Ikkicon 2026
I think I mentioned this earlier but I got into Ikkicon! I am local to this convention (10 min drive) so it’s very high on the list for me for low cost for high potential payout.
I’m including the formal event review at the end of this blog.
Met lots of sweet people, and also had many friends stop by on Saturday. Also Arinthe was tabling as well so we were able to get some good friendship hangouts (always a plus!!)
As I mentioned before, I made about 16 new sticker sheets that made their debut at Ikki. They ended up being my most popular items (I think it’s because I also just had more on display). Some of my strategy for investing in those is:
- I love sticker sheets
- I wanted to make sticker sheets
- January is always exciting for stationery as we start to use our journals for the year.
- I think I did a good mix of normie/fandom stickers (with the fandom stickers being something I would personally use in a journal page).
I’ve also realized that a lot of the merch I make are things that I like to use for myself, so it’s kind of like I’m letting people shop my stationery desk drawers/closet/home decor/etc.
As far as table displays go - I kept it simple/clean - very my style. I can’t help but think it looks very calm and airy when you approach my table (I guess it’s a case of the table aesthetic emerging from what I have on display). I had some of those display holders and printed out the Momo and Poppy doodles hehe.
^^ MY MASTERPIECE!!!
Sales were good (for me). It’s hard to quantify/qualify numbers while chatting with other artists about business (as we all have different goals in mind). My previous 3-day conventions in recent years were San Japan, Otakon, Anime NYC - all larger conventions so it's hard to compare.
My general formula target is Table Fee/Lodging/Transport Fee (Ideally met in day 1 of sales) + COGS that still need to be made back / $25/hr during AA hall hours. Basically is the event worth me taking off work/giving up a personal weekend?
My Calculation for Ikki:
Table Fee: $200
Lodging: $0 (local drive/in/out)
COGS: $510 (sticker sheet run, everything else was what I already had on hand)
Manning the booth: Friday (8 hrs), Saturday (8 hrs), Sunday (6 hrs) - 22 hours x $25: $550
Target sales: $1,260 (Actual Sales: 2.4k)
Sales were slower than I anticipated for me on Friday (made back table fee). Saturday I made 2x+ sales. Sunday was similar to Friday - I think maybe a little bit more.
Anyways, here’s the percentage breakdown (pie chart form!!) of things that were popular. I think it’s a good sign that the largest percentage was sticker sheets as they also took up more retail space on my table.
Percentage by Sales Dollar Value
Percentage by Quantity of Items
The con organizing had some issues as well - just a lot of information that wasn’t very clear to understand between load in issues, badge confusion, hall hours confusion, etc. I also heard this echoed from other artists. Considering the fact that Ikkicon isn’t a new convention, I feel like these things are hindering its potential growth.
Here's the review I'm posting in the discord community I am in:
Event: Ikkicon
Event Type: 3-day Convention
City: Round Rock, TX (outside of Austin)
Date/Run Time: Friday 1/9 - Sunday 1/11
Vendor/Table Cost: Standard Inline - $200
Space/Table Size: 8 ft table
Application Type: Juried
Items for Sale: Small Prints (5x7), Acrylic Charms, Sticker Sheets/Stickers, Shirts/Totes, Zines, Stationery Goods
Most Popular: Sticker Sheets, Acrylic Charms, Small Prints, and Yaoi merch
Least Popular: Zines, Washi, Greeting Cards (but got sales for all of them).
Estimated Profit: $2.2 profit after table
Event Pros:
- Free parking! Especially close to the entrance/loading for Artists/Exhibitors
- Reasonable hours
Event Cons:
- Pretty disorganized/unclear about important info for artists (Con Hours, the whole Hiccup about badges for artists, Artist Acceptance/rejects/etc).
- Slow sales on Friday (but made back table fee first day), also chatted with artists and they had mixed reviews as well.
Notes/Opinions: This is my first time tabling at Ikki (I also applied but was rejected for Ikki 2025 and Ikki 2024))! I’m local to Austin (10 min drive away) so my only expenses were the table fee. My only restock for the convention were my sticker sheets (all new designs) which ended up being my most popular item. I have a full time job that is separate from any tabling I do, so I generally put my sales goal as this: (Table Fee + Hotel/Travel + Costs of any new stock/restock + AA Hours x hourly rate).
I also attended Ikki as an attendee in the past (usually using a Friday day-pass) - IMO I have felt that Ikki is typically attended by locals as a 1-day con and not all 3 days which could contribute to any lack of traffic.
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 as a local) | 4/5 if you live elsewhere in TX and can keep costs down | probably a 2/3 out of 5 if you are out of state | As always YMMV
Would you attend again? Yes.