I can't seem to find a thread or form for submitting feedback on the swap meet.
We need a larger location. In previous years, I didn't have to wait at all to see the swap meet. This year I waited in line for 2-2.5 hours. The civic auditorium was just too small. Could we get the tent next to the convention? Maybe have the people on the side of the walkway under the convention? Use part of the dealer's hall (which now is a lot bigger)? Have it at the edge of the game room like before?
Maybe pass out tickets that say "return from 8:00-8:30"?
Quote from: lilfry14 on May 31, 2014, 12:29:37 AM
I can't seem to find a thread or form for submitting feedback on the swap meet.
We need a larger location. In previous years, I didn't have to wait at all to see the swap meet. This year I waited in line for 2-2.5 hours. The civic auditorium was just too small. Could we get the tent next to the convention? Maybe have the people on the side of the walkway under the convention? Use part of the dealer's hall (which now is a lot bigger)? Have it at the edge of the game room like before?
Maybe pass out tickets that say "return from 8:00-8:30"?
As the popularity of the swap meet has increased dramatically, there have been issues finding a good home for it. Decantus (swap meet head) went over some of the reasons why our ideal locations didn't work out (South hall, for example, would require everyone to be out at 10:30, when the event typically runs until midnight). Access to dealers hall is problematic when the dealers aren't there, they would have to have a lot of rovers/security to make sure that their merchandise wasn't disturbed. Having it in the convention hall itself likely poses a fire hazard, and having it along the edge of the game room posed a lot of problems with people leaning products and building huge spaces that looked more like dealers booths.
We are definitely hoping for a location that can support heavy foot traffic, but understand that with each location comes an equal amount of complications. :)
Every year there is some reason why I can't go... like I am stuck waiting to get my badge. So, this year I was all primed to go with loads of cash in hand.
Until I saw that line. MY WORD... are you kidding me???
No thanks, I ended up having a lot more fun at the con. But I am sad that I missed swap meet yet again.
Quote from: djmonolith on May 31, 2014, 12:11:01 PM
Every year there is some reason why I can't go... like I am stuck waiting to get my badge. So, this year I was all primed to go with loads of cash in hand.
Until I saw that line. MY WORD... are you kidding me???
No thanks, I ended up having a lot more fun at the con. But I am sad that I missed swap meet yet again.
This is the kind of thing we'd love to avoid haha. But of course if we packed it like we would have liked to, the fire marshal probably would have drop kicked us.
Quote from: FanFicGuru on May 31, 2014, 12:33:15 PM
This is the kind of thing we'd love to avoid haha. But of course if we packed it like we would have liked to, the fire marshal probably would have drop kicked us.
ha ha... yeah, i saw the fire crew all weekend. They kept close tabs...
Next year I will trade my badge line time for Swap Meet line time. Seems fair. :D
The line for the swap meet was the only ridiculous line I came across during the con. My friends and I were waiting to get in for about 1.5 hours, and I have to agree that the space for the meet was simply too small. My roommate and I were commenting after getting out that the South Hall would have probably been a better location, but if (like FanFicGuru said) that building closes at 10:30, guess that's out. But where to put it? Even with the new double-wide DH there isn't really enough space, AA is out, the gaming room gets insanely crowded when it's there, and the Fairmont did a horrible job of managing it back in 2012. Are there any rooms in the Hilton or Marriott that could maybe house it?
Swap Meet was good this year, the major flaw was the space and that was out of the organizer's hands. Reg also went up pretty late IMO, but that too wasn't the fault of the staff.
Maybe Swap Meet could start earlier and be held in South Hall on Thursday? With the new reg system plenty of attendees are obviously available earlier. This year it was held 7:30-Midnight (Although it didn't open until 8:00 on the first night, I think) so holding it two hours earlier from 5:30 to 10 PM doesn't seem impossible.
Quote from: SpiritOfKairi on May 31, 2014, 12:41:39 PM
The line for the swap meet was the only ridiculous line I came across during the con. My friends and I were waiting to get in for about 1.5 hours, and I have to agree that the space for the meet was simply too small. My roommate and I were commenting after getting out that the South Hall would have probably been a better location, but if (like FanFicGuru said) that building closes at 10:30, guess that's out. But where to put it? Even with the new double-wide DH there isn't really enough space, AA is out, the gaming room gets insanely crowded when it's there, and the Fairmont did a horrible job of managing it back in 2012. Are there any rooms in the Hilton or Marriott that could maybe house it?
There aren't any rooms that i can think of in Hilton or Marriott that could match the Civic center's floor space.
Quote from: Admiral Donuts on May 31, 2014, 12:55:25 PM
Swap Meet was good this year, the major flaw was the space and that was out of the organizer's hands. Reg also went up pretty late IMO, but that too wasn't the fault of the staff.
Maybe Swap Meet could start earlier and be held in South Hall on Thursday? With the new reg system plenty of attendees are obviously available earlier. This year it was held 7:30-Midnight (Although it didn't open until 8:00 on the first night, I think) so holding it two hours earlier from 5:30 to 10 PM doesn't seem impossible.
Yeah, Thursday night we started a bit late because of registration hiccups (about 45 minutes late). Moving it up to 5:30 might work, but only for Thursday, since I believe the dealers hall is open until 7 PM on Friday and the swap meet can't be open while the dealers hall is.
Was the swapmeet being held at the Fairmont bad?
From a shopper's point of view, I thought it went pretty well.
After the day of conventioning, the line disuaded me from attending this year too.
The dealer's room closed at 8 this year on Friday so it'd have to be really early if the swapmeet time changed.
If pre registration is going to be the same fast system next year, then you can use South Hall for an all day swap meet and still close up by 1030 on day 0. A lot of complaints were people trying to figure what to do all day on day 0 because there was no more linecon
Selling in fairmont was pretty cool I liked it 100 times better than this years spot. Even with it being two dif rooms I think it worked out really well.
Quote from: Xanreo on May 31, 2014, 11:07:55 PM
Was the swapmeet being held at the Fairmont bad?
From a shopper's point of view, I thought it went pretty well.
After the day of conventioning, the line disuaded me from attending this year too.
The dealer's room closed at 8 this year on Friday so it'd have to be really early if the swapmeet time changed.
Quote from: ash on June 01, 2014, 04:35:48 PM
Selling in fairmont was pretty cool I liked it 100 times better than this years spot. Even with it being two dif rooms I think it worked out really well.
Call us crazy, but my friends and I hated that spot. What irked us (aside from the wait to get in), was how the two-room situation was handled. If you were in room 2 and wanted to buy something you saw in room 1, you had to exit room 2 and get back in line for room 1. By the time you got back in, the item you wanted might be (and probably was) gone. I realize that with holding the meet in single rooms like the gaming room and Civic Center that the possibility of someone beating you to the purchase like that is still there, but it's a much smaller possibility when you're in the same room and can just walk over, vs having to wait an extra 30-45 minutes just to get back in and see. Hopefully that explanation made sense.
Quote from: FanFicGuru on May 31, 2014, 01:57:21 PM
... Yeah, Thursday night we started a bit late because of registration hiccups (about 45 minutes late). Moving it up to 5:30 might work, but only for Thursday, since I believe the dealers hall is open until 7 PM on Friday and the swap meet can't be open while the dealers hall is.
Is there a reason why swap meet and dealer's hall can't be opened at the same time?
Quote from: idontknow on June 01, 2014, 10:43:00 PM
Quote from: FanFicGuru on May 31, 2014, 01:57:21 PM
... Yeah, Thursday night we started a bit late because of registration hiccups (about 45 minutes late). Moving it up to 5:30 might work, but only for Thursday, since I believe the dealers hall is open until 7 PM on Friday and the swap meet can't be open while the dealers hall is.
Is there a reason why swap meet and dealer's hall can't be opened at the same time?
I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect it has to do with something the contract with dealers.
EDIT: I managed to find a copy of the Dealers Contract from 2013 (not posting the link, but I found it with google), but I couldn't find any language that would prohibit the two events from coinciding. Maybe I missed something, or something changed in 2014, or maybe it's something internal that I can't find on my own. I'd love if Swap Meet staff commented.
Quote from: kookiekween99 on June 01, 2014, 10:58:02 PM
Quote from: idontknow on June 01, 2014, 10:43:00 PM
Quote from: FanFicGuru on May 31, 2014, 01:57:21 PM
... Yeah, Thursday night we started a bit late because of registration hiccups (about 45 minutes late). Moving it up to 5:30 might work, but only for Thursday, since I believe the dealers hall is open until 7 PM on Friday and the swap meet can't be open while the dealers hall is.
Is there a reason why swap meet and dealer's hall can't be opened at the same time?
I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect it has to do with something the contract with dealers.
EDIT: I managed to find a copy of the Dealers Contract from 2013 (not posting the link, but I found it with google), but I couldn't find any language that would prohibit the two events from coinciding. Maybe I missed something, or something changed in 2014, or maybe it's something internal that I can't find on my own. I'd love if Swap Meet staff commented.
I don't know all the details myself, but I know in the 10 years I've been attending whenever there's been swap meet, dealers hall wasn't open at the same time. It might be some sort of "first right of refusal" idea...since swap meet is more likely to be selling goods similar to what's in the dealers hall. Artist alley you don't really have as much crossover since it's fan created art. But, if John across the street has lightly used manga for $3/book, why would you spend $7-9 at the dealers hall? I think this is what they're trying to avoid.
Again, this was my first year on staff (unofficially even), so I would see if Decantus has anything to say as Swap Meet head as to the more technical reasons why, if there are any.
Unfortuantely we did not anticipate LineCon to move to Swap Meet this year. Rest assured, Swap Meet will definitely move for 2015 to combat the issues we saw this year. South Hall would be nice, but hours will need to be moved up so we can close down by the noise curfew. Which is totally fine with y'all, right? :p
Swap Meet 2015 Location: TBD......
What about Parkside Hall? B+W Ball has lessons during the day, but I'm sure something could be arranged so you guys get it Thurs and Fri night.
Quote from: kookiekween99 on June 09, 2014, 11:04:48 PM
What about Parkside Hall? B+W Ball has lessons during the day, but I'm sure something could be arranged so you guys get it Thurs and Fri night.
There are timeline issues with that...it would also be absurd but necessary to enforce B+W ball shoe code during the Swap Meet....
Quote from: ewu on June 10, 2014, 12:22:05 AM
Quote from: kookiekween99 on June 09, 2014, 11:04:48 PM
What about Parkside Hall? B+W Ball has lessons during the day, but I'm sure something could be arranged so you guys get it Thurs and Fri night.
There are timeline issues with that...it would also be absurd but necessary to enforce B+W ball shoe code during the Swap Meet....
What about some sort of tarp to put over the dance floor to protect it?
Parkside Hall is a PITA to host near about anything in. I attend an arcade and pinball expo that used the venue for years before moving to greener pastures with less cost and fewer asinine regulations. For something like a dance, sure, it's okay - but I wouldn't recommend it for anything like swap meet.
I did a lot worse in 2014 than 2013 and I did pretty bad in 2013.
Quote from: warbearer on February 25, 2015, 09:56:30 PM
I did a lot worse in 2014 than 2013 and I did pretty bad in 2013.
If so it wasn't due to lack of foot traffic. We had a steady line and a full venue pretty much all night. I'm looking forward to seeing where they plan on putting us this year.