The idea of manning a table at a convention or flea market has been buzzing about on the edge of my consciousness for a while. It’s the first step in one’s epic journey toward life as an independent seller of goods. If you are part of a cultural fan base, manning your own table is crossing the line from consumer to creator in the full view of your peers. Exciting and scary stuff!

I’m not sure where my future table will be. Perhaps at a stationery show? Or maybe at a flea market? It’s a future rite of passage I look forward to with excitement and a bit of trepidation. In the meantime, I’ve been living vicariously through other people’s posts. Here’s a couple recent ones:

• I’ve been a fan of my cousin John Su’s work for a long time, which combines a snarky-humble sense of humor with skillful anime-style rendering. He recently manned his first table at the AM2 Animation, Anime, and Manga Convention, and as is his habit drew a interactive flipbook of his tabling experience. Humorous and informative.

• I check in periodically on Sally Carson to see how her transformation to comic artist is going. Is it not cool enough to be a bike messenger turned UX Designer? Apparently not! :) I stumbled upon her informative Tips for Tabling at Comic Shows today, and was charmed by her careful approach toward engaging table visitors without making them feel put-upon. As someone who doesn’t like to bug people, I didn’t have a good sense of how I would theoretically handle foot traffic. Sally’s post gives me a template to follow with a goodly dash of hope.

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p>It seems that quite a few of my friends have been thinking of tabling at conventions or flea markets. Trade shows are not that much different, I would think…looking forward to giving it a try someday myself!