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Count me in as Raven!

The registration announcement said potential AA applicants wouldn't be shut out of the lowest badge price.

I think they were referring to the fact that when you have been selected for the Alley and are purchasing your table, they will bundle in the badge for the cheapest price, not that Artist Alley registration would go up during the first badge price block. 

This may seem like I'm jumping the gun a bit, as the convention has just ended, but believe it or not conventions do exist which offer registration for the next con directly after closing. It's safe to say that the likelihood of all of us having problems with this year's various registrations is pretty high, and I do not feel remiss in thinking that we should get a jump on next year.

Fanimecon is an annual convention: it is large, we know that it gets bigger every year, it always happens on the same days, and we are always guaranteed the space. So why was it such a mess this year? It's not as if the construction was a surprise, nor the MASSIVE amount of people trying to get their badges.

Artist Alley was a little more understandable with the new venue and having an unknown number of tables, etc., but registration for that didn't even open up until a month before the convention. Cosplayers will understand the high stress of being in limbo about the need to make things early without having the money or reassurance that you will have had cause to do so.

I know that the staff is volunteer-based, and they really put huge amounts of effort into making things happen. For what did work, they seriously pulled off a bang-up job. Fanime outdid itself this year, and they added a ton of awesome new things for us. Their roaming info people were encyclopedic in con knowledge and they were also just really nice! They were quick on their feet--which they were on all day--and provided such a breath of fresh air during a time of stress. Fanime did think about the crazy attendance, and one of the reasons they left the old 1st Hall open was for crowd control. They added some sweet chill zones, and I heard wonderful things about a glorious cosplayer mecca with sewing machines and no-photo zones. Brilliance.

Fanime has problems every year. We know this. Nothing can truly run without a hitch, and that is part of its charm. That said, the problems that we had this year were both glaring and preventable. I can understand the desire to even the playing field by having everyone register at once instead of giving first refusal to con-veterans, but that can be set up earlier in the year without much trouble and achieve the same result. Fanime is the same time every year, the same place every year, and many of the volunteers are known to volunteer every year. We have the ability to get things done earlier next year, and it will definitely be a lot less stress for admins and attendants alike.

And so I ask: when is the soonest we can sign up for Fanime 2014?

Lovely art!

I'm not exactly a seasoned veteran, but in my experience wearables sell the best; your buttons will probably do well. People tend to buy bigger prints less often, mostly because of price and lack of safe transport materials, and usually stick to postcards and such because they can get more for less money, and they fit well between the pages of their heavyweight convention program.

Basically, it will be down to price, but buyer interest will also be dependent upon what day it is:

• Friday is host to many school anime club field trips, so there may be a few people going for just the one day and getting all their purchases in then. However, Friday is also the day where full-weekenders browse and budget for the duration of the con.
• Saturday is also a common single-day congoing time for people who can't get the entire weekend off or only want to go for the shopping. This day will probably have the most alley traffic and the most sales.
• Sunday is like a toned-down Saturday, but for many people this is the last day that they attend. Either this means that they will do all their shopping then or they will be out of cash already. Mixed bag.
• Monday is going to be the slowest, as many people will have already seen what there is to see and bought what there was to buy, exhausting their budgets. Some people, however will seek a super bargain from you, knowing it is the last day and that you want to shift your stock asap so you don't need to truck it all home.

I can't say for sure how your products will sell, as fans are a fickle bunch of poor people (myself included), but I would suggest bringing a handful of each of your products, like ten idk (though maybe more for buttons?) to sell per day and keep some extra on tap at your hotel room or something if one of your products does particularly well. Try to go off of your previous congoing experiences, as both vendor and buyer, and make sure you have all your bases covered.

Good luck!