Denver Tattoo Arts Convention 2018 [Video]

This was the first time that we've ever exhibited our brand in Colorado so it was definitely an exciting trip! I left on Friday morning to go straight to the venue and start setting up. Coincidentally, I actually ran into my good friends, Jeff & Nikka, at the airport! They were headed to Canada for a family reunion.

Before I even finished setting up, I was approached by a neighboring tattoo artist who just found out about our brand. After hearing what the brand was about, he immediately started looking for the perfect hat. He was the first customer of the day! I met up with my buddy, Mike, who also has his own jewelry & accessories business, at the Denver airport. We shared an Uber ride to the event to start getting ready.

The first day of the convention was really slow but there's always plenty of entertainment during the tattoo conventions. There are always different types of performers to keep our audience busy. But when it's really slow, I get to enjoy some beer at the office. It's one of the nice perks of my job!

I ended up going out for a bit on my first night there. I was up for almost 24 hours so the wake-up was a little rough on Saturday. I was really anticipating the long hours of the convention that seems to go on forever when it's slow. The 2nd day was definitely a little busier with more people walking around. Sometimes the audience themselves are the entertainment. I see some of the worst and some of the most beautiful tattoos on random people.

One of the advantages of having a slow event is that I am able to have deeper conversations with people. I met some lady who I inspired to start her own salon and some guy who simply wanted some tips on how to talk to his friend who is going through some shit. One of the most memorable moments on this day is when a lady decided to buy some apparel after passing by multiple times throughout the day. She said, "I need this for something I'm dealing with..." She was actually dealing with cancer and she just couldn't help coming back because she could really use the motivation. I didn't get to take a picture of her but I hope she stays motivated!

I've been so curious about the rules with the marijuana laws and I was still unable to try some! Luckily, there was this one kid, who gave me marijuana as a gift because he was really inspired by the brand and he was thankful for my giving him a free wristband to attend the convention!

Well, this definitely gave a new meaning for Sunday fun day for me! I had a friend who helped me roll up some joints in the morning before the crowd walked in. It was funny to see this happening so casually around me while working at the convention.

Then another friend visited me and said, "So, you've been here all weekend and you haven't smoked yet?!" So, he insisted that I take a quick "smoke" break. He led me to the back of the convention where vendors and tattoo artists were taking their smoke breaks.

Of course, after a while, I was yearning for some munchies! I ordered some hamburgers and onion rings that were so huge! It definitely got rid of the hunger pangs and I was back in the groove.

The event finally ended around 7 PM and I packed up everything and headed back to my hotel. I still had one joint left so I decided to sneak into the closed rooftop bar upstairs! I was the only one there and I just sat back and enjoyed the view of the buildings, mountains and the stars. It was definitely a great way to end my visit to Denver!

Thank you to everyone who visited our pop-up shop and supported our brand. I definitely look forward to coming back next year!

Cheers,
Ricardo
founder@fukittclothing.com