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Post by Djinnwolf on Jun 1, 2018 16:24:18 GMT -5
This is my fifth year attending the Nominoichi as a buyer (maybe one day as a seller) and I don't have anything really negative to say about the event itself. I lined up early because I had holds and there isn't really much going on before the nominoichi. As a veteran buyer of this event I knew it was going to be a sauna in there so I didn't cosplay and wore shorts and shirt which helped with the humid enviroment of Nomi. Overall I enjoyed myself but would like to also add my opinion on a few issues brought up by others. 1) Thefts. I know it sucks to have things stolen from your or a neighbours table but as a seller you should be responsible and take precaution to this. Nomi gets insanely crowded just in the first 30 mins so to have staff, security guards, patrolling the tables watching for people walking away with items I think would be a hassle. Who is to say someone who picks up an item isn't just looking at it or has just paid and picked it up and some security doesn't see this so thinks its a theft. I did notice some sellers with high volume items or multiple small items (ex. videogames) had taken out the game disc/cartridge and left the case for someone to inspect. if they had any questions or were looking to purchase it they would simply add it to the case or bring the game out for the buyer. It reminded me of what eb games does at their stores. Also any high value items like figures were kept on shelves or in the back of the table unless specifically asked to see it up close. 2)Nomi date (multiple days or not). Personally I love it that Nomi is on a friday in the evening. For one I don't have to compete with panels I host, miss out on photoshoots or masquerade or cafe delish or any other highly popular event going on duing Saturday. Also Most people rather line up for the dealers room/artist alley or autographs. I save that for Saturday or sunday when the day is longer, friday at least it give me something else to do on that day besides sitting in my hotel or wandering around aimlessly. 3)Nomi extension. I am glad that Nomi was extended to 11pm. when alot of people are gone it makes it easier to look at the table and see if there is an item you missed or realized you can't go home without. My only con about this (but not against the organizers) is that I have heard alot of sellers didn't see the benefit of this simply because they didn't much even after 10:30pm. As a buyer I would like to point out that some of these sellers really didn't want to lower prices or haggle even in the last 15-30 mins of the event, which may be the reason people were not going to buy anything (not when they spent so much money earlier) An example of this is in the last 15min when I wanted to buy a DVD set priced at $40 I offered to buy it for $30 the seller said they can only do $35...really $5 off? I didn't end up taking it and just as nomi ended the item was still there. I know the sellers want to make as much money as possible, and i didn't think it was a lowball offer, but its a wonder many sellers go home with so much stuff, and complain that they didn't really sell anything. Just my two cents on that. 4)Charging premium for front row. I would NOT be a fan if this is something AN Nomi organizers decided to go with. Charging extra or randomly selecting people to enter first for more money or ticket system just doesn't cut it. I pay for my pass like everyone else. I also know that if you want to see as many of the tables as possible or have enough time to pick up your holds (if you do this) you should come early. Coming 1/2 an hour before the event starts is not early and by the time you get in there is probably a 1000 people already inside before you. If AN went the fan expo route and charged extra for VIP then maybe there is an excuse but I would rather see AN not do this especially since many events people camp an hour for. 5) Capping lines segmenting amount of people. As stated above come early if you want to get in quickly. You treat it like the dealers room or pre registration. Long line but the first person who lines up is usually there at 7am. Dealers room opens at 10am. 5)AN provide water for sellers/industrial fans. I would be up for AN providing water bottles for sellers with their table purchase or some sort of water station nearby so Sellers and buyers have access to refreshments. It wouldn't be terribly expensive (Costco sells bulk!!!) and a great gesture for thanking the sellers for their time. The suggestions of the industrial fans is also a great idea as well. AN shoulda done it a long time ago. Well These are what I believe I can add to the conversation See you all next year at nominoichi I get most of what you said here, but also we waited an more than an hour in line for the dealers room, browsed it for 20 minutes and left and it wasn’t unbearably hot like the Nomi. And not everybody is able to line up an hour or more in advance for health or the fact they are running late. We line up over a half hour early for the Nomi and the line was just this long straight one and winded the side of the whole building in the sweltering heat it wasn’t the most pleasant experience to wind the length of the building and then walk back it in a little while. And the fact inside the Nomi was too busy and hot it was not safe to be in there for so long especially when a couple of us had anxiety and the pushing and shoving and heat was too much. We hung around till like 8:30 as late as we could and it all barely improved. I really think the heat and crowds are something that needs to be perfected, for the enjoyment of everyone. Kinda like how the artist alley and Dealers room has been slowly improved the Nomi can be too Every year there is always room for improvement for Nomi and AN in general. Rome wasn't built in a day. A suggestion I would make for people sensitive to the heat or have disabilities where they cannot be in large crowds is to maybe think about coming later into the event where the crowds may have thinned out. Nomi's space is limited when in comparison to the dealers room or artist alley and with it being a one day event the crowds are going to be there right out of the gate up to a few hours in. Bring lots of water and take breaks in between on the sides or outside. I saw people walking in and out and sitting on the side by the entrance trying to cool off or hanging out with friends. Someone in line beside me even asked one of staff members if they can wait in the shade because they can't be in the heat too long. That staff member did one better and allowed him to wait seated in the air conditioned hall before the nomi officially opened. If you happen to have holds with sellers, maybe contacting the sellers and asking if they will let you come later to pick up your items due to your condition may help. Some sellers are okay with this others may not. It never hurts to ask...the worst they can say is no or ask for a deposit or something. All in all everyone has to be aware of their limit. Anime North will accommodate you but you also have to take care of yourself too. If you cannot handle crowds due to anxiety or another condition you should try to avoid peak hours or events where there is alot of traffic. If you have heat sensitivity...bring lots of water, take lots of rest find shaded areas. If you have a medical condition prep with food or medications in case of emergency Also bring a friend to be your conscious if you won't listen to yourself a friend will tell you otherwise to take a break (helped me one year). When in doubt find a staff member they can get assistance for you if needed.
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Post by darkinsanity13 on Jun 1, 2018 22:59:57 GMT -5
5)AN provide water for sellers/industrial fans. I would be up for AN providing water bottles for sellers with their table purchase or some sort of water station nearby so Sellers and buyers have access to refreshments. It wouldn't be terribly expensive (Costco sells bulk!!!) and a great gesture for thanking the sellers for their time. The suggestions of the industrial fans is also a great idea as well. AN shoulda done it a long time ago. There was actually a water station with water coolers in the room, off to the side by the entrance where sellers had been let in, against the wall across from approximately tables 107 to 113. I'm not sure how well stocked it was, but I did run over there about halfway through the night to refill the water bottle I'd brought with me, and one of my table partners went once or twice to refill his own. While not as convenient as, say, having an extra bottle of water on hand so less time is spent dashing to and from it, it was pretty handy to have nonetheless. Not sure if there was a second one at the other end of the room, but if not, having more than one might be helpful so people on the far side of the room don't have to make as long a trip to get hydrated, or even one in the middle across from the entrance if the same room is used. (Illustrated below using the map; see the light blue rectangles) That said, I wouldn't mind paying a little bit extra for my table if it means some fans or extra water being brought in. Just as long as I wouldn't be placed by one of the fans, because tbh I'd prefer to be too hot than freeze from sitting in the path of a fan all night XD But that's just my preference, and I don't really have a choice in the matter.
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Post by The Chris McKenna on Jun 2, 2018 23:24:35 GMT -5
Dear friends and fans of the Nominoichi, We'd like to offer a great thanks to everyone who came out and joined us this year as either a buyer or seller. This year, despite a few issues, was a great success thanks to all of you. We'd also like to say thanks for the great feedback you've chosen to share here. Now to address a few minor misconceptions and issues: - The Nominoichi ended at 11:00pm this year. That is is an extension of 30 minutes from last year. We thought the extra time was useful and, although sales are always slowest at the end, it still helped to keep the event open a little longer
- The AC was on it's Maximum setting. However, the crowds and 30° temperature just overpowered the room. My staff arrived first and left last, the room was cool when it was empty.
- Also worth noting is last year the temperature was 18°, and the historical average for that day is about 20°. This year we hit 30° so it was far hotter than usual.
- There was a water station inside the room. (It can't be moved because that's where the water hookups are) and the letter sent to each seller also included this advice: "You are allowed to eat and drink at the event; in fact we recommend that you bring some water for yourself, you just can not sell any food or drinks."
- The room is crowded at the start. It's always been that way. We put a clear notice of this on the website to warn everyone what to expect, we also advise them to arrive later when there are less people.
- Although no final decisions have been made yet, it is very unlikely that we will be moving the date or location of the Nominoichi next year. Also, I really do not think we will run a second Nominoichi during the convention. These events take a lot of time and work or organize, one is enough.
- Also Hall C, our current location, is the exact same size as Hall A, the previous location. There are very few options available for a "bigger" space
- We will explore the idea of bringing in fans, but there are a lot of factors to consider, so it will take time to decide.
- The plan was to only have one "entrance" to the Nominoichi, from the back of the building at the glass doors to HALL C, until the line outside was gone, then to allow the exits to become alternative entrances. This process usually takes about half an hour, and this year it was 35 minutes for the last person in line to enter.
- The third chair some tables had was a nice benefit, but it was a last minute change and not guaranteed to be repeated. We only expect 2 chairs at every table and if there any more that's great. (One year there were zero chairs and we had to delay the event to get them!)
Also, just to set the record straight about missing emails and table reservations: There are no blocks on email I receive (the amount of spam I get all year should prove that) We may never get a %100 answer as to exactly what happened, but all the evidence we do have points to a problem with Yahoo mail servers not working on Sunday night, and it was likely fixed on Monday. Every failed email that people reported came from a Yahoo account (Rogers uses Yahoo mail servers) and none of the table requests I did receive came from a Yahoo account. Since this has never happened before, we could not have foreseen this problem. Going forward I'm not sure how we can prevent it from happening again, but we will continue to examine the situation and try to find a solution for next year. Finally, if you have any further ideas, questions, or concerns please feel free to share them here, or in an email. We can't act on every idea, but we do read them all. ...and, as always, thanks for your interest in the Nominoichi!
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Post by rainbows on Jun 3, 2018 12:12:55 GMT -5
It was our second year selling at Nominoichi, and we think it went over really well. It's been said before, but it did get quite hot in there over the course of the night. But, it was to be expected with that many bodies in there, so we dressed accordingly in light/breathable clothes and brought a backpack filled with snacks and water.
- The water refill station was the best. I'll admit we originally didn't see it upon arrival as we immediately started looking for our table once we got inside. Although we were lucky to have a friend who spent the night floating around the Nominoichi as they were intrigued by selling at Nominoichi and offered to go fill up our water bottles a few times when the table became busy.
- I know some sort of horn or something sounds when the Nominoichi opens, but perhaps a 5 minute warning sound too? Granted, I might have missed it, but when the horn sounded and everyone piled in, I was quickly trying to stuff my dinner back into my backpack.
- Personally, I like the event on Friday night as there doesn't seem to be a lot of big events competing with the time slot. For us, Nominoichi (and badge pick-up/weapons check) is the main reason why we attend on Friday. After we get our badges/weapons check we end up grabbing our suitcases and sitting outside the Nominoichi doors. As attendees who don't stay in the hotels nearby, staying at the convention from the time it opens at 10am on Saturday to around 11pm when Nominoichi closes, would be a bit much. We were talking about it last night, we hope it continues on Friday night!
- Love the location of the Nominoichi, the lighting in there seems brighter/better than it was in its prior location. Also since it doesn't face the setting sun, that helps cut down on the heat a bit too, I would think.
- I'll be honest and wasn't even aware that the event was open until 11pm. I ended up packing my side of the table up around 9:50pm due to the fact that I was starting to get a headache from the heat/tight wig/early morning. My roommate stayed till close, but they said it was rather quiet and only managed to sell 1 or 2 items in that timeframe.
- More luck of the draw, but I noticed that being on an end, a lot of people just walked by in the open space once they got out of packed aisles. This isn't really a complaint, just something we observed as the night went on.
All in all, we had a great time at Nominoichi 2018 and will be back again in 2019!
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Post by twobluetails on Jun 5, 2018 11:42:21 GMT -5
This is my fifth year attending the Nominoichi as a buyer (maybe one day as a seller) and I don't have anything really negative to say about the event itself. I lined up early because I had holds and there isn't really much going on before the nominoichi. As a veteran buyer of this event I knew it was going to be a sauna in there so I didn't cosplay and wore shorts and shirt which helped with the humid enviroment of Nomi. Overall I enjoyed myself but would like to also add my opinion on a few issues brought up by others. Not everyone is equally heat-resistant, even with light and breathable clothing. In fact I saw some Nominoichi customers and at least one seller cosplaying there by wearing what was essentially lingerie, most likely to keep cool. Improving ventilation with blowers and fans at the doors and other access points would improve this situation, since there were some people there with more substantial clothing and cosplay. Water helps, but necessitates bathroom breaks, which makes people vulnerable to the next issue. 1) Thefts. I know it sucks to have things stolen from your or a neighbours table but as a seller you should be responsible and take precaution to this. Nomi gets insanely crowded just in the first 30 mins so to have staff, security guards, patrolling the tables watching for people walking away with items I think would be a hassle. Who is to say someone who picks up an item isn't just looking at it or has just paid and picked it up and some security doesn't see this so thinks its a theft. I did notice some sellers with high volume items or multiple small items (ex. videogames) had taken out the game disc/cartridge and left the case for someone to inspect. if they had any questions or were looking to purchase it they would simply add it to the case or bring the game out for the buyer. It reminded me of what eb games does at their stores. Also any high value items like figures were kept on shelves or in the back of the table unless specifically asked to see it up close. I agree that security would be a hassle, but necessitating things like safes and locked shelves to prevent theft means Nominoichi gets put out of reach for more people (the dealers' room people already spend a lot on stuff like that). Some security guards keeping an eye on things would be a useful deterrent at least. Don't forget cash is king at Nominoichi either, and if the place gets known to be a hotbed of theft, who's going to sell? Making the penalties for theft public knowledge also increases the deterrent value. Single sellers are the most vulnerable to thefts since they can only watch one direction at a time; perhaps allowing table helpers to pay for a "Nominoichi only" pass to watch over tables when one table member has to leave could help these sellers without taking away Friday pass availability. 3)Nomi extension. I am glad that Nomi was extended to 11pm. when alot of people are gone it makes it easier to look at the table and see if there is an item you missed or realized you can't go home without. My only con about this (but not against the organizers) is that I have heard alot of sellers didn't see the benefit of this simply because they didn't sell much even after 10:30pm. As a buyer I would like to point out that some of these sellers really didn't want to lower prices or haggle even in the last 15-30 mins of the event, which may be the reason people were not going to buy anything (not when they spent so much money earlier) An example of this is in the last 15min when I wanted to buy a DVD set priced at $40 I offered to buy it for $30 the seller said they can only do $35...really $5 off? I didn't end up taking it and just as nomi ended the item was still there. I know the sellers want to make as much money as possible, and i didn't think it was a lowball offer, but its a wonder many sellers go home with so much stuff, and complain that they didn't really sell anything. Just my two cents on that. In defense of the sellers who didn't want to haggle late into the event, sometimes they set prices that are already low enough for them at the beginning of the event. If the items didn't sell early on in the Nominoichi with more customers around, who are more likely to be flush with cash, the chances of people later on in the event actually buying it decreases by simple probability. And sometimes it makes no sense at all. I took home a fair amount of my stock even though much of it was from popular anime series. 4)Charging premium for front row. I would NOT be a fan if this is something AN Nomi organizers decided to go with. Charging extra or randomly selecting people to enter first for more money or ticket system just doesn't cut it. I pay for my pass like everyone else. I also know that if you want to see as many of the tables as possible or have enough time to pick up your holds (if you do this) you should come early. Coming 1/2 an hour before the event starts is not early and by the time you get in there is probably a 1000 people already inside before you. If AN went the fan expo route and charged extra for VIP then maybe there is an excuse but I would rather see AN not do this especially since many events people camp an hour for. The point of that suggestion wasn't just for AN to make more money in and of itself, but rather to ease the crowd in at manageable levels over time, discourage overly-large lineups, and to make money to pay for fans and blowers. A VIP ticket system like you say, allowing only a certain number of VIP Nominoichi ticket holders into the event 30 minutes before everyone else, is one way this could be accomplished. To keep from overloading AN's servers, maybe people who are interested in this VIP pass system can apply for one during a certain time period, and only so many people would be randomly selected (to keep the VIP crowd at a manageable size), and those who are selected have the option of paying for a VIP Nominoichi pass. However, I believe one of the best ways to address overcrowding is to for Nominoichi to get its own exclusive twitter account, primarily to remind people to use the reserve system and check the Nominoichi forums regularly so buyers can reserve their wanted items and finish their Nominoichi business that much more quickly, making room for other attendees. A Nominoichi-exclusive twitter account could even be used to announce new sellers' table numbers and even give a general idea of each sellers' stock, so as to encourage Nominoichi attendees to browse sellers' stock online before actually attending the event. 5) Capping lines segmenting amount of people. As stated above come early if you want to get in quickly. You treat it like the dealers room or pre registration. Long line but the first person who lines up is usually there at 7am. Dealers room opens at 10am. I've only attended Nominoichi as a seller, but buyers lining up at 7 AM for it reminds me of how much a "race to the bottom" con lineups can be. Segmenting the crowd would help to keep the crowd size manageable and safe, and would go some way towards addressing the overheating problem. - The AC was on it's Maximum setting. However, the crowds and 30° temperature just overpowered the room. My staff arrived first and left last, the room was cool when it was empty.
- Also worth noting is last year the temperature was 18°, and the historical average for that day is about 20°. This year we hit 30° so it was far hotter than usual.
Thank you for clarifying that. I still believe that some industrial fans/blowers might have helped within the first two hours to keep the temperature cooler. - The room is crowded at the start. It's always been that way. We put a clear notice of this on the website to warn everyone what to expect, we also advise them to arrive later when there are less people.
The notice on the website is just a suggestion. AN staff actually segmenting the lines to enter at different times would enforce that suggestion. Also, given what a poster above me said about buyers lining up at 7 AM on Friday to get first dibs on the sellers' stock means that there is a strong incentive for people to line up so early, most likely to browse and buy items earlier than anyone else. - Although no final decisions have been made yet, it is very unlikely that we will be moving the date or location of the Nominoichi next year. Also, I really do not think we will run a second Nominoichi during the convention. These events take a lot of time and work or organize, one is enough.
Did you come to that conclusion due to how there weren't enough specialized sellers this year to be segmented into the specialized sections? There were a lot of Nominoichi sellers with Yaoi-North-appropriate merchandise, for instance. Maybe just holding a mini-market near the Nominoichi hall could help give those sellers their own space. Those fans can be very dedicated. So could a cosplay mini-market near the artist's alley, for instance, to help clear up room at the main Nominoichi hall. Another financial incentive to make more room at the Nominoichi hall might be offering a table discount to people who partner up with other sellers. - We will explore the idea of bringing in fans, but there are a lot of factors to consider, so it will take time to decide.
Thank you for at least taking this into consideration. - The third chair some tables had was a nice benefit, but it was a last minute change and not guaranteed to be repeated. We only expect 2 chairs at every table and if there any more that's great. (One year there were zero chairs and we had to delay the event to get them!)
No chairs? Some people must have been very upset that year. Did we get those extra chairs this time due to how there was no political convention at the TCC this year during AN 2018? Also, just to set the record straight about missing emails and table reservations: There are no blocks on email I receive (the amount of spam I get all year should prove that) We may never get a %100 answer as to exactly what happened, but all the evidence we do have points to a problem with Yahoo mail servers not working on Sunday night, and it was likely fixed on Monday. Every failed email that people reported came from a Yahoo account (Rogers uses Yahoo mail servers) and none of the table requests I did receive came from a Yahoo account. Since this has never happened before, we could not have foreseen this problem. Going forward I'm not sure how we can prevent it from happening again, but we will continue to examine the situation and try to find a solution for next year. Thank you for clarifying this. What should we as sellers who were affected by the glitch do to move forward? Can those of us who got caught up in the glitch get priority next year for a Nominoichi table? Or can we send two identical requests, from different email providers to give us a better chance of getting through in 2019? Finally, if you have any further ideas, questions, or concerns please feel free to share them here, or in an email. We can't act on every idea, but we do read them all. ...and, as always, thanks for your interest in the Nominoichi! We appreciate feedback threads like this. However, where do we post or whom do we contact if we have complaints about other parts of the AN 2018 experience? I have some concerns with an experience I had during some guests' autograph signings that I'd like to see addressed. The guest forum is no longer here as well.
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Post by shadowlycan on Jun 5, 2018 14:36:40 GMT -5
This is my fifth year attending the Nominoichi as a buyer (maybe one day as a seller) and I don't have anything really negative to say about the event itself. I lined up early because I had holds and there isn't really much going on before the nominoichi. As a veteran buyer of this event I knew it was going to be a sauna in there so I didn't cosplay and wore shorts and shirt which helped with the humid enviroment of Nomi. Overall I enjoyed myself but would like to also add my opinion on a few issues brought up by others. Not everyone is equally heat-resistant, even with light and breathable clothing. In fact I saw some Nominoichi customers and at least one seller cosplaying there by wearing what was essentially lingerie, most likely to keep cool. Improving ventilation with blowers and fans at the doors and other access points would improve this situation, since there were some people there with more substantial clothing and cosplay. Water helps, but necessitates bathroom breaks, which makes people vulnerable to the next issue. 1) Thefts. I know it sucks to have things stolen from your or a neighbours table but as a seller you should be responsible and take precaution to this. Nomi gets insanely crowded just in the first 30 mins so to have staff, security guards, patrolling the tables watching for people walking away with items I think would be a hassle. Who is to say someone who picks up an item isn't just looking at it or has just paid and picked it up and some security doesn't see this so thinks its a theft. I did notice some sellers with high volume items or multiple small items (ex. videogames) had taken out the game disc/cartridge and left the case for someone to inspect. if they had any questions or were looking to purchase it they would simply add it to the case or bring the game out for the buyer. It reminded me of what eb games does at their stores. Also any high value items like figures were kept on shelves or in the back of the table unless specifically asked to see it up close. I agree that security would be a hassle, but necessitating things like safes and locked shelves to prevent theft means Nominoichi gets put out of reach for more people (the dealers' room people already spend a lot on stuff like that). Some security guards keeping an eye on things would be a useful deterrent at least. Don't forget cash is king at Nominoichi either, and if the place gets known to be a hotbed of theft, who's going to sell? Making the penalties for theft public knowledge also increases the deterrent value. Single sellers are the most vulnerable to thefts since they can only watch one direction at a time; perhaps allowing table helpers to pay for a "Nominoichi only" pass to watch over tables when one table member has to leave could help these sellers without taking away Friday pass availability. 3)Nomi extension. I am glad that Nomi was extended to 11pm. when alot of people are gone it makes it easier to look at the table and see if there is an item you missed or realized you can't go home without. My only con about this (but not against the organizers) is that I have heard alot of sellers didn't see the benefit of this simply because they didn't sell much even after 10:30pm. As a buyer I would like to point out that some of these sellers really didn't want to lower prices or haggle even in the last 15-30 mins of the event, which may be the reason people were not going to buy anything (not when they spent so much money earlier) An example of this is in the last 15min when I wanted to buy a DVD set priced at $40 I offered to buy it for $30 the seller said they can only do $35...really $5 off? I didn't end up taking it and just as nomi ended the item was still there. I know the sellers want to make as much money as possible, and i didn't think it was a lowball offer, but its a wonder many sellers go home with so much stuff, and complain that they didn't really sell anything. Just my two cents on that. In defense of the sellers who didn't want to haggle late into the event, sometimes they set prices that are already low enough for them at the beginning of the event. If the items didn't sell early on in the Nominoichi with more customers around, who are more likely to be flush with cash, the chances of people later on in the event actually buying it decreases by simple probability. And sometimes it makes no sense at all. I took home a fair amount of my stock even though much of it was from popular anime series. 4)Charging premium for front row. I would NOT be a fan if this is something AN Nomi organizers decided to go with. Charging extra or randomly selecting people to enter first for more money or ticket system just doesn't cut it. I pay for my pass like everyone else. I also know that if you want to see as many of the tables as possible or have enough time to pick up your holds (if you do this) you should come early. Coming 1/2 an hour before the event starts is not early and by the time you get in there is probably a 1000 people already inside before you. If AN went the fan expo route and charged extra for VIP then maybe there is an excuse but I would rather see AN not do this especially since many events people camp an hour for. The point of that suggestion wasn't just for AN to make more money in and of itself, but rather to ease the crowd in at manageable levels over time, discourage overly-large lineups, and to make money to pay for fans and blowers. A VIP ticket system like you say, allowing only a certain number of VIP Nominoichi ticket holders into the event 30 minutes before everyone else, is one way this could be accomplished. To keep from overloading AN's servers, maybe people who are interested in this VIP pass system can apply for one during a certain time period, and only so many people would be randomly selected (to keep the VIP crowd at a manageable size), and those who are selected have the option of paying for a VIP Nominoichi pass. However, I believe one of the best ways to address overcrowding is to for Nominoichi to get its own exclusive twitter account, primarily to remind people to use the reserve system and check the Nominoichi forums regularly so buyers can reserve their wanted items and finish their Nominoichi business that much more quickly, making room for other attendees. A Nominoichi-exclusive twitter account could even be used to announce new sellers' table numbers and even give a general idea of each sellers' stock, so as to encourage Nominoichi attendees to browse sellers' stock online before actually attending the event. 5) Capping lines segmenting amount of people. As stated above come early if you want to get in quickly. You treat it like the dealers room or pre registration. Long line but the first person who lines up is usually there at 7am. Dealers room opens at 10am. I've only attended Nominoichi as a seller, but buyers lining up at 7 AM for it reminds me of how much a "race to the bottom" con lineups can be. Segmenting the crowd would help to keep the crowd size manageable and safe, and would go some way towards addressing the overheating problem. - The AC was on it's Maximum setting. However, the crowds and 30° temperature just overpowered the room. My staff arrived first and left last, the room was cool when it was empty.
- Also worth noting is last year the temperature was 18°, and the historical average for that day is about 20°. This year we hit 30° so it was far hotter than usual.
Thank you for clarifying that. I still believe that some industrial fans/blowers might have helped within the first two hours to keep the temperature cooler. - The room is crowded at the start. It's always been that way. We put a clear notice of this on the website to warn everyone what to expect, we also advise them to arrive later when there are less people.
The notice on the website is just a suggestion. AN staff actually segmenting the lines to enter at different times would enforce that suggestion. Also, given what a poster above me said about buyers lining up at 7 AM on Friday to get first dibs on the sellers' stock means that there is a strong incentive for people to line up so early, most likely to browse and buy items earlier than anyone else. - Although no final decisions have been made yet, it is very unlikely that we will be moving the date or location of the Nominoichi next year. Also, I really do not think we will run a second Nominoichi during the convention. These events take a lot of time and work or organize, one is enough.
Did you come to that conclusion due to how there weren't enough specialized sellers this year to be segmented into the specialized sections? There were a lot of Nominoichi sellers with Yaoi-North-appropriate merchandise, for instance. Maybe just holding a mini-market near the Nominoichi hall could help give those sellers their own space. Those fans can be very dedicated. So could a cosplay mini-market near the artist's alley, for instance, to help clear up room at the main Nominoichi hall. Another financial incentive to make more room at the Nominoichi hall might be offering a table discount to people who partner up with other sellers. - We will explore the idea of bringing in fans, but there are a lot of factors to consider, so it will take time to decide.
Thank you for at least taking this into consideration. - The third chair some tables had was a nice benefit, but it was a last minute change and not guaranteed to be repeated. We only expect 2 chairs at every table and if there any more that's great. (One year there were zero chairs and we had to delay the event to get them!)
No chairs? Some people must have been very upset that year. Did we get those extra chairs this time due to how there was no political convention at the TCC this year during AN 2018? Also, just to set the record straight about missing emails and table reservations: There are no blocks on email I receive (the amount of spam I get all year should prove that) We may never get a %100 answer as to exactly what happened, but all the evidence we do have points to a problem with Yahoo mail servers not working on Sunday night, and it was likely fixed on Monday. Every failed email that people reported came from a Yahoo account (Rogers uses Yahoo mail servers) and none of the table requests I did receive came from a Yahoo account. Since this has never happened before, we could not have foreseen this problem. Going forward I'm not sure how we can prevent it from happening again, but we will continue to examine the situation and try to find a solution for next year. Thank you for clarifying this. What should we as sellers who were affected by the glitch do to move forward? Can those of us who got caught up in the glitch get priority next year for a Nominoichi table? Or can we send two identical requests, from different email providers to give us a better chance of getting through in 2019? Finally, if you have any further ideas, questions, or concerns please feel free to share them here, or in an email. We can't act on every idea, but we do read them all. ...and, as always, thanks for your interest in the Nominoichi! We appreciate feedback threads like this. However, where do we post or whom do we contact if we have complaints about other parts of the AN 2018 experience? I have some concerns with an experience I had during some guests' autograph signings that I'd like to see addressed. The guest forum is no longer here as well. lol i think djinnwolf meant people line up at 7am for pre reg/weapons check/ buying memberships. In the years i have been going to AN not once have i seen anybody lining up at 7am for nomi. I arrive at my hotel at least around 11 am-12pm and i never see any kind of lineup for nomi. As for the email glitch, i don't think it would be fair for people affected to get first priority for next year tbh since it wasn't AN's fault for the glitch in the first place (**** happens). Perhaps next year Mods could suggest not using yahoo, or have precautions such as maybe doing a test run before opening registration ( but i suppose that may be hard since you would never know when another glitch could happen or if it could happen on another popular email server) I agree with Djinnwolf when it comes to VIP passes. I never mind it for those who have special accommodations to be able to wait at the front of the line even with a lineup already formed, but don't think it is very fair if a buyer who was waiting 2 hours in the hot sun in advance should have to get behind someone without accomodations just because they have a VIP pass and merely comes to line up 15 mins before opening. Even if this was implemented the AN staff (or in this case Nomi staff) would have to figure out 1)cost 2) the amount that would be sold (just like early bird and not random) 3)conditions (when to line up, refundable or not etc.) 4) how to coordinate the VIP shopping (you may have a VIP pass, but it doesn't mean you'll be done in the time limit, (if there is one) some people may want to look around longer.
As Djinnwolf said, treat nomi it like dealers room on a saturday/sunday, a autograph lineup, or a popular panel, if you want to be one of the first ones in, you should come as early as you possibly can.
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Post by leafari on Jun 6, 2018 0:18:18 GMT -5
Happy to have come back for my 3rd Nomi in a row; this event, in my opinion, is probably my favorite part of the convention, enough so that I lined up an hour an advance, and stayed the entire length of the event to finally manage to check out all of the tables Nomi encompassed this year. It was fantastic! I read through the thread before making this post to put my input in on some other suggestions people made, so forgive me for the huge paragraphs I'm about to dispense onto your eyes... :3c The Good:I (still) love the location of Nomi, and don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's a very big space for the event, though it might not feel like it with all the crowds, and the beginning of the buyer's line-up is very clearly designated outside with the huge "HALL C" sign, as usual. It also was shady there, and considering how it was over 24 degrees celcius with a huge humidity that day, it helped not having to wait in the sweltering sun we'd be suffering in if Nomi was brought back to Hall A. We were all ushered in rather quickly, too, and it took us about 2 minutes to get to the front of the line, even though we were rather far back. I'm glad you kept the water stations, and properly marked them, considering how hot it can get with all of those sweaty bodies that usually use either too little or too much deodorant, lol. As a buyer, I actually appreciated the extra hour in Nomi, and it allowed me to take time to think about purchases and properly examine the things being sold, and it seems it also helped a lot of the sellers on here, so that's an overall plus for me! The event ending warnings were also good, and I'm glad you guys did more than one. I also liked the 10-second count-down, though it probably wasn't intentional, but I'm sure a lot of people liked it, too, considering they joined in! The Bad:Now, I'm going to be honest here: a lot of my problems this year are small things, but there are definitely a few big ones on the list. People cutting in line is always a common one, which I think could easily be solved by having more staff in the front to watch out for this when Nomi finally opens. Another line-related problem was the lack of a clear end-of-line. I do know there's an end-of-line sign for Nomi, but it wasn't really visible due to a wind current crumpling it up, because I saw lots of people walking past it, and walking back from the end of the line looking annoyed, so I'd guess just reinforce the heck outta that sign for next time, lol! The water stations should be much more clearly marked on the Nomi map in the future, as I noticed a lot of people having trouble finding it. They should probably have titles similar to that of the different sections listed on the map. I personally didn't notice a big difference with the sections this year, except at a few select tables, but other than that, it still seemed really random like it was last year. The main problem with the event in the past has always been the heat for most people, and I've usually never been one to feel it until this year. This specifically stands out to me because I chose not to wear cosplay to Nomi this year (which is also a main contributor to some people's heat). It didn't feel like I was gonna die or anything, but I was definitely sweating and feeling a little more suffocated than usual. I honestly don't have a strong solution for this, other than cranking up the AC in the hall beforehand(which I guess you probably already do), and having a clearer path for the warm airflow to get out more quickly. You can probably do that just by opening the curtains surrounding the Nomi in select places (the curtains are the main retainers of all the heat), and just have rope dividers, signage, and staff standing at those areas to discourage/prevent entry from people inside the other halls. I understand how that, in itself, can cause more problems, like the need for more staff and volunteers, but it's just a suggestion on my part. Another thing about the heat, is that maybe a mention of the temperature should be put in the guidebook for it as well? I know some events have little paragraphs explaining what they are further on in the guidebook (though some were missing this year), so maybe Nomi should get it's own paragraph, too? Like I said, just a suggestion. :3 Other Comments/Concerns:I've seen quite a few people in the thread talking about expanding the Nomi to happen over the span of a few days, or to maybe change the date of Nomi, but that just seems like a not-so-good idea. Friday isn't even typically the busiest day of the con(it's usually Saturday on all accounts), and it seems to already be too much to handle for people. Doing it more than once over the span of the weekend sounds especially stressful for the staff and volunteers of Nomi, and I really wouldn't wish that upon them. Besides, I think having it on just the Friday makes it a very special experience, where if you blink, you'll miss it! And also, if we were to elongate that time to be over the span of the whole con, I'd worry about Nomi just becoming another dealer's room, as it has become for other cons who also do events similar to this one. Also, having it specifically on the Friday evening, I think, helps with the heat. On an unrelated note, I dropped a small pale leather pouch in the Nomi during the last hour of the event that was full of cash (which is my fault; I definitely should've been more careful with it), and when I went back to go look for it, the staff weren't really that helpful. I know it's late and everyone's tired, as well as the fact that things like these happen a lot, but it would've been nice for it to have been treated as an actual issue, instead of just saying something to get me to go away. Proper directions to the security office also would've been appreciated, considering it was dark and I got a little lost. It would've at least gave me some peace of mind, anyway. Other than those things, this Nomi was fantastic, and I had a great time! The atmosphere inside is always so friendly, not just from the sellers, but also the buyers themselves, and the staff are usually really great about stuff and are extremely polite. Thank you to all of the volunteers, staff, and sellers who helped, bargained, joked, and overall made my, and probably everyone else's nights. Have a great summer, and I'll see you all next year!
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Post by neonbrown on Jun 6, 2018 0:54:22 GMT -5
My only suggestion is a ramp at the entrance. Multiple volunteers and sellers were unloading boxes off of carts and loading them back inside the doors which slowed down and jumbled the line. In my case 2 volunteers helped me and my friend lift the whole cart with 12 boxes of books into the building. They spent time doing this instead of directing people/ Making sure people didn't cut the line. They worked really hard.
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Post by twobluetails on Jun 10, 2018 11:09:49 GMT -5
My only suggestion is a ramp at the entrance. Multiple volunteers and sellers were unloading boxes off of carts and loading them back inside the doors which slowed down and jumbled the line. In my case 2 volunteers helped me and my friend lift the whole cart with 12 boxes of books into the building. They spent time doing this instead of directing people/ Making sure people didn't cut the line. They worked really hard. I didn't use wheeled carts to bring my stuff in, but I did see some people with a lot of merchandise who did use those carts. A ramp would have helped those people a lot.
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