Next month, I will be traveling to Novi, MI (about 20 miles west of Detroit). This is a yearly trip built around the Motor City Comic Con for work and fun. I usually get to interview several of the celebrity guests there.

The Motor City Comic Con continues to thrive. Each year, there are more guests, vendors and attendees. It brings in a lot of revenue to the area, including selling out every hotel in the relative area.

The vendors fascinate me. Some of them totally get the concept. They are there mainly to sell their stuff but also to put their product in front of new eyes. These vendors bring a nice selection of merchandise, have it priced well to sell and have some sort of info sheet/card to pass out to any interested visitor.

Then there are the vendors who just don’t get it and frustrate me because I cannot understand their logic. They are at a convention attended by thousands of people interested in the general genre of what they are selling, yet some vendors bring such a short supply of merchandise. Then they direct you to a website but don’t have a card with their information. I guess you are just supposed to remember their info.

Other vendors get caught in their own stubborness regarding pricing. I saw one vendor refuse a sale near the end of the convention. The offer was about $10 less than the $150 tag. His argument was that the item was worth $150, which it might have been, but I’d bet the offer was still profitable. Then he whined that he lost money at the convention. Well, after buying the space there and whatever travel costs he incurred, he could have recouped some by just accepting the offer. Instead, he let $10 cost him $140.

It’s just about smart business. If the convention is worth the cash outlay and the time and energy, it should be worth giving it a solid, smart effort. I think this is a lesson that could be used across the board in all businesses.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist