-- Artist Alley Announcement --

Started by ewu, March 15, 2014, 09:24:55 AM

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CuteMew

No way.  Just do FCFS.  Ignoring everying else wrong with doing a jury system, there simply isn't time for it at this point.  You can always screen people while doing FCFS in order to make sure you're not getting any bootleggers in.

LiL Moon

I agree with CuteMew. I was really crammed when it came time to get myself ready for the AA last year. Doing a jury selection now will just take too much time. I prefer first come first serve as well, but that's just my opinion. The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking about just skipping out on Fanime this year.  :-\ Maybe I'll try again next year instead.

SquishyK

Sorry, but I feel a bit of a rant coming on...

I've been thinking about why AA would switch to a "panel review system" and I've come to the conclusion that it MUST be a quality control thing. Otherwise they would just make it a lottery (PLEASE DON'T) and be done with it (naturally they would still check that people are following the rules). Furthermore, I don't think they would plan on having quotas because we always have quite a bit of diversity and I can't imagine that cotton picking artists while maintaining that diversity would have much of an overall effect. Essentially it would seem like ALOT of waisted effort. And even if there are tendencies towards apparent over saturation certain art mediums or series this is mostly a reflection of fan interest and it doesn't make sense to force "supply" to be incongruous with "demand". So assuming that Fanime is doing this because they want the best of the best and to provide it's attendees with the highest quality product then in this case we have to ask... Should Fanime actually do that? It sounds absurd because from an organizer's perspective giving the client the best sounds like a no brainer.

I believe Fanime is now trying to recognize that it is a big con nearing the level of AX and Otakon and is doing it's best to accommodate for that. So improving on quality and enforcing standards would be a natural step in that progression, giving a more professional big con appearance. HOWEVER, I think it would be a mistake for Fanime to forget it's roots (which made Fanime such a great con to begin with) stated ever so eloquently if not a tad ambiguously in it's tag line or mission statement, "for fans, by fans". This is reflected most distinctly in it's lack of corporate sponsors and also in it's volunteer staff. So it is quite clearly "by fans" but it is also "for fans". The argument could be made that improving the quality of AA and filtering for the best artists is done "for the fans" but AT WHAT COST?

Sure it benefits the long time artists who often have legions of followers on DA and Tumblr many of whom attend the con hoping to see their favorite artists in AA but what about the up and comers? what about the newbie con goers that aren't prepared to drop $50 on a print from an artist they've never heard of but would absolutely love that $2 "Don't you Heichou me" pin. Do we tell them too bad, go find a smaller con because we're a big con now?

Don't get me wrong I lament the idea of an outstanding "seasoned" artist getting turned away because their spot went to someone who is an artist "for a season" (see what I did there  ;)). But the fact is, even if you only take quality artists you still won't be able to accommodate all of them and I for one have NEVER thought that there were more then a tiny handful of artists that would have been better served trying a different con first. I think the cost of table and badge alone compounded with the amount of con time you have to sacrifice are enough to discourage unsuccessful artists from reapplying and effectively over crowding AA with sup-par products. So is it really worth the time and anxiety (both the staff's and the artists') to comb through applications?

I think the hybrid method I mentioned in a previous post would best serve preserving AA's diversity while not loosing an astounding artist or two that didn't type fast enough. One of the best things about Fanime is its diversity of fans, we get newbie high school students dragged there by their friends who swore it will be awesome (I was there once), we have long time Fanime loyals who come year after year (I'm there now), we even have couples who drag their kids around and once met at Fanime and maybe even got engage there (I hope to be here one day), and we get long time con goers who are trying Fanime for the first time. All of these people are "fans" and for me at least Fanime played a big role in making me a fan.

I think it's great that Fanime is growing and I understand that things will have to change to accommodate that; however, I hope that Fanime never looses its diversity, in the attendees that it attracts, in the masquerade skits, in the panels, and in AA. Last year I sold at AA and to be honest I barely cleared my expenses, but it was the highlight of everything I've done so far as an artist. There was one cosplayer dressed as Prussia who was SOO excited to see my Hetalia charm bracelet that when her friend said that she would get if for her the girl nearly hyperventilated. It is moments like this that for an artist, and for that girl as well I'm sure, really MAKE a con.
I sell cute and geeky polymer clay jewelry!

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Tested/MythBusters:
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rabbitfull

Quote from: ewu on March 15, 2014, 09:24:55 AM

* All applicants will need to be over 18 years of age at the start of the convention, and have their own Seller's Permit or something proving they work for the company listed.

What if 1 of the 2 artists applying for the table is only 17 at the start of the convention? Is it like last year(and all the other years before that) where a minor would be able to apply artist alley as long as they had a qualified guardian?

ewu

Quote from: rabbitfull on March 22, 2014, 08:21:38 PM
What if 1 of the 2 artists applying for the table is only 17 at the start of the convention? Is it like last year(and all the other years before that) where a minor would be able to apply artist alley as long as they had a qualified guardian?

Unfortunately no, this year we are strictly 18+.
Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman
FanimeCon Forums Moderator

ericATfanimeDOTcom

CatToy

The short answer is that Fanime may be getting bigger, but the AA is being crammed into a smaller space, so there needs to be fewer tables. The review process addresses the problem by insuring that no AA applicant will be denied a table because of a lack of tables on Fanime's part, they will be denied a table because of a lack of 'quality' on the artists' part.

If this was a professionally operated show, this wouldn't be happening. Anyone who has taken Econ 101 knows that if you have a fixed supply of a resource and way too much demand for it, you raise the price.

chibimonster

I have a question about badge pickup for artists. Will we get to bypass the badge line again like we did last year? Because that was super convenient.

ewu

Hello All. Please see our newest post on the Fanime Website www.fanime.com regarding the Artist Alley: http://apps.fanime.com/2014/artistinfo/
Eric Wu
FanimeCon Chairman
FanimeCon Forums Moderator

ericATfanimeDOTcom

unicorn_lord

When can we expect announcements on selection? It's getting incredibly close and some of us need to know whether or not to begun allocating resources.

chibimonster

Quote from: unicorn_lord on April 02, 2014, 05:00:43 PM
When can we expect announcements on selection? It's getting incredibly close and some of us need to know whether or not to begun allocating resources.

On Facebook they said it could take a month.