It was a confusing start for nominoichi sellers

[kuma133]

The number one most asked question from sellers upon arriving inside the Hall F entry: "Where is the lineup for sellers supposed to be?"

The directions sent to sellers only vaguely said "line up" and "use the Hall F entrance" with no actual specific directions as to where that line up should form inside the space. Leaving a lot of sellers heavily laden with their wares lugging it around aimlessly or standing around looking confused. Some sellers (myself included) had more than they could manage alone, and did not have help that could stay. So having a firm target destination to drop ourselves and all our stuff would really have helped.

Staff and volunteers at the entrance to Hall F (which sellers were told to use) had no idea where to direct sellers. One staffer was even directing some poor individuals back outside the TCC!

When the sellers realized the room was open and took it upon themselves to start setting up, the above mentioned staffer actually started telling more sellers that others were inside setting up. (Granted he did not say "you should go too" but that was the unavoidable inference.)

Order was needed and order was restored and everything worked out. I wasn't 100% pleased with the method of resolution, but I am not going to bother commenting on it further and I've removed my previous remarks on the matter.


But I will put forward some take away for next year:

1. A placard sign where the lineup should start saying "Nominoichi Sellers Line - Please Queue Here" would avoid a lot of headaches.

2. Ensure staff near the door know in advance where to direct sellers.

3. If possible, having a staffer or volunteer camped at the lineup in advance of 5pm would also help keep things organized.

4. Email a map of the TCC to sellers with the starting location of the seller entry line marked so there is less confusion about where to go upon arrival.


Despite the hiccups getting started, all seemed to go quite well after we got back in the room. Good sale. Lots of happy buyers.

Edits: Grammar and details.

[mew2collector]

I agree with your suggestions, I just recently posted about my experience in the above post haha.

I was the short brown girl in the line about to have a hissy fit cause I had so much of my stuff on the table with no one watching it.

A map would be very helpful, but I really think of sign saying where sellers should line up should be mandatory!

[laughingman]

Maybe it's just me then, but I didn't have any problem figuring out where to go. Walked in with some friends to find out where to go, saw the giant hanging banister that read "NOMINOICHI" and we were good.

Back to car, grabbed my ridiculous amount of stuff to sell, and they helped bringing it all to the line for me. For a first-time seller, I found no issues =\

[Sparhawk]

The problem with the Nominoichi this year was a lot of miscommunication between Chris McKenna and Operation Services. None of OS had any idea of where to send Nominoichi sellers because Chris, I suppose assumed we would know without being told. We of course knew where the Nominoichi was taking place but we weren't given any instructions on what to do with Nominoichi sellers before the convention opened to the public. Hopefully these mistakes won't be repeated next year and OS will know what to do with the Nominoichi sellers.

[The Chris McKenna]

Briefly on this topic:

Last year and this year I gave the same instructions to all Nominoichi sellers:

On Friday your group is required to wait together OUTSIDE the
Nominoichi room in a line near the entrance.

I will arrive at 5:00 and we should start admitting sellers at 5:30.

Unfortunately last year one of the OS personnel decided to tell the sellers that they should instead wait inside the room, so when I arrived we had to send all the sellers outside as originally planned. I don't recall that OS Staff members name, (but he had an important sounding job title) Anyway, at last years event I gave him these instructions for next year: All the sellers should be kept lined up outside the Nominoichi area until I arrive, and to call me if there were any problems. He assured me that he would pass my instructions on at wrap-up meeting and to the entire OS Department, so I assumed that this year the problem would be solved.

However,  we discovered this did not happen, and there was still some confusion as to when sellers should be entering the room.  This problem was further exacerbated by the fact that the TCC provided numbers on the tables (We've been asking for them and this year we finally got them, so it's not a complaint!). This year a few sellers arrived early and did not line up outside the room, rather they decided to enter it, and because the tables were already numbered, they started setting up too early. When I arrived as scheduled, at about 5:00, the Nominoichi staff decided the fastest way to correct this problem would be to enact the method we had prepared and planned for. We quickly got everyone out of the room, and then let the approved sellers back in after being processed.

Next year (2014) I shall rewrite and emphasize the instructions in the letter to the sellers to hopefully draw more attention to the fact that people must wait OUTSIDE the room, in a line near the entrance, until they are let in by the Nominoichi Staff at 5:30. I shall also request that a volunteer sit in the room from about 3:00pm to eject anyone who tries to enter before I arrive. I hope this will help prevent any further early entry problems. Furthermore, on my list of things to do better next year, I will try to get some of that 3 foot pipe and drape to help structure one single entry line for buyers, rather than the three we had this year. (It was supposed to be there this year, I don't know why it wasn't)

Finally, despite the rough start, we very quickly got things running smoothly and if anyone arrived after 5:45 I doubt you even noticed any problems related to the early set-up sellers. Once things were sorted the OS Staff assisting the Nominoichi did their jobs quite well and I'm pleased to say that we received no complaints about OS behavior or attitudes this year. Actually, my staff and volunteers said that the OS Staff were both helpful and useful this year, and we are looking forward to working with them again.

In conclusion: The Nominoichi has had a few problems with early starts for two years now, but we have learned and will hopefully move forward with more success next year.

[icehawk101]

If you make an OS request next year before the con, we can pass that on to whoever is your area supervisor to make sure that people are lined up in the right spot and don't enter the room.

[kuma133]

I believe the primary issue with the instructions was that they specifically mention hall F as the entry point. But never actually provided the real nominoichi room location / map designation (hall G.)

On Friday your group is required to wait together OUTSIDE the
Nominoichi room in a line near the entrance.

Perhaps ammending the wording to include the actual room's location might help.

For example:
On Friday your group is required to wait together OUTSIDE the
Nominoichi room (Hall G, Events Area) in a line near the entrance.

I think where things broke down for sellers was that the only specific coordinate given was the Hall F entrance. A great number of us missed the "Nominoichi Room" reference. So when we got into Hall F, we were unsure where to be inside this great huge space. Granted, upon review the info is actually there - it just obviously wasn't standing out clearly enough. As suggested, a marked map sent to sellers would probably help. (A picture is worth a thousand words.)

Another problem that Anime North seems to have in general is poor line management planning. I've been involved with the con in different capacities for years. I have yet to see evidence of effective line management planning and good organization cues (signage) for attendees. (I am of course drawing into the discussion the Thursday pre-reg lineup fiasco as this was yet another example of line management gone awry.)

Line Management 101
You often see nice clear placard signage and stanchion marked lineup areas at movie theaters for big movie releases where they know long lines will form. The pre-planning of where people should line up is clearly evident. Staff have been briefed on where to direct movie-goers so they are all on the same page. For staff, this takes most of the headaches out of managing lines (less questions, fewer people blocking places they should not.) For customers, life is easy because the signage lets them know exactly where they are expected to queue and the stanchions clearly set the boundaries of the line. No need to ask each other and staff constantly "is this the line for ____?" (if you hear this question more than 5x - your signage is clearly insufficient.) If extremely large lines are expected, line handlers are introduced to maintain the line and direct growth in the desired pre-planned pattern. -- Anime North could learn a lot about good line management from your average movie theater.


I whole-heartedly agree that once things got sorted out, the sale went extremely well. If we could iron out the kinks in getting started though, I think everyone would be happier. One of most important points to remember about Nominoichi sellers = their wares. You need to be aware in your planning that these people are coming into your space laden (sometimes very heavily, or with more than they can carry themselves) with all their items for sale. They do not want to be misdirected, moved or otherwise made to relocate themselves and their stuff any more than absolutely necessary.

[Taochan]

My only problem was finding where Nominoichi was set up. Luckily I found a volunteer who was able to point me in the right direction, but there were no signs indicating where the location of it was.

[The Chris McKenna]

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[kuma133]

Chris, I suspect that Taochan might have meant that there were no directional signs at the entrance to Hall F.

Plus, to be honest, I have to admit that even I don't recall noticing that banner. It's a very nice looking banner. But obviously ultimately ineffective as a directional sign. Possibly because the branding is so significant and the information text is rotated.

There's an effect that occurs when you take a well known brand image and substitute different wording. If you survey people after seeing the altered brand image, what did the text say? They will often report having seen the normally associated text rather than what was actually substituted. When I look at this banner - my brain is trying to insert "Anime North" rather than the actual information text that is on the banner.

Getting back to the issue at hand though, IMHO AN could in general do with a lot more eye-level directional signage. This isn't really an isolated Nominoichi issue, but a con-wide problem.

As far as line up space marking, I saw a brilliant idea in use at Otakon one year - they used electrical tape to mark out the line queue pattern on the floor. It was surprisingly effective and created no physical barrier. So when they led the line into the event space - it unfolded very nicely and naturally instead of everyone having to follow through the entire serpentine. I realize that the TCC might have some issues with tape on their floors. But it might be worth investigating. Because I have to tell you just how impressed you'll be by how effectively this seemingly simple solution actually works in real use. Yet again, not an isolated Nominoichi issue.

I think most of the problems with the Nominoichi pre-start confusion need to be handled by con-wide re-think on directional info, line control and staff briefing. Anime North is a HUGE event that sprawls over a lot of space. It only makes sense that eventually directing folks efficiently through all of that is going to need some serious attention.

Edit: P.S.

I sincerely hope this information can be useful towards improving AN for future years. I don't want this to be construed as an attack on how the con was run. I was truly impressed by the growth in both attendance and cosplay evident at Anime North as compared to a few years ago. I think there were many things done very, very well. I want to thank Anime North for putting on great events like the Nominoichi. I also want to applaud the great use of the forum for the Nominoichi sellers - it was a fabulous tool that helped me find new homes for so many of my collectibles. Thanks! ^_^

[Taochan]

Jun 1, 2013 13:54:36 GMT -5 kuma133 said:

Chris, I suspect that Taochan might have meant that there were no directional signs at the entrance to Hall F.

That's exactly what I meant. Once I turned the corner to Hall G, I had no issue finding where Nominoichi was being held. However, entering the building I couldn't see a single sign leading the way to it which is why I needed volunteers to show me how to get there on the map.