Ecumenicon, home, and updates
well, i don't know about "awake" but i am out of bed, it will have to do....
For those of you who don't know much about Ecumenicon let me give you a short summary : Ecumenicon is a "ecumenical conference" but put in layman's terms its a Pagan oriented conference, with some Christian and other elements also, where there is back to back workshops that are usually much more intense than the typical convention "panel" or what not.
while they do have beginner classes, its offers more of a "weekend workshop" feel , sort of like going to a weekend workshop on textiles....or a knitting weekend..
This year they moved locations again.
Its a good site in many ways, but of course any time you move there is a drop in attendance. When you combine a normally smaller event, with a move, and this economy, i knew it was going to be a bit rough.
ouch
Ok, so first of all they split the dealers into two rooms. this is never really great, but in this case it maketh much like a vacuum. You see the "main" dealers room was on a floor that you could get to by the elevator, and was next to the food. I wasn't in that room. I was in the room that required you to go up or down stairs, unless you went outside in the damp and cold to use the outside door that had a ramp. it was also not on route to anything. unless you chose to use the stairs to go from the food/main shopping floor to the main class floor...... you didn't even see the room.
(Naturally not many of the handicapped folks chose to go OUTSIDE and then come in the outside door, just to shop,and then to leave go back outside and back in the front. assuming anyone even told them we were there)
now i understand that there are limited rooms available, but lets face some simple facts... for a merchant this is a death sentence.
also in the "banished to the bad merchants room" were Cabochons, Auntie Arwen's Spices, Elizabeth of Haven's table, and a table i dont recall the name of. Now since tchipakkan and Jane Sibley and Elizabeth were all teachers i dont know if they were getting discounted tables, but it surely wasnt helping their sales either!
The main room, from the merchants i spoke with, was also not selling well but at least everyone knew they were there! This room had Undiscovered Treasures, Hourglass Creations ( hourglasscreate on LJ),ice and fire, squaring the circle, Catchy Quips (a subsidiary of Nancy Buttons ), new seed sanctuary, animal teachers, and the OTO. (i may have missed some and i know i missed some LJ user's links)
ok, so sales are down, attendance is down, and of course the economy being what it is, what sales are happening tend to be small numbers. There are, obviously, far too many dealers for an event of this size.
Then add in the fact that owing to planning issues, and the "we have to lock up the main building at 11 pm and nothing can be plugged in overnight" rules. the usual food available was reduced considerably, which meant that between what was available, and what i am not allergic to, i was REALLY glad i brought cheese and bread with me. (the vegetarian soup for dinner on Saturday was great though).
last but by no means least? all merchants have to be packed and gone for the final inspection walk through at 1:30 on Sunday.
Now those of you who have seen me pack up know that it is a two hour job, especially since i was by myself ( whouseknecht had work and couldnt come) So... its Saturday night, with no one shopping, with a ritual starting at 8 pm lasting until ??? and then a drumming circle (indoors because of weather in one of the cabins), and no one will be up shopping Sunday until at least 11 am... and i have to be GONE by 1:30
sales are really down.
i will have at most 1-2 hours of sales time on Sunday
and we are expecting thunderstorms Sunday......
i decided discretion was the better part of valor, and besides i was worrying about Wayne (he had a diabetic incident last year when i was at Ecumenicon) so i packed up after the dinner break was over and went home. Given that the roads are now under a "severe fog alert" for driving, i suspect i made the right choice.
I did get some jewelry made, but of course the usual "everything but one critical piece is here" slowed me down a bit, i still need to get a lot done for ICON next weekend.
Sorry guendalina , i didnt even get your snoods out owing to the small space available for set up, but i should be able to put them out for ICON.
For those of you who don't know much about Ecumenicon let me give you a short summary : Ecumenicon is a "ecumenical conference" but put in layman's terms its a Pagan oriented conference, with some Christian and other elements also, where there is back to back workshops that are usually much more intense than the typical convention "panel" or what not.
while they do have beginner classes, its offers more of a "weekend workshop" feel , sort of like going to a weekend workshop on textiles....or a knitting weekend..
This year they moved locations again.
Its a good site in many ways, but of course any time you move there is a drop in attendance. When you combine a normally smaller event, with a move, and this economy, i knew it was going to be a bit rough.
ouch
Ok, so first of all they split the dealers into two rooms. this is never really great, but in this case it maketh much like a vacuum. You see the "main" dealers room was on a floor that you could get to by the elevator, and was next to the food. I wasn't in that room. I was in the room that required you to go up or down stairs, unless you went outside in the damp and cold to use the outside door that had a ramp. it was also not on route to anything. unless you chose to use the stairs to go from the food/main shopping floor to the main class floor...... you didn't even see the room.
(Naturally not many of the handicapped folks chose to go OUTSIDE and then come in the outside door, just to shop,and then to leave go back outside and back in the front. assuming anyone even told them we were there)
now i understand that there are limited rooms available, but lets face some simple facts... for a merchant this is a death sentence.
also in the "banished to the bad merchants room" were Cabochons, Auntie Arwen's Spices, Elizabeth of Haven's table, and a table i dont recall the name of. Now since tchipakkan and Jane Sibley and Elizabeth were all teachers i dont know if they were getting discounted tables, but it surely wasnt helping their sales either!
The main room, from the merchants i spoke with, was also not selling well but at least everyone knew they were there! This room had Undiscovered Treasures, Hourglass Creations ( hourglasscreate on LJ),ice and fire, squaring the circle, Catchy Quips (a subsidiary of Nancy Buttons ), new seed sanctuary, animal teachers, and the OTO. (i may have missed some and i know i missed some LJ user's links)
ok, so sales are down, attendance is down, and of course the economy being what it is, what sales are happening tend to be small numbers. There are, obviously, far too many dealers for an event of this size.
Then add in the fact that owing to planning issues, and the "we have to lock up the main building at 11 pm and nothing can be plugged in overnight" rules. the usual food available was reduced considerably, which meant that between what was available, and what i am not allergic to, i was REALLY glad i brought cheese and bread with me. (the vegetarian soup for dinner on Saturday was great though).
last but by no means least? all merchants have to be packed and gone for the final inspection walk through at 1:30 on Sunday.
Now those of you who have seen me pack up know that it is a two hour job, especially since i was by myself ( whouseknecht had work and couldnt come) So... its Saturday night, with no one shopping, with a ritual starting at 8 pm lasting until ??? and then a drumming circle (indoors because of weather in one of the cabins), and no one will be up shopping Sunday until at least 11 am... and i have to be GONE by 1:30
sales are really down.
i will have at most 1-2 hours of sales time on Sunday
and we are expecting thunderstorms Sunday......
i decided discretion was the better part of valor, and besides i was worrying about Wayne (he had a diabetic incident last year when i was at Ecumenicon) so i packed up after the dinner break was over and went home. Given that the roads are now under a "severe fog alert" for driving, i suspect i made the right choice.
I did get some jewelry made, but of course the usual "everything but one critical piece is here" slowed me down a bit, i still need to get a lot done for ICON next weekend.
Sorry guendalina , i didnt even get your snoods out owing to the small space available for set up, but i should be able to put them out for ICON.