I returned to Charlie’s Collectible Show for Winter Kawaii Dreams Fest! Would we repeat the success of Summer Anime Fest? While both events were at the same venue, Kawaii Dreams Fest was a narrower niche and a one-day show. I happy to report I did make a small profit and had fun!
To celebrate International Lolita Day, CCS worked together with the Atlanta EGL community to bring together the Winter Kawaii Dreams Fest. Attractions included: an EGL fashion show, a live DJ, crafting activities, and a pop-up market of kawaii vendors, that’s us!
The base daily table fee was the same as Summer Anime Fest, but now social media promotion was now mandatory instead of awarding a discount, so I ended up paying more. I do always try to announce my pop-up appearances ahead of time, so fulfilling the requirement wasn’t a problem but I did wonder how they planned to enforce it. We weren’t required to submit proof of our social media posts, like we were with the discount previously.
The communication from CCS for Winter Kawaii Dreams Fest was similar to how it was for Summer Anime Fest. We were given details on the vendor schedule and table maps over email. They gave us links to their own social media posts and Facebook event that we could share to spread the word. And even let us know that there’d be three large carts available for vendors to borrow during load-in and load out.
It was clear that ATL EGL worked hard to put together a community event. I was right next to the main event space so I got to listen in on their panels and the fashion show. I appreciated how the speakers encouraged accessibility for Elegant Lolita Fashion, and specified it’s possible to engage even if you’re not straight-sized or wealthy. Honestly, I may have been inspired into building a coord of my own! I’ve always found EGL appealing, which may be obvious in some of my art and I’d been asked over the years why I didn’t dress up myself. We’ll have to see what next year brings, haha! While I had been invited to the ATL EGL discord server the last time I was at CCS, it was something about seeing everyone in person you could tell they care about each other and want to celebrate their fashion.
My sales were consistently slow through the day, without any noticeable spikes. A little after I made back table, a CCS staff member came around to check in on us vendors and ask how things were going. When I told her I was satisfied with making table, she seemed disappointed and wished we vendors were making all the money. Haha, I appreciated the thought! We talked for a bit, I mentioned how sales were better at Summer Anime Fest, and we both agreed perhaps events with special guests drew in more attendees. This was when I learned there was a previous Kawaii Dreams Fest back in the spring, and with ATL EGL’s help they were able to make the winter one a much bigger event.
The Kawaii Dreams Fest was still an opportunity for me to test out my mystery capsule machine! I designed my own decals to decorate my FAO Schwarz capsule machine from Target. I’m hoping to post some of my progress in putting the look together! Right now, my capsules contain pinback buttons I’m pulling out of retirement to be available from the machine exclusively.
And I got a wonderful needle point piece from Floss Boss Artistry for a u cursed white elephant party, so I can’t complain, haha!
Billie’s Vendor Rating
| Fashion | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Foot Traffic | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Attendee Vibes | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Restrooms | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pokémon GO | ⭐⭐⭐ |
I did end up making more than table, but still a modest amount compared to daily average of Summer Anime Fest. Which was within expectations, I’d heard from other vendors at different CCS events that sales could be hit-or-miss. Winter Kawaii Dreams Fest was an opportunity for me to study whether Summer Anime Fest was a repeatable event or an exception. Though, two is still a fairly small sample size, haha!
I’ll still be keeping an eye out for future CCS events that match my niche. I really hope for their success in cultivating a nerdy gaming haven over in Stone Mountain.
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