Swap meet 2015 feedback thread

[Admiral Donuts]

The issue for me was mostly congestion, soooo many people on Thursday.

Maybe putting sellers in back first would keep it from getting swamped like that?

[keitoghostie]

I sold on Friday and briefly came in on Thursday to look around - I was intimidated by the line prior to opening but stuck around and was glad to get in shortly after opening. I didn't stick around much in part due to it being so crowded that day but everything seemed to be going well!

DURING SELLING:
- I had a few personal issues with my secondary seller hopping on board pretty late, but staff was incredibly helpful and accommodating when it came to that!
- I agree with the sentiment that there was a bit of a rush to set up before buyers came in, part of that was definitely due to me arriving a bit closer to opening time than expected though.
- As someone who does tend to bring a large volume of items (especially including what my secondary brought), I thought the size of the selling space was ample.
- The time change didn't bother me personally - I still had a fair amount to sell but both my secondary and I were feeling ready to head out around that time, and it seemed like the crowd had significantly died down anyway.
- The venue itself worked very nicely imo! I expected it to be more uncomfortable than it was but I had no issues sitting/standing on the floor. It was somewhat of a hike to get there but I feel like the distance would've been fairly similar for other venues. I sort of wish I'd thought to bring a larger cover for the floor because i wasn't expecting my space to be as big as it was but no complaints! I'd definitely be happy to sell in South Hall if it were the venue for 2016.

[lilfry14]

Major improvement over last year (as I had to wait in line for 2-3 hours last year.) I was very pleased with it.

Slight improvement suggestions.

--Staff member on Friday was at the back of the line with a line that said something like "linecon is best con" and in some mask. I completely approve of the sign, but it is hard to know if it is an actual con/rover person with authority, or just a cosplayer. Maybe give them an arm band, orange vest, or have the other side of the sign say "end of line."

--The swap meet times were not advertised in the fanime booklet I don't think, or was hard to find. If found the description of the swap meet, but no time or no time and location. Also I don't think it was easily findable in the quick guide to con.

[Sunara Ishi]

I was kind of disappointed that the booths didn't spread back farther but I had figured that you can only fill as much of the hall as you have sellers.

But I think that spreading it out would have helped with the over-crowding a little bit. Also, the breaks between sections should probably be wider. I think doing this would be safer for everyone. I had seen several handicapped people almost get run over on Thurs. & Fri. nights. I think you could had staff either mid-way or at the back... but I know having enough staff is a big problem.

Staff did a really good time on getting us inside in a timely basis. But I was a little unhappy that I had to ask staff to ask people to stop punching the tent wall on Thurs. night. They let it slide for several hours even though people were sitting on the other side. I finally had to say something after I was hit while I was sitting there.

That aside, many of the booths had some really great stuff (minus the ones selling stuff at retail price...) and I'm happy with most of what I bought. (Kinda wish I had bought one more cd from someone I bought two cds from...)

[FanFicGuru]

Major improvement over last year (as I had to wait in line for 2-3 hours last year.) I was very pleased with it.

Slight improvement suggestions.

--Staff member on Friday was at the back of the line with a line that said something like "linecon is best con" and in some mask. I completely approve of the sign, but it is hard to know if it is an actual con/rover person with authority, or just a cosplayer. Maybe give them an arm band, orange vest, or have the other side of the sign say "end of line."

--The swap meet times were not advertised in the fanime booklet I don't think, or was hard to find. If found the description of the swap meet, but no time or no time and location. Also I don't think it was easily findable in the quick guide to con.

1) The guy in the mask with the sign wasn't with our staff, but was an associate of one of the staff members. Our apologies for any confusion this caused. Typically rovers do line management but I think Friday night we had it pretty much under control since we were able to open the doors and just let everyone in. A major improvement over last year in that regard! :D

2) Thanks for that feedback! We'll definitely work to make sure everyone knows when and where swap meet is, especially on Thursday! After all, what else are you going to do on Day 0!? :D