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Dealer FAQ
Please read through this FAQ to find the URL for the Dealer application form.
1. When is Arisia?
January 15th - 18th, 2010. The convention starts Friday afternoon, and will finish Monday afternoon.
2. Where is Arisia?
The Hyatt Regency Cambridge at 575 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 02139
3. If I have questions, who do I talk to?
Your Dealers Liaisons this year are Amy Chused and Ed Trachtenberg. The best way to reach both of us is to send e-mail to dealers@arisia.org.
4. Is there a Dealers Room this year?
NO. Again, there is no Dealers Room. All dealers will be in the Dealers Row on the 3rd floor of the hotel. There was discussion of creating a small dealers room this year where con ops was last year, but this will NOT be happening. If this is a deal-breaker for you, we are very sorry. However, due to the limited function space in this hotel, there is no good place to hold a large number of dealers.
January 15th - 18th, 2010. The convention starts Friday afternoon, and will finish Monday afternoon.
2. Where is Arisia?
The Hyatt Regency Cambridge at 575 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 02139
3. If I have questions, who do I talk to?
Your Dealers Liaisons this year are Amy Chused and Ed Trachtenberg. The best way to reach both of us is to send e-mail to dealers@arisia.org.
4. Is there a Dealers Room this year?
NO. Again, there is no Dealers Room. All dealers will be in the Dealers Row on the 3rd floor of the hotel. There was discussion of creating a small dealers room this year where con ops was last year, but this will NOT be happening. If this is a deal-breaker for you, we are very sorry. However, due to the limited function space in this hotel, there is no good place to hold a large number of dealers.
5. May I share a room with another vendor?
Absolutely. Discuss it with them ahead of time. You will need to mention them on your application form and they will need to mention you on their application form.
6. What kinds of signs may I post?
Around the door to your room, you may post whatever signs you think would be most eye-catching, with the following restrictions:
Absolutely. Discuss it with them ahead of time. You will need to mention them on your application form and they will need to mention you on their application form.
6. What kinds of signs may I post?
Around the door to your room, you may post whatever signs you think would be most eye-catching, with the following restrictions:
- Handicapped access and fire safety requires that your signs do not extend more than 6" from the walls.
- The only sticky supplies you may use are Post-It Notes, Post-It Note glue sticks, and (blue) painters tape. Please do not use regular tape, masking tape, poster gum or staple guns when putting up signs.
- Child-safe (Both unlikely to poke out an eye, and also safe to be seen by immature minds).
7. Banners. What's the deal with banners?
We tried to centralize banners last year, and discovered that (a) the time delay in having the banners collected by someone from dealers and then contacting a hotel representative and then getting the banners hung meant that banners weren't up in a timely fashion on Friday, and (b) we didn't run short of banner space.
Therefore, this year the banner policy is this: Bring a banner if you want. It should be light weight, professional appearing, and not require power. When you arrive and are ready to hang your banner, ask one of the hotel staff to help you, or ask one of the dealers staff to find a hotel staff person to help you.
8. What is the process for me to vend at Arisia?
- Please fill out the application form, including an agreement to pay all applicable associated fees to both Arisia and the hotel, and to abide by Arisia Rules and Regulations. Please feel free to forward the links to the Dealers' FAQ and the Dealers' Application Form to any colleagues that you think would also enjoy vending at Arisia.
- Receive confirmation that we have allocated space for you. Do NOT proceed to step 3 (Payment) UNTIL you have received this confirmation.
- Payment & Reservations:
- Pay your $100 dealers fee either via paypal using this link:http://2010.arisia.org/PayDealers or via check (made out to "Arisia, Inc.", and mailed to Arisia Dealers, PO Box 391596, Cambridge MA 02139).
- Purchase your needed memberships at http://2010.arisia.org/registration_info.
- Reserve a hotel room (if the reservation system says they're sold out, reserve a room for Monday (or any other available) night, and we'll fix it). Forward the hotel confirmation number to dealers@arisia.org. Note: You can request whatever kind of room you want, but once we start placing people in dealers row, the type of room you get will depend on your row placement, NOT the kind of room you reserved when you made your hotel reservation. If you particularly want a king, a queen, or a double double, be sure to mention it in your dealers application.
- Pay your $100 dealers fee either via paypal using this link:http://2010.arisia.org/PayDealers or via check (made out to "Arisia, Inc.", and mailed to Arisia Dealers, PO Box 391596, Cambridge MA 02139).
- Confirmation:
- Receive confirmation from Arisia Dealers Liaisons that we have received your dealers fee.
- Receive confirmation from Arisia Registration that they have processed your membership registrations.
- Receive confirmation from Arisia Dealers Liaisons that we have received your hotel confirmation number
- $100 vending fee per room, paid to Arisia. If you are sharing a room with another vendor, you will need to decide how that cost will be split. The vending fee does not include memberships.
- A membership fee for each person who will be with you, paid to Arisia (http://2010.arisia.org/a10pp). This applies to all workers, helpers, children, etc. regardless of whether or not they plan to attend any other Arisia events (except for kids-in-tow (children that never leave your side)). We have the whole hotel and there is a strictly enforced limit on the number of people we can have in the hotel at any given time. This membership fee goes up the closer we get to the convention, so the sooner you know you are vending, the sooner you can purchase your memberships. The next price increase will be in mid-November. All memberships will need to be purchased through Arisia registration. (If you have local folk coming to help with set up or break down who are not staying to work or attend the convention please let Amy and Ed know ahead of time so that they can make arrangements so that your short-term helpers are not turned away at the door.)
- $123/night (plus tax) for a room on Dealers Row, paid to the hotel. You can sleep in your vending room, or you can get a second room for sleeping.
- Your cost for getting you and your stuff to and from Arisia, including tips for hotel staff who move your stuff and parking fees.
- Your cost for food, and for any other items that you want to purchase at Arisia, especially from your fellow vendors.
- Any damage deposits that the hotel requires. (Historically, none, but we do not guarantee this.)
- If you are interested in purchasing an ad in Arisia's Souvenir Book, contact ads@arisia.org.
- To unload, pull up in front of the hotel, unload your stuff, delegate someone to watch your stuff, and go move your vehicle (do not park in the handicapped or bus spaces in front of the hotel (no matter what the hotel staff tells you)).
- We will acquire some large parking spaces, likely in a MIT lot. Again, you will need to unload, and then move your vehicle for parking. Please indicate in the application form that you will need Oversize Parking. There is no fee to park in the MIT lots over the weekend, but you'll have to pay for Thursday and/or Friday.
- If you're driving a vehicle that won't fit in the garage, please read our truck route directions.
In no particular order, you will need to:
- Unload and then park your car (self-parking in the garage is $7 per day).
- Check in at the registration desk and pick up your badges. One person may pick up the badges for the entire group, provided they have ID from the other members of the group.
- Check in at the hotel desk and get your hotel keys.
- Find your Dealers Liaison, let us know you are here, get answers to any burning dealers liaison questions, and collect your dealers ribbons.
- Membership information, if you aren't selling us our memberships?
- So that we can estimate how many Dealers Ribbons we need, and so that we can check the names you give against our registration database to make sure you registered (we expect to sell out the convention, so it's best to make sure you buy your memberships early).
- So that we can estimate how many Dealers Ribbons we need, and so that we can check the names you give against our registration database to make sure you registered (we expect to sell out the convention, so it's best to make sure you buy your memberships early).
- Whether we will be open for vending on Monday?
- This is a four day convention, and we do not want Dealers Row looking deserted on Monday morning. Therefore, dealers who plan to pack up Sunday, or early Monday will be placed away from the center of the hotel, so that their absence on Monday is less immediately visible.
- For us both to check off what we sell and describe what we sell?
- We will be trying an experiment with icons placed into a Dealers Row map to illustrate what is sold where. The things you check off will determine what icons go in your room on the map. If you only check one or two things, you will look like a specialty shop, with great depth in a small area. If you check off multiple things, you will look more like a general store.
- The description will be used for deciding between applications if we have more applications than spots e.g . "Both of these folks checked Jewelry, but this one has a cooler description, so they're in.", and in a modified shortened form, if we have space in the program book, as a short description below your vendor name.
- In addition, the description and the check boxes will be used so we can avoid putting similar dealers next to each other (except for dealers selling adult items).
The main part of the hotel guest room is about 13'x16'. The layout may vary slightly if you are assigned to a room with a handicapped bathroom. Those rooms have slightly larger bathrooms and slightly smaller main rooms. Here is a link to a diagram of a typical room.
14. What laws and rules do I need to be concerned about?
- You are responsible for observing copyright and tax laws
- If you are an out-of-state vendor you should read: A Guide to Sales and Use Taxes (you'll need Adobe Acrobat to read it). For more information on Massachusetts taxes, see the Department of Revenue web site or call: (617) 887-MDOR (or in state: (800) 392-6089).
- To find out what weapons are not legal to carry in Massachusetts see Mass. General Laws Chapter 269, Section 10 (search for paragraph (b) in the middle). Basically if it is more dangerous than a Koosh Ball(TM), then it's probably illegal. Some of the things banned by the state are: any knife having a double-edged blade, dirk knife, any armband made with leather which has metallic spikes, nunchaku, ....
- The hotel contract says that bumper stickers and any other sort of sticker may not be distributed at the convention, so no free stickers advertising your business.
The URL is: http://2010.arisia.org/DealerForm
16. Do you have a map of the Dealers Row room types?
Yes, we do. H2 means handicapped & not available for dealers unless they're in a wheelchair. H merely means a larger than usual bathroom and a correspondingly slightly smaller room.