Doll NORTH 2009

I'm really sorry to hear that...

I hope everything's all right, acexkeikai. We know you wouldn't cancel without good reason.

There has to be a way for this year's Doll North to happen though. It might be a complicated process, but if it's possible, I think we should try.

We should at least organize some meet-ups throughout the weekend.

 

I've contacted acexkeikai to see about taking over the event.. I've got three volunteers including myself who'll help run it. We've run the doll panel at animaritime here in NB before, so we have a bit of experience.

Hopefully we can arrange something. If it's a problem about us being out of town until the Thursday before the con starts, maybe we'll have to try and grab a coordinator in the area. I wouldn't see how we'd need someone on site before Thursday though.

We'll see though!
We definitely need to do some sort of event (swap and meet?) for Anime North though.

Haha considering me, my roomate and our friend have already booked our plane tickets fro NB to Toronto for this event, we're pretty set on getting something done, one way or another.

Hopefully we can get a reply soon and start with the organizing asap

 

I've sent an email to acekeikai about assisting in organization as well, I'm also able to reach out to the toronto doll forum to see if any of them are interested in co-coordinating or contributing if this goes through.

As I have experience last year selling in the doll market I'd be more then willing to assist with it's organization, as well as the requested meet on Sunday.

Hopefully we hear back from acekeikai about organization. It may be hard running things from NB through Elzamine, I think it'd be great to have your group on board from panels, but if we can find a representative right in TO that would likely be best, I'd be willing to step up as I'm 2 hours away, but if there are meetings I have to attend prior to the con it may be a little difficult to co-ordinate my schedule (but I do have a car, as long as I'm not at work I could go). Hopefully we know more soon!

I was only planning to attend AN this year because of Doll North so I sincerely hope we can be put in touch with whoever is in charge of scheduling to work something out, it shouldn't be too late to do our best I hope.

 

Yeah, I hope something happens, too. I love AN, but I find myself much less into anime these days, and much more into dolls. I enjoyed last year's events, even though I wish the Marketplace could have been on Saturday and not over Nominoichi.

I wish I had time to help organize but with my weird shift schedule, I can't guarantee I'd be able to attend any local meetings it might require. But I might be able to pitch in a couple hours at the con on Saturday or Sunday to help out.

 

Best to you ace, I hope things work out for you 8< Please don't worry about anime north, you've got bigger fish to fry :] I'm sure that's what we wish for you too.

For anyone who is taking up the task of doll north, please do not hesitate to pm me, as I am native to toronto and would like to pitch in with ideas and planning. I know everything is up in the air right now, with the changing of hands, but once everything is calm I'd love to jump in.

Personally, I think this issue should be alerted to TDAF, the toronto based forum. Our community is really helpful and passionate. I don't mean to step on your toes, Elzamine, but it may be difficult to organize from as far as you are.

 

I brought this issue to TDAF's attention as soon as I heard. We haven't made a discussion thread yet, but I do agree that if this switches hands (for this year only), we should bring planning over to the other forum. Either way, I'm sure things will work out. We all care too much about Doll North for it to just disappear this year. I just hope we're not putting more pressure on acexkeikai by doing this.

 

Ah, excellent Karitsa. I have faith in our local community to carry it out. :]

Not to say, Elzamine, that you are incapable. It'd just be more logical IMHO.

 

I have to say I agree, personally, that this might be easier to set up with the TDAF. (I hope you don't mind). Having a local community or representative might make it a bit more simple with regards to planning and coordinating. I sincerely hope we can get it up this year though; I've never been before and I was already getting so pumped for it. D:

If possible, I'd love to volunteer once this gets settled. I'm definitely up for anything that would get this running again.

(Also, note to acexkeikai: Thank you so much for organizing it in the past! I really wish I could have gone. *tear. I hope things work out for you! Much love: 333).

 

I suppose it all comes down to what needs to be done before the convention.
Does there need to be a representative in town? Are they are required in town things that need to be done?
Plenty of events have been done by people who aren't local. If everything can be arranged by email through the Anime North staff, and then we just need someone there to supervise and to organize the events and such. This wouldn't need to be done until the con dates considering the event is held within hotels. My group would be there Thursday, in time for the pre-reg and plenty of time to set up for events on Friday.

I guess in the end we just want to make sure that this event will be 100% happening, since we're flying half way across the country to make it. We'd be completely dedicated to running it. If someone else wants to host it, by all means, but we hope there'll be confirmation of this soon and that we don't leave the issue too long (Within the month at the latest??)

All in all, as long as a meet up and the swap are arranged at some date, we'd be pretty happy. I'm still going to wait and see what Ace writes back and we can go from there maybe?

Can anyone drop the link for the TDAF site? My roomate and I would like to join so we can be on the loop on this. We hope that whatever talk goes on there would be updated here as well, as obviously others from around the country are visitors.

Cheers, I hope we can all work something out! I've been preparing for the marketplace for a bit now and enjoyed it and the meet a lot last year!

 

Here you are Elzamine! I do believe the site is www.tdaf.ca.
I don't think anything definite has been happening there yet though, so I'm going to keep my eye on it. Again, I have never gone to it before, so I have no idea what goes into making it happen. Sorry! ^ ^;

Thank you for your support!

 

Haha yeh I did a google search on it and found the address and instantly recognized the site and remember I had signed up awhile ago
Thanks Friends-of-Fate!

Hopefully between everyone here, we can figure something out!

 

I believe once it hits the TDAF board, things will move very quickly. :] Our local community is always eager to help and is well governed; I don't see the planning of AN going any other way.

 

Like Elzamine said, it doesn't really matter who runs it, as long as it's happening. Nothing's been discussed officially on TDAF anyway. Besides, we haven't heard back from acexkeikai yet. I don't think we should be making plans without her. Let's just be patient. It'll all work out.

 

I might be attending AN this year and also very much hope that this happens! When it comes to organization, if AN is anything like other cons I've hosted panels/held events at then you don't need to go to local meetings or anything that would require you to live near the area. I'm betting 99% of the panels/events at AN are hosted by out-of-towners. I participated in one of AN's first bjd panels back in the day and being in PEI did not cause any problems. Also, last year I was the first person to start organizing the BJD Lemonade Stand held in New York (because Dolpa was cancelled) and I was in PEI! This required trying to find a venue, organizing volunteers, getting donations. In the end I worked with a few local ladies and we were able to pull it off. Even though the locals found the venue, I still did a lot of work to help from a distance and it worked out. That's why if noone steps up, Elzamine shouldn't have any problems organizing this - it's not like she has to do anything too complicated.. it's just a matter of being in communication with AN staff to make sure there's a place to hold it and a time for it all.
I'm thinking if you can put in a request to AN for a timeframe/space for this it can definitely work out. Worse case scenario they give us a room for a few hours and it's a big meet/marketplace?

 

I would be totally willing to help out with doll north! Just name it and I'll be there!
I was also hoping for the marketplace, I met so many awesome people last year and I've been preparing since october ):

 

I am a local Toronto TDAF person. Would be glad to help and such. I will be attending the con with my dolls. We should try for a gathering and market place at the very least.

 

Doll North 2010, eh? Hrm. Sounds like fun. How about someone make a thread for it?

 

That's exactly how I feel too, Karitsa!
It doesn't nesseccarily have to even be considered as "Doll North" this year, or a mini convention. Really it could just be it's own separate thing this year, a couple of time slots in a room during Anime North, perhaps just a 2hr BJD swap slot and a 1-2hr meet-up slot are all that are needed? Maybe there could also be an outdoor BJD picnic just after the convention ends on Sunday?? That might be a really fun way to end the con weekend and without needing offical AN space, haha. (Of course that would be weather permitting..)

I'm excited again! I was nervous at first, because I've seen the disappointment that can happen when someone new is all gung-ho to organize something and then it ends up later becoming not as much of a priority and then there's just no follow through. So I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous that there were lots of people volunteering to help but no one offering to actually take charge and be 100% sure that they will put everyone's interest first. But now I see that there are many people who really want to see this happen so I'm sure that someone responsible will step-up to be the go-to person and follow through with this; it's just a matter of making sure that this happens soon so that everything can be OKed with the Anime North people and room space confirmed. Oh, it would be so wonderful to get space in the main hotel again!! Although at this point, really any space anywhere for any length of time would be wonderful haha


Thanks for the TDAF link Friends-of-fate!
A couple of doll owners I meet last year at DN told me about it and said I should join since I've been going to AN since 2006 (that's where I saw my first BJD in person as a couple of girls walked by carrying them!), so no better time like the present to sign up I guess
It would be a good idea that once everyone agrees on someone (or maybe acexkeikai will choose someone) who will 100% commit to making a BJD event happen at Anime North 2010, that all the info and updates get copied on DoA so that other doll owners can keep informed on what's happening too. Especially on the date/time when doll marketplace table reservation submisssions starts!


I'd love to volunteer as well to help out any way can (moving tables, decorating doll photo areas, cutting out name tags, etc.) if needed. If everything is under control and no extra help is needed, then that's cool too, haha. I volunteered to help acexkeikai one year but she was so organized that there wasn't anything to help with except moving eveything back after the marketplace ended!

Which reminds me that I wanted to thank acexkeikai for all her work the past few years organizing Doll North! I've really enjoyed the events and hope that everything is going well in your life and that next year everything will go back to normal. In the meantime, I hope that this whole thing isn't upsetting you, but don't worry I'm sure someone will be able to host a couple of BJD room slots and won't have to bother you about co-ordination. And don't worry about "letting us down"; BJDers have a way of coming together to make things happen, and as long as some sort of doll event happens I'm sure everyone will be happy!!

 

That's a good idea but we should probably wait until someone has been put in charge of the event so that way the person in charge can start the thread and be able to update the first entry of the thread whenever there is new information.

 

I believe a few of us have already sent pms to acekeikai we are just waiting for a response at this time and whether we can take over doll north for her this year at all. Hopefully she is able to get back to us with relevant contact information so we can co-ordinate with scheduling for AN.

I have offered to take over if that is possible, what is important to me is giving every one who would like a chance to help out that opportunity. If we are able to run this like a small doll convention as we did last year then opportunities for panels would be up for grabs. I believe communication will be key with who ever takes over coordinating suggestions between TDAF and DoA to make sure we run the marketplace during the best possible time and schedule the meet in an accommodating time slot.

 

I started a thread on TDAF for it and I asked what is going on for this year. ITs under future meet up events for this year. I hope we can still have DollNorth. I'm new to BJD's and I heard wonderful things about how wonderful Dollnorth was last year .

 

"Take over Doll North"? Like still have the whole mini-con instead of just asking AN for a couple of time slots? I didn't realize that was still an option from what acekeikai said. But if it's a go, then that would be cool

If the whole mini-con thing happens, it could be fun to have a doll tea-party time slot!! Maybe the hotel would lend us human sized tea-cups and a couple of kettles (like they lent for the lolita tea-party last year) and maybe there could be a small fee like $3 or something to cover the cost of tea, sweets and little doll tea-cups from the dollarstore. Oh, maybe I'm just dreaming and shouldn't get ahead of myself haha. Do you think there would be any interest in a doll tea party?

 

Hrm, good idea. Too bad I didn't live in Ontario.

 

I really think we should wait to hear back from acexkeikai before we start any serious discussion. There's some good ideas floating around though!

 

I live in Ontario, and have never heard about this event. Sounds really interesting. When and where is it supposed to be held?

 

Not sure yet. Perhaps during AnimeNorth 2010: http://www.animenorth.com/main/

It started during AnimeNorth some years ago.

Just some real good ideas floating around for now. Who knows what it'll become now.

 

Agreeing with Karista, great to know that some of us are already thinking about events and panels we would like to see, but at this point finding out whether some one else can run doll north at all is our top priority and we'll have to wait for contact from acekeikai to know that.

Let's all be patient and wait for her, she has done a great service to us running doll north in the past and I hope she will give us the opportunity to see that it continues on this year. As she had mentioned she is experiencing personal issues at this time, so we may not hear back from her right away.

 

acexkeikai has already stated in the first post she will not be running Doll North 2010. If we want it we have to run it!

 

Oh, how I would love to be part of the organizing.
GoGaDoll had organizers in different states. :3

I have experience for years with Anime convention organization, mostly in the Events area (notable Ai-Kon (ai-kon.org)). And I ran a mini Anime convention at a University almost every year for 5 years from 2002-2008 (there were some hiatuses).

So uhm, yeah...
I'll keep an eye on this thread for whoever is leading the event and contact them about what's available for me to help with.

 

Oh thanks Nightmoon Just waiting on to see if we can still do this or not. I pm the Anime North team and asked about saving this event. Hopefully we can save it. All the help would greatly appreciated .

 

Fingers crossed! Let's try to keep both TDAF's and DoA's Doll North threads on the same page.

As of now, Azulafan199 has updated this thread nicely.

That's all the news we've got on TDAF for now. Let's hope for more soon!

 

If not at AnimeNorth,
What's stopping Doll north from becoming it's own entity?

Is it just someone to be the "face" (president) and take over all the legalities involved?

Btw, what is TDAF? Toronto Doll "something" forums? Sorry, I skimmed this thread but didn't find what it means (so many posts...)... I might be blind.

 

That's a neat idea! Maybe one day.

TDAF = Toronto Doll Army Forums

It's for doll-lovers in the greater Toronto area.

 

Army! Thanks. Kept trying to figure out what the 'A' stood for. I was thinking maybe "Anime", the Toronto Doll & Anime Forums. Anyways, I'll be looking forwards to what becomes of all these ideas.

 

well once we now if we know for sure that we have a room for a swap/meet at Anime North then I think we can maybe move this over to a new thread. I'm hoping we are not too late to get a room. I'm working on it now and just waiting for a response back from Anime North.

 

Thanks for the quick thinking Azula! Now it's just a waiting game :]

 

Ok I just heard back from a AN team member and hes going to look into us getting a room. NO grantees yet but he is looking into it. So hopefully we will know soon if this is a yes or a no. I'll let you guys know as soon as I know . K

 

Thanks Azulafan199! It's such a relief that things have been set in motion
Fingers crossed for positive response!!

 

Thanks mist.
I'd like to add that me and Sabria are working on getting a room. We did decided to work together on this. So hopefully we can get a room and at least have a swap meet (need to get permission for from con 1st )and a meet up. As far as panels go I'm not sure as of yet . Right now we are working on getting a place to meet up that AN approves of cause you can't have a large meet with out AN approval. So hopefully we can at least get a meet up arranged that is approved by AN.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the quick work on your part Azula! If you need a volunteer I would love to be a part of it! Let me know, and thank you for keeping us posted.

Love~~~~ 8D

 

Although I'm saddened to hear that the original organizer is no longer able to run it, I'm very happy that people have stepped up to help out and try to make this event happen. Although I've been going to AN for quite some time now, I was really looking forward to this year being my first DollNorth.

That being said, thank you everyone for trying, regardless of the result ^_^.

 

Seconded. Big thanks to Azula and Sabrina/SaturnRose for all of their time, patience, and efforts. Best wishes to acexkeikai and her personal endeavors.

 

I got an email Directly about Doll North's Cancellation, I didn't realize she posted it here too. (Well Duh, I should have thought of that)
But I Am in Brampton (Right next to Toronto, Takes me 45 mins on the bus) And I would Love to lend a Helping hand! I have experience organizing events, as I Organized and lead The Anime Club at my school, And Also Participated as a dealer at Doll North Last Year. I live close, and Have Time on my hands. I'm Here to help!

 

This is so disheartening! I only found out about Doll North last year, and wasn't able to make it, so I was hoping for this year. I wish I could say I could help, but I'm already helping with reviving Jrock North, so I'll probably be busy with that ><

But as has been mentioned, it's good to see people not wanting to let this part be cancelled either, so if I have a few spare moments I'll definately try to get over there for support at least!

Good luck!~

 

It looks like there have been updates on this subject on another thread started a few weeks ago in the event chat thread:

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353030