Running a Successful Library Comic Con

I recently ran another comic con in the school library. I haven't done in a while due to Covid restrictions. Therefore I was nervous that it wouldn't work out or that perhaps students wouldn't show up, mainly because I ran it on a Saturday.

I was very excited to see it become a huge success, yes I was exhausted as I ran it entirely on my own but the students had a lot of fun and I was very pleased with how smoothly it all ran.

In case you are deciding on running one, here are the things that helped me the most.

First, the summarised version:

I held it on a Saturday from 10 am - 4 pm (long day, but worth it!)

I had a limit of 50 students (nearly that number attended for the entire day)

I had a guest manga artist 

I gave out free comics 

I rented a button maker 

I brought in board games from home

Now, the detailed version: 

Email Parents Early

I created an email group of parents who were interested in having their students sign up. I did this weeks in advance of the event so I could keep them informed. In the letter I included the timings, who was going to be present, all of the activities that were taking place, when it would end and other things like the fact that they did not need to wear their school uniform (most, if not all public schools in the UK have school uniforms, we are not a private school), the fact that they should bring their own lunch but snacks would be provided. Setting up this information early was essential in ensuring everyone was on the same page.

Try it on a Saturday

This won't work for everyone, and not everyone wants to work a day for free but I chose Saturday purely because it's hard to get students out of lessons to attend events and doing it after school would result in having limited numbers and would reduce the length I could run the event. Having it on a Saturday meant I could run the event from 10 am to 4 pm with no interruptions. I was pleased that I had nearly fifty students attend the event on a beautiful sunny Saturday. 

Hire a Guest

I was very pleased to have renowned manga artist Chie Kutsuwada (Illustrator of the Carnegie-nominated Tsunami Girl) visit to deliver a manga workshop. Chie was amazing and had all 47 students engaged and drawing for nearly two hours. If your library can afford it, having a special guest is really worth it.

Rent a Button / Badge Maker

I can't stress enough how fun and easy these are. Button makers are ridiculously popular with our students. They love drawing their own and taking their badges home, if you have a party shop nearby, take advantage of this!

Reach Out to a Comic Book Shop

I called a comic book shop near me and told them of my idea, they gave me hundreds of free comics to give away and to use as crafts, which we did. We made comic book bookmarks and keychains. Students cut out comics to use in our button maker, it was a ton of fun. My suggestion is to call your local comic book shop and just ask for free comics, they might say no, but they might surprise you and give you a boat load of comics. My response would be to buy a bunch of comics and manga from them to say thank you!

Bring Food 

This is a no brainer, nut free, potato chips, popcorn, anything, they will eat everything. 

Break up the Day

I organised the day like this:

10-11: Button Making / Board Games / Crafts / Pictionary / Quizzes:  I had stations all around the library where they could take part in all kinds of different activities. 

11-1: Guest Speaker. I did not expect ours to go 2 hours, but it was awesome and they loved it.

1 - 1:30: Students went back to badge making and board games while I cleared up from the guest speaker.

1:30 - 4: Was Dungeons & Dragons based. We had D&D card games set up and I ran a one-shot D&D adventure for a large group while the others drew comics, snacked and did quizzes. A lot of our comic book / manga fans are D&D fanatics so this worked out very well. 

I think all in all everyone had a really fun time, I know I did. I hope this helps in organising your next library comic con!