Rudi left Thursday evening, just before the two creators of our book arrived. Albert and Larry came down with all the tools to really expand our love and make the passion flow. An ipod with speakers for Latin music, matching Guayabera shirts, and our latest, most brilliant prop: the "Pasion Index" A large thermometer with movable meter hanging behind the booth to measure the passion of convention goers who stopped by.
With three prior conventions under our belt, Albert, Larry and myself continue to finely tune the fun chemistry we share and it's a treat when people tell us how much they enjoyed our company. There are too many anecdotes to tell from the activity around the booth the following days, but our sales kept getting better. Mind you, these all weren't for the 2007 issue. Our 2006 edition is as hot as ever. (The cover alone is a crowd stopper, thanks again to Paul Wee. But it was Rodney Clouden's 2007 cover which somebody commissioned to have drawn in their sketchbook). And completists wanted our classic '96 & '97 issues.
It was a real treat when people would return from one day to the next asking for the issues they didn't buy the previous day. And there were no disappointed customers when I gave them a money back guarantee if the passion in their life did not increase by at least 35% (with a maximum increase of 65%) after purchase. One happy customer thanked me the next day because his purchase helped "seal the deal" the previous night. De Nada.
Friday became our most successful day ever, and I wasn't sure how much better we could do on a regular day. But for Saturday we had a secret weapon. Between the hours of noon and five pm we hired a Latina Booth Babe to walk around, handing out coupons and directing desperate, lonely men to our booth.
That helped a bit, but the Big Gun and huge help turned out to be Contributor/Cover Artist Rodney Clouden himself, who also put on a matching Guayabera and worked the booth with us for a couple of hours. I'd like to also send out gracias and besos to Rodney's girlfriend, Sabrina, for finding and managing our boothbabe and for help behind the booth. Saturday became our biggest sales day ever, moving over 100 issues.
SundaySo with 3 and 1/2 days down, Sunday was gonna be tough. Already exhausted from the energy required to sell, I had less than 4 hours sleep Saturday night (and I wish I could say it was from partying too much). All of us were wiped out and were late to arrive Sunday morning. That's where Rob Goodin came through and opened up the booth for us. At the time, I was a bit delirious from exhaustion but wasn't too worried, expecting the floor to be less crowded, that way I could relax and perhaps walk the floor a bit. I was wrong. Sunday seemed busier than Saturday. The saving grace this time was my girlfriend, the Lady Janice, who came down by train Saturday afternoon, and helped us out behind the booth throughout the day Sunday. Muchos Besos Mi Amore.
HighlightsAs previously mentioned, there are tons of anecdotes from the con. I'm still tired and can't write them all, but here are a couple of highlights:
-(Rejection #1) asking a young couple (16-20 yr range) if they were looking for more passion in their life and getting the honest, offended response of "NO, we're quite happy with our celibacy thank you"
-getting interviewed by two podcasts, a website and a local San Diego TV show
-having people from last year search us out to purchase the new issue
-having people search us out because they read about us in the program
-getting reprimanded by the people who run the convention for displaying alcohol and clogging the aisles. (Our love was so thick, mobs of people swelled around the table, making our neighbors jealous and bitter, so they reported us. They obviously have NO passion)
-having one fan call "Angry Bob" Bowen, in Canada, for some Love advice
-Rejection #2) asking a young latin girl (18?) "Buenos Dias, Senorita, Como Estas?" in a very deep, seductive voice. Her response, with terror in her eyes, she clutched her boyfriend's arm and buried her face in his chest, while he is yelling "What happened? What did he say? etc." en espanol
-GuataMELON: A woman from Guatemala whose breasts were each larger than my head, wearing a very revealing outfit, who Albert managed to keep at the table to embarrass myself and Larry. She was giving us colorful commentary about true Latin love.
-Harry Fagel, a Jewish cop from Vegas, who liked my Jewish themed story and kept announcing (in front of his 10 yr old) his wife had "A great rack"
-Rejection #3) saying to a potential female customer "I thought I had the bluest eyes in the convention...I was wrong." Most women smiled or blushed.
One of them said "Yes, YOU WERE."
A couple more thanks before I wrap up.-Rob Goodin: Co-founder of the book and friend, whose 2007 submission was shown to most people as an example of the book and led to MANY purchases. If you haven't already, check out his solo work with his Robot Publishing
-Rafael Navarro: part-time contributor and creator of Sonambulo, who inspires, advises and cross-promotes with us.
-Melody Severns and the "Girls Drawin Girls" for cross-promoting.
-Joy Reynosa: Larry's wife, the Joy in his life and she helped us break down the booth at the end of the show.
-Louie Del Carmen: A gentleman, an artist, a friend. A constant professional and a real class act. His blog ( http://www.randomanomalies.blogspot.com ) always mentions us (check it out) and he cross-promotes with us at the cons.
-Larry Reynosa: I drove you crazy, you kept me up most nights in the hotel, but bought me the coolest fucking drinking glass featuring "Luke Cage - Power Man"
Stay Brown brother.
-Albert Calleros: Creator, Computer Wizard, Mexican, Lover. If you don't know Albert, you should. If you do know him, then you know why he gets special thanks. My Ablutions are now complete. Make it rain.
I didn't take many pictures. Albert and Larry did that and will hopefully post soon. Here are a few though. The first is the three caballeros with our Booth Babe, Nichole.
Next is "Reno 911!" creator and lead actor Thomas Lennon, who bought 2006 & 2007.
Finally we have Dyanna and Joseph, who also bought '06 & '07, just as the show was closing for the year (you can see the Pasion Index behind us, Notice it is as high as you can go, which is why they shut us down on Sunday...Too much Passion).
Yet, they weren't our last sale, that went to some guy on the street on the way to the parking lot who made a comment about the sombrero I was wearing.
Fiesta Amigos!Con amor,
Senor Ira
P.S. We have already received some fan mail from our appearance at the convention. The Love has spread!
