4 minute read
Boss Talk with promoter Troy Timpel
BOSS TALK
with Villain Arts Tattoo Convention Promoter Troy Timpel
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Villain Arts 2020
This was going to be a great year in January. Cleveland all beat last year’s numbers. I was all set for Chicago when…… Seems like years ago, thinking back to March now. Its like we are living in a Sci fi movie. We did our best to try to reschedule and push the shows back to the point of the country returning to normal. We managed to get one show out. OKC. OKC is a great little city and a super nice show. The state had among the lowest Covid numbers in the
country when we decided to move forward with the show. We did a great job in managing the event. Temp checks, free masks to the public if they didn’t have them. Booths were spread apart. We gave additional space for artists, 6ft social distancing for the stage and contest areas. Mandatory masks for everyone. Large areas for the public, 40ft ceilings. Masks are not a requirement in Oklahoma. Not for Tattooing, not for retail, no mask requirements at all. We required them for safety. It resulted in us deleting 200 comments a day from our social media. We got slammed from both the hard left and hard right. “Can’t believe your being greedy and unsafe by running an event during a pandemic” and “you can’t infringe on my personal freedoms by making me wear a mask” were the most common deleted subjects.
Philadelphia Eddie and Troy Timpel
courtesy of Troy Timpel
We were featured by multiple TV crews and reporters as we were one of the first to move forward with an event in July for OKC. They all said it was the most masks they had seen worn in OKC ever. It was a far safer environment than shopping at a “Box store” and one of the safest places we saw during our visit there. We still drew half the attendance as the year before. The artists killed it, as there were more than half the booths to split the public draw from. We canceled the years events after returning from OKC.
There is no way to turn a profit on events during Covid. It will change quickly when the vaccines come out. Herd immunity for vaccine is only 50% of the country. At the time of this writing we are moving forward and hoping that Jan will allow us to move forward again safely. Trump made a press release today that the CDC is getting states prepped for release of the vaccine on Nov 1st . I doubt that will happen as none of the vaccines are scheduled to pass FDA phase 3 by then, but Moderna and a few others said December for deliveries. The NY times has an updated daily vaccine tracker to follow. None of it looks like Nov 1. I can’t wait for this dumpster fire of a year to end to get back on tour.
When the shows come back we will be just as busy as before Covid. Tattooing has never been more popular and I can’t wait for the conventions to come back!
I have been going to conventions since 1994. I have a lot of fond memories of traveling and splitting rooms with Philadelphia Eddie. In future issues maybe I’ll start telling some of the old stories of travel with Eddie.
The convention circuit has always been one of magic for me. Seeing a new city, meeting new artists, making money, traveling and seeing a new place has been great. Conventions have allowed me to see most of the US, and have been able to travel to shows in Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Czech, etc.
Troy Timpel, Yelawolf, Carl Blasphemy
courtesy of Troy Timpel
I’m stoked on the progress that Villain Arts has made in keeping great attendance, ease for the artists to travel and do our shows, and the fun we have had on the road for 20+ years now. Philly is now the biggest in the world, and I’m really happy that the industry and artists have come out to do our events. 2021 will pickup where precovid left off and I look forward to seeing all of you at an upcoming Villain Arts show.
Troy Timpel 9-3-2020
ABOUT THE WRITER Troy is the promoter of Villain Arts Tattoo Conventions, and co-owner of Philadelphia Eddie’s 621, Floating World, and owner of Hunter Gatherer.
