Too Little, Too late
Rainfurrest announced dealer's room sign-up again. Having been chased out of Seattle due to bad behavior of the attendees, they're apparently setting up shop in Spokane. That kills any ability to go to the con for me-- the only way I could afford to attend was it being in Seattle, where I had crash space and wouldn't need to pay for a hotel, and I had one or two people I could share a table with.
They now have an elaborate system for choosing dealers that's supposed to stop any charges of nepotism or favoritism. Unfortunately, due to the fact that many (most) furry artist's styles are so recognizable, there's no way they can be "anonymous." Who is not going to recognize Rukis,or Sofawolf, or Marci McAdam, or Dark Natasha, or Cooner? If you are required to send samples of what you do, I think sending a bunch of links to comics that have BY ROZ GIBSON in big letters on the cover might be a give-away of who is applying!
To forestall "How would you do it?" questions-- lottery is the only truely unbiased way. If they're so worried about 'diversity' in the dealer's room (which I think is a smokescreen to give them carte blanc to cheery-pick applicants) then they can hold lotteries for different groups, depending on what they sell.
In any event, here's the new dealer's guidlines for your perusal.
To our dealers and attendees,
As many of you may know last year we switched to a curated system for selecting out dealers. We are continuing to use a curated system in 2016, but we are making significant changes to our process based on feedback from our dealers and attendees. We are doing this to make it as fair, as equitable, and transparent as possible for our dealers and attendees.
About the Selection Process
Our Dealers’ Den Curation Committee will be made up of this year’s Chair, Vice-Chair, Business Executive, Business Co-Seconds, Dealers Lead, Dealers Second, and Marketing Lead.
Our goal will be to keep these principles in mind:
Before the curation committee receives the applications, a group of staff members not on the committee will anonymize the applications. Names will be removed from all applications, as well as other identifying demographic data, and stored in a separate spreadsheet so that the committee does not know who has submitted which application. Location information may be used as a small factor in the committee’s deliberations. While some on the committee may recognize art styles or specific reference pictures, the goal of this process is to allow as many of the committee as possible to make recommendations solely on relevant data, not on personal relationships. Committee members who have a personal relationship with any applicant will not be allowed to vote on that applicant.
Categories
The curation team will divide the dealer applications into several categories by type of merchandise as was stated by the dealer on their application: apparel, fursuits, fursuit parts & accessories, artists, publishers, jewelers, musicians, crafters, comics, et cetera. A dealer may be indicated in multiple merchandise groups.
We will go through the categories one at a time, starting with the category with the fewest number of applicants. We will make sure to include at least one dealer in each category of merchandise.
In a category with only one or two dealers offering wares, the chances are very high for them to be selected. As we continue to categories with more and more applicants, dealers will face more and more competition from their fellow dealers for the remaining tables. Of course, some dealers sell multiple types of merchandise (for example, an artist may also sell hoodies or hats). If a dealer is not selected in a previous category, they will be considered again in every other category where they had merchandise for sale.
Selection Criteria
Within each category, we will compare the applications based on the description of the products listed in the application, and the references that were listed. The more information is listed on an application, the more information we have to weigh in our decisions. Quality, originality, consistency, variety, etc. of work will be considered, as well as the balance of art styles among the dealers selected.
Improve Your Chances
They now have an elaborate system for choosing dealers that's supposed to stop any charges of nepotism or favoritism. Unfortunately, due to the fact that many (most) furry artist's styles are so recognizable, there's no way they can be "anonymous." Who is not going to recognize Rukis,or Sofawolf, or Marci McAdam, or Dark Natasha, or Cooner? If you are required to send samples of what you do, I think sending a bunch of links to comics that have BY ROZ GIBSON in big letters on the cover might be a give-away of who is applying!
To forestall "How would you do it?" questions-- lottery is the only truely unbiased way. If they're so worried about 'diversity' in the dealer's room (which I think is a smokescreen to give them carte blanc to cheery-pick applicants) then they can hold lotteries for different groups, depending on what they sell.
In any event, here's the new dealer's guidlines for your perusal.
To our dealers and attendees,
As many of you may know last year we switched to a curated system for selecting out dealers. We are continuing to use a curated system in 2016, but we are making significant changes to our process based on feedback from our dealers and attendees. We are doing this to make it as fair, as equitable, and transparent as possible for our dealers and attendees.
About the Selection Process
Our Dealers’ Den Curation Committee will be made up of this year’s Chair, Vice-Chair, Business Executive, Business Co-Seconds, Dealers Lead, Dealers Second, and Marketing Lead.
Our goal will be to keep these principles in mind:
- The Den should have a diverse mix of goods and services represented.
- Dealer selection should be based on professionalism and quality, not speed of application.
- Dealer selection should be done as transparently and fairly as possible.
Before the curation committee receives the applications, a group of staff members not on the committee will anonymize the applications. Names will be removed from all applications, as well as other identifying demographic data, and stored in a separate spreadsheet so that the committee does not know who has submitted which application. Location information may be used as a small factor in the committee’s deliberations. While some on the committee may recognize art styles or specific reference pictures, the goal of this process is to allow as many of the committee as possible to make recommendations solely on relevant data, not on personal relationships. Committee members who have a personal relationship with any applicant will not be allowed to vote on that applicant.
Categories
The curation team will divide the dealer applications into several categories by type of merchandise as was stated by the dealer on their application: apparel, fursuits, fursuit parts & accessories, artists, publishers, jewelers, musicians, crafters, comics, et cetera. A dealer may be indicated in multiple merchandise groups.
We will go through the categories one at a time, starting with the category with the fewest number of applicants. We will make sure to include at least one dealer in each category of merchandise.
In a category with only one or two dealers offering wares, the chances are very high for them to be selected. As we continue to categories with more and more applicants, dealers will face more and more competition from their fellow dealers for the remaining tables. Of course, some dealers sell multiple types of merchandise (for example, an artist may also sell hoodies or hats). If a dealer is not selected in a previous category, they will be considered again in every other category where they had merchandise for sale.
Selection Criteria
Within each category, we will compare the applications based on the description of the products listed in the application, and the references that were listed. The more information is listed on an application, the more information we have to weigh in our decisions. Quality, originality, consistency, variety, etc. of work will be considered, as well as the balance of art styles among the dealers selected.
Improve Your Chances
- Dealers who sell many types of product will be more likely to be selected, for a few reasons. First, they will be considered in more categories. Second, they displayed a breadth of work that would help contribute to the diversity of products in the Dealers’ Den. Third, since they are considered in more categories, they will be considered in a smaller pool first (since we went from smallest to largest categories).
- Dealers who displayed a unique style or great quality of work are also more likely to be selected. Unique styles are very valuable for contributing to dealer diversity. Quality of work also becomes important when competing in a large pool of applicants.
- It is very helpful for the Dealers’ Den curation committee if applications are completely filled out. The more information we have the better. Specifically a description, references, and images of your products.