With the Coronavirus shutting down more and more venues, schools, and events across the US and the world at large this has also begun to affect our pony conventions as of late as we reported in a recent article here on EqD.
While this does undoubtedly affect convention goers some of the hardest hit will be our pony artists and crafters who make a significant amount of their yearly income from these conventions. As such Foal Papers, who has been a big part of the community and convention scene for years, has started an effort to help out vendors affected by all of this.
If you're a vendor who has been affected or just want to find out how you can help the content creators of our fandom check out the information from Foal Papers after the break!
Friends,
With the growing and justified international concern over the spread of COVID-19, many members of our fandom are facing grave uncertainty and the looming prospect of financial insecurity. This is especially true of the talented artists, writers, and other vendors who share their creativity and skills at fan conventions throughout the world. Since con sales often represent a significant chunk of their income, restrictions on travel and on large gatherings have left these individuals particularly vulnerable.
Yesterday Whinny City Pony Con announced that it would be postponing this year’s event, originally scheduled for the end of March, to the beginning of July, and it’s entirely possible that other pony cons will follow suit. Larger multi-fandom conventions like Emerald City Comic Con have also had to make schedule changes in recent days, and although these difficult decisions are appropriate to ensure the safety and health of everyone involved, vendors are already feeling the knock-on effects. Postponements and cancellations can mean the loss of registration and table fees, travel expenses, supplier orders, and a host of other costs that all add up. They can throw carefully-ordered plans into complete disarray. And even if cons do go forward as planned, their substantially-reduced turnout will hit vendors almost just as hard.
These folks have been an essential part of our fandom since it first began. Their generosity has helped raise massive sums of money (over $1m USD at last count) for worthy causes through their donations to charity auctions and other community efforts. And if you’ve ever attended a convention, you’ve probably come home with a couple pieces of merch from them. Our little world is made brighter by their presence and participation, and it behooves the rest of us to have their backs during this challenging time.
So, how can we help? It’s easy. Here's a growing list of the artists and vendors who could use a hoof:
On that spreadsheet you can find the essential links to tip these folks on Ko-fi, become their supporter on Patreon, buy items from their online stores, check out their portfolios and commission details on their own sites, read their works, and get in touch with them via social media to offer your support however else you can.
If you're an artist or other wonderful vendor who works (or has worked) in the MLP community and could use that helping hoof, please fill out this form to get your name on that list:
A final important note: if you're not able to donate or commission or otherwise financially support these folks, that’s okay. This is a difficult time for everyone, and we’re all feeling the strain in one way or another. You can still help by spreading the word. But any amount helps, and if you are in a position to chip in even a few bits here and there to cheer on your favorite vendors, you’ll have played your part in keeping the spirit of generosity strong in our fandom.
Let's make Rarity proud. Stay safe out there. Don’t forget to wash your hands. And please, be excellent to each other.
- Foaly
Twitter: Calpain
