Art Alley - Data Collection from Staff

[Tuberat]

We had a certain number of complaints about the actual layout...and i was wondering if i could get some data that would /could actually help figure out how to address those specific complaints (if they can be).

*ASKING FOR NO NUMBERS
*Discounting what you had to spend to get in (since this year was a disparity depending on where you were)
*IF you are a returning artist this year (from either of the last two years - which is probably a good place to start, just indicate if you were in the alley in 12 or 11 please)

The question is:
Did you do better or worse this year over your last attendance in the alley? (aka, gross sales)

My answer (as a sample, but true) - i did the worst I've ever done at an AB event (Yet still better than I do at any other con) - this counts even the the worst year, when artists could not be found after having been moved that 2nd year at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

[SailorAstera]

Gross sales, this year was not as good as it was for me in 2012 (my best sales ever was AB 2012). I have been steadily increasing my sales at AB since 2010, so this is the first year I've had a drop. I would not call or consider it a significant drop. It will still probably be my best con of the year. Thanks for seeking this info Nikki

[DaveTCN]

Not to brag, but we had our best year to date. 2009-2010 were OK, 2011 was amazing, 2012 not so much (a lot of our stuff is gaming and we were up against PAX), but this year we were selling out of things left and right. I can only imagine how well it would have been if we had gone Pro Row.

[okapirose]

C'Lay La Vie has been in the alley every year since 2009, and happily so. Its one of the best organized alleys ever (thank you Nikki, you and your crew deserve awards for awesomeness) and we always have a blast.

I'd say we did either the same or a bit better than 2012 sales-wise, but its hard to say if that's because we bumped prices up slightly, we had a larger variety of items to sell, what we were actually selling compared to the rest of the alley, or a combination of everything.

Thanks again Nikki!

[pinkplaidrobot]

It was our first year at AB...but in comparison to other cons we've been to... I have to say, AB is the tops!

I loved the convenience of the cut through door on the Sheraton's end. We weren't bothered by the bag checks (hooray mesh bags). I didn't mind the cement flooring because we are used to it from other cons (like I've only been to 1 con with carpeting). The booth set up was amazing! I loved having a 8ft table and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED having some space to either side and some room behind us. It was amazing!

It's our first time at this con...so I can't tell if being in the front helped vs the back... Money-wise, we made just above the amount we have at past Otakons and NYAFs ( back before they kicked out the crafters).

But yeah, I really, really hope you guys continue offering pro-row tables!

We will totally come to this con again and again! We had a flawless time!

[LeopardBones]

Last year was my first year and I know it was different because PAX was happening at the same time and it seemed like there were a lot of those attendies coming over to AB too. I liked the amount of space we had around our tables this year, I hated having to lip-read whenever anything was happening in the main events room. (which was basically all the time)

But I did a lot better last year, tho this has still been my best con so far this year.

[Daggerhime]

I'm not sure if it is the positioning of my Artist table, sharing space with other Artists, or basically having to create a small what we called a "business window" among our prints so customers could see me. This was the sales year to date (as far as AB goes) for me. So much so that I am considering taking a year off just to give myself more time to restock.
There were several uncontrollable factors that lead me away from my table during the night for hours at a time, however.
I have been selling in the Artists Alley of AB for the past couple years. Last year I had an issue come up with a neighboring Artist and still did better, thou. :\

[Mara]

This was my third year. I've been in similar locations all three years (outer wall to left of entrance). This is the first year that I wasn't visibly ill, and the first year that I had embroidery to sell. I made nearly double what I made last year, and on Friday alone, I surpassed my 2012 numbers. So yeah, I had a really good year. I think I also had chosen well for subject matter (Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica) and tried to keep my prices low. It was very, very encouraging. My ad hoc analysis is that the combination of a better table layout (I got a retail fixture from Amazon for cheap that saved me a ton of space), not sneezing/coughing/nose-blowing/being gross all weekend, having a great and outgoing assistant, having a good spot with good neighbors selling complementary stuff to my own, and having compelling stuff for sale (prints, jewelry, buttons, embroidery) made for a great weekend for me personally.

[Writersavvy]

This was my first year at AB. I was in the "pro-row" section and placed against the far left wall from where you entered the doors; which was opposite the divide of the main events. Though I loved the con in general, I had a terrible experience with the volume of the music. Especially on Friday. It was obnoxiously loud to the point where I could not hear my patrons, and they could not hear me- often they left out of frustration or because they were uncomfortable with the sound. I am fairly positive there was a speaker on the other side of the wall directly behind my booth. I have a central auditory processing disorder and can only hear one sound at a time; so the typical convention volume is difficult enough to communicate over- but this was simply impossible.

As a result, my sales were great when there was no music playing; but when it was I had none. I can't say I was thrilled to have to put up with that after paying a premium rate for the placement. :/

As I said though, I otherwise enjoyed the con; and the audience is darling. I had enough readers coming to see me that I did sell out of books, even though my poster sales were weaker than at other shows. I might try again next year if the alley isn't pressed against the main event's room.

[snapesgirl34]

This was our fifth artist's alley at AB, and this was also our best sales year! We did about the same on Friday as we did last year, but Saturday and Sunday were much better than last year.

[Rindi]

This was my fourth time attending the AB AA - I have been here every year since 2009 with the exception of 2012, and let me tell you, this year's sales blew all of my previous years' out of the water. I attribute this in part to having more stock and a streamlined display, but the crowd was also pretty different from what I expect at Anime Boston. My Saturday and Sunday were both about what I expected, but I had a phenomenal Friday - I felt like there were a lot of shoppers who came early in order to snatch up the good stuff before it was all gone. Friday had a very Otakon sort of feel to me, which is perhaps a result of the con getting a lot larger since I first started tabling? Not sure on that.

I think that if AB is going to be held on a holiday weekend, Memorial Day is a much better choice than Easter. My Easter Sunday sales have always been bad, so it was nice to have a decent Sunday for once. Anyway, yeah, I love Anime Boston - it has the best-run AA, hands down. I hope to return next year. <3

[mayshing]

It's only my second year in AB, I find my sales record pretty much the same as last year.
But for the record I sell better at AB than NY comic con. AB is my best con yet record wise, with NYC comic con being second best.
We can hear the bass from the main event room, but it did not affect our sales since I am pretty far away.

[suriyel]

We've been in the Alley 2009-2011 and this year saw an increase in sales from the previous years - not a mindblowing amount more, but that might be for a number of reasons, including the fact that we were in the far back corner. Overall though, we really liked the new room, having a ton of space behind the table, the new layout (I was even thinking, could the walkways actually have stood to be a teeny bit smaller? Never thought I'd say that!) and everything.

In addition, checking in this year was a breeze compared to the last couple times; whatever briefing you have the Hynes security staff really worked - we saw a couple with laminated sheets with pictures of the artists' passes on them and that seemed to really move things along. Thanks so much for all your hard work!

[Shattered-Earth]

This topic is mind blowing cause it's my first year at AB and it's by far the best con i've had in terms of sales, if this is a slow year then WOW XD

[KitsuneCreations]

This was my 3rd year, and I sold the same amount I always do. However, I SOLD OUT of most of my popular items on Friday, where as in the past I could at least survive until Saturday. This tells me that if I brought more stock, I would have had an even better year. I think it was overall better than the previous years because of the potential I had to sell more if I prepared more stock.

[I am a decoy]

I've been attending AB since 2006 and this was my first year selling. I was in love with the artist setup, from both an artist standpoint and an attendee standpoint. In years pasts the rows were so tight you'd bump into people walking around and artists seemed crammed together without any space between their tables to get in and out.

As a usual attendee, however, attendance seemed SUPER light compared to years past. Like, several thousand people short compared to past years. I had a crowd around my table most of the con, but any time I left my table there just didn't seem like there were as many people walking around as usual. If AB reports much over 10,000 paid attendees (not including staff, artists, and dealers) I would be shocked. Assuming 10,000 is the attendance, I did just as good at AB as I do at other cons. If it's less than 10,000, I did better. If it's more, I did worse. (I calculate how much money per person attending I take in to get a way to compare small and large cons).

Just like Allyson, I sold out of my most popular items on Friday, if that means anything... probably means I don't know what my customer base wants more than it says anything about the setup of the con this year, though!

[pulsedemon]

There were well over 10000 unique members. Registration will post a final tally at some point, but rest assured that there were many more than 10000 people that paid US dollars for membership.

...I had a terrible experience with the volume of the music.

We've been discussing potential ways to reduce this for the future.

[yuureikun]

I speak to a decent number of dealers. Many of them said the convention had Otakon-level busyness. That was definitely the case for me in the AA, and stayed true for sales as well. It was by far the best I've done at Boston or any convention other than Otakon. I loved the new room, the amount of space, and overall location.

[li_izumi]

Comiku Girls earned more this year than in previous years (we've been in AA since the con moved to the Hynes). Our jewelry maker Janel Norris also had a significant increase in her sales this year.

[KoriMichele]

This was my third year at AB, and not only was it my best grossing AB, it was my best grossing show to-date (and I did 10 coventions last year!)

So the short answer is that I did far better than last year (a 300% increase in sales, actually!)

I do think this had a lot to do with my wider variety of products and more comic issues and fans for my brand since last year. I'm still kind of stunned at the success I had at AB this year!!

[mewrose]

This was my second time selling at a con ever, last time was last year's Anime Boston. I did better than last year (almost doubled gross sales), but it's impossible to tell if it was from the AA location/layout or because my stock and setup had improved. I know the second is true; I had more stock, a better display and slightly more table space (3 feet instead of 2) so I could spread things out more attractively. I'm definitely planning on trying to sell at AB again, if at all possible.