and a link to their Instagram or Facebook.
Digital program
The Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay digital program will include a vendor list with links as well as a convention floor layout.
Smart Reason #5:
Attendee ticket prices are affordable
Early bird tickets are $25 for single day and $40 for weekend pass (increasing to $30 and $45 respectively). “It’s very simple, the less money attendees spend on tickets, the more they have to spend on vendors,” Caruthers said.
Holiday Cosplay Tampa Bay is sponsored by Florida Comic Cons and Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine. Learn about all the conventions located in the Sunshine State and discover talented cosplayers close to home.
