Another Anime Convention 2013

After the new artist alley registration was posted for this year I looked over them and made a few notes of things I thought I'd inquire about, more so for other people that might have questions or are wondering.


I noticed that there's no real specification as to what size table you're paying for. Most of us veterans can assume it's a 6 foot table right off the bat but people who are new or still getting the hang of artist alley may be confused by this.

I also noticed there's no option to pay for half a table, only sharing. I think this can be a little daunting for those who are only looking for half a table, and either can't afford a full table, don't need the space, and/or don't know other artists to hash out the details of splitting a table, especially when veteran artists need a 6 foot table to themselves most of the time. If I didn't need a 6 foot spot I know I would have liked to have a 1/2 table purchase option available.

The last thing I noticed is the assistant badges. It was awesome having that extra badge but at the same time wasn't always needed by most of the artists so I think the $25 option was really nice in the case that someone needs an assistant. However I noticed to purchase a 2nd assistant badge it'd cost $50, which doesn't quite make sense to me since registration at the door for all 3 days is $45 and to preregister before the con for all 3 days it'd only be 3-Day: $40. Registration for the alley is well before then, it doesn't make sense to pay $50 when you could pay $40. Why would you or your assistant want to pay more when they're working behind a table and sacrificing their con time as well? Was there a reason for this number?

I hope I'm not coming off as complaining, I just felt the need to bring attention to this more for others then myself.
-Cloe

Hi Cloe!

I had the same question as to the table length; for the price and the mention of splitting it, I assumed it would be a "full table." It'd be nice to know for sure though. I'm hoping for this to be my first non-Portland convention.

I'm trying to remember how long the tables were last year but even if I could remember it wouldn't really matter since it's a different venue. ^___^;

These are 6' tables. The hotel is split up into two administrative portions. The hotel itself, and the expo center.

Although for all intents and purposes, they're the same place, the expo center has different rules and procedures. One of which is that they don't have a large quantity of tables to provide for that space, we were told we have to rent them, along with the chairs.

The other is that individual exhibitors have to request their own electricity (if they want it), etc from the hotel.

Administratively, it's a heck of a lot easier (and for the venue when processing electricity/internet orders) to have a single entity associated with a single "booth," in this case a table.

Also...if people are looking specifically for half-tables... we have no problems with using these forums to locate other people who might want to do the same, and deciding on their own how to split costs.

On the assistant badges, I believe the price was set higher to discourage more than one assistant. For one, during normal hours, there is nothing preventing an artist from placing a normal-badged friend at their table.

However.

Assistant badges, as they are AA badges, have access to the dealers/artist space outside of normal hours (during set up and break down times each day). If we set the additional badges at or below the normal registration, it's conceivable that people could come in with 10 assistants, and all of them how have access not as intended for the dealers/artist room.

We still give it as option in case some people will need a third person to help them during setup or breakdown periods.