Artist Alley Lottery (Pros and Cons)
First off, I do understand the stress and hard work that goes into organizing this and also the handling of so many hopefuls looking to inch their way into the limited seating arrangements available, so I'd like to give my gratitude to the staff in all that they have done.
Pro:
-Waiting list first~
Last year, I was lucky number 135 of 136 to be plucked in the lottery. With only 128 seats available (or something around that margin), what that means is that the excess was to be put on a waiting list in the order they were selected. I was second to last out of the artist there. It wasn't a big deal since it was a lottery system, however, I had to wait there the entire duration of the selection process....which was really disheartening ofcourse in the respect that I felt I wasted a LOT of time obviously.
Thus, why I support the idea of dealing with the waiting list first.
-Wifi signing-ups and Early Sign-ups for the next day.
This would have to make things smoother and easier to maintain overall.
Cons:
-Technical difficulties~
Apparently, the waiting list that was called out beforehand.....were receiving receipt books. Somehow, something got lost in translation and this error was made. So much for that security blanket. Slowly we're falling back to square one.
-Losing the list half way, Back up list ?
Apparently, somewhere during the issuing of receipt books, the list disappeared; Thus, a secondary list was used. Problem here ? Waiting list was re-entered into the pot. Other problem here ? Apparently everyone that signed up, was not necessarily on the new list. Clarify that one for me if you will.
When I asked what place I was going to be on the waiting list, which was a bit after all had been said and done, I was told that I wasn't on the new list....but I was on the first list. I really don't understand what was really going on here. I'm not even sure if my name was even placed on the waiting list like I had requested (I didn't care if I was last....I just wanted to be on the list. I kinda accepted my position after last years shenanigans for not gaining a spot).
Summary:
I didn't sign up for Saturday after this nonsense. I do understand, again, the amount of work that goes into organizing this, but silly errors were being made constantly. I think a good motion forward is being taken, however some refinement is still in order...and perhaps a test session to prevent confusion for the staff and frustration from the artist.
Rock on.
-Jirashi
These artists can only take so many commissions (like 6-10) and once their list is full, simply sit there and draw right?
Or sell prints and other stuff to passers-by; I picked up http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3601541 there.
Artist's Alley is limited in size in part to permit the Dealer's Room to flourish, you are correct in this. However, you've got a bit of the wrong end of the stick as regards the financial matters. Anthrocon does not collect a percentage of sales from either the Dealer's Room nor the Artist's Alley. A dealer who sells nothing pays Anthrocon the same money as a dealer who sells thousands of dollars, if they purchase the same table with the same options. The money Anthrocon makes from dealers is not a vast amount either; it barely covers the cost of the Hall B rental.
Artists who get X amount of Commissions in Artist's Alley, and who do not have other material to sell, often do vacate their tables as you have described in an entirely voluntary fashion as well. After that point people from the waiting list do fill in those spots. We have almost no table hogs who have nothing further to sell and wish to remain at the table; most of them would rather do art in a quieter spot such as a hotel room if possible. So there is a fair amount of turnover as is.
In addition, having two groups a day might lead to contention.. how do we police that? How do we determine who needs a certain period? I think in our holding separate lotteries on different days, we're allowing for a significant turnover as it stands.
--Chi
Let me think on this one (knowing little about how the whole thing works) for a moment. You have a ton of artists who want to get paid to draw, but there's only so many tables/chairs. These artists can only take so many commissions (like 6-10) and once their list is full, simply sit there and draw right? So why would they need to occupy a table from 10am-6pm to do this? Break Artist Alley up into two sections, one for folks who'll actually need to be there for a while and those who have like 6 slots of space on their list. They get the table for half the day (which should be enough to fill their list) and then rotate them out with the next batch of temps. This greatly increases the number of seats available, the amount of money PA gets to rake in on tax, offers con goers a larger variety of artists to pick from AND gives the artists with full lists a chance to go work on the art in peace without having to stop every couple minutes and say "Sorry, all booked up for the day". Most folks have cards or other contact info with them to hand out so getting a hold of an artist to pick up your commission isn't that hard, specially if they go to the Zoo to work on their list.
The only draw back to this (other then AC having to maintain two lists of who's where) would be the same one we'd have if we made the Artist Alley larger, the Dealers. From what I'm guessing Artist Alley is limited in size to prevent too many con goers from getting $5-15 commission instead of $15-$75 over in the Dealers Tables since I would imagine the dealers bring in more money to the con by renting their tables for the duration of the con. They bring in more cash so they are priority, its just good business. But I can't imagine it'd put too much of a dent in their income by rotating half or less of Artist Alley each day or even one day.
I realize this doesn't help too much with the lottery (it'd make for bigger lists and the need for two separate lotteries) but it would help out those trying to get in through the lottery.