‘Working Mom’ at SneakerCon
Topics Covered: Sneaker Culture, Negotiating, Open Markets, Bartering, Trading Cards, Pokemon, Asset Classes
My daughter and I have been busy attending two events together in the past two days! I heard of the SneakerCon happening downtown and thought it sounded really intriguing to check out. When you have an almost-three-year-old… there are only so many times you can go to the zoo. Sometimes, it’s fun to plop her in the stroller and head to some events together. Kelly Tutors Jr. the protege!! Let’s see what’s going on at this sneaker-themed event (supposedly the best ever!) Who will be there and what’s going on?
Why Attend: Sneakers are a fascinating trend. They’re meant to be worn, but also preserved and adorned by collectors and traders. You’re respected for wearing nice shoes, but you don’t want to wear them to scuff them up? It’s the definition of luxury and (I wanna say ‘impracticality’) but… it’s art. It’s art you can wear… but only if you’re ready for it to lose value… but this is just like any item of value. You use it and lose it. Anyway, I am not a sneaker person, I don’t even appreciate the art that much either. Though, I do enjoy subcultures and I see the appeal… plus, looking totally put-together/coordinated/fashionable is fun. So, I wanted to see what this event is all about at one of my favorite venues in the city!!
Event Rating: Venue (2/5), Food (2/5), Speaker Content (2/5), Networking (1/5), Likeliness to Return (3/5)
Photo Collage and Commentary:
Notes from Event:
I didn’t take many notes at this event AT ALL.
Mostly I was walking around with my daughter.
Here are the top 10 takeaways:
1. Talk to lots of people with your shoes if you think you’ve got something of value.
2. Prices offered vary… ex. $600-3000 for the same pairs of shoes depending who you talk to (one guy said this in line).
3. Prepare to stand in line for a long time. Before/during the event. Probably traffic after, unless you’re like me and took transit. If so, this is EXTREMELY convenient and you’re back on the subway within 10 minutes of leaving the place :)
4. You can buy Pokemon cards at these events. I love it. As we can see, nonstop pokemon cards are everywhere lately, and this is just continuing. This is fun to see… I’ve brought up many times now how trading cards continue to trend and rise in popularity. In addition, PSA and GameStop made a partnership, so you can get your cards graded for a small fee through GameStop. Even buy/sell the cards there, like a marketplace. The cards are becoming really popular in value/trading…
I think people liked the idea of NFT’s and bored apes so much… but now they realize that Trading Cards are that same thing, too - but IRL. :)
5. There were lots of jerseys and shirts for sale.
6. There were many families here, but not activities for kids. That’s a missed market (some sorta kids entertainment… free, paid, or both).
7. There were giveaways advertised about two hours into the event… perhaps giveaways every 30 minutes would have been better for this crowd. I’m not sure how long you can stay here (though plenty stay hours, plenty probably don’t… but giveaways are fun to look forward to and make people want to stay). More prizes vs. one big prize.
8. There was amazing jewelry that was well priced at this event. It made me want to pick up a side-hustle of making jewelry, no-joke, and selling at as a booth at events. I would have to do the math, but it was so fun and cute and exciting.
9. The music here was so loud…. yet there was nowhere to dance. I joked with another girl that they needed a dance corner or seomtihng. For real though!!!
10. Sneaker culture often has people who can dance wearing the shoes. Where are the dance-offs incorporated with this event?? Does dancing wear down the shoes too much? Or, can we get that going next year??? hahah. You know!! Let’s turn it up.
Event Reviews - Further Elaboration:
Venue (2/5):
Room For Improvement: This is one of my favorite venues in all of Seattle, but for this… it’s way too big and made it all feel cheap and sloppy. I know this event involved a lot of money (and cash) being exchanged, so maybe the security and legitimacy of this place makes it appealing for someting like this. But I just think it was so ugly and looked cheap overall in this venue. It was like the waiting room was so empty, then the room itself was awkward and forgotten about by the food. I didn’t take pictures cause I was so uninspired but now I wish I had. Like, there wasn’t even anywhere to eat. We had to eat on the floor, but my daughter ate in her stroller and I found a, like… package/moving platform thing to sit on that other people were on and they made space for me. loL!! like gimme a break - and you had to pay to enter.
Food (2/5):
Room For Improvement: No. Just not great. So basic and then “trying to be healthy” too but not good. Just no flavor. We had a Mediterranean plate and it was like hardly filled with food and soaking in sauce and/or so dry too - just lazy.
Speaker Content (2/5):
Room For Improvement: No one that was a vendor especially stood out, minus the jewelry people. But I think if i’d been there alone (without a toddler) I would have been able to listen and learn more.
Networking (1/5):
Room For Improvement: There was no way/reason to hardly talk to anyone randomly.
Likeliness to Return (3/5)
Room For Improvement: Yeah, i’d return on my own - w/o my daughter (or with her! its was fun to bring her, but now I know what to expect)
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
