A few weeks ago I decided to work a gig as a promotional model for a t-shirt company at Comic Con. I had done some brand ambassador work in the past but I had never done an event quite as big as Comic Con. After spending 3 days working the event, I ended up compiling a list of confessions about my experience.
1. I don’t know everything about the product.
While this isn’t the same for every model, it was the truth for me. I was contracted independently and brought in by the company for this one time job. I was told all the prices and where the inventory was held and hour before the public was let in. I was only told the very basics of the product, but I was my job to become an expert before people walk through the entrance. In another job, I represented a sports drink company. The day before the gig I was emailed a 5 pages of information I had to memorize including set up procedures, price, location of the product, and individual ingredients that I had to inform the customers. I had to either know the answer to the question, know the person who knew the answer to the question, or pretend like I knew the answer to the question.
That being said, it also mean that :
2. I have no control over the price of the products.
So many people tried to bargain over the price of a $20 t-shirt. I am working at a business not a flea market. I am not being unreasonable when I said that I couldn’t lower the price, I was just doing my job.
3. It's okay to take photos with me when you ask.
“People would always ask me “Oh have there been any creepy guys ask to take a photo with you?” My response would always be, “ The ones who ask are okay. It’s the ones who don’t ask are the ones that creep me out.”
I actually loved taking photos with people, but I was actually surprised how ridiculous some people got when one day I worked with a friend and we were wearing themed bikinis. For the next 4 hours together, we saw dozens of guys taking photos of us. A few of them lurked around the booth taking so many photos of us, that we had to get our manager to scare him away.
4. I expect to get hit on.
It happened a lot, but I don’t necessarily like it. It is my job to be sociable and to make people interested in the product. It isn’t my job to be your girlfriend. In one day, I had a dozen guys grab my butt, physically pick me up without permission, ask me for my number, or try to kiss me. I notice people forget to understand that this is my professional job. They would not go up to their doctor or to a sales person and treat them how I have been treated. I will be nice to people. I will take pictures with them. I will not go out on a date with them.
5. It's a rough job
I help with putting together and breaking down the booth. I stand for 8-12 hours a day dealing with tons of people. As explained above some of these people aren’t the easiest to work with. I don’t get to wander around and look at other booths. I get to take very little part of the event and I become the event. The hardest part is that I get very little money for it.
However I still loved being a promo girl. In some ways I found it empowering. People would come up to me and tell me how great I looked. I had fun with my friends and the people I got to meet. It was a good experience for me to have and it allowed me to market and network myself to others in the industry. I definitely found benefit a job not many recognize.
