Convention Center Bag Searches-Artist's Luggage?

[Blitzava]

I saw the updates to the Hyne's Convention Center Security on the front page about bag searches.

Obviously this security measure makes sense however I'm curious what that means for artists bringing in their wares to the artist alley? I typically have my toolboxes and such and they're usually pretty well organized for the easy pack/unpack however I do have items that are stored in about 250 plastic eggs (little blind draw figures)....am I going to have to open these...because they take about 5 hours to pack into the eggs and er...if I need to unwrap all of them and then re-wrap them I need to get there about 6 hours early....Will there be dogs to speed up the process or some other kind of system to detect suspicious materials or does everything need to be hand-searched?

I've had my clay confiscated in the past at airports....do I need to worry about this here?


Any info would be great

[DArtJunkie]

Oh heck, definitely seconding this question. I also have wee sculpted items, all pre packaged in little baggies, and all my other art supplies. Should we plan to get there super early and figure security is going to open eeeeeeeeeeeverrything and search it? I'm all about security, I just don't want to get to the convention cent Friday, pick up my badge, and then get stuck for hours at the security station before I can go set up my AA table and end up being there way after the alley opens.

[KatrinaDraws]

These kinds of things are my concerns, also.

[hop-is-my-hero]

I agree I was curious about how this is going to be handled. I wouldn't want to get stuck in line behind one of us.

[Tuberat]

Hi guys - i was only just made aware of this myself like a day or so ago, so i haven't had a chance to think about all the implications other than "I MUST make sure the artists are aware of this".

As you say, it all makes sense...
I can't imagine them making you unwrap everything - there'd be a bottle neck if nothing else, but as to what could be an issue....i dunno. This is something I'm going to have to bring up with higherups and see if they know or can find out more details.

[pulsedemon]

Yeah, we're already looking into it with this specific kind of question in mind. It's security theater, but it's also a building we're renting and don't own the keys to, so we don't entirely call the shots.

[Tuberat]

The answer I receieved:

"It's a quick visual check, not full on search because that would be a giant bottleneck.

Clay should be fine as long as it's in its original packaging or there's something to make it obvious what it is"

[DArtJunkie]

Nikki,

Well, the clay definitely won't be in its original packaging.....it'll be sculpted into various sundry stuff. Wyrms, in my case, dragons in Blitzavas, and I'm sure other polymer clay people will be selling at the AA as well. At the very least, I think the answer you recieved answered our concerns. I'm guessing opening up ur cases or boxes and showing that its finished, sculpted product will suffice. As you say, if they checked every single item it would take hours, and with the sheer number of people shuffling through, would create a huuuuuuge bottleneck.

Thanks for getting back to us! :3