Artist Alley 2011 Feedback/Suggestions/Complaints

Started by reaver, June 01, 2011, 12:56:40 AM

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reaver

Hey all!  Artist Alley was really fun this year and I think that it was overall successful!  I am not Fanime artist alley staff, I was just an artist that participated at the convention.  I did however notice a few things that I think are not in the artist's best interests, and wanted to make a thread for the artists who participated to post their thoughts and opinions of the alley here, since there was no feedback or survey given at the con itself.  Hopefully this will help everyone who participated get their two cents out to the con so they can make changes if they want to for next year!

PLEASE NOTE, this should not be a flaming thread, please keep any complaints given in a constuctive fashion.  if you had a problem with something, maybe suggest a solution to the staff that they might like instead of just complain about it!

Here are the only complaints that I had, as well as some ideas how I think they might be fixed in future AAs:

1) lottery system?:  Tables ran out fast, and a lot of artists were put into a lottery system to get in.  I personally do not liek the lottery system at all, and think that no matter what it should always be first come first served.  This is the most fair way to register any and all who are trying to, as opposed to only having the first half of people wanting to get in using a first come first served basis, and then having a different group of registrants have a lottery system.

2) lack of tables:  obviously the first round of tables this year were sold out in I believe under 2 days.  There are a lot of tables at Fanime that should be open to other artists.  I think limiting one table maximum for an artist is good, as it allows other artists an opportunity to participate.  Most other cons only allow up to 1 full table per artist.

3)  registration:  The registration system was nice!  everything was straight forward, and the steps made it easy for people who did not have things like their sellers permit handy.  I did not have any problems with the registration system, except for the fact that the link to the artist alley account login page was not easy to find on the website, and I had to email the dude in charge to get the link to log into my account.  Otherwise nice job on the account section itself though!

4)  checkin for the table:  I can understand liability and not being able to put your stuff down before checkin, but it still takes way too long to get all the artists checked in.  most of the artists waiting for checkin were waiting in front of the hall well before 9am.  Obviously we know people love their sleep and need time to setup and such, but it might be nice if you can have some earlier checkin hours for those who are there early.  Also having a few more staffers just for the initial checkin proccess would help checkin go much faster the morning of.

5)  announcement for no future mailing list:  This was probably the most upsetting thing for me about the AA tis year.  We were told when we were leaving on Monday that AA staff would no longer be sending out emails for a mailing list next year, and that we would just have to check back on the site for info all the time.  There was no explanation for as to why they are doing this, which does not make much sense.  it kinda sounds like a bad idea, because the Fanime website was not clear this year regarding artist alley updates, and when registration would go live, etc.  All it said for the longest time until AA registration actually opened was that "AA Registration is not open, check back again" or something generally along those lines.  People have to plan for things like this, get plane tickets, book hotel rooms, etc.  But without some dependability and assisstance form the Fanime staff and resources, we as artists can not depend of if we MAYBE get into the artist alley.  Of course a lot of artists want to get in and it is competitive, but there is no reason (least not that I can think of) that the staff should not have a simple mailing list to inform artists on it when the registration will be opening up.

Overall the con and the artist alley was fun, but these were things that I felt needed to be addressed, and I knew of a few of my other friends in the artist alley who felt the same way on some of these matters.

Again, I post these points as constructive criticisms, and I relally hope they do not come off as harsh or bitter!  I love Fanime and I love artist alleys, and I would love to see it grow and improve in favor of the artists, and believe that everyone should voice their opinon (again in a constructive manner! XD)  Thanks!  

Karen

Thanks again to the AA staff! The onsite check in was smooth and staff were very responsive at the con. I also found the FB page informative, helpful and convenient to connect with fellow artists.

Now for a little feedback: I would like to see the con pre-registration combined with the cost of the AA table. I'm coming to Fanime to work Artist Alley. Having the con reg be non-refundable, non-transferable is understandable; however, if I don't get an AA table, then I do not get my money back for the con reg. Other conventions where I've done Artist Alleys and/or Small Press, the badge is included with the cost of the table. It would cut down on the uncertainty of folks waiting to see if they get an AA table or not, especially because right now artists have to register for the con separately and then wait for AA table reg. I'm local, so last minute plans to get a table isn't a big concern as compared to someone who is trying to make travel arrangements from out of state.

Overall, I had a very successful Fanime this year and I am looking forward to next year!  :)

catnapcaps

I was impressed with the way AA check in was handled. It makes me wonder why the heck larger conventions such as AX can't have a check in line that breaks the line down by # or last name or something. What I didn't really get is why we had to get in another line just to get the stickers.

One thing that that did kind of bother me is that my side of the AA seemed to have dimmer lighting than the side with the rest of the AA. I don't know if it was because of the sky box/room hanging above the entrance or what. I thought I would be getting a good spot because I was near an entrance, however I found out it was more of an exit than anything since most attendees came through the door nearest the Exhibit hall exit. I've never been to Fanime and didn't know where anything would be located. It's something I would have liked to know in advance.

I also have a complaint about announcing that there would be no updates via e-mail when the AA was more or less closed and a # of artists were already gone from the alley. I don't really understand why updates will not be given via e-mail and would like to know why this is. Saying "we just can't" doesn't really make sense.

All in all it was an alright experience. I find that the atmosphere is friendlier than in other AA's I've participated in and in my opinion it was more organized than other AA's I've done.

reaver

Quote from: Karen on June 01, 2011, 09:41:51 AM
"I would like to see the con pre-registration combined with the cost of the AA table. I'm coming to Fanime to work Artist Alley. Having the con reg be non-refundable, non-transferable is understandable; however, if I don't get an AA table, then I do not get my money back for the con reg. Other conventions where I've done Artist Alleys and/or Small Press, the badge is included with the cost of the table. It would cut down on the uncertainty of folks waiting to see if they get an AA table or not, especially because right now artists have to register for the con separately and then wait for AA table reg. I'm local, so last minute plans to get a table isn't a big concern as compared to someone who is trying to make travel arrangements from out of state."

I definitely agree with this idea!  Fanime requires that a badge be purchased in order to have an artist alley table (no press badges, program participant badges, etc).  So it might just be easier to combine the two.  Obviously the only reason that I can think of it being an issue is that the convention registration system probably operates seperately, since the artist alley registration account had us manually put in our badge numbers.  But maybe there is a way to combine them in the future so that their registration for the badge database gets updated as well!  (whew, lots of technical mumbo jumbo, sorries!)

Sen

Quote from: catnapcaps on June 01, 2011, 04:01:59 PM
I also have a complaint about announcing that there would be no updates via e-mail when the AA was more or less closed and a # of artists were already gone from the alley. I don't really understand why updates will not be given via e-mail and would like to know why this is. Saying "we just can't" doesn't really make sense.

We realized that this year there were too many ways to get the word out to Artist about Artist Alley updates. We had Facebook, the website, the forums, the mailing list, and the FanimeCon twitter if necessary. As a result, something can be forgotten. Some of you may have noticed that key updates were posted on the website or forums before the mailing list which pretty much defeats the purpose of it. We still have plenty of other ways to get the word out about updates.


Concerning being able to pay for a badge and table all at once...Artist Alley tables can be refunded up to a certain date. Member badges cannot. Hence even if we were to combine the two, you would still lose the money from the cost of the badge. At least with them being separate there is a chance that you can save the badge cost.

reaver: You're right they are separate. Combining the two databases has been a dream for me. The badge number check was a step in that direction.   :)
Claudia

Chair Radio '15
Fan Services Division メンバーサービス共同本部長
   Member '15
   Director '10-'13
   Assistant Director '08-'09
Registration Staff '05-'07

Karen

Quote from: Sen on June 02, 2011, 12:44:01 AM
Concerning being able to pay for a badge and table all at once...Artist Alley tables can be refunded up to a certain date. Member badges cannot. Hence even if we were to combine the two, you would still lose the money from the cost of the badge. At least with them being separate there is a chance that you can save the badge cost.

If I don't get into Artist Alley, then I would pay for a member badge that does not benefit me because the reason I got the badge in the first place was to work in Artist Alley. If there was a way to make the combined Artist Alley table and member badge as a lower-tier exhibitor, then that might work.

arthur_

#6
Not quite sure why maintaining the mailing list is such a difficult thing to do.  As you guys have done this year, all that's needed is to type out the announcement and copy paste it into email, forums, and facebook.  I do agree that the main site needs to be utilized more, though.  With the alley, all the activity and communication this year seems to be going around everywhere BUT the main site.  Even until the day of the con, there is still no link on the main site to http://apps.fanime.com/2011/artist, which is categorically the most important link for every artist involved in the alley.

The greatest concern about retiring the mailing list should be the lack of evidence that artists can use to support themselves.  An example of this is this year's closing time.  An announcement was made at 3.30pm on Monday that artists would have 30 more minutes to pack up, while the email sent out regarding hours clearly stated that artists will have until 4.30pm to clear up their table.  Indeed this is trivial, but if bigger things happen, the emails sent out through the mailing list is a hard enough evidence for artists to be able to say, "wait a minute, that's not what's stated here."  Information on the site can also be used as evidence, but even you folks have to admit that website information can be updated without leaving any trace, which is a very convenient way to cover up mistakes.  If information distribution is centralized in the main site, then there has to be a way to notify all the artists whenever the page is appended or amended with new information.

Regarding this year's alley, everything was great and the staff was very helpful.  Having that copier machine there to make copies of seller's permit is also a brilliant idea, hope that gets brought back next year, because there will always be some of us who forgot to make two copies.  There is one incident, though, where I felt the staff basically built a rod for their own back: the sudden ban imposed on double-sided table display.  There is absolutely NOTHING in the agreement that specified such a thing.  The only line I can see that is close enough to that is #11, and even that is stretching it a bit.

"11.   Any and all set-up or displays must not interfere with your neighboring tables or block any of the walkways. All displays must be secure and if it is a hazard AA staff will ask for it to be removed"

Arguably, having double-sided display does not interfere with any neighboring table, nor block any walkways.  Don't get me wrong, us artists are more than happy to comply and have single-sided display, but my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong, staff) is that this issue was brought up because a small number of artists in the alley felt aggrieved when people come up to their table and ask about the posters displayed by the table behind them.  Personally, I think this is a bit petty.  I myself have been in this position before and frankly, I don't see why this issue can't be easily solved by making a simple remark to clarify the owner of the display ("oh those aren't mine! they belong to the table behind!"), which is also an amazingly effective way to start a conversation with your neighbor (and to make new artist friends!).  

What's even more disappointing is the staff's stance on this.  You guys could have easily told the complainers something along the lines of, "Sorry, there is nothing listed in the agreement that bans double-sided display for this year.  We'll make sure to mention it next year but it's too late to do anything about it this year."  But instead, you changed the rules on the spot and suddenly having double-sided display is a no-no.  Everyone with a double-sided display was asked to take down the back side, or cover them up, saying that there's nothing you guys can do about it this year.  Yes, there is.  You made those rules: the rules in which there is no mention of double-sided display being an invasion of space for the artists occupying the space behind, the rules that all artists read and agreed upon when they signed up for a table.  You can't have people sign an agreement and then later on change the terms, almost whimsically.  This part I don't get at all.  It gives the impression that anyone can file in a complaint about something and suddenly it will become the rule that gets imposed to all the unsuspecting artists at the alley.  

An explanation from a staff member on this bit would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

hookedonchibis

There were a number of things that went very right in this Alley, but there were also a number of things that went wrong, and it is unfortunate that in my studio's case, the bad things far outweighed the good things. I understand that this won't be the case for most people, and if you had a good experience, congrats! Enjoy it ^_^

I'd really, really like the chance to speak with a staff member about my concerns and offer feedback on my experience, but there seems to be no way to do that - and that's really only making a bad experience worse for me. The combined google-fu of all 4 of my studio members has failed to net us a way to contact the con other than these forum boards, which are both unnecessarily public and not guaranteed to even reach the eyes/ears of the people they should be reaching. Even this thread wasn't solicited by staff and I seriously doubt they know it exists.

I'll keep trying, but if a staff member sees this, please send me an e-mail (in my profile).

ewu

Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman
FanimeCon Forums Moderator

ericATfanimeDOTcom

reaver

Well hopefully because this thread is here, artist alley staff will notice that there were issues that artists had and will hope to fix them next year.  I run my own artist alley at a different convention, and I know that whenever I get any negative feedback whatsoever I do whatever I can to make sure that those complaints AT THE VERY LEAST get addressed if not fixed for the next year.  That's kinda staff's job after all is to help run a successful event for the fans and attendees to enjoy (at least I hope thats what it's about! XD)

Regarding the mailing list/communication problem, the easiest wayt o keep things updated is always to update the website first with the new info.  Then you write out a generic announcement that "the artist alley registration date has ben released" or "new rules added to the artist alley page", copy and paste the exact same thing onto twitter, facebook, email list, etc.  This way, all the announcements are the same and will avoid confusion.

The main communication problem this year was lack of info on the website...when last year it was that the registration info was given on the forums and not on the website.  ALL of the main info should always be on the main site, so that artists know that that info is what is the final say on it, no ifs ands or butts.  The mailing list should not be to give artists info, but moreso to announce that the website has been updated with either registration/rules/other info.  Mailing lists are important to keep your artists informed, as stated previously we can not tell when a website has new or old information.  Plus it is just a nice guesture to your artists because they will know that the staff has their back and is keeping them well informed!

Regarding the badge issues, it is kind of silly that Fanime will not refund badges for artists who missed the cutoff, and can not afford to attend the convention.  Easy way to fix this is to make badges like exhibitor spaces in the dealers hall, where each table gets a certain amount of exhibitor badges per space.  In artist alley cases you can gie one badge per half space, 2 badges for full table space, and if any additional badges are needed those could be requested seperately for an additional fee.

idontknow

Some people have already mentioned that AA registration should be combined with the Fanime badge so I'm not even going to mention that. I also agree with updating all the websites. It's unfair to the people that have been hovering over the main website when the link to the AA registration was posted at places that are more "underground."

I do have a suggestion: Can we move the Gaming Room to Exhibit Hall 1 (2011 Artist Alley) and more Artist Alley to Exhibit Hall 2 (2011 Dealers) or 3 (2011 Gaming Room)? I'm leaning more towards Exhibit Hall 2 so that the Gaming Room can be moved to Exhibit Hall 1 (the smallest room) and the Dealers can be moved to Exhibit Hall 3 (the biggest room). I don't see why the Gaming Room needs so much room, no offense :I

JessicaG

Quote from: reaver on June 01, 2011, 12:56:40 AM
2) lack of tables:  obviously the first round of tables this year were sold out in I believe under 2 days.  There are a lot of tables at Fanime that should be open to other artists.  I think limiting one table maximum for an artist is good, as it allows other artists an opportunity to participate.  Most other cons only allow up to 1 full table per artist.

No, no, no. The two table limit was just fine, considering I didn't see very many people using up two tables for one artist at all. The people taking up multiple booths usually have multiple people under one company name, or approximately one assload of merch. I realize this is an old post and we're gearing up for round 2012, but you may not realize the importance of table space to the latter. I'm sure there's cases of some people "just being greedy" or simply not knowing how to organize themselves onto one table, but I make a dealers hall volume of merchandise for Fanime that does NOT fit on and under just one table. It's the one con that can (Could. Apparently the one table limit has been enforced) afford me double table space, and the one con I can actually sell that much at. Being able to display everything is absolutely crucial to making as many sales on the spot as possible -- all the more when your financial state depends on how well you do at fanime. Any other con, I have to leave most of my products at home -- unfortunately it's not as simple as "just leaving some stuff in the hotel room". Besides; every year I've gone, there has always been a handful of completely vacant tables. No-shows that never even get filled with waitlisters. There's no point in limiting everyone to one. Two is fine.

Just had to complain about that. :p

Hachimitsu

Quote from: JessicaG on January 27, 2012, 12:11:10 PM
Quote from: reaver on June 01, 2011, 12:56:40 AM
2) lack of tables:  obviously the first round of tables this year were sold out in I believe under 2 days.  There are a lot of tables at Fanime that should be open to other artists.  I think limiting one table maximum for an artist is good, as it allows other artists an opportunity to participate.  Most other cons only allow up to 1 full table per artist.

No, no, no. The two table limit was just fine, considering I didn't see very many people using up two tables for one artist at all. The people taking up multiple booths usually have multiple people under one company name, or approximately one assload of merch. I realize this is an old post and we're gearing up for round 2012, but you may not realize the importance of table space to the latter. I'm sure there's cases of some people "just being greedy" or simply not knowing how to organize themselves onto one table, but I make a dealers hall volume of merchandise for Fanime that does NOT fit on and under just one table. It's the one con that can (Could. Apparently the one table limit has been enforced) afford me double table space, and the one con I can actually sell that much at. Being able to display everything is absolutely crucial to making as many sales on the spot as possible -- all the more when your financial state depends on how well you do at fanime. Any other con, I have to leave most of my products at home -- unfortunately it's not as simple as "just leaving some stuff in the hotel room". Besides; every year I've gone, there has always been a handful of completely vacant tables. No-shows that never even get filled with waitlisters. There's no point in limiting everyone to one. Two is fine.

Just had to complain about that. :p

sorry to hear this but, I am very sure that re-posting an old topic wont help the cause for tomorrow..
once they ruled out one table per person... that's pretty it, they really mean it.

I think this topic should be closed now since its for 2011.

reaver

Quote from: JessicaG on January 27, 2012, 12:11:10 PM
Quote from: reaver on June 01, 2011, 12:56:40 AM
2) lack of tables:  obviously the first round of tables this year were sold out in I believe under 2 days.  There are a lot of tables at Fanime that should be open to other artists.  I think limiting one table maximum for an artist is good, as it allows other artists an opportunity to participate.  Most other cons only allow up to 1 full table per artist.

No, no, no. The two table limit was just fine, considering I didn't see very many people using up two tables for one artist at all. The people taking up multiple booths usually have multiple people under one company name, or approximately one assload of merch. I realize this is an old post and we're gearing up for round 2012, but you may not realize the importance of table space to the latter. I'm sure there's cases of some people "just being greedy" or simply not knowing how to organize themselves onto one table, but I make a dealers hall volume of merchandise for Fanime that does NOT fit on and under just one table. It's the one con that can (Could. Apparently the one table limit has been enforced) afford me double table space, and the one con I can actually sell that much at. Being able to display everything is absolutely crucial to making as many sales on the spot as possible -- all the more when your financial state depends on how well you do at fanime. Any other con, I have to leave most of my products at home -- unfortunately it's not as simple as "just leaving some stuff in the hotel room". Besides; every year I've gone, there has always been a handful of completely vacant tables. No-shows that never even get filled with waitlisters. There's no point in limiting everyone to one. Two is fine.

Just had to complain about that. :p

Well looks like they did make a limit to one table per artist registration anyways, so that was a good call!  Taking that artist alley sold out in about 15 minutes this year only proves that there is a high demand for artists at Fanime, and limiting to one table helps everyone get a chance to get in, so that was fairly done!

Bottom line is if you have so much merchandise that you can not fit on a table, it means you have enough merchandise to justify making good money, meaning if you require that much extra space you probably belong in dealers hall anyway.  That way it makes more room for the small artist who is trying to make money for a living or school or something, and not pulling in several grand with multiples tables spaces full of merchandise.  So dealers hall would prolly be a better fit for higher volume artists anyways.  Even so, you can still keep a lot of your artwork stored under or behind your table, if you file and organize properly there are many ways to keep a lot of product not on physical display, but still advertise them.  I have a lot of products too, and I keep them in binders and pull them from under my table storage when someone wants to buy.  I have also seen other artists have a laptop with a slideshow catalogue of their work that they do not have room for display, makin it cool and easy to see other various works.  So there are a lot more solutions to consider.

On that note, this thread is pretty much used for its original purpose, so I would recomment it being closed.  Thank you Fanime artist alley staff for actually considering your artists' opinions and making changes for the better this year!  Registration was easy and awesome! ^_^