Great 2009 Aa...but Maybe Better Next Year?, Discuss Bonsai's AA for 2009

[Siatsu]

Greetings everyone. My name is Siatsu and I run Sanctum Sanctorum.

Hopefully everyone saw myself and my table mate in the AA this year and hopefully still, you snagged up some of our stuff. We had the table of cat ears, tails and miscellaneous plush :D~

We were also 2/3 of the host for the AA panel.

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This was my third year in Bonsai's AA and in all honestly, I think it was good but it was nothing like the amazing years before.

Now I went to the after convention panel with all the members of staff and my fellow artist and I did get a few answers on some of the issues we experienced/saw but I wanted to open the matter up on the forums to see what other artist had to say on this topic.

I love you mods! Please don't eat meeeeeeee!

First thing was the location of the room. Not a lot of con goers even knew where AA was because it was tucked off in a corner near a bathroom down a hallway. I also noticed a large lacking in the signage department telling people where AA was. I saw plenty of Registration signs though. (Some pointing into panel rooms instead of down halls but that is another matter...)

Now for the AA being split up into two rooms... I'm sure everyone that did go into AA noticed the temperature change between the two. I was in the ice box room to the left and every artist in there either had to have hoodies, coats or - yes we even had a thermal blanket and were still cold. Meanwhile the room to the left was swelteringly warm all the time. I don't know about other artist but I'm attributing the illness I've come home with on those constant temp fluctuations. (I'm not the only one.)

Also with the AA being held in two rooms... When people walk towards something their natural inclination is to head to the right. I've confirmed this with other AA members in both rooms... We came to find out that a lot of AA traffic went into the room on the right but never came over to the room on the left. I cannot say for sure if this was because they did not know there was an AA part 2 or if they just didn't want to come over to the other side.

This fact dramatically effected the sales in the left room. My table mate and myself both agree that this was the worst Bonsai profit-wise for both of us. Meanwhile our friend in the right room had her best year of profits.

This does leave some artist to wonder if it is financially efficient for them to even come back in future years if money ends up being lost verses the time spent on our crafts/art.

If we could have, it would have been nice to remove two tables from both sides of the AA and open the connecting door between them. Then the air flow could have cooled both rooms and traffic flow wouldn't have been an issues. Perhaps if we had one door as an "IN" door and the other an "OUT" we could have seen higher profits for the artist and there would not have been as much of a traffic jam between the two front doors.

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Now I'm not trying to point the finger at the Bonsai staff and start a fuss -- but as we are always told and encouraged to do, if we don't bring the matter up, nothing can be done to fix it. I know staff is aware of these issues (you guys are totally amazing and dedicated for all you do every year!) and that we will be in the convention center for Bonsai 2010. (OMG! Squee!) So a lot of these issues will never be seen again at Bonsai. (*crosses fingers*)

Again, I just want to hear from other artist about their experiences in AA this year and what we can ALL do to HELP make next year smooth and cost effective.

Fellow artist, this is OUR AA that we love so much. How can we help staff make it spectacular?

[sketchytiger]

Haha first of all it's Banzai, not Bonsai. Bonsai is a plant, Banzai is "Hurray!" :D

I agree with the two rooms. I was in the warm room (right) and lots of people went there instead of the other room.

What I didn't like about Banzai was that the majority of con-goers here doesn't appreciate fanarts AND originals anymore unless it is drawn by a Japanese living in Japan. They only look and leave (unless I was Mormon enough?). They don't even support us a lot too (when it comes to prints...) except in the dealer's room, whether it's illegal or legal items. I've encountered a guy asking with a rude voice, "What's all this?!" at the dealer's room and I told him it's a doujinshi. He replied "HUH??" with a loud voice and left. That made me realize how under-represented the whole fanartist and original artist business is here in Utah's anime/manga/game con (or just Utah and it's art business!).

Second, unlike Anime Expo (AA) and Otakon (con-goer) I've been to, all they (the majority) want is a picture that has a female, that has b00bz, and that she's almost n3kk!d (Utah is #1 place for p3d0 and pr0n l0v3rz). At AX, we have a variety and it's very successful, so as Otakon. I've seen people buying really awesome artworks more than f3t!sh artworks for men's taste. But this con because I was not cosplaying people rather buy from someone who "shows off her body/hair." That's a disgrace and discriminating and RACIST. Should've worn a bikini...

Third, I've seen two people coming in and selling their stuff without having to even register for the table or sign the contract to use the AA table. The AA artists next to our table left around 6pm and then half an hour later a person comes in, takes the whole table, and starts to sell them. Another one was this lady who was taking photos on the first day. The 2nd day, she came with stuff to sell, the "ubber cute little ones" on the table and purposely told people who were checking out "her" shared table to check out my friend's artworks (which was literally right next to hers, our table) and buy from my friend's 'coz "she's an amazing, awesome, cool and talented artist" (while my friend wasn't present) while I was present the whole time hearing her comments more than twice and couldn't believe my ears. That's inappropriate and unethical. I did that kind of thing for my table when my friends were selling at AX whether they're present or not at our table, but not someone else's table. Besides, she talked with me but she didn't even like it not a single bit. She should've just said "I wish you were good like her" then I would've known haha.

Fourth, people were not careful with artist's works. Print here, folder there. At AX, we didn't have that kind of trouble. Everybody were careful with our works and turned the pages slowly, and if they did something wrong they apologize and put it back as it is. People here didn't and I was disappointed how disorganized my works has been after my friend have been reorganizing my prints to look neat and organized every time I was gone. Even when I was at present. They wanted to see my works but all of my works were hung on the wall and no one noticed it (is it because it doesn't have b00bz? lol)

Fifth, there shouldn't be snacks out for sale at the AA. What if it was poisoned? What if it was all ready opened and then closed them to sell it for a cheaper price? We have the dealer's room to sell those kind of snacks. Besides, it's one of the most easiest rules to remember and one of the top AA rules at ANY anime/manga/game con that it's AGAINST the AA law/rules to sell snacks at the AA. AA is NOT a grocery or a book store. Utah is NOT a place to curve this "silly rule."

I think there shouldn't be an AA here @ Anime Banzai. It's a waste of my breath as I've all ready wasted mine since 2006. How could I be so blind, but this has to be my last con and see how much it's improved. It improved a bit but still it was not a great con to begin with :( Not planning on coming again next year. I've wasted a lot of money and I have so many prints and Reborn doujinshi (since LAST YEAR) in my room I can't even walk around anymore lol.