Metchandise line - suggestion

[ShirKirakira]

Suggestions:
Communication about the availablity of con items. Put a note on the physical display if a con item is sold out. Have a con staff member walk the line periodically informing people if something sold out and to keep the line in order. That in itself will reduce the line, because people aren't going to wait there if they know ahead of time that the items they want have already sold out.

Have a staff member stand at the end of the line holding a sign where the line ends. (First day of the con I couldn't even find the end of the line, it was so haphazard!)

Exclusive sales online for fanfest attendees with optional pickup at the con.

Give each attendee a merchandise line reservation time ticket at the time they pick up their badge, that way the line doesn't become a fire hazard. Don't tell people you are going to give out reservation tickets for the merchandise line at 10a.m. and then hand them out to people at 8a.m.

Also, lets talk more about the availability of the merchandise. Every shirt in the larger sizes sold out, while there were plenty of smaller sizes left. Same thing happened at the first fanfest I attended, even though when you registered your ticket they asked you what shirt size you wore. That should have been a good estimate of the distribution of stock sizes needed for this event. I'm all for pre-ordering this stuff online and having it shipped to your house before the con or picking it up at the con.

Another reason why the line was so long--our goodie bags didn't contain a shirt this time, and you couldn't win a "I beat XXX" shirt during the con events either. Alot of people wanted a shirt as a souvenir and the only way they could get one was by standing in the disorganized merch line. I'm not necessarily saying "give people a free shirt", but rather give the people the option to order a shirt online for pick up before the convention with their goodie bag/merch booth, or even better, mail to their house.

This is one of the few cons I've walked away from with a large chunk of money still in my pocket.

[Taledar]

the merchandise accessibility was straight up horrible. We had some pretty disappointed members. There should definitely be a way for people that went to Fan Festival to purchase the items. I mean we didn't even get a shirt or anything for going this year.. =(

[Avenger]

Agreed - online preorders + assigning a time window.

Here's one way it could work: during time window, they scan your QR code (automatically checking that you're showing up for the right time slot), hand you a tag, and then text you when your stuff is actually ready to pick up. At pickup line you just give them the tag and they find and hand you your bag. Done and Done.

If there's a delay for some reason, they could text you to let you know there's a delay and when to show up, much as airlines do if your flight is delayed.

If you don't pick it up in time, they could possibly assign you a second-chance pickup time window, but hopefully that would not be necessary.

Another thing they could do is offer optional merch pickup the day before the main conference, with the same system - checkin time windows and texting you when your stuff is (or will be) ready to pick up.