For conventions & hobby shows
A con the whole team can run, not just its founder.
Comic, anime and tabletop cons, card, car and collector shows: tablers apply and pay on your own page, panels sit on a schedule by room, volunteers choose shifts and their worked hours add up, and the badge line scans from any staffer’s phone. Every department works in the same place, so next year doesn’t start from one person’s inbox.
Every plan includes badges, the schedule and door scanning. Volunteer shifts and hours, the code of conduct and wristbands need Pro; artist alley and dealer tables need Business.
What changes
Fewer bot applications, fewer empty shifts, fewer keys in one pocket.
A jury that can keep up
A small fee on each application thins out the duplicates, and every artist hears whether they got a table.
Hours you can count
Shift scans add up each volunteer’s hours, so you know who earned next year’s free badge.
Not one person’s con
Department heads sign in with their own access, on an account opened with the con’s email, not the chair’s.
Artist alley
Artist alley and the dealers’ hall, juried on your site.
Open the alley and the dealers’ hall as packages, each with its table count and fee. Artists send a portfolio link, what they sell and the size of table they need, and accept your AI-art rule while they apply. A few dollars per application stays with you even when you say no, which keeps bots and triple submissions out of the jury pile. Accept the balance of styles you are after; nobody waits on a silent inbox, and the table fee is charged when you choose. Ask each tabler for their seller’s permit by a link sent only to them. Tables on Business; permits on Pro.
- A fee that filters bot entries
- Accepted or not, every artist told
- Seller’s permits before load-in
Programming
Panels by room, game tables with a seat count.
Build programming as sessions by track and room, each with its panelists’ photos and bios under it; attendees flip between tracks on their phones instead of hunting for a PDF. Tabletop games and workshops go on a sign-up list with their seats — four at the Catan table, six for the one-shot — and the fifth player sees it’s full. Call off a panel and the people booked on it, and its panelists, get the message. The schedule on every plan; seat sign-ups on Pro.
- Tracks and rooms on phones
- Seats per game or workshop
- A cancelled panel, announced
Volunteers
Volunteers who turn up, and hours that count.
Volunteers apply on the con’s site and pick shifts — registration, line control, the game library, the con suite. Clocked in and out by a scan, their hours add up by person and by role, so the 12-hour free-badge rule is a report, not an argument. A meal voucher can come with each shift, issued when they start and voided if they never do. Short at nine on Saturday? The roster counts who is present, expected or a no-show. On Pro.
- Shifts picked by volunteers
- Hours worked, per person
- Meal vouchers per shift
Badges
A badge line that scans, and rules everyone agreed to.
Attendees accept your code of conduct at checkout with a tick or a signature, and a minor’s waiver goes to a parent to sign. At the door every badge is scanned from a staffer’s phone; a weekend badge goes out Friday night and back in Saturday morning. A buyer who can’t come passes the badge to a friend from their phone, unless you turn transfers off. Print name badges for staff and guests on sheet stock. Code of conduct, waivers, printing and wristbands on Pro.
- Code of conduct accepted at checkout
- In, out and back in all weekend
- Transfers on or off
A con year
From open applications to Sunday’s teardown.
- 01
Six months out
Alley applications open, badge pre-reg on sale, volunteer sign-ups live.
- 02
Jury weekend
Tables accepted, the mix right, fees charged, every applicant answered.
- 03
Two weeks out
Panels on the schedule, shifts filled, permits in.
- 04
Con weekend
Badges scanned, games full, volunteer hours adding up on their own.
Also useful at a con
For the parts between the badge line and the alley.
People’s Choice
A cosplay or show-car vote for registered attendees. Pro.
Door prizes
Drawn only from people actually at the con. Pro.
The hotel block
Partner hotels with the group code, and beds needed per night.
At-door badges
Walk-up cash recorded beside online pre-reg.
Guests of honor
Each guest’s fee, deposit and contract status in one record. Business.
Sponsors
The comic shop and game store that back you, on the con’s site. Business.
Con suite stock
Snacks and drinks counted by barcode from a phone. Pro.
Lost lanyards
Phones and badges reported lost, handed back at the info desk. Pro.
Next year’s con
This one copied as a draft, packages and schedule included.
Questions
What con chairs and show promoters ask us.
Can we sell weekend badges and single-day badges?
A weekend badge that works all three days, yes. For day badges the door checks against the day, set the con up as one date per day; a weekend badge is then three tickets in one order. A single badge for any two days you pick isn’t built yet.
Our artist alley gets far more applications than tables. Can it run a lottery?
Not a lottery — you choose who is accepted. An application fee kept on a decline cuts down duplicates and bots, and a declined artist’s table fee is refunded. A waitlist that offers a freed table automatically isn’t built yet.
What happens if we have to cancel or postpone?
Cancel the con and every badge buyer is emailed, with each eligible order refunded. Refund each tabler from their record — they are emailed too. Cons that went quiet and kept table fees are why artists check first-year cons so carefully.
Can panelists and guests apply on our site?
Not yet — panelist and guest applications are on our roadmap. For now add them yourself; they show under their panels on the schedule.
Can we take card payments at the door?
Not with a built-in reader yet. Sell at-door badges as cash, or record a card payment taken on your own reader, and both sit beside online pre-reg in one total.
Can we log incidents or ban someone?
Not yet: there is no incident log or ban list. Publish your code of conduct, have every attendee accept it at checkout, and keep incident reports where you keep them today.
Does it work for card shows and car shows?
Yes. Dealer tables are packages with their count and fee, show-car entries a ticket type of their own, VIP early entry its own ticket type too, and People’s Choice a poll. Assigning table numbers isn’t built — you type each one.
Which plan does a con need?
Badges, the schedule, transfers and scanning are on Free — the part any ticketing tool does. Volunteer shifts and hours, the code of conduct, waivers, game sign-ups and wristbands are Pro; artist alley, dealer tables, sponsors and guest bookings are Business.
Start today
Open next year’s artist alley.
Set up the tables, the schedule and the shifts this week, or go through it with one of us on a call.