2012 applications are up

[KateSkirmish]

another one on the wait list here too. but im staying optimistic much like the rest of you. :)

i am surprised though. i recognize a lot of you guys who are also on the wait list. but i suppose if there are more and more people applying every year, even my favorite artists may have to play the odds.

[Zilla Senetai]

Oh, I know this is a random question. If we are selected from the waiting list, when could one expect that email to come in(or what times would it be most likely since I assume there could be multiple times)? Would we get extra time to make a payment for the table?

[Marzipan]

My email said the next time we will know something is mid to late february. I doubt they would extend the payment time too much since there are so many waiting. My advice is to put 80.00 aside now so you can pay immediately. I'm prepared to pay at the drop of a hat, and I'm sure other artists are as well.

[kojika]

It has me worried that I a still haven't received any e-mails whatsoever from AA, but it's probably me just panicking. I know initially, I never got the "your submission has been received" message, even, so I had already e-mailed them about that before, and they verified they had indeed receive my submission.

This year's sucked so far for me, so I'm just like totally paranoid about everything ^^;

[Zilla Senetai]

This year's sucked so far for me, so I'm just like totally paranoid about everything ^^;

I know this feeling pretty well.

[twotigermoon]

My email said the next time we will know something is mid to late february. I doubt they would extend the payment time too much since there are so many waiting. My advice is to put 80.00 aside now so you can pay immediately. I'm prepared to pay at the drop of a hat, and I'm sure other artists are as well.

Oh yes, I've had money set back to be able to pay for my table for a while now. Heck, I'm even willing to pay a little extra to be able to get in! This will seem so odd if I'm not in AA o.O

[Marzipan]

Don't sweat Koji. I know that not knowing is the single worst thing ever, but hang tight, I'm sure you will hear something soon.

Tiger - You were just who I was thinking of when I said "other artists". I knew you would be good to go.

[taccoon]

I'm so confused. I got put on the waiting list, and am disappointed but not to surprised seeing as it's my first time applying. Yet why are great artist alley veterans being turned down? /:

Anywho, congrats to those who got in. c:

[SailorAstera]

I know this was talked about last year and I'm not sure we really got any concrete answers about what the criteria would be other than trying to mix it up with the types of artists. I don't think there's preference (or bias against, for that matter) for returning artists though.

[Hiryuu]

I think it's two things. One, they are trying to diversify the alley. With so many print artists and now crocheters, they have to pick and choose. Secondly, I think they're trying to let newer, fresher faces give it a try. Not that they are biasing against veterans, just if you don't have a lot of change from last year in your portfolio they may go for someone else that has expanded or just someone new in general. If all the veterans got to return, you'd only get to see 2-3 new faces. And that's not really fair, either. It's more of a fair chance, even if you're a newbie.

[XxEveillexX]

Anyone out there that still hasn't gotten an email? I know I'm still waiting and getting worried. T.T

[ao-tan]

Aww sad to see so many great artist's wait listed! 8C I was also waitlisted so hopefully things will work out in the end for every one hopefully!

[kojika]

Anyone out there that still hasn't gotten an email? I know I'm still waiting and getting worried. T.T

I still haven't gotten an email D: I figured by the time I got home from job two there might be somethign (I was on at job 1 earlier today), but still nada.

[Panduhmonium]

I had a question about how table sharing is going to be handled this year. Last year it wasn't a problem to share with my friend who didn't get in, but I wanted to make sure it was the same for this year. Is it ok to share with a friend who was waitlisted? Because some conventions I attend frown down upon this since it is seen as by passing those who were waitlisted. Kinda like you have two chances to get in instead of the usual one chance.

Also, for those who didn't get in...I understand how you feel since I was waitlisted last year by my home town convention. Remember not to take it personally. There are so many artist that apply and it's hard to choose sometimes but a decision has to be made. Also, I don't think that juried is anything about "being fair" honestly it's about how you present yourself and if you have been evolving as a artist. If you applied this year showing them the same stuff you showed them last year you basically shot yourself in the foot. You need to show them NEW things each year. This is especially true for veteran artist because sometimes we get complacent and assume we'll just keep getting in showing them the same things, but that is not the case. Just keep on growing as a artist and try not to look at this as a set back but as a time to reflect on your work as an artist. Hope that all made sense.

[BobGuy]

I just home from a 14 hour work shift, so if I miss any of the many questions, forgive me.

As far as I know, my partner has fixed all of the payment links and so on. Hopefully she'll have a moderator account on here soon, she knows more about all of this than I do.

As for not getting emails, there are three possibilities: 1) Our emails are still going to your spam folder (ADD US TO YOUR CONTACTS LIST!) so look there, 2) you gave the wrong email in your application, or 3) some other unknown error has occurred, in which case, email us and we'll try to sort it out.

Ok! Waitlist! Here is the deal. We had 190+ applications, and currently under 50 tables. Even counting half tables, that's well over 100 people waitlisted. We lost 20 tables this year, and gained 40 applicants. I cannot stress this enough, the competition every artist faced was fierce. Our job deciding was not easy. Veteran artists do not receive preference, nor do they get shafted for new blood. An artist of 8 AZ's competes the same as one from 5, 2, or none. We love repeat artists, but we also love new artist.

If last year was any indication, of the 60 some artists who got accepted, many will not pay. Then wave two will occur, and they probably won't pay. Maybe this year will be different, I don't know. But last year took four waves of payments to finally get a full alley. Generally speaking, the second wave has the same amount of time to pay as the first wave had, but each wave of payments after that gets shorter, as the con gets closer.

Extended deadline for payments if you were accepted? I don't now, my partner will answer that for me, and I'll post it later.

That's all I have for now.

[BobGuy]

I had a question about how table sharing is going to be handled this year. Last year it wasn't a problem to share with my friend who didn't get in, but I wanted to make sure it was the same for this year. Is it ok to share with a friend who was waitlisted? Because some conventions I attend frown down upon this since it is seen as by passing those who were waitlisted. Kinda like you have two chances to get in instead of the usual one chance.

Also, for those who didn't get in...I understand how you feel since I was waitlisted last year by my home town convention. Remember not to take it personally. There are so many artist that apply and it's hard to choose sometimes but a decision has to be made.

As long as the waitlisted artist wasn't outright rejected for breaking the rules (none this year that I can recall). As long as they follow the rules, we don't mind if you share.

I'd like to once again point out just how many applicants we got. I don't want artists to feel like there is something wrong with them because they didn't get in. I saw all the applicants, I saw a lot of great artists we had to turn away for now. I know that even if I forced every artist into a half table, we STILL would have a waitlist. And I hope someday we get the larger room and we won't have to turn anyone away. Until then, just remember, you're not alone, the odds weren't in anyone's favor, and don't let it get you down.

[Panduhmonium]

Thanks Bob.

[BobGuy]

Update: The cut off date for payments is still Feb 12. We've had that date set for months, and even though it took a little longer to get the payment links ready, there is still five days to pay.

[kojika]

After all that stress, just to get waitlisted >.> Well, I can't say I'm as optimistic as the rest of ya'll ^^; But I figure until like March/early April area, I can still consider the con a possibility. I love this con, but it's really hard to afford when you drive in from Chicago ^^; (and just like so many of ya'll, too, I've been a regular in their AA since like 2007 or so)

At least the first payment deadline is pretty close. I can see both sides of the coin, too. I think most of us are used to having like two weeks to pay for our table, but as they said, they DID tell us ahead of time when it would be due...

Whatever happens, will happen, I guess

[Shenanagan]

That's really weird that there's less tables for this year...I guess cutting out the balcony might have been the reason.

Still, with so many of us waitlisted, I can't help but feel a bit discouraged. But maybe it is just the fact that they want new faces to have a go, being that the tables are so limited for now.

I'll still go to AZ though even if there aren't any tables available after the payment waves Maybe we'll all have better luck next year when there will *hopefully* be a plethora of tables!