Post-Nominoichi: the good, the bad, and things to improve.

[The Chris McKenna]

Hello everyone.


I know this is a bit early, but we'd really appreciate it if you'd come back here after the Nominoichi and let us know how we did.

This will be the thread where people can share their experiences at the Nominoichi. We want to hear about things that you thought we could improve upon. Any problems you noticed, and also anything we got right that you don't want to see change next year. Please tell us if you think we did a good or bad job, and what you think we should do different or the same next year.

We've also continued to use an online system and lottery for table reservations this year. We are always interested in hearing about your experience with this. Did you find it easy to use? What changes in how the registration site works would you like see for next year? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on how to improve the process?

Please note. This thread is not for problems or improvements related to any other areas nor departments of the convention, unless it is something that's directly related to your Nominoichi experience.

This will also be the pace where we can share any important post-event reports, and we can answer any questions you may have post-event.


Finally, although we can't implement all the ideas, we do read all of them.

...and, as always, thanks for your interest in the Nominoichi!

[The Chris McKenna]

Now is the time.
Please share with us what went good, bad, and how we can improve the Nominoichi next year.

[edtelish]

I appreciate that you let us all wait inside with air conditioning. It was a good space but would have been a bit better had there been a more convenient bathroom. There was one behind the curtains and someone let me through to use it, but it would be better to have easier access. Also, the women's bathroom was locked, so I just used the men's. For me this was not an issue, but some people may feel uncomfortable doing the same.

Aside from that one thing, I can't really think of any other negatives. I like the fact that the space was open and visible from Artist's Alley. I think that visibility brought more people in. I had very little downtime. I did incredibly well, too.

[toast]

Considering the problems with the lines this year, many of the vendors faced difficulties making it into nomi when we were stuck waiting in line to pick up our passes. Since the vendors are the main show at nominoichi, a priority access for badge pickup would've been incredibly helpful.

[xDream3]

From an attendee POV:
I liked how the Nomi area was next to the Artist Alley this year, it gave sellers at Nomi the opportunity after setup to walk around the con a bit before going back to their table prior to the start of sales via cutout. However, it was also this cutout that posed a problem in my opinion.

From my past experience as a Nomi seller, the buyer line outside is meant for attendees that are willing to skip the first 2hrs of the con to get in on all the deals available at Nomi, in addition to pick up any reservations they placed. Everyone else already inside the con can walk in from the inside later in the night (ex. 1-2hrs after the event started to honor those in the buyer list). However, I noticed that not even 30mins after Nomi started attendees were permitted to walk into the space from the Artist Alley side via cutout. As an attendee, I don't believe this is fair for both the seller or buyers because the Nomi space got busy really quickly because traffic was coming in from both side. Sellers were immediately swamped by both pick ups and people browsing and Buyers had to fight through the crowds to get pick up their reservations.

The two things I hope happens next year is:
1. Nomi remains in the same space as this year
2. Buyer Line is honored by allowing them a 1 hr head start to pick up reservations/snag deals before opening it up to the rest of the con via cut out (ex. 8pm)

Thank you.

[unemotionalfox]

Jul 16, 2022 22:54:48 GMT -5 toast said:

Considering the problems with the lines this year, many of the vendors faced difficulties making it into nomi when we were stuck waiting in line to pick up our passes. Since the vendors are the main show at nominoichi, a priority access for badge pickup would've been incredibly helpful.

Because of the badge cut off at 8pm I couldn't make it to the nomi at all. It was beyond frustrating as a seller, inconveniencing myself, the people who've had holds with me, and the people I've had holds with. Not to mention the people I share my table with! Honestly I think sellers who weren't able to make it this year should have their hold on their table moved to next year.

[wrayth]

One of my friends only bought a Friday badge to sell at nomi, the volunteers told her that she could just line up and get her badge in time, keep in mind the wait time was about 3-4 hours. She never made it in time to sell her stuff, she was able to get her badge at 9pm but by that time it would take an hour to move stuff and setup. So buying the badge was a literal waste of money.

There should be an option for nomi sellers to just pickup their badge at the table check-in prepaid and not allowed to buy the day of.

Or have their badges set aside and pickup in the same area as CC, AA, PP

The location is very good, no other complaints.

[samuraizero]

Jul 17, 2022 11:09:22 GMT -5 unemotionalfox said:

Because of the badge cut off at 8pm I couldn't make it to the nomi at all.

Unfortunately there were some very misinformed volunteers for the reg lines..

Badge cut off was not 8pm, it was 9pm....  I'm sorry if you didn't get your badge on friday.

[samuraizero]

As a seller who had their badge from thursday pickup, I think things went generally fine (for me).
Staff/volunteers were helpful. They were mindful enough to remember faces/people who were in/out many times getting their items to sell from their car, which was great - didn't have to struggle too hard to show my badge everytime with an arm ful of boxes.

Unfortunately due to the registration issues, I feel like we had way less people come through nominoichi as a whole - so I respectfully disagree with the above comment about not allowing people in through the artists alley - once the line outside was clear, I don't see an issue with it, and likely contributed to more attendees actually checking nomi out.

[Deleted]

Only one problem I had this year, and it's one I've seen mentioned in the past: the hall closing announcements.

I noticed a fairly significant drop off in buyers when the 30-minute warning for the rest of the TCC closing, and when the 10 PM announcement came, I watched droves of people walk past my table and out the door, thinking the event had already ended. Anybody who wasn't aware of the extended time already was given the wrong idea, and there was no information at all that I could find in the guide book. This is a pretty big loss, because I know a lot of sellers make a fairly sizeable portion of sales in the closing hour to buyers who want to get something before the event is over for the year, and if said buyers think the event is ending earlier than it is, they may decide they don't have enough time to get to all the tables they want to.

[kurokitty]

This was my first year as a Nomi seller.
Overall it was a great experience! In previous years I had been in Crafters Corner and found Nomi more organized.

What the others have mentioned (about the long wait sellers had for badges) was probably the only thing that should be addressed for next year.

Luckily my 2 badge-less friends who arrived around 6pm for set up were able to access their table by just going to the (nomi) sign in table and groveling. They were let in WITHOUT a con badge since they had their ID, Vax pass and ticket printout. If they had to wait in line for a badge they would have missed the entire thing. (they then were not able to get their weekend pass until Saturday afternoon due to continuing long lines).

If it would be possible for badges to be available at the Nomi table sign in that would probably benefit all those unable to pick up during pre-registration. Otherwise, even available badge mailouts next year could solve that problem.

And feedback for the application/lottery system:
-Very easy to use
-No stress with rushing for sign up on a specific date
-Lottery results were posted timely and organized.

I also agree about the announcement about the building shutting down for the evening. Maybe next year while informing everyone about the closing of certain areas, they could also just mention that Nominoichi would be open until 11?

Thanks!

[kurokitty]

Also one more thing!
I am not sure if this was a one off, but another friend paid in full for his table at the sign in, and then when the 2nd seller arrived they also paid in full not knowing the other already had! So they ended up both paying $50 for 1 table.
Once we realized what happened they were able to get a refund no problem, but I am just not sure if there was a system in place to make sure it was noted if the table was paid in full already.

[shadowlycan]

Once again this year I had a great haul for Nominoichi, found some great last minute deals, and reserved a lot of great stuff!

The good

-loved the whistle signal to signal when it starts and when it's time to leave, everyone could hear it and the reception of people clapping for the start and end of their sales is very refreshing. In previous year you just had someone walking around shouting that it was time to go. I'm pretty sure they were relieved that there was no need for that this year.

-The space was nice, very open, and even flowed into artists alley/crafter's corner. and the heat and crowds wasn't so overbearing as in previous years.

-The layout was a little confusing at first, but i got used to it once i got an idea of the flow of the tables. But i liked it overall.

The Bad

-If there is not going to be a staff member or a security guard being told where the lineup for buyers and sellers start, then there really needs to be a sign saying which entrance is for who. All it takes is a piece of paper being taped to the door. There was one staff member from public safety who came by later who was very helpful in trying to keep us utd on where the lineup was going to be.

Also this goes without saying that there needs to be another staff member blocking the entrance/exit to nomi that was located inside the building as it seemed like people from the dealer's room/artists alley/crafter's corner, (not other sellers) were able to get in without lining up outside even though people waiting to get into the nomi were still waiting to be even let in. Its not fair that there are those who have been lining up for hours just to be one of the first inside, don't even get to, because there was no one enforcing that entrance/exit.

Other then than that i had a fun time at nomi

[kemiiko]

from a seller's POV, i enjoyed being able to share a space with the Crafter's Corner / Artist Alley since it felt much more cooler than my previous year selling (when you could feel the wave of heat hit as soon as you entered the room). we never really had much downtime because of the easily accessible connecting entrance from CC to Nomi, which was great for sales. although my table partner and i did not have issues with getting our badges early in the day, i do agree that there should be some priority pick-up for sellers or badges at the table sign-in.

from a buyer's POV, i got really confused with the way the tables were organized and got pretty disoriented - had to check the map every time for which direction to go when i was picking up my reserved items. or maybe i'm just generally bad at directions lol. either way, it got worse when the crowds started to come in and i was trying to squeeze by people. i had less chance to really stop at a table and check out their stuff due to the space constraints. i also wish nomi lasted a bit longer, both as a seller (still had lots of stuff leftover) but also a buyer (i didn't have time to browse other tables).

overall, still a great year! i enjoyed this year much more than the previous years i attended

[Djinnwolf]

Another great year to be a buyer. I got a great selection of items picked up this year, even though I was trying to not overdo it and stay realistic on 'wth am I going to put all of this stuff if i buy it." Most of the time it worked other times I slipped up. Overall I had an amazing time after so long. Now for the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good:

I am pretty sure I won't be the last to mention this but whoever came up with the idea to incorporate the space of the nominoichi with the crafters corner/artist alley is a genius. With no walls (just a barrier) the space felt more open and breathable even with the crowds. It was not humid or hot like in past years and it was nice to have an easy access area for people to flow to other areas of the con once they finished their shopping.

The signal to begin and end the nominoichi. Pumping the sellers up for the impending zerg rush and at the end clapping and cheering for the end to the chaos was new and refreshing. Every year there is someone yelling for people to get out, sometimes rudely. You cannot always hear these people so a loud signal like the whistle was a great idea.

The table layout was new and different. it took some getting used to but was easy to pick up on. There was also more space in between tables on each side as well as the fact it allowed for different paths to be taken without the need to circle around a long row of tables like in previous years it did help with the flow of traffic and reach tables faster.

Not nominoichi per se but having the tables remain for people to use during the con was a great call. there was plenty of space, people didn't have to sit on floors. you could even rehydrate and eat a small snack and check your haul from the dealers room. I was also a good meeting place if you were meeting friends

The Bad:
As mentioned above a sign on the entrance door for both sellers and buyers would be nice. it doesn't cost much and would prevent people from wandering around looking for the spot they need to wait at (or a line to form). Most security and even some staff had no idea which door was going to be used for buyers, even sending us back and forth between two doors.

The unfortunate situation with the sellers who couldn't get into the nomi because they were waiting on entry badges. Now I understand this is a one shot issue this year, I have been coming to Nomi as a buyer for a long time and this is the first time I have ever had an issue with sellers not being at their assigned table because of the registration lines. I will be the devil's advocate here and say having nominoichi sellers have a special priority pick up line is not the answer. There are too many factors to consider and unlike crafters corner or artist nominoichi only happens for a few short hours on friday, not a whole weekend. Seeing how futures years handle the influx of attendees would be better than just taking this year (after...well still in a pandemic) as an excuse to change the status quo. luckily some sellers were willing to meet up during or after the con so it helped those that had holds.

Beginning the Nominoichi late... not the biggest issue, but I waited for hours to enter the nominoichi as directed for where the buyers were supposed to be lined up. Conaid attendees were allowed in on time however the rest of us remained outside for another 10 mins. The crux of the problem was we could see attendees who entered in from the artist alley/crafters corner side coming through the barriers to shop. This was very unfair for the hundreds lining up outside and I would suggest better policing for next year.

The ugly: nothing just flowed with the saying

Well... I believe that is all I do hope to see everyone next year and attend another nominoichi in 2023. Who knows maybe as a seller. ;D