arisia | Dealers Row

The main Perk of Dealers Row is being able to keep the hours you like.
Wanna make more money? Stay open longer.

From what I understand, there are pros and cons to it. They can set their own hours, rather than having to deal with the official hours of the Dealers' Room. There are fewer limits on how many dealers there can be, since real estate isn't as limited. They also get a lot more space in their room for product, rather than the table or 3 they can buy in the DR. They'll have to have a hotel room, so the Row saves the cost of the table(s).

But, traffic flow can be a problem. Accessibility, clearly. (This year was a LOT better than the Hyatt, but better does not equal good.) Having to share your sleeping room with your racks of product - many dealers will do various tricks to get the bed out of the way, which is a serious PITA. Being out of the way of the rest of the con limits how many walk-bys you'll get, so people who might have spent money may never know you're there.

I could definitely see it either way. I'm just glad I'm not a dealer :-)

Also, Dealers' Row rooms have bathrooms which can be used as changing-rooms for selling clothing.

I think all of the above but you definitely have a point about accessibility. The problem is that so many dealers pack so much into the rooms that there is barely room to walk. Maybe next year if they allowed the dealers to use larger rooms it would be easier.

Was it my imagination, or was the corridor at the Westin narrower than the one at the Hyatt? It seemed to me that anytime a knot of three people decided to stop and have a conversation traffic flow all but ground to a halt...

Is there a reason this was on the 16th floor, BTW? Was that the only floor that could be booked for DR and consuite? It was a pain to get to (though I'll admit that the elevators were in top form!). It reminded me of having the art show at the top of the Hyatt, and not in a good way...

I like Dealer's Row for a few reasons:

a) I can keep my own hours, and can tailor them to specific customers when needed.
b) I can use the space in ways I couldn't in the dealer's room: make use of the large wall mirrors and natural light, play my own music, and eat my meals without taking a break from business.
c) I have a relatively small space that I can say is "mine," with usually fewer than 8 people in the room at any given time, which makes for a much happier and less people-frazzled me at the end of the day.

A lot of my business comes from people who specifically look me up, not from random browsers, so I don't know exactly how much business I am actually losing. There was significantly less walk-by traffic this year though, and business was way down, so it's certainly some.

Last year I did braid someone in a scooter, so I can say that it must have been somehow possible for her to get around, although I have no idea how difficult it was for her. This year, I'm pretty sure the hallways were more narrow, and I think it would have been more difficult.

My biggest complaints about dealer's row this year were
a) there was significantly reduced traffic, possibly due to the removal of the Row from the main social areas of the con, and thus less business, and
b) Since many rooms on the Row are open Very Late, there is traffic down the hallway. Both nights, I had a few loud knocks against my door when I was trying to sleep, around midnight. [Whether these were accidental bumps from people playing around, knocks from ignorant people trying to get in and see my business (ignoring the "will reopen at 10am" sign), or jerks who thought it'd be fun to bang against a closed door in an active hallway, I have no idea. I didn't bother answering them.]

My feelings are that dealer's row are better for vendors for the following reasons:

More room for stuff (I couldn't afford to have the amount of space i use in the dealer's room.

More flexibility. We stay open late. We like to stay open late.

The fact that the bathroom is right there--i do not need to find someone to watch my booth if i need to go to the bathroom.

the fact that the bed is right there. I can take a nap (or Steve can) and the other can watch the shop but be available for a question at a moment's notice.

Security of my stuff. It's right there with me. I don't have to worry about it at night.

Comfort. Comfortable chairs. TV to watch. I can watch the masquerade while people are shopping.

There had been talk last year of no dealer's row, and there was such public outcry from dealers that they did include it. I'm sure that we were not the only one that said, if you do not have dealer's row, we will not come.

You asked how much dealer's lose by going to dealer's row--i think the question is moot. Most of my sales happened between the hours of 7 pm and midnight each night. Hours the dealer's room was not open.

This is just of course my take on it....

I think all the others have good points, but I figured I'd add another: Typically, at Arisia, there are several vendors who sell things that you don't really want to have out in a giant open space.

Sure, Arisia is a very open community, but I imagine some parents are thankful that they don't have to explain bondage gear or Hentai to their 3 year olds... Dealer's row has the ability to put things behind a door, or around a corner and have warnings, so you know what you're about to see...

I didn't see any of that in dealers row. At least not as much of it as there used to be.

I thought that the row was well positioned since at the end of it lay the consuite and I liked the consuite being where it was, the view of the sunrise was great. I did most of my shopping on my way too and from the consuite.

I was a vendor on dealer's row and will choose a row over a room.
I am often doing this alone, if I need to take a bathroom break or get some food, I can close my door and do it. If I were in the dealer's room, I would have to find someone willing to watch my table. I deal with this when I vend at Boskone, I have to catch a friend or staff member walking by and hope they can stop for five minutes to let me run to the bathroom.

I like making my own hours. I open when I want, earlier or later, stay open until I'm tired. Or I can close to go to a panel or a party. I have the opportunity to take in the art show or dealer's room, which are often open the same hours, thus if I were in the room, I wouldn't be able to see the art show.

I also like that I have more space in the room. I pay the equivalent of one table in the delaer's room, but I bring my own racks and tables and can spread out in the room. I have much more product than what fits on a single table in a dealer's room.

Also the security issue, I lock my door, I feel my stuff is secure. That can't be guaranteed in a dealer's room.

On the row, people can stop by and sit and chat for a bit. In the dealer's room, there just isn't space and it's loud.

I didn't like that the row was on the 16th floor. I found that many people I talked to over the weekend just didn't want to make the trek all the way up. I think it would be better on a lower floor.

I assumed that there were space constraints. If I recall correctly, one of the reasons that Dealer's Row was instituted at Arisia many years ago was that there simply wasn't enough space in the Dealer's Room to accommodate everybody who wanted to be there.

That said, I had the clear impression this year that Dealer's Row didn't have as many vendors as in past years. My wife was looking for the henna tattoo person, and was really disappointed that she wasn't there.

Access is always an issue on the Row.

Most dealers like to make money. To make money, you need to sell people stuff. To sell people stuff, you need to have stuff to sell. The more you have to sell, it's hoped, the more they'll buy. Therefore, most dealers try to stuff as much as possible in their rooms.

The Westin really only had one suite suitable for consuite, and that was on 16. In order to both bring people to the consuite, and people to the Row, and reduce noisy traffic on other floors, they put as much active stuff as they could on 16, including parties.

The problem is that a) people like to talk (cons are social events, after all), and b) dealers like to advertise. The combination of people and signage in the hallway was a disaster. Even I had trouble getting around, and I'm rather limber for my age/weight.

I think next year we have to make the rule of no signage in the hallway that is not either on the wall/door, or at least 6' up. And we need a few signs asking people not to congregate in the hall (though I doubt that will have any effect). Also, we need to reinforce the 'core hours' for the Row--several dealers closed at 10pm, and we used to ask that people stay open up there until midnight. If you're going to close at 10, maybe you should be in the Room. (The core hours used to be noon to midnight.)

That said, there were times--mostly midday--when one could get down the hallway up there quite easily, though getting into the rooms may have been dicey.

We were in the Dealer Room vs Row this year. But the past two years we were on the Row. We did no better or no worse this year with regard to business. The only complaint we have is we wish the hours of the dealer room were longer. It made no sense to close us at 6:30 on Saturday and Sunday when there was stuff going in the Galleria anyway. It's not like we were in a separate room that was going to be locked when we closed at 6:30. It was just roped off.

The first floor of rooms is reserved for disabled guests. That can't be changed it's an ADA rule.

The hallway is a tiny bit smaller, and without the vast open space on one side of the hall felt even smaller. Yes people did collect in the hallway and people in large crinoline skirts took up much of the hallway when they walked. Byron was not comfortable in the crowded hall and frequently would not let me walk all the way down to the con suite.

I want to read the rest of the comments later (after I've slept)
But I wanted to mention that when I had a dealers row room I had customers that were in chairs... I may have had to move a thing or two to make it easier for them, but it wasn't impossible with the way I set things up.

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As far as access goes, there are only a small number of things we can do about dealer's row. We can ask dealers not to put signs or mannequins in the hallway. We can work with the hotel to try to get the cleaning staff to bring their gear though at non-peak times, but that is about it. We can ask vendors to try and set up their shops with scooter and wheelchiar bound shoppers in mind, but with those rooms, there is only so much that can be done.

The other problems are, for lack of a better term, cultural. People are going to clump in the hallway, as they run into friend, particularly friends they have not seen in some time. Some people can then proceed on to the consuite, but most are going to chat for 5-10 minutes if only make plans for later. For next year, I will consider signs encouraging people to visit with friends in less congested space, and perhaps we can make some small improvement.

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