Welcome to our new home

[The Chris McKenna]

It's good to be back.

We have done a little updating and have moved the old forum into an archive so we can start this year off right with a clean slate.

Right now we are planning and attempting to improve the Nominoichi event, full details should be available on the website by March, but for now if you have any ideas on how we can make the event better for everyone plese share them here.

And thanks for your interest and support of the Nominoichi.

[SalisofKnight]

I had difficulties finding the tables I was looking for when I arrived and actually failed to pick up a couple holds some of the sellers had for me. Would it be possible to place some kind of sign at each of the islands to denote which tables are there?

[eriam]

In previous years I was approached by someone who was with the Nominoichi crew and they asked me for any feedback... I said it then and will say now:
Please do not hold the Nominoichi at the same time as the Skit or Masquerade competitions if possible...
Also having it longer is great! The bigger the better let as many dealers in as possible woot
Thank you.

[g3]

You don't want it on Friday night (Skit) or Saturday night (Masquerade). It's gotta be one or the other, since there's no Sunday night!

Also, there's a reason why the Nominoichi is of a limited length. The sellers are attendees who, just like you, have many wonderful events to look forward to. It's already a 4-hour commitment from 6PM-10PM. (Factor in setup/takedown time) The last time I was a Nominoichi seller was in 2008, and I definitely would've passed if it required me to miss all of Friday.

Silly suggestion to (partially) solve eriam's concern: The Nominoichi sold out of tables last year. If it's that popular, create two Nominoichi timeslots, have half the sellers sell in one timeslot, and the others in the other timeslot. eriam would miss out on half of the Nominoichi, but at least it's better than nothing, plus it solves the full table concern at the same time.

[shadowlycan]

Jan 6, 2014 23:24:59 GMT -5 SalisofKnight said:

I had difficulties finding the tables I was looking for when I arrived and actually failed to pick up a couple holds some of the sellers had for me. Would it be possible to place some kind of sign at each of the islands to denote which tables are there?

this is an awesome idea. i had the same problem in 2013 and the overcrowding did not help. sure they had a table with the map layout, but it would be better if the were like signs posted telling people what table number is what. Because i noticed that some tables had the number, but some of their merchandise covered it.

[shadowlycan]

i would like it if nomi was held a bit longer, especially if people who were enjoying the skits came to check things out afterwards. last year i was able to attend the skits but i only had about an hour or so to scan though all the tables to see if there was anything i wanted. if like g3 said there isn't the possiblity of 2 time slots, then perhaps nomi can be held a bit longer since i don't think 10 or 11pm is a decent time to end nomi, especially on a friday night.

I also think that perhaps people should be given a map layout of nomi in their booklets or it can be posted online.

[SalisofKnight]

Jan 11, 2014 2:09:00 GMT -5 shadowlycan said:

i would like it if nomi was held a bit longer, especially if people who were enjoying the skits came to check things out afterwards. last year i was able to attend the skits but i only had about an hour or so to scan though all the tables to see if there was anything i wanted. if like g3 said there isn't the possiblity of 2 time slots, then perhaps nomi can be held a bit longer since i don't think 10 or 11pm is a decent time to end nomi, especially on a friday night.

I also think that perhaps people should be given a map layout of nomi in their booklets or it can be posted online.

The problem of making a map ahead of time is that the layout could change during set-up due to various conditions. These changes would render the maps ineffective and it's more than likely people would simply get lost. As for extending Nominoichi I just don't think it's a feasible solution. As g3 said Nomi is already a four hour commitment that takes up the majority of Friday night. You said that you were able to attend the skit contest and attend Nomi for an hour. Well consider the fact that the Nomi sellers were in the market the whole time and missed the skit contest entirely as well as any panels or events that ran during those hours.

[shadowlycan]

Jan 11, 2014 15:43:05 GMT -5 SalisofKnight said:

Jan 11, 2014 2:09:00 GMT -5 shadowlycan said:

i would like it if nomi was held a bit longer, especially if people who were enjoying the skits came to check things out afterwards. last year i was able to attend the skits but i only had about an hour or so to scan though all the tables to see if there was anything i wanted. if like g3 said there isn't the possiblity of 2 time slots, then perhaps nomi can be held a bit longer since i don't think 10 or 11pm is a decent time to end nomi, especially on a friday night.

I also think that perhaps people should be given a map layout of nomi in their booklets or it can be posted online.

The problem of making a map ahead of time is that the layout could change during set-up due to various conditions. These changes would render the maps ineffective and it's more than likely people would simply get lost. As for extending Nominoichi I just don't think it's a feasible solution. As g3 said Nomi is already a four hour commitment that takes up the majority of Friday night. You said that you were able to attend the skit contest and attend Nomi for an hour. Well consider the fact that the Nomi sellers were in the market the whole time and missed the skit contest entirely as well as any panels or events that ran during those hours.

Well i didn't know that things get changed at the last minute, i figured that there would be a finalized layout before it was made onto a map which is why i brought up the idea or at least have a board with the finalized layout just outside nomi or signs were a good idea.

Both buyers and sellers know what time nomi occurs (unless it will change this year. idk) and unfortunately would have to choose between what is important since there may be events that are going on at the same time. As I said I was lucky to see the skits (although it started really late) and go to nomi with only an hour left and was still able to get some good stuff. While extending nomi may or may not happen. perhaps for 2014 something may be improved i will just have to wait and see.

[crownowa]

Darn, a map would have been helpful. General section posters taped to traffic cones would still be helpful - if that's allowed

We all have to make these tough decisions when choosing which events to go to. If you have even 30mins to check out the flea market I'd say that's better than not being able to go at all. My friends and I expect the flea market to be on Friday night and have already signed up for events/presentations/panels saying for them not to be booked during that event, so I don't think it would be good form to change the timing for AN 2014. We are lucky enough that we can ask not to have our events/panels/presentations at a specific time, but its quite difficult to move these large events to another night/time. I actually like Nomi being on Friday since it can draw a crowd on Friday, while there's too much going on on Saturday, and Sunday ends early.

[The Chris McKenna]

Hello everyone,

I first want to say thanks to everyone for both posting messages here, and for sending my some in email and PM's. Although the details are not finalized, and won't be for a while, I'd like to address a few points:

1) The Nominoichi will be on Friday evening. The times may shift a little from last year, but expect it to be almost the same as usual. The event has been quite successful on Friday and there isn't a strong need to change the day. There will always be something else happening at the same time and changing the day won't solve that.

2) We will again be at the TCC, (there is almost no where else we could go) but we will be moving again within the building. I am hopeful that our new location will become 'permanent' but that's a decision for the future. This year we are also attempting to widen the aisles to help with crowding, but if the space is made too big it may be wasted the rest of the weekend after we are gone. There are so few other events big enough to follow the Nominoichi. 

3) Improving signage is an ongoing issue. Last year we finally got our own huge bright red banner (and yet some people still didn't see it!?)

teahousemaplemoon.proboards.com/attachment/download/42

Anyway, this is a regular problem and we will continue to look for solutions. Also, keep an eye out for that sign, it was expensive and we plan to use it again for a few years to come.

4) As we are moving to another hall inside the TCC I am very reluctant to provide a map. I know this may be an inconvenience, but previous experience has taught me that the planned layout and the final layout are almost never the same, and a map is not going to be useful if the table you want to find is in the 'wrong' spot. If you want to find a specific table at the Nominoichi please visit our staff tables, often located closest to the main doors, and we will be happy to assist you in finding any tables you want.

5) Last year we were 'open' for almost four hours, and the attendance peaked as the start and generally decreased all night. I have heard a lot of theory's that once the Dealers room closes, or the skit contest ends, or some panel or event finishes, a huge influx of new shoppers will rush the Nominoichi. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and most of the people who are lingering in the room at the end of the night are not buying anything anyway. There is also a hard deadline for the building that we have to be finished by so they can lock it up. Therefore, having the Nominoichi running for more hours is not likely to happen.


I hope this helps to address some of the points raised in this thread. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask. And finally thanks to everyone for your comments and ideas, if you have anything to add please let us know, we do really appreciate your feedback.

[shadowlycan]

i remember that sign being there and it was helpful seeing it there for me at least. perhaps maybe if there was a smaller board sign or something say "nominichi ahead" then that may help people with seeing the bigger sign since nomi tends to be located at the far back i think where there was a huge open space with nothing going on.

also if we can't have a map, perhaps we can have smaller signs hanging over/behind the tables with the numbers. last year i tried going back and forth between the staff table and the table i was looking for and since nomi was so crowded i just stopped because it was tiring.

[vivichan]

I was one of those people that missed the sign at first, and I also agree it was probably because it was further back than I had thought, and it was in a corner where nothing else was going on so it didn't draw my attention. It was also my first Nominoichi, so I really had no idea what I was looking for.

One thing that I'd really like to see this year, is staff that actually know about the event. I was asking staff all night about where I could find the Nominoichi and where I should be waiting to set up, etc, and very few actually knew what the event was. Of the people that knew about the event, none of them knew where we were supposed to go and wait. I followed staff that took me behind a bunch of other events and in-between curtains to where we eventually found the right location. In fact, none of them even pointed me in the direction of the large banner, which leads me to believe that, even though the sign was nice and big once you DO notice it, it was placed somewhere that wasn't very noticeable.

More knowledgeable staff would also help with the mess up during set-up at last year's Nominoichi, where people wandered into the room (myself included having wandered in through the back) and/or started setting up before paying.

[aideed]

its nice to see some familiar faces again

but one problem i had last year with nomi was finding tables due to most table numbers being blocked or not displayed which was rather inconvenient for most people

[aideed]

By the way good idea about archiving all the posts from 2013

[aideed]

Jan 13, 2014 16:11:21 GMT -5 vivichan said:

I was one of those people that missed the sign at first, and I also agree it was probably because it was further back than I had thought, and it was in a corner where nothing else was going on so it didn't draw my attention. It was also my first Nominoichi, so I really had no idea what I was looking for.

One thing that I'd really like to see this year, is staff that actually know about the event. I was asking staff all night about where I could find the Nominoichi and where I should be waiting to set up, etc, and very few actually knew what the event was. Of the people that knew about the event, none of them knew where we were supposed to go and wait. I followed staff that took me behind a bunch of other events and in-between curtains to where we eventually found the right location. In fact, none of them even pointed me in the direction of the large banner, which leads me to believe that, even though the sign was nice and big once you DO notice it, it was placed somewhere that wasn't very noticeable.

More knowledgeable staff would also help with the mess up during set-up at last year's Nominoichi, where people wandered into the room (myself included having wandered in through the back) and/or started setting up before paying.

Try asking volunteers they should be able to give the information that you need since they are required to know about what going on where they are working where as staff might not know all the info you need because they might not be working there but somewhere else.

hope this helps