Artist Alley is leveling up for Fanime 2014!
* Artist Alley will be in the Grand Ballroom located on the second floor of the main concourse of the San Jose Convention Center.
* All Temporary Seller's Permits will need to have the SJCC's address - 150 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95113.
* 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.
* There will be no table sales during the convention itself.
* There will be a new table agreement posted once it gets all the required approvals.
* While many things are changing from last year to this year, fear not the cost of a table. Tables will remain the same price as they were last year.
* Along with the above changes, we are modifying the application process to one that we believe will be fairer to all prospective applicants. We are moving away from a "First Come, First Serve" process and moving to a panel review system. We plan to have an application page on the Fanime website which shall remain open for a period of one (1) week. This is to ensure that everyone who is interested in obtaining a table will have a chance to apply. Applications will require between three (3) to five (5) sample submissions, with a link to a portfolio of items you plan on offering during FanimeCon being highly recommended.
Our review panel will be comprised of impartial staff members and they will review your applications based on quality and subject matter. While the primary purpose of this review will be to ensure that the FanimeCon Artist Alley rules and guidelines are followed, it will also enable us to give all applicants a fair chance at obtaining a table.
Responses shall be reserved until all submissions have been reviewed and all applicants shall receive a response on the status of their application. If an applicant withdraws their application, or does not complete the registration process by the deadline (to be announced at a later time), then their table will be forfeit and offered, via lottery system, to an otherwise approved applicant who was not accepted during the original determination. Once all the space in Artist Alley has been filled, a notice will be posted on the website.
I don't understand how this is a more fair process for anyone though?
No meaning to be rude at all but this sounds like it might come down to basing on skill since you can't weed out 400 applicants based just on following the guidelines. And what about rookie or commission artists who might not be that great or who might not have a large portfolio? Or first-time sellers who have maybe nothing yet, or people with unusual media?
I'm just wondering what your quality criteria will be exactly, aside from checking for stolen/traced work.
That aside, this is going to extend the time it takes to know if one has a table by a long period of time, which is going to make it difficult for people out of state to book flights so last minute.
Can you speak to the amount of tables? The Grand Ballroom looks smaller than any of the hall spaces.
Glad to hear that registration for tables is moving to a more civilised system, though I doubt everyone's going to be as happy...
I'm a little confused about what criteria we're being judged on... could someone please explain a little more on what "quality" entails?
Like is this going to be the judges giving tables to which artists' styles they consider to be the best? or is there more to it...
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on March 15, 2014, 11:12:17 AM
Can you speak to the amount of tables? The Grand Ballroom looks smaller than any of the hall spaces.
Glad to hear that registration for tables is moving to a more civilised system, though I doubt everyone's going to be as happy...
Based on the info here (http://acc50ad50b0a158506f1-71006246e58029c32f0fd6371ca59bf9.r77.cf2.rackcdn.com/San%20Jose%20Convention%20Center_v3.pdf) I'd estimate ~190 tables?
Woah, uh. I really hope it's NOT 190. Otherwise I'm gonna be REALLY worried. 2012 map showed 318 tables (Exhibit Hall 1) and 2013 map had 362 (South Hall). So maybe closer to 250/275? If they knock us down to almost half there will be a riot. xD
Quote from: phr34kish on March 15, 2014, 01:35:57 PM
Woah, uh. I really hope it's NOT 190. Otherwise I'm gonna be REALLY worried. 2012 map showed 318 tables (Exhibit Hall 1) and 2013 map had 362 (South Hall). So maybe closer to 250/275? If they knock us down to almost half there will be a riot. xD
Well, if they keep the ratio from Exhibit Hall 1 that's 43,000/318 = 135.22 ft
2, so 35,194/135.22 = ~260 tables. Of course that's strictly numbers, and doesn't take into account layout and such.
Seconded. Please clarify what the panel will be judging.
1) Is it just a simple scan for following the rules?
2) Are they judging for the best quality?
3) Will they have "quotas" or something similar when it comes to original/fan art, prints/crafts, etc.?
4) If the gallery is fine but there's one or two items that are problematic, will the artist be told to just exclude that item and still get the table (like last year), or will the artist simply not be selected for a table?
Honestly if they're going to have an original art quota I might as well just have gone to Otakon jfc What's the deal with original art quotas anyway? (Forget it that's a whole other discussion)
No offense to the event coordinators as I'm sure they have our best interest in mind, but fanime's table window is already incredibly generous, being I think 5 minutes or so? That essentially means anyone who is online at the right time will get a table. You only miss out if you forget or are gone AND or don't have enough friends/family to sign you up. The idea that a jury is necessary for the people who want to get in to get in is misguided.
It's 2 months, two weeks till the con. Those of us flying from out of state need time to book our hotels and plane tickets, and time to cancel (hotels) if we don't get in. Even if you started the app tomorrow and decided the within the first week you'd still be giving us just 2 months, and lets be real, neither of those things are liable to be true.
In short: :-\ ??? Why??? Seems inefficient for a con this size, and you're already the latest con I've ever been to, small or large.
I think it's just poor planning and not one person can solve it lmao Maybe AA isn't their main priority but if they wanted to solve this they'd have to do it all together properly.
Pulling stuff out of my ass now, but you know how conventions always try to make sure that it's clear AA shouldn't be for profit (admit it tho artists mostly use AA for profit) and it might be due to fear of copyright infringement?? (and yet look at japan and its dj industry) Maybe original art is supposed to pacify that fear? IDK
I've heard people complain about the quality of stuff available, so that might be a part of the reason.
The info above was also posted to the AA Facebook, and I suggest everyone check out the thread for more discussion on AA: https://www.facebook.com/groups/198025690228018/permalink/738862369477678/?stream_ref=8
okay its unsure for the room size becuase for some reason i noticed it has grand ball room
200B 200C and 200A
if all the ballrooms are like temporary walls.. we could see the entire region to hold at least
360 tables.. Roughly... with the lounge and the art gallery being set up!..
If its only focus on Grand ballroom C..
you are looking at at least
216 tables total WITH art gallery and lounge!
while the other two ballrooms erh.. not sure what they are planning to use for but im guessing stage zero or something because of traffic.
without the art gallery and lounge....for ballroom C
BARELY 235-248 (i havent figure out the size of the bathroom yet)..
with ballroms A and b, if artist alley was alone there..
your only at 72 chairs..
I could be wrong but its the best i do with measuring the previous map from 2012 and this years map for 2014.
I am guessing that only 100-150 lottery chairs will be open!...
I really think this is a good good idea for artist alley on commiting more effort on accepting people who showcase their portfolio in order to be accepted to AA. The blue tent felt abit unhappy for everyone (or some) but at least we finally got everyone who got accepted!
Hmmm.... There are just so many things about this that make me unsure and nervous. Sure the 10 min to sign up were stressful but at least I had the same shot as everyone else typing as fast as they can.
I can see where the staff is coming from saying a judging would be fair but at the same time I see a lot of unhappy artists (lets face it though AA as a whole will never be completely satisfied.)
Here are some things I'm worried about:
Time. We have about 2 months, some of us have to start getting orders in, which costs money, and if we don't get a table it just sits there, money wasted. Also as some people have brought up hotels. I believe the last day to cancel I was told was April 25 (Don't quote me on that!). That's about a month away. Don't get me wrong I would attend Fanime either way but I get a hotel because its easier for AA, I live fairly close so if all I was going to do was hang out with friends I'd probably just drive over for 2 days or something.Lets say registration goes up in 1 week. Then according to the post I've seen the registration period will go on for 1 week. It took two weeks to hear back from the old way we did registration, and they was just checking to make sure everyone was following the rules, now you need time to pick and CHOOSE. And whats the number one thing we hear people say when defending staff on time? "They only have so many people working for free". "They have real life jobs to do too". I totally understand these defenses! BUT Will Staff will be able to pull this off before critical dates the artists has? So even if we do 1 week+1 wee+2 weeks to hear back thats already 1 month! And thats if it starts on like... Monday.
Portfolios. We are going to need some VERY clear guide lines on what judges are looking for. Quality, quantity, fan-art, originals... Wait I just thought of something, what is even considered good quality? I've seen some beautifully detailed anime posters that belong in art books but I've also squealed in excitement to buy goofy stickers.
Judging. I already mentioned one thing but another thing that worries me is it will still technically a first come first server thing. We already have X amount of people using one type of medium, so we don't need these other X amount. Or lets say they are sick of seeing one anime or show and decide that's enough, we don't need more artists doing this stuff. What if the judges don't like your "style" of artwork but you've always sold just fine to the public? Diversity to me was always interesting at Fanime.
New artists. I can just see this scaring away so much new blood, I mean heck I would love less competition hitting the refresh button as much as anyone when the time comes but I remember my first year. My art barely sold, it wasn't nearly as good as the other "professional artists" But at least I got to try and improve and now I feel I do very well.
AA is very important to me, I've been doing Fanime AA for several years, but I have to be honest when I say I've never felt this uneasy. I guess I was out of the loop when people were complaining about "quality" I mostly just say people complaining about the space. Good for Fanime Staff to try new things, but this is a BIG thing and very close to the date. I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed this works out for both artists and the con itself.
I agree with Oniko. I'm a new artist (to AA) hoping to start out at Fanime AA this year, but all this new Judging and review stuff is putting me off as I've NEVER done Artist Alley before... I find this very discouraging and these changes are being announced much too late. If I'd known about these new rules and new application process a few more months ahead of time (like in December or even January), I feel I would be more prepared.
I have a feeling this change is mostly a result of long time artists constantly being nervous that AA will go up in the middle of another con they sell at. Or some people complaining that they "never" get in to AA. I for one am harkening back to last month when a certain major change was announced for Hotel/Con registration about TEN DAYS before reg was planned to go up (I know January or December is WAY too much to ask, but I feel this is a tad late in the game). Also, WHY DOES NO ONE EVER DO THINGS BY HALVES???!!! Why not split up the tables so that some (probably the lion's share) are on a first come first serve basis but some are also reserved for a lottery or "panel review" process. THIS would give EVERYONE a fair chance! Those who are dedicated and prepared with get their shot but also the well deserving artist who isn't quick on the keyboard will not be left out.
I am not doing AA this year because I want to enjoy the con, but I did last year. It was my first AA and I make clay jewelry. This process would have made me very nervous if I had to go through it.
p.s. I for one am excited about the location move. The new expansion area looks really good! and in stark contrast to last year AA should get great visibility.
To everyone who says that Fanime has a long sign-up time window when it was first come first serve: that's not the case. The application always lags like crazy the moment it's online, so it can take 10 minutes to even load the first page. It takes two or three minutes to load the next page after you click 'Submit.' Even if you're there the second the site goes live and type very fast, you might still not even get a spot. Tables sold out in 15 minutes, then 12 minutes in the last few years. Some people never got a chance to get a table because it took them that long to even load the application. While I agree that the week-long sign up period for this year is WAY too excessive (I'd prefer 12 hours max) and that week could be better used for the screening process, the idea that FCFS is slow and guaranteed for Fanime is simply not true.
Don't even get me started on space. Apparently Fanime's staff will never recognize that AA as one of their largest attractions is going to need one of their largest spaces.
But the main problem is still the judging process. Too late to change the system now that staff already committed to it, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell us exactly what the panel will be judging on. Also, please don't make it subjective, vague criteria or do things like quotas, because that will just be detrimental not just to this year's AA, but to Fanime's already horrible reputation.
I think this system might work better if we sent in apps by email rather than a form. Email servers can withstand a lot more than online forms can. That way we can all fill out apps beforehand and send as soon as the time window is open.
At this time it might be futile to ask for more answers/changes... it's too late in the game to change anything, and it's not a single person's decision, as well as there are so many things to take in account for to give a concise answer. All we can do at this time is wait and hope for the best, or (rather drastically) boycott AA until changes are made (not recommended).
I am curious in regards to which members of Fanime staff will be conducting the judging and what exactly they will be judging for. I am both happy with the decision for judging considering it hopefully increase the amount of quality items displayed in Artist Alley, but also a little concerned in regards to the judging process being so new as well as whether or not the submissions will be judged by fellow-artists or by general staff.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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+.
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.
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.
Hello All. Please see our newest post on the Fanime Website www.fanime.com regarding the Artist Alley: http://apps.fanime.com/2014/artistinfo/
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.
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.