ChibiCon: A Mini-Con of Epic Proportions!

Type: Active
Age: High school
Optimal size: 20+
Estimated cost: $100+
Planning time: 5+ hours
Frequency: One-time

Learning outcomes

• Connect and collaborate with others
• Create original work or responsibly remix existing content to make something new
• Engage in personal expression
• Use materials and tools for developmental, educational, or recreational needs
• Demonstrate an openness to risk-taking

Teens who hosted their own booths or tables created their own original or fandom-inspired content, and also took on the risk of exhibiting their art for their peers. Other attendees also got to be creative with arts & crafts tables, and were able to engage in debate with their peers at panels and in conversation with an author of a book they had just finished reading. All of these were key opportunities for social-emotional learning to take place, including self-management, respect, and effective communication. 

Instructions

Comic cons are largely dependant upon the communities in which they take place, as those communities determine the fandoms that are featured and the resources that can be used. I'll run through how we pulled together what ended up working for ChibiCon:

• Teen Advisory Board 
  • ChibiCon was the brainchild of our library's Teen Advisory Board, meaning that the TAB got to have the experience of planning and volunteering at the event.
    • If you have a TAB or Teen Leadership Council, talk to them about what fandoms you would like to be represented at your library's con, as well as what activities they would like to see.  It's best to focus on fandoms that are popular (no original characters or obscure shows/games).  Anime is king at our library, but at yours, it might be different! 
    • I also recruited some of our TAB members to moderate our fan-led panel, which was based mostly around the manga/anime hit My Hero Academia. The teens submitted their planned questions and discussion points shortly before the event.
    • The TAB also advertised the event in their respective schools, handing out flyers, hanging up posters, and talking up the event to their peers. Be sure to get the PR materials approved by the school's administration before they are handed out!
• Recruiting Artists
  • When I spoke with artists in the lead-up to the event, I emphasized their role as mentors to students and fans who were in attendance. Artists are super excited about this, and are usually all about supporting small library cons! There was no fee for setting up a table. 
    • Where to find artists?
      • Free Comic Book Day! Most shops will have an artist or two setting up a table in-house. 
      • Local Comic Cons usually have lists of artists and creators tabling in their vendor hall and artist alley. Some will list contact information or websites, which is how I found several of our local pro artists.  I also like to attend comic cons in person to meet and recruit artists. 
      • Ask other local libraries!
    • Setting Up Artist Booths
      • Artists were responsible for setting up their own displays. We provided a table and two chairs for each artist, as well as bottles of water. 
      • Before the event, I mapped out the locations of the tables so staff could help set up the tables before the event started. I also created a brochure with the schedule for the event so participants would know when and where to go for events. This was made using Canva. 
      • 

• Late tables that didn't make it into the brochure included a Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! card trading station, led by a group of teens.  

• Other Activities
  • Make Your Own Alien
    • You only need pipe cleaners! Teens can sculpt their own aliens by twisting the pipe cleaners to create original creatures. 
  • Board Game Room
    • I recruited two volunteers to watch over this room. I created a sign-up sheet as well, so students could "reserve" time playing a game, but this ended up not being needed. Games we used for the event, which we already had, included Super Fight, Carcassonne, Clue, Fluxx, and Uno. 
  • Community Partners
    • We invited community organizations to set up their own tables at the event, and a few, including the Community Action Council and the Friends of the Library Organization. The Friends provided water, snacks, and popcorn. 
  • Anime Showing
    
    • I highly recommend investigating Crunchyroll Outreach, a free service for librarians that allows you to legally show anime on Crunchyroll ad-free. 
  • Cosplay Contest
    • Teens registered for the cosplay contest using a brief form asking for their name, phone number, and the name of their character. We used a webcam attached to a laptop to take pictures of each cosplayer, writing the name of each file on their registration form. I roped a few staff members into judging the competitors, and we gave out backpacks from CSLP to the winning teens. The winners were announced during the live music event. 
    • Only school-appropriate cosplay was permitted. (This is a must.) 
• Author Visit
  • I contacted Gwenda Bond through the form on her website. If you don't have the funds to bring an author in personally, you might try Skyping with an author remotely, which most authors are willing to do for a lower price. I highly recommend choosing a local author to save costs and support the community! 
  • We set up the room with a podium and plenty of chairs. I also designated a volunteer to help control the line for signatures. When asking the bank for money, we offered to place stickers on the covers of all of the purchased books to thank the bank for their sponsorship. You can make these using sticker paper, but in this case, the bank provided their own. 

Gwenda Bond holds up one of the books purchased by Traditional Bank.

• Promoting the Event:
  • I connected with our school librarians to promote the event during the students' lunch breaks by setting up a table. I handed out flyers and buttons (made using our button making machine). 
  • I taught several activities at the county middle school's 21st Century summer program. All of the participating students read Dangerous Minds with their English teacher during this collaboration. ChibiCon was the final day of their summer camp, and all of the students attended as a field trip. 
  • I gave flyers and posters to local businesses and displayed them in the library, promoted the event on Facebook, and wrote an article for the local newspaper. I also took flyers for the event to local comic shops on Free Comic Book Day. 

Evaluation

Support from the schools was so crucial to this event.  Thanks to the support of our school librarians and the summer school teachers, our attendance was up by 50% from last year!

The 21st Century Summer School group left shortly after the author talk, meaning there were significantly fewer teens present for the panels, live music, and anime showing.  The teens did get tired as the evening wore on, so next year I'm considering narrowing the time frame of the event for a shorter con that the kids (and their teachers) might have the patience and energy to attend in full. The kids enjoyed the crafts, booths, and cosplay contest, but weren't as big fans of the board game room, so that may be cut next year in favor of more crafts or an anime showing. The author visit was a HUGE hit, and we're planning on repeating our collaboration with the local middle school - I'm hoping to expand it to the other schools next year! 

ChibiCon was a great opportunity for growth for our library's fandom community. Ultimately, many of the students who attended ChibiCon ended up attending our weekly Anime Club program during June.  Two of our student artists felt comfortable enough after ChibiCon to exhibit at several larger cons in the region, and one has started her own online art business! Additionally, one of our pro artists is returning in the fall to do a series of classes for fans at the library, so I'm looking forward to nurturing the collaborative relationships we developed throughout the year. 

Other resources

I'm attaching a higher-def version of our brochure here, in case you want to see it.