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Decompressed after FurCon2016 - Dealers Room Summary
10 years ago
New for the year, I moved from Costume track lead, to Marketplace/Dealers Room lead. (As well as keeping Parade Marshall, Masq Lead, and panelist, oi busy!)
Overall, I LOVED IT!!! 7am-8pm in my blue kigu, shivering away at the front desk. :3 Room was BRRRRR cold at the start (Hotel met the challenge, and set us to 52f! Bumped to 56f for Friday onward, that seemed the sweet spot). Not being 80f and fenchy was such a joy! Pizza during setup was once again a big hit, we'll keep doing that. :) Some registration issues that got dropped in my lap, but sorted in time. Had a few OMGHalp moments with some vendors Tax ID/EDD issues, but we were able help to sort those out too.
There apparently was a small, brief vendor volume concern, but people were neighborly and sorted it out on their own. Awesome! We all got along swimmingly.
Everything, sorted!
THANK YOU!!! to the marketplace/dealers team of Groggy, SmackJackal, LisaLynx, RebaLioness (And husbando), Noriko and Miyuko (and your wee tot, best mascot we have ever had). You all were amazing. The dealers and marketplace vendors were all happy n selling well, real well by most accounts.
Thank you to every artist and patron who took the time to answer my many questions, providing really useful feedback for this noob to use. :) :)
So, things I am suggesting for next year:
1) A first aid box at the con store: We had about a dozen little papercuts, hey, we're artists, we bleed!
2) Single page to buy your table, and register badges/patron/sponsor level. These happen as two separate departments behind the scenes of FurCon, but we would like to present it to the artists as a single page experience. Many forgot to buy badges on page #2, as we're all very busy with no time for reading things!
3) No scores for the jury selection. It was an unfortunate metric needed for the waiting list that became an unintentional critique, a kick to every ego involved. The con (by way of me having to email many folks in the postmortem) has apologized profusely. Again, we're all really sorry. :/
3b) Jury process will remain, it worked, we're not changing this. Historically, the Dealer Room manager did selection by themselves, which lead to a lot of bias/expectations/gaffe I had to break for 2016.
.... annnnnnd ....
3c) We do need to be more clear on what the jury expectations are. We'll post more clear definitions of what you should show when applying, and why.
Some didn't submit reference artwork, or verify their links. This probably hurt your chances.. A few non-furry vendors tried to apply, which we removed. The remaining marketplace and dealers applied to a highly competitive business area. This is a professional furry market. We will treat you as such, you deserve no less. Some new/novice vendors joined us this year with really neat things to sell. Many cornerstone type vendors were present, such as the print media vendors who represent yet more artists not present. Many veteran/popufur artists made it, as expected. The diversity we achieved was super pleasant.
In Summary:
In 2016 we had vendors of an apparent "quality" that the fandom desired, and itself help select. No system can be 100% perfect, but this year seemed to benefit both the vendors and the attendees, if only by sales volume. Dealers reported to me that FurCon is still one of their most profitable events. We had numerous vendors sell out of their entire stock. (Solid desire there for your wares, congrats!) Dealers go home with cash, fans go home with arts, everyone's happy. Frankly, that is my main concern as a manager. I consider 2016 a success in that regard.
PS, I don't know who the 7 jurors were, so don't ask ^.^
Overall, I LOVED IT!!! 7am-8pm in my blue kigu, shivering away at the front desk. :3 Room was BRRRRR cold at the start (Hotel met the challenge, and set us to 52f! Bumped to 56f for Friday onward, that seemed the sweet spot). Not being 80f and fenchy was such a joy! Pizza during setup was once again a big hit, we'll keep doing that. :) Some registration issues that got dropped in my lap, but sorted in time. Had a few OMGHalp moments with some vendors Tax ID/EDD issues, but we were able help to sort those out too.
There apparently was a small, brief vendor volume concern, but people were neighborly and sorted it out on their own. Awesome! We all got along swimmingly.
Everything, sorted!
THANK YOU!!! to the marketplace/dealers team of Groggy, SmackJackal, LisaLynx, RebaLioness (And husbando), Noriko and Miyuko (and your wee tot, best mascot we have ever had). You all were amazing. The dealers and marketplace vendors were all happy n selling well, real well by most accounts.
Thank you to every artist and patron who took the time to answer my many questions, providing really useful feedback for this noob to use. :) :)
So, things I am suggesting for next year:
1) A first aid box at the con store: We had about a dozen little papercuts, hey, we're artists, we bleed!
2) Single page to buy your table, and register badges/patron/sponsor level. These happen as two separate departments behind the scenes of FurCon, but we would like to present it to the artists as a single page experience. Many forgot to buy badges on page #2, as we're all very busy with no time for reading things!
3) No scores for the jury selection. It was an unfortunate metric needed for the waiting list that became an unintentional critique, a kick to every ego involved. The con (by way of me having to email many folks in the postmortem) has apologized profusely. Again, we're all really sorry. :/
3b) Jury process will remain, it worked, we're not changing this. Historically, the Dealer Room manager did selection by themselves, which lead to a lot of bias/expectations/gaffe I had to break for 2016.
.... annnnnnd ....
3c) We do need to be more clear on what the jury expectations are. We'll post more clear definitions of what you should show when applying, and why.
Some didn't submit reference artwork, or verify their links. This probably hurt your chances.. A few non-furry vendors tried to apply, which we removed. The remaining marketplace and dealers applied to a highly competitive business area. This is a professional furry market. We will treat you as such, you deserve no less. Some new/novice vendors joined us this year with really neat things to sell. Many cornerstone type vendors were present, such as the print media vendors who represent yet more artists not present. Many veteran/popufur artists made it, as expected. The diversity we achieved was super pleasant.
In Summary:
In 2016 we had vendors of an apparent "quality" that the fandom desired, and itself help select. No system can be 100% perfect, but this year seemed to benefit both the vendors and the attendees, if only by sales volume. Dealers reported to me that FurCon is still one of their most profitable events. We had numerous vendors sell out of their entire stock. (Solid desire there for your wares, congrats!) Dealers go home with cash, fans go home with arts, everyone's happy. Frankly, that is my main concern as a manager. I consider 2016 a success in that regard.
PS, I don't know who the 7 jurors were, so don't ask ^.^
I'd be happy to apply as a singular artist next year, as it seems that might have been a more popular choice? I don't know. It broke our hearts and made FC a sort of sad experience after the AMAZING previous year we had as first-time dealers :/ it really made our enthusiasm for FC dampened, and we only stayed Saturday. It hurt to see all our artist friends set up, happy, selling, doing their thing....and us with no place among them.
As mentioned in the journal, there were a number of first time vendors alongside the veterans. We sat in front a new shop at the con store, was neat to watch them figure themselves out. There were a number of vendors who had returned after years of absence as well. It's seems there is a cycle, but I am no where near familiar enough with it. As a fursuit builder, the 'traditional artists' were a crowd that ran in a different circle. I'm learning a lot. :)
For 2017, I would think to apply as you did. The next 7 jurors will cast their preferences, with all their own unavoidable personal biases, likes, and dislikes. Hopefully their choices will be different enough from the previous 7 as to bring about an evenly distributed opinion. Why certain vendors appear more often than others, let's call that popular opinion, a topic I am not going anywhere near. There is an entire degree in economics waiting for you, to seek those answers.
The pending move into the new expansion is the best and only option we really have for growth. It will increase the total number of tables and floor space next year, and give access to more artists overall. Hopefully we have the opportunity to run into eachother one morning as your busy setting up your stuff. :)