Registration for Attendee FAQ for 2014 - updated as of [5/20/2014]

[SOawesomeness]

Hi all!

This is the updated FAQ as of [5/20/2014]. What's new? We've changed the times for online single day membership purchases and Clockwork Alchemy end times.

Table of Contents

FANIMECON 2014 ATTENDEE HOTEL FAQ
FANIMECON 2014 ATTENDEE REGISTRATION FAQ
LOCATION
      FanimeCon
      Clockwork Alchemy
HOURS
      FanimeCon
      Clockwork Alchemy
FANIMECON EARLY ONLINE REGISTRATION PRICES
FANIMECON 2014 AT-CON PRICES
WHAT TO BRING IF YOU PAID ONLINE
WHAT TO BRING IF YOU WILL PAY AT THE CONVENTION
ONLINE REGISTRATION
GROUP REGISTRATION
AT-CON REGISTRATION
PAYMENT
PICK-UP FOR PAID ONLINE REGISTRATION BADGES
MISCELLANEOUS

For the official Hotel FAQ, please see the CMR Hotel FAQ.

FanimeCon 2014 Attendee Registration FAQ
(Information can and will be frequently updated - times especially can be changed and most likely will be)

Location
FanimeCon
San Jose Convention Center
150 W San Carlos St, San Jose, CA 95113
Lower level rooms in the new expansion
Clockwork Alchemy
Doubletree Hotel
2050 Gateway Plaza, San Jose, CA 95110

On Site Hours
FanimeCon Registration Pick-Up & At-Con Hours
Thursday: 3pm – 8pm
Friday: 8am – 7pm
Saturday: 8am – 7pm
Sunday: 8am – 7pm
Monday: 8am – 12pm
Clockwork Alchemy Registration Pick-Up & At-Con Hours
Thursday: 5pm – 8pm
Friday: 8am – 8pm
Saturday: 8am – 8pm
Sunday: 8am – 8pm
Monday: 8am – 12pm
*Hours are subject to change without notice. Thursdays are open to only pre-paid pickup only. We will not be accepting payments on Thursday.

Online Registration Hours
Full Weekend: until May 24th, 6 pm
Friday: only May 23rd, 12:01 am - 6 pm
Saturday: May 23rd, 8:30 pm - May 24th, 6 pm
Sunday: May 24th, 8:30 pm - May 25th, 6 pm
Monday: May 25th, 8:30 pm - May 26th, 11 am
Half Weekend (Sunday and Monday):  May 24th, 8:30 pm - May 25th, 6 pm
*Hours are subject to change without notice. Note that even if you purchase a membership online you will still need to pick it a badge on-site before attending events.


Prices
FanimeCon / Clockwork Alchemy 2014 Membership Prices:
Full Weekend: $75
Friday: $45
Saturday: $50
Sunday: $50
Monday: $40
Half-weekend (Sunday and Monday): $65
Child (10 and under): Free with paid membership
   *Child must be present at the time of badge pickup. Child memberships are created at-con only. Do NOT create an online account for the child.

What to bring if you paid online:
Valid government issued photo ID such as: a student ID, passport, driver's license, or state issued photo ID card
E-postcard that will be sent to you after you pay for your membership and e-mailed to you in early May, before FanimeCon.
If you plan on coming to pick up your badge at our most impacted hours, please prepare and bring snacks and drinks for yourself.
If you have a child 10 and under, bring them with you when you pick up your badge so they may get registered with a Child badge (at-con only). The child MUST be accompanied at ALL TIMES with a guardian who has a paid membership.

What to bring if you will pay at the convention:
Valid government issued photo ID such as: a student ID, passport, driver's license, or state issued photo ID card
Money: we accept cash, check, and all major credit cards
Visit the forums (forums.fanime.com) for more information on what con-goes may expect

Online Registration
Q: When/Where can I pick up my paid membership for Online registration?
A: Members who paid for their memberships online can pick up their badge starting on Thursday, May 22, 2014; they will not be mailed to you beforehand. You can pick up your badge at the FanimeCon Pre-paid line in the San Jose Convention Center or at Clockwork Alchemy.

Q: So I prepaid online, but does that mean that I HAVE to pick up my badge on Thursday?
A: No, Thursday is an additional option for prepaid members who wish to pick up their badge on that day. You can pick up your badge from Thursday-Monday during our open Registration hours.

Q: Can I purchase one-day registrations online?
A: Yes, but only on the day-of, during the specified hours below. You must also pick up your badge on the day-of.
Friday: only May 23rd, 12:01 am - 6 pm
Saturday: May 23rd, 8:30 pm - May 24th, 6 pm
Sunday: May 24th, 8:30 pm - May 25th, 6 pm
Monday: May 25th, 8:30 pm - May 26th, 11 am

Q: I cannot make it to FanimeCon 2014 anymore. Can I get a refund or give my membership to a friend?
A: Memberships are non-transferrable, and non-refundable as stated before checkout.

Group Registration
Q: What is Group Registration?
A: It is online registration for groups of 2 or more people. This is so that someone can pay collectively. There is no group discount.

Q: Do we get discounts?
A: There are no discounts for group registration.

Q: Who can pick up the collective group's badges? What does the leader need to pick up the badges?
A: Only the group leader can pick up the badges. No one else may pick up the group's badges — this is to prevent theft. The leader must have either a valid student ID or a valid government-issued photo ID during pick-up, otherwise no one can pick up their badges. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BADGES TO THE GROUP MEMBERS. Any lost badges will result in a re-print fee.

Q: Is there a group size for Group Registration?
A: No. However, if you have single memberships and would like to create a group or be added into someone else's group, we will not be able to accommodate your request as we cannot make any such changes to our system.

At-Con Registration
Q: What is At-Con Registration?
At-Con Registration is the purchasing of con memberships at the con. These memberships range from Full Weekend to One-Day memberships.

Q: When/Where do I go to purchase my membership for At-Con Registration?
A: You can purchase your membership starting on Friday, May 23, 2014, at the at-con registration line.

Q: Is this the only time I can purchase one-day memberships?
A: No, you may purchase one-day memberships only on the day-of, during the specified hours below.
Online:
Friday: only May 23rd, 12:01 am - 6 pm
Saturday: May 23rd, 8:30 pm - May 24th, 6 pm
Sunday: May 24th, 8:30 pm - May 25th, 6 pm
Monday: May 25th, 8:30 pm - May 26th, 11 am
At the San Jose Convention Center:
Friday: 8:00 am — 7:00 pm
Saturday: 8:00 am — 7:00 pm
Sunday: 8:00 am — 7:00 pm
Monday: 8:00 am — 12:00 pm
*Please note that Clockwork Alchemy may have slightly different hours.

Q: If I buy a one-day membership but I want to come back for more days, what should I do?
A: During the convention, please come to the Special Registration line and let the staff know that you wish to upgrade your badge.

Q: Are kids 10 and under free?
A: Yes, kids 10 and under are free. However, you will need to register them at-con to get their child badge. Please do not register them online. When you are picking up your badge at-con, let the registration staff assisting you know that you will need to to register a child ten years old or under. The child must be present at the time of badge pick-up. The child must be accompanied AT ALL TIMES with a guardian who has a paid membership.

Payment
Q: What forms of payment do you accept for online registration?
A: We take all major credit cards.

Q: What forms of payment do you accept for at-con registration?
A: We will accept cash, checks, and all major credit/debit cards.

Q: So I made an online registration account before the price deadline, and now it's after the deadline. Does this mean that when I pay, I will be paying what the membership price was when my account was made, or will I be paying the current price?
A: You will pay the current membership price, not the price of when your account was made.

Q: I registered online but I can't make it to FanimeCon, even though I already paid. Do you give refunds?
A: As stated before payment checkout, we do not issue refunds.

Q: I registered online but I can't make it to FanimeCon, even though I already paid. Can I transfer my membership to someone else?
A: As stated during checkout, memberships are non-transferable.

Pick-Up for Paid Online Registration Badges
Q: What time/days is Registration open at FanimeCon?
A: We will be open from Thursday to Monday of FanimeCon. Thursday will be pick-up exclusively for Paid Online Registration attendees only.

Q: What do I need to pick up my badge if I purchased my membership online?
A: Please bring a valid government-issued photo ID such as: a student ID, passport, driver's license, or state issued photo ID card, along with your electronic postcard that will be attached to your registration account and emailed to you in early May, before FanimeCon.
*Note: Driver's/Learner's Permit, and Birth Certificates are not valid forms of ID.

Q: What is the electronic postcard?
A: It is a document that you print out with your information about your registration on it. It will be available to you closer to FanimeCon — we will email you and make an announcement. This will contain important information necessary to pick up your badge.

Q: I am under 18 and do not have a driver's license or passport. What do I do?
A: All FanimeCon members must have student ID or a valid government-issued ID. If an attendee is under 18 and does not have a government-issued photo ID or student ID, they can still pick up their badge if their parent or legal guardian accompanies them and the parent or legal guardian has a valid government-issued photo ID consistent with information on the attendee's registration. The parent or legal guardian is not required to purchase a badge and does not need to accompany the attendee at all times, but they will still be responsible for the attendee's actions.

Q: I am a parent or legal guardian that accompanied my child to pick up their badge; can I still accompany my child without purchasing a membership?
A: You are free to accompany your child throughout the convention concourse and video rooms, but you will not be able to enter special events or areas such as MusicFest, Black & White Ball, or the arcade/e-gaming area without a membership.

Q: Are badges mailed to my address or do I have to pick them up?
A: We do not mail badges, so you will need to pick them up during the listed hours.

Q: I can't make it to the hours of Registration — can I have a friend pick up my badge for me?
A: We do not allow other people to pick up other people's badges for them unless it is group registration and the leader picks up the badges.

Q: Where can we pick up our badges?
A: You can pick up your badges at the FanimeCon or Clockwork Alchemy convention.

Miscellaneous
Q: Can I come on Thursday to purchase memberships?
A: No, Thursday is only for pre-paid members who have already paid online and wish to pick their badge up at that time.

Q: What are the wait times like?
A: Expect long lines all day Thursday — bring snacks and drinks if you plan on coming Thursday.
Friday may have very long lines as well.
Saturday from morning to late afternoon will be busy. The evening time tends to be fairly quiet.
Sunday morning until the afternoon will be busy but tends to get quiet after noon.
Monday is usually very quiet.

Q: I registered online, but my information has changed/is different than what is on my identification/I want to change my information. What do I do?
A: Please email us to change your information.

Q: Why does my information need to match my ID?

A: This is so we can verify that the person on the badge is actually you. Otherwise, without confirmation, we cannot give you your badge.

Q: What is the "Fan Name"?
A: It's a secondary name that can be a nickname. It is optional, but please note that it must be family appropriate. Your legal first and last name will still be displayed on the badge in addition to the "name on badge", but will be displayed smaller than your fan name.

Q: What happens if I have an obscene Fan Name?
A: We will replace your Fan Name with your legal name. Yes, this means your legal name will be shown twice.

Q: I have a 2 year old child. Do I still have to pay for a full weekend membership?
A: Yes, kids 10 and under are free. However, you will need to register them at-con to get their child badge. Please do not register them online. When you are picking up your badge at-con, let the registration staff assisting you know that you will need to to register a child ten years old or under. The child must be present at the time of badge pick-up. The child must be accompanied AT ALL TIMES with a guardian who has a paid membership.

Q: I am buying the membership for someone else; whose name do I put on it? Mine, or the person I am buying it for?
A: Because this is a membership, please put the person's name that is attending FanimeCon. Please do NOT put the name of the credit/debit card holder. FanimeCon memberships are non-refundable and non-transferrable.

Q: Do I HAVE to put my real name?
A: Because we check for a valid government-issued photo ID when you pick up your membership, the legal names MUST match or we will not release the membership badge to you. In the past, we have accommodated individuals who are in the transgender community. If you feel listing your real name will cause you undue hardship, please email [email protected].

Q: I have a question I want to ask you at-con at Registration!
A: Great, please come see us at the Special Registration Line.

(Information can and will be frequently updated – times especially can and may be changed)

Have questions about your hotel reservations? Email [email protected]
Have questions about your account or the online registration process? Email [email protected]

[phr34kish]

Hotel Changes for FanimeCon 2014

For FanimeCon 2014, we are trying something different in order to make booking a hotel room less of a headache and more fair for our attendees. It is now going to be a requirement for our attendees to have a FanimeCon 2014 membership in order to book a hotel room.

Woah, woah, woah. What?!

So now we're punishing attendees who don't happen to have cash in hand right now from registering from a hotel room? This makes sense to you how?! Hotel rooms sell out fast and not everyone is just sitting on enough cash to pay their badge registration fees right now. You're going to start excluding a HUGE number of your attendees. How is not having your badge suddenly grounds from excluding you from convention planning and hotel registration?

I'm sorry if this isn't exactly a coherent thought. But I've been attending Fanime for over 10 years and I LOVE this con. But this sort of thing feels like I just got sucker punched.

[kookiekween99]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

[M]

Hotel Changes for FanimeCon 2014

For FanimeCon 2014, we are trying something different in order to make booking a hotel room less of a headache and more fair for our attendees. It is now going to be a requirement for our attendees to have a FanimeCon 2014 membership in order to book a hotel room.

Woah, woah, woah. What?!

So now we're punishing attendees who don't happen to have cash in hand right now from registering from a hotel room? This makes sense to you how?! Hotel rooms sell out fast and not everyone is just sitting on enough cash to pay their badge registration fees right now. You're going to start excluding a HUGE number of your attendees. How is not having your badge suddenly grounds from excluding you from convention planning and hotel registration?

I'm sorry if this isn't exactly a coherent thought. But I've been attending Fanime for over 10 years and I LOVE this con. But this sort of thing feels like I just got sucker punched.

This is why we wanted to get this posted and highlighted as soon as possible. This is no way an attempt to punish *any* of our attendees that are trying to get a hotel room for themselves. This is an unfortunate change to prevent a loophole that some were using to reserve up to a dozen rooms by themselves and then attempting to resell or just cancel the room at the last second, which was causing a bunch of our members to be unable to reserve a room for themselves.

The hotel deposit won't be put onto your account until a month or so before the convention.

[SOawesomeness]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

[kookiekween99]

Hotel Changes for FanimeCon 2014

For FanimeCon 2014, we are trying something different in order to make booking a hotel room less of a headache and more fair for our attendees. It is now going to be a requirement for our attendees to have a FanimeCon 2014 membership in order to book a hotel room.

Woah, woah, woah. What?!

So now we're punishing attendees who don't happen to have cash in hand right now from registering from a hotel room? This makes sense to you how?! Hotel rooms sell out fast and not everyone is just sitting on enough cash to pay their badge registration fees right now. You're going to start excluding a HUGE number of your attendees. How is not having your badge suddenly grounds from excluding you from convention planning and hotel registration?

I'm sorry if this isn't exactly a coherent thought. But I've been attending Fanime for over 10 years and I LOVE this con. But this sort of thing feels like I just got sucker punched.

This is why we wanted to get this posted and highlighted as soon as possible. This is no way an attempt to punish *any* of our attendees that are trying to get a hotel room for themselves. This is an unfortunate change to prevent a loophole that some were using to reserve up to a dozen rooms by themselves and then attempting to resell or just cancel the room at the last second, which was causing a bunch of our members to be unable to reserve a room for themselves.

The hotel deposit won't be put onto your account until a month or so before the convention.

Do you need to have paid for your registration (badge) to be able to reserve a hotel? Or do you just need to be in the reg system?

[phr34kish]

Hotel Changes for FanimeCon 2014

For FanimeCon 2014, we are trying something different in order to make booking a hotel room less of a headache and more fair for our attendees. It is now going to be a requirement for our attendees to have a FanimeCon 2014 membership in order to book a hotel room.

Woah, woah, woah. What?!

So now we're punishing attendees who don't happen to have cash in hand right now from registering from a hotel room? This makes sense to you how?! Hotel rooms sell out fast and not everyone is just sitting on enough cash to pay their badge registration fees right now. You're going to start excluding a HUGE number of your attendees. How is not having your badge suddenly grounds from excluding you from convention planning and hotel registration?

I'm sorry if this isn't exactly a coherent thought. But I've been attending Fanime for over 10 years and I LOVE this con. But this sort of thing feels like I just got sucker punched.

This is why we wanted to get this posted and highlighted as soon as possible. This is no way an attempt to punish *any* of our attendees that are trying to get a hotel room for themselves. This is an unfortunate change to prevent a loophole that some were using to reserve up to a dozen rooms by themselves and then attempting to resell or just cancel the room at the last second, which was causing a bunch of our members to be unable to reserve a room for themselves.

The hotel deposit won't be put onto your account until a month or so before the convention.

I'm not even worried about a deposit. I'm talking about the fact that hotels (especially those that are more desirable) are gone within minutes. And it's a known fact there are not enough hotel rooms for every single one of your attendees. So again, if you don't have $55 right now, or within the next 7 days, expect to be excluded from this benefit, no matter how well you've been trying to pay attention and be proactive about your planning. NEVERMIND the rest of you that are dependent on an AA table confirmation or Swap Meet.

Why can't you just implement the 2 room requirement to combat this problem? Rather than forcing the rest of us to get pushed aside?

[kookiekween99]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

There are two other spots that also have start times of midnight.

[SOawesomeness]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

There are two other spots that also have start times of midnight.

Yes! If you read a bit more closely, we're planning on having online registration during the duration of FanimeCon. The midnight times are more for the one-day memberships people would like to buy online.

[kookiekween99]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

There are two other spots that also have start times of midnight.

Yes! If you read a bit more closely, we're planning on having online registration during the duration of FanimeCon. The midnight times are more for the one-day memberships people would like to buy online.

Oh! Very interesting. How would they actually get their badge though? Would they go in the prereg line? Or do they have their own line?

[Dagger-6]

I know a couple of people who were wondering about hotel registration and how it will work for press, panelists, artist alley folks, etc.  I'm sure you guys are already working on it, but just a reminder that it'd be good to have that ASAP with hotel reg day coming up soon. =)

[Dagger-6]

You might want to pin a copy of or link to this thread in the Hotels section of the forum as well.

[SOawesomeness]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

There are two other spots that also have start times of midnight.

Yes! If you read a bit more closely, we're planning on having online registration during the duration of FanimeCon. The midnight times are more for the one-day memberships people would like to buy online.

Oh! Very interesting. How would they actually get their badge though? Would they go in the prereg line? Or do they have their own line?

So I can tell that this may get very comprehensive very fast so just to preface this, I am planning on explaining the flow of each registration scenario in a detailed fashion on the forums come May when we've finalized everything.

In regards to your question, we will have an "Paid Online Registration" line and an "At-Con" line at Fanime when people come to Registration. Note that this probably isn't going to be the same terminology we will be using but it's pretty much that.

[hikanteki]

Miscellaneous

Q: What are the wait times like?

A: Expect long lines on all of Thursday- bring snacks and drinks if you plan on coming on Thursday.
Friday may have very long lines as well.
Saturday from morning to late afternoon will be busy. The evening time tends to be fairly quiet.
Sunday morning until the afternoon will be busy but tends to get quiet after noon.
Monday is usually very quiet.

While I'm glad info is finally up, I'm saddened that this is the first official response we get after last year's registration.

[twilightookami]

Q: What are the wait times like?

A: Expect long lines on all of Thursday- bring snacks and drinks if you plan on coming on Thursday.
Friday may have very long lines as well.
Saturday from morning to late afternoon will be busy. The evening time tends to be fairly quiet.
Sunday morning until the afternoon will be busy but tends to get quiet after noon.
Monday is usually very quiet.

So, basically, you're saying the six-hour wait times from last year will be returning without improvement? That's ridiculous and I'm very disappointed.

[sael]

A quick question about the group pre-reg. I noticed that the first 5 badges must be paid for at the same time. Will badges that are added after the first 5 be charged to the same card, or can a different card be used?

Last year pre-reg had the wonderful option that allowed you to pay for all unpaid badges. This meant that person A could register and pay, then person B could register and pay for himself without incurring the cost of person A. So on and so forth. Personally, I don't mind paying the first 5 badges and then getting paid back by my friends but I don't really want to be the one responsible for the cost of 10 badges ($550) on my card - especially in the case that I'm picking up badges for friends of friends who I do not personally know.

My question got a little buried in that, so let me put it here at the end: Will badges that are added after the first 5 (if I pay for the first 5 before adding more) be charged to the same card, or can a different card be used?

[IneloquentFormalties]

I think implimenting the 2 hotels per person rule is good but having to have a badge is difficult for people like me who do panels every year where we don't really register until the convention. How is that going to pan out? Would we get refunds at con for panelist reg if we got our badges now? I love this con so very much but these past few years it just seems to get more and more difficult to attend.

[kookiekween99]

•   Friday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Saturday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Sunday: 12:01am-6pm
•   Monday: 12:01am-11am

Woah woah woah, At-Con reg opens at midnight?

LOOOOOLLLLL okay thank you. I just fixed this.

There are two other spots that also have start times of midnight.

Yes! If you read a bit more closely, we're planning on having online registration during the duration of FanimeCon. The midnight times are more for the one-day memberships people would like to buy online.

Oh! Very interesting. How would they actually get their badge though? Would they go in the prereg line? Or do they have their own line?

So I can tell that this may get very comprehensive very fast so just to preface this, I am planning on explaining the flow of each registration scenario in a detailed fashion on the forums come May when we've finalized everything.

In regards to your question, we will have an "Paid Online Registration" line and an "At-Con" line at Fanime when people come to Registration. Note that this probably isn't going to be the same terminology we will be using but it's pretty much that.

I have more questions (including how adding more people to the online reg line is supposed to help alleviate congestion) but I will wait until later after this initial rush of questions dies down.

[SOawesomeness]

Miscellaneous

Q: What are the wait times like?

A: Expect long lines on all of Thursday- bring snacks and drinks if you plan on coming on Thursday.
Friday may have very long lines as well.
Saturday from morning to late afternoon will be busy. The evening time tends to be fairly quiet.
Sunday morning until the afternoon will be busy but tends to get quiet after noon.
Monday is usually very quiet.

While I'm glad info is finally up, I'm saddened that this is the first official response we get after last year's registration.

I would rather have people prepared for a wait time than not prepared at all. ): For people who have small children, or who have light medical issues, I'd like them to have an idea of when a good time to come would be.

While I would love to say "I guarantee a maximum wait of 5 min!" realistically, I don't have the data to support that statement and I don't want to give false promises. I can promise that we are working on optimizing our system and it will be drastically different than previous years.

The wait times also, are also based on past wait times and can be subjective. Note that we have typically had wait times of 3 hours- which is the norm in the past on a Saturday morning. 3 hours can be long for someone who was expecting to drop by after reading about us in the newspaper or some ad. I hope that makes sense- I am not alluding to 6 hour wait times, but for people who will read the FAQ and have never experienced Fanime on a busy day, this will help them plan better as well. I hope this makes sense.

[ichnob]

I know a couple of people who were wondering about hotel registration and how it will work for press, panelists, artist alley folks, etc.  I'm sure you guys are already working on it, but just a reminder that it'd be good to have that ASAP with hotel reg day coming up soon. =)

As someone who has been attending as press the past few years along with hosting multiple panels PLUS knowing many friends who participate in artist alley, this is very important information that must be known quickly. Do we have to buy badges first but can request a refund once press or panelist status has been approved? And most artist alley participants won't bother to register until they are certain they will have a table.

(if there's any typos, apologies; doing this on my phone)