Events, behavior and all around fun

I'm arrived home from the Sassy in Jacksonville event. It was small, fun, and the readers attending were fantastic! Everyone seemed genuinely excited to be there. During the signing I was able to reconnect with local readers I knew, met knew to me readers, reconnected with a reader I met last year who came specifically to see me (and y'all I fangirled her HARD for this!) and reconnected with an old friend and his wife. After the event, 9 of us in tow went to have dinner at an Irish bar, allowed an Irish man in a kilt to hit on us (IT WAS FUN!) and had a fantastic time! Laughs and howls were eminent! On our way back, we relaxed, stretched then had a great game of cards against humanity. In all, FANTASTIC!! 
Now on to a subject I wanted to touch base on: the do's and don'ts of cons. Some of this may seem redundant others may be reading this for the first time. I've posted about this topic before, but the circumstances were different.

Do's:

1. Be on your best behavior. This may appear to be a 'duh' point but seriously, behave yourself. Smile, talk to people, ask what they like to read. Make a connection and go from there. If they don't buy from you, it's not the end of the world. Give them swag to take home that has your contact information on it; whether that be your amazon page, web page, or your email. Give them something so they remember you later. Some may only do ebooks so again, make that connection.
2. Do be courteous to those around you. When readers are at the table next to you or across from you, smile to them and let them know you acknowledge them. Simple right? Once they visit your table and connection is made, tell them as they're walking away that "author so in so also writes such and such genre. You may like their work as well." Trust me, this goes a LONG way. Signings are great to sell your books but it's not all about you. Be courteous, trust me on this. Word gets around and before you know it, others will take note and follow your lead. I was surrounded by one person at this signing. Unfortunately others canceled due to one reason or another. Suzannah Daniels was across from me, Emily Cyr next to her. and Suzanne (SM) Donaldson two tables down. The four of us had a good time chatting with one another and when finished with readers, we sent them to one anothers tables. See how that works? Team work! Emily and I knew each other prior to the event, but Suzannah and Suzanne had only just met. 
3. BE RESPECTFUL! I cannot say this enough. You'll be remembered by the con organizer and receive an invite back, assuming another event is put on.

OK... and now for the don'ts:

1. Don't misbehave, get drunk, act a fool. People, especially readers, will remember this and avoid you at all costs.
2. Don't call out to readers to come see you while they're waiting at an authors table to come see you. That is absolutely rude. Wait for them to visit with the author they wish to see, then call them over. Don't rush it and don't steal sales. Just no.
3. Above I said be respectful. DO NOT by ANY means walk the floor and begin talking smack about authors and the choices they made during the event. There's a time and a place for everything and the signing IS NOT IT! I witnessed this type of behavior this weekend and was appalled. Honestly, don't do that. You have something to say? Fine. Hold off until the event is over. Don't walk around, point fingers and pass judgement. I saw what was set up as well. Was it in bad taste? Sure. Did it affect me? Not in the least. Why does it have to affect you? Don't like it? Simply ask them to move it, or ignore it. Trust me on this, she would have. If you misbehave during the event, you'll get blacklisted by this organizer, the ones they're run with and most likely, others they associate with. You'd only have yourself to blame.

To close, behave yourself. if there's something you don't like, voice your opinion to that person in a tasteful manner. Don't be mean about it. Don't walk around talking smack. And for all sake here, don't talk smack to readers. Seriously, don't. Always remember, do something good, they'll remember you for it, connection is made, and they'll tell your friends you're awesome (or amazing, or fantastic). If you're nasty, cruel, mean, and talk smack? Yeah, they'll remember you for that too. You pick how you want to be remembered.