Thought Bubble is over for this year, but never fear, it shall return in 2008! We'll announce the dates very soon. For now we'd like to take a moment to thank all the amazing people involved who helped to make this year's festival a reality.
First, we'd like to give an honourable mention to our volunteers. We were so impressed by their dedication and willingness to help out. Big thanks go out to Mark and Sabrina Peyton at
Fractal Matter for their hard work in all arenas, from baking to stall holding, raffle ticket selling to panel organisation, bar tending to keeping guests happy... seriously, I do not know how any convention is run without them! Huge thanks also to our lovely ladies who worked on the door selling tickets and giving people great information;
Kelly and
Josephine! Angels read comic books, too, who knew? Thanks also to Luke and Ken for their hard work throughout the day, as with everyone else they went above and beyond the call of duty to help out.
Laura and Niki also made it down for the day to help out with our panels, they were really enthusiastic and cute as BUTTONS! Yes, we really did have the best volunteers ever. To
James and Mark for flyering the hell out of Leeds, London and the surrounding countryside. I'd also like to mention
Jorji and her film crew, who stayed all day and filmed absolutely everything (as far as I can tell). I heard really positive things about them all from the stall holders, and upon meeting Jorji we are just pleased as punch that she asked to be involved. Big thanks also to all the staff at the Town Hall, from the friendly people at reception to those who helped us with getting all the tables set up.
We were also incredibly lucky to have some of the most professional and understanding exhibitors attending our convention. We could not have asked for more talented and enthusiastic people to be involved in this year's event. From extremely beautiful and imaginative small press, to amazing quality retail items, our attendees really were spoilt for choice. We really hope that all our exhibitors had a positive experience; we would love to have you all involved with next year's convention. I know I have said this to a few people, but we want you to know that we do realise that investing in a first time event can be a risk, and we really do greatly appreciate your support on our first venture, plus your kind words and feedback since. I have sent out thank you messages to most people involved, but if I missed you it's purely down to me not being able to find a contact address, so if that's the case just get in touch, we'd love to hear your thoughts.
Our guests were just amazing, there is no other word for it. We dealt with a collection of utterly charming ladies and gentlemen over the weekend. From comic book creators to workshop leaders, we were genuinely delighted and humbled with the approach that was taken by all involved. Plus so many have said nice things since that we'll be blushing until after Christmas!
Thank you to our sponsors. To the
Leeds International Film Festival, for their huge amount of help and guidance, and for allowing us to be involved in such an excellent creative venture. To the
Leeds Young People's Film Festival, for invaluable advice as regards workshops for young people. To
Darbar, for great service and food for a rather demanding party of 24 on Saturday night. To
Travelling Man, for huge support, excellent parties and for sponsoring all our competitions with great prizes. To
Golden Orbit, for great exhibitor organisation and co-ordination. To
Leeds Art Gallery, for their involvement with Cult Fiction and for kindly giving us panel space for the Hellboy talk in a wonderful setting. To
Pick Up Yorkshire and
Comics International for great coverage and advertising. And to
Ibis hotels, for kindly hosting our guests.
To everyone who helped to advertise us on blogs and websites, thank you! With big thanks to the guys at
ImagineFX, and John at
Dublin City Comic Con for sage advice and for setting a fine example. Thanks also to Jordan at
Comic Shop Voice for much appreciated support in what we are doing! To anyone I've forgotten, I'm sorry but the old brain isn't what it used to be.
Finally, the old cliche rings true. This year really would not have been such an astonishing success without all our amazing attendees. From long term comic book fans to curious passers-by, every person who decided to give the convention a chance has turned 2008 from a tentative dream to a fully fledged reality. We are extremely grateful and hope that we will continue to earn your support. Your custom and your feedback are extremely important to us. Thank you for making this year a truly enjoyable experience for all involved. We look forward to seeing you next year!
-- The Thought Bubble Team
Notes:The winning raffle ticket numbers were 57 for the Adi Granov piece, and 53 for the Bryan Talbot piece. We have found a home for the Adi Granov art (all the way in Dublin!), but the Bryan Talbot piece needs to be united with the winning ticket holder! Contact us here or at thoughtbubble@hotmail.co.uk if it's you :) The sales of tickets for Bryan's piece will be donated to Oxfam.
Reviews:Here are some reviews of the show. If you find more, please let us know!
Comic Shop Voice Click on the "Leeds Thought Bubble Festival Reviewed" link located near the top right hand corner of the page
The Tall GuyModern MonstrosityAccentUK Comics Select "Events from the left hand menu, then "Click here to see the latest event write-up"