doll north 2017? May 26-28

I'm looking forward to another great year at DN! Yes, each year has some of the same core stuff, but it's what I keep going back for.

 

Samesies! If they took away a lot of the meat of the con I would pretty upset, actually.

 

Chiming in with regards to hoping that once the program is revealed there will be more fresh ideas. Agreeing that it has felt a bit stale the past two years or so, although seeing all the familiar faces never gets old! I'm interested to hear more about the "tea party" idea for Friday and the little themed gatherings. Is it true that there will be a swap meet? Because that would be neat!

I also wanted to add in my two cents regarding the charity raffle. I always felt it was a bit odd that the main doll prizes went to the person whose name was drawn yet they did not have to be physically present. I don't think that's fair for all the people who went out of their way (and missed other events) to attend the raffle. I understand if the person is in the next room selling stuff, or they had to go and help with another event etc., but the way other doll shows do it (such as Dolpa, the Cambridge Doll Show, and even Dollism plus USA) it seems more fair if the person needed to be present to win. If not, there is re-draw. Just my two cents.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

 

Okay, about the programming being stale. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, Doll North is run by volunteers only and our staff volunteers can only do so much during the weekend unless they work non-stop. We can't ask them to always host panels when we need them for other things.

Every year since I've started working for Doll North we've asked for people to give us their suggestions or requests for what they would like to see at Doll North. In two years I can tell you at most 5 people have come forward and of those five, four of them are on this year's programming.

We as staff would love to offer more for our attendees, we don't like repeating things either. Unfortunately, if no one tells us what they want then it makes it very difficult for us to offer new ideas and we have to stick to what we have the staff to run.

So if anyone here has an idea that they would like to see in Doll North in the future, PLEASE message or email us, even if it comes to you randomly throughout the year.

As a side note, @SaturnRose and I are the only ones who work all year to schedule, organise and plan Doll North. With only two of us available and capable of doing the work it would help us out a lot for more people to give us their input and feedback. I have never personally seen any feedback for any panel or game in the last two or three years, in fact most messages we receive are questions about the convention.

As you can imagine, after receiving no feedback, it's very difficult to come to this thread and find several people who are upset about the programming.

With regards to the charity raffle, it's understandable that it is frustrating to hear a name called and watch as that prize is given away...to no one. However, every ticket pulled is a ticket purchased and if we were to demand that everyone be present at the draw regardless of conflict with the rest of con or personal emergencies, we would sell fewer tickets. The goal of the charity raffle IS charity, not prizes, and we want to be able to donate as much to charity as we can. ❤

@DarkRegrets yes the swap meet was popular last year so we are repeating it this year.

 

Good to hear that the swap meet is going on this year!

That said, I don't see it so much as a "demand" for everyone to be there, more so a friendly requirement to up the community involvement. Like you said, it's rather disappointing to see the prizes given to no one; seeing all those smiling faces is always just fantastic! I completely understand the need to gather more funds for the charity, but I'm not sure less people would come if they had to attend the draw. If anything, I feel it would make more people come to the event - and perhaps to the gathering we always have after the charity event. Not a lot of people stayed afterwards, sadly. Last year a lot of people simply up and left after the main prizes were drawn; I also saw a lot of people rolling their eyes when yet another prize winner wasn't there. Hopefully we can do something to counter that!
That is of course my opinion.

And I think people are posting this here because that way it is more visible to see what the community has issues with - but also what the community loves! Sending an email is a great idea, but again, I feel community involvement strengthens everyone in the end with such visibility on this thread. Although perhaps a separate thread should indeed be made for feedback after the event. I'm sure you will all do a fantastic job with all your hard work - and perhaps this will open the gates to more feedback, volunteering, and involvement! ^^

 

It's not so much that people won't attend the raffle, it's that they won't buy raffle tickets if they know they won't make the draw.

As for the gathering, it never really was a gathering so much as people hanging around for prizes.

When it comes to eye rolling...there is no way to please everyone in a raffle. Some people will always be disappointed that they aren't winning prizes and they will find some excuse to be upset.

The raffle is also held in the market space, so once announcements are done people tend to go back to shopping and there isn't anywhere to really hang out.

If you're interested in meets, as @SaturnRose mentioned earlier I believe, we will have themed meet ups happening every hour all weekend.

It's mostly just frustrating to hear that people have complaints starting from 2 years ago and haven't said anything until now. It makes it difficult for us if people wait until a thread like this to start giving us feedback. With less than a month left we can't do anything to change the con for this year. It starts to feel less constructive and more that the purpose is to discourage people from going to the con.

 

I'm going to chime in and say about the charity raffle--it's for charity, always has been and (hopefully) always will be. The prizes are icing on top. If everyone's getting their knickers in a bunch about people not being present at the exact moment their name is drawn whether it be due to an emergency or time constraints or they are off enjoying another part of the con--whatever--that is NOT very charitable of them, or their knickers, now is it? As long as money is being made towards the charity, and a name from one of the tickets that was bought with money that is going towards said charity is called and a prize is given to--WHO CARES? Yes, it is less exciting, but I guarantee not every name pulled from those ballots are going to be absentee names. The point of the matter is that money was raised for a good cause and we are so ever lucky to be rewarded with these prizes.

 

DN Staff receive a ton of perks for doing what they do. Free weekend passes to AN, free accommodation for the weekend, free food all weekend, transportation as needed, a staff room to relax in, and they are also given free admission to other cons in order to promote AN/DN. There may also be other staff perks that I am unaware of. If there were/are members of staff unhappy that they have to miss out on entering competitions and whatnot, and were hesitant to join staff because they would have to give up those perks of being an attendee even though they are given amazing perks as staff, I'm sorry, but as staff, I feel that some things that paying attendees of con are able to do (such as enter competitions and win prizes) are understood to be given up in exchange for all of these other perks.

 

1) Technically it's a staff badge and, because you're working a minimum of 20 hours over the weekend, it is not "free".

2) Hotel rooms are also not free. They are given at a greatly reduced rate and I won't say that it's not a perk, but it is NOT free, as you claim.

3) Free food. Food is provided by the hotel for lunch and dinner (not breakfast). This is to make sure that staff do not have to go elsewhere to wait for food so that they can stay in the hotel and be available to work.

4) The room to "relax" in is rarely used by DN staff who are scheduled to be working. The only DN staff who would use the room to "relax" are those who are not scheduled to work. A lot of our operations are run through there and it serves as an office for our staff who runs operations and makes sure that we get everything we need in order for Doll North to run as smoothly as possible.

5) I'm not sure what transportation you're referring to that would be different from the transportation for attendees.

6) AN has deals with other conventions involving badges for promotion. Again, because you're promoting you're technically working and the badges are not "free". At the convention I went to to promote AN/DN, we were required to spend the day at the table promoting the event.

You call them perks, and yes they are, however you make it seem as though staff get perks for doing nothing. Staff are working and they are not getting paid to work, they get compensated with the perks mentioned above.

We have already said that staff cannot win prizes. The issue was not about prizes, it was about missing the opportunity to participate in a fun competition and have their work be scored just to see how they do. There are people who enjoy the competition whether there are prizes or not.

Also keep in mind that these "perks" are only for the weekend work itself. @SaturnRose and I do not receive any perks or compensation for the work that we do during the year.

Staff are also hobbyists. To bar them from participating just because they're staff when they already can't win prizes would be pointless.

@xkelpiex

 

I never once insinuated that you guys received perks for doing nothing, as that is most obviously not the case.

Without staff and other volunteers, con in general would not even exist. I was just pointing out that unlike regular attendees who pay anything from just the cost of a badge and travel to the cost of badge/hotel/travel, staff is very well compensated for the work done (lol I wish I could get a room at the Crowne for $10 or so a night). The perks are a great incentive to be staff and help create an event to be enjoyed by so many people.

Please don't forget that for a few years I myself volunteered with Doll North doing BJD repair and received absolutely no compensation whatsoever for the service I provided, and never asked for any compensation (it wasn't offered to me). I didnt use any of the doll care materials to re-string or do anything to my own dolls, and I wasn't even allowed to accept tips.

 

@Tallenvyaere lmao I made the mistake of actually calculating how many hours I work during the weekend and how much the perks are valued and compared it to the hours I'd be paid at minimum wage and it works out that I work the required hours to cover the cost of food/badge/hotel. In the end I actually end up paying the convention $40 to work, LOL.

In any case, a separate staff competition as you brought up before would also be fun, it's just an additional task for us so it was easier to let them participate in the masq and not be awarded prizes if they were placed. After the announcement debacle from two years ago, I was firm that last year any staff participating would not be announced in a specific place, but would instead have an "honorable mention" type thing where they "would have placed were they not staff". Where they placed is not announced. As it happens, I don't think any staff entered last year anyway, haha. This is no longer the case as any staff who "would have placed" are no longer mentioned at all.

Trust me, even as staff, sitting through the announcements and watching staff win is uncomfortable for me, which is why we implemented changes. A couple of years ago we really needed to get staff since previous staff all bailed and we had to be a little more lenient to entice people. Now that we have a more solid team, we aren't as concerned about losing people because of competitions.

 

I agree with you about the charity aspect, but I do disagree about the whole community involvement in this. Yes, it is for charity, and yes, you can never please everyone - and you should never have to - BUT it is for the community, and it would be much more enjoyable to have people present, have their photos snapped, making it all a bit more lively. It's supposed to be fun, and if you notice that enjoyment has gone down it's important to make that known. The whole point of getting money for charity is not up for debate. Should everything be changed for all the eye rolling people? No. But it may just show dissatisfaction with certain events. After all, the charity raffle - among many other things - is for fun. If people stop having fun they may not come to the raffle and not buy tickets, something that we briefly were talking about above. It's to raise as much money as possible! It's to draw people in - to find a nice balance of fun with the key point of charity. You can't please everyone, but you can always find ways to keep building up on suggestions and drawing in more people for the event.

Anyway, all this is just feedback. Not about getting knickers in bunches - just finding ways to smooth out certain events.

Welp, it's a shame the meet after the raffle is gone, but now that there are mini meets throughout the weekend I'm excited to see how it will play out. It seems that there is a lot in store, so I'm saving any other feedback after the con.

I'm confident that the organizers will use whatever feedback they get - and above all their experience - to decide what needs improving or not.

 

The meet after the Charity Raffle was removed within the last year or so because...well basically no one was really meeting, it was just a place where people who walked in together sat down for a bit while other people left after prizes were announced. We felt that it wasn't getting the use in the schedule so we've tried to arrange other meets as an alternative. For the last couple of years we've had Momiji's Meet & Greet first thing on Friday which is aimed at getting people to make new friends at the beginning of the weekend so you have more time to meet up with one another. We also have scheduled meets this year throughout the weekend in the hopes that more people will feel they can hang out with doll people on more days than just Sunday when everyone is ending their weekend.

We do encourage people to attend the charity raffle, and honestly most of the time the people aren't purposely not showing up to the raffle. It's been a rule for several years now (possibly since its inception) that people who aren't present can still win their prize. This goes for the sponsored prizes and for the smaller bonus prizes it's those who are in the room only. It's also impossible to know at the time why someone wasn't in the room, how bad would it be if you had a personal emergency, couldn't attend and then found out that you missed out on a prize you bought $200 worth of tickets for because a bunch of people said they didn't like that you couldn't win if you weren't in the room?

 

It's a shame it was removed but that completely makes sense! I'm really happy that we have so many other options for meeting up this year. ^_^ It's my favorite part of the convention! Getting to chat with owners and meeting new people is fantastic. Thank you for taking all this into consideration!

I agree, but I did feel that it was important to make note that there is some dissatisfaction with this aspect of the charity. It's always deflated the excitement for me too...but, welp, I sure hope more people come out to the raffle and just engage with one another! I'm happy we get such a generous opportunity anyway. I know we can't exactly predict how many people will make it or not, but I'm planning on having as much fun as possible either way!

Thank you for the reply and clarification.

 

I'm not sure what you were told, but the old staff didn't 'bail'. They all quit for very valid reasons, and it was a decision that was not made lightly or impulsively by any of them. It isn't my place to discuss reasons (and I know exactly why they left), but saying they 'bailed' is making light of that particular situation. Heck, they even ensured that all post-con work was completed so as to leave the con in a good place for 2015, and the new staff.

They all want to see Doll North continue to thrive and succeed, they just could no longer be a part of it.

They worked incredibly hard during their time as staff. When they were staff, there was no 'con only' staff, and everyone contributed throughout the year.

 

While I am not staff with DN, I am staff for another event at the con (Cafe Nocturne). Unfortunately for me, the timing of my event overlaps with the timing of the raffle draw so unless I bail on breaking down my event and our post-event meeting, I can't make the raffle (or the meet that use to happen). Over the last 2 years I've been the co-manager of the Cafe so my time is stolen even more for my event. Some other doll stuff I'd like to do, I can't because I'm busy doing set up/break down or the actual event. I hope to be able to get to at least one of the mini-meets scheduled as there never seems enough time to visit with friends at the con because my free time is limited.

 

Okay.

 

Wow, I’m really glad to see this thread bumping with discussion. I’m sorry I’ve been busy today and couldn’t participate until now. Thank you to those of you that have given support or provided constructive feedback, we are looking so forward to the event, did you know this is actually the 10th anniversary of Doll North? I didn’t realize it until inputting the description for the Charity Raffle last night, I feel silly for not making a bigger deal out of this landmark anniversary. We love BJDs, and this community, and all that DN has come to represent. I believe in listening to the voices of our community and I want your voices to be heard, even if we can’t implement a change to your exact specifications I hope those of you who provided constructive feedback will feel listened to. I’ll respond to a few specific posts below.


@DarkRegrets I do apologize if it takes some of the excitement away when the winner is not present to collect their charity raffle prize. Thankfully we have a pretty enthusiastic community so more often than not most winners are present to collect their prizes during the drawing, and when they are not we make an effort to get the prize to the winner and post their photo to social media. At one time our raffle did require the entrants to be present in order to win, but we have found that it was an uninclusive policy and in the end greatly reduced the amount we raised for charity. Something we have tried to do is include some bonus prizes at the end of the raffle for entrants that are present only, after hearing your feedback this is something we will try to continue include in the future as an added thank you to those who are present for the drawing. As the Algonquin room has been adapted over the past few years to fit more of our Doll Market it has also become a less ideal location for a large meet-up. As @moonlitparadox mentioned we found the Sunday meet-up time was not being used for new socialization (something we care very much about encouraging) and it was no longer an ideal venue or time to allow for a large meet-up. We have tried to make up for the Sunday meet-up absence with the implementation of Momijis’ Meet & Greet, and the Doll North meet-up lounge being introduced this year. As the Doll Market becomes more and more in demand by vendors we may not have the space for the addition of chairs for charity raffle presentation in the future, but we are continuing to re-evaluate the best use of that space and to accommodate attendees that want to enjoy the competition winner announcements and charity raffle drawing.


@Tallenvyaere I appreciate the input you have given, and yes staff do receive many of the accommodations you have listed in exchange for giving up the gross majority of their ability to attend the rest of the convention. I took your concerns very seriously and I reached out to an Anime North Executive regarding the con-wide policies to ensure the Doll North policies are in line with the rest of con. I was informed that for all other events at the main convention (Masquerade, Skit Contest, Gallery Momiji and any other raffles) ALL Anime North staff are eligible to participate. That being said we still believe in the stricter policies at Doll North, and those policies will remain unchanged after learning of the con-wide policies. Doll North staff will only be eligible for an evaluation in the masquerade, and they may participate in a game (so long as they were not involved in the development of the game) and they may not win a prize from either the masquerade or games. I hope you will agree that participation under those parameters is fair to the attendees, DN staff will not be taking away a win or a prize from any paying customer. Doll North is very much a community event, there is simply not a huge number of people in this hobby and if we were to place bans and restrictions in place at every possible conflict of interest it would not be a very fun event. Many times, entrants in the face-up challenge, or the doll masquerade are friends or acquaintances with the person judging and there is really no way to prevent that in a small community so we hope you will afford us your good faith and support the community and the volunteers who want to continue participating and enjoying the event.


I also want to address your post regarding your time spent as a volunteer, since it has been brought up twice that you did not receive compensation I am under the impression you were dissatisfied with that outcome. I do apologize if you were dissatisfied, we are very thankful for your contributions and I am sorry if you felt uncompensated or un-thanked for your time. We do our best to stay in line with Anime North policies for volunteers and panelists. Volunteers are eligible for the volunteer program here: Staff & Volunteers and panelists are eligible for the panelist program. We do not manage the panelist program and I do not know the compensation that it will provide this year, but we can register panels run by panelists with the official anpanels website so they can claim their hours contributed, any inquiries regarding compensation would have to go to the Panelists Department. Again, I want to personally thank you for the help you provided in those two years, and I am truly sorry if you felt under-appreciated or under-compensated that was truly not our intent, if there is anything I can do to improve your feelings going forward I am happy to help. If you were to ever join another Doll North panel or the re-stringing workshop again and wanted to discuss being able to use the materials on your own doll or accept tips that is something we would be more than happy to discuss with you.

 

Thank you so much for your reply.

I sincerely appreciate the time you spent addressing my concerns and suggestions, and I now feel like I have a much better grasp of what is going behind the scenes. I am incredibly happy to hear about the lounge idea introduced this year! Also, thank you for attempting to bring a balance to the raffle and for those who come to attend - I know it can't be easy balancing the need to raise funds for charity while also making it fun for all involved. And most of all, thank you for considering the feedback. It's fantastic to be able to have a sincere dialogue with you. We all love this convention and I greatly look forward to seeing it thrive!

 

Thank you I am really glad you feel your voice is heard. We feel it's very important for continued growth and improvement of the event, please feel free to message us anytime of year with feedback or concerns on facebook: Doll North or email [email protected] since we may sometimes miss notifications on the doa threads, those are direct lines to myself and @moonlitparadox

 

I actually provided Doll Care services for three years. Once when we were located at the Sheraton, and twice at the Crowne. The Sheraton was actually a particularly wonderful experience, as Lunar (previously of Blue Fairy) watched me work on a Blue Fairy doll, and it was an honor to receive praise from him.

I honestly expected nothing in return for my services. The only reason it was brought up to begin with was to express that others willingly volunteer their time without any compensation, so it's disappointing to hear that the amazing perks that your staff gets for their time as Doll North staff were so underappreciated that you needed to change your practices on staff entering the raffle and competitions (something that was not allowed in previous years) to entice new staff to join.

I was actually made aware that you were displeased with my work the year that I volunteered my services for the entire con weekend, which was quite disheartening for me to hear. From my understanding, there was a misunderstanding regarding the hours I would be keeping. One of the reasons I didn't pursue any form of compensation for that year was because it would leave me free to make my own hours and not be beholden to the mandatory 20 hours of volunteering or what have you that would have been required to receive compensation. I do apologize for this misunderstanding and regret not having discussed in more detail with you how I would be conducting the Doll Care table that year. However, I did do my best to be around as much as possible that year, while also allowing myself to enjoy the various other aspects of con. I know that the people that came to me for Doll Care were very satisfied with the quality of work I provided that year.

I am very glad that Anime North has been able to provide additional clarification on staff participation in events and raffles. From previous years, I had been under the impression that staff was not able to participate due to perceived conflict of interest reasons. One of the things that I do have to commend you on is your involvement of the guests in the judging process. They tend to be unfamiliar with the regulars at Doll North and are able to provide true impartial judging. I have always enjoyed watching how the guests judge the various competitions, and think it is a wonderful way to involve them in the various aspects of Doll North.

 

@Tallenvyaere Thank you again for your feedback. Again, I'm sorry if the accommodations we have provided staff with, and their ability to participate in some events are not in line with your expectations. They are in line if not more strict then the rest of the con policies, and we stand by the changes that have been made to improve the sense community and involvement between staff and non-staff.

I am sorry to say I do not know what has been said to you about my feelings for your support of the event in the past. Being displeased with your work is not something I ever recall saying, I think there may have been confusion in the first year when you were helping out and I was not made aware of how many hours you had intended to contribute as a volunteer or what role another staff may have asked you to perform, but that certainly did not mean i was unhappy with your help. I am grateful to anyone that gives their time to help run Doll North, and Doll North has gone through many changes since we were housed in the Sheraton hotel. I am always available to chat if you would like me to address anything you have been told, please feel free to message me on facebook, PM, or email if you want to discuss it further. I stand by my statements that we were thankful for your support and would be pleased to have your help again in the future, and do our best to fulfill compensation requests that are within our power to provide. Thank you again for your commendation regarding judging the competitions, we agree it is nice to turn to someone from outside the local community for the evaluations to reduce the risk of collusion.

 

I don't quite understand where you are reading this from my last post. I quite literally just said that I was glad AN was able to provide clarification, as in previous years staff did not participate in the raffles and activities because they didn't want people to think it would be a conflict of interest. Due to this, i thought staff was not allowed (as per AN) to participate in events they were directly involved in. I feel as though you are trying to insinuate that I am still displeased and trying to make it appear like this is an issue for me. AN gave their official response regarding this. I fully accept their answer.

As this thread is veering quite completely off-topic, I don't think I'll be posting anymore.

 

@Tallenvyaere thank you.

@SHINn I'm sure you will make lots of friends! My first AN with dolls (before there was really any programming for BJDs) is how I made friends in the hobby. We've been friends for 11 years now.

@karlifierling CMG is a sweetheart.

The program will be released soon! This year we're going to use Google Calendars as well to help out those who wish for reminders about events and for those who don't have the Guidebook App for the rest of con/only want Doll North programming. We're just proofreading at this point and it'll be ready soon.

I hope you all enjoy the new items added to our programming this year!

And if you haven't bought your Workshop ticket yet, I would do it as soon as possible.

 

I've been going to Doll North since the 2nd or 3rd year it was started, and everyone has always been so kind and welcoming. It's always been a fantastic way to meet people and see new dolls!

I can't wait to see the program! While I don't really go to many of the competitions, I always love attending the panels and meet ups. From what has been hinted at, I don't think "stale" will be able to be applied to this year. I'm excited to see what you have in store for various parts of the con!

And I look forward to spending time with everyone there for my 10 year anniversary in the hobby.

 

I'm mega excited fo rthe con this year! Still not sure who I want to bring. Such a long list! I know my two new ones, that I'm hoping show up tomorrow, will at least be coming! (Brown skin model delf Cian and a romance Kid delf kiwi on a model delf body. )
can't wait to see everyones dollies to top it off!~

 

@Fate Oooo I have yet to see a model delf body in person!!

 

So...
Since this will be year 4 for me at AN/DN I'm going all out with actual participation this year!

I bought tickets for the Call Me Gorgeous thing and I'm going for the face up contest for sure.
Hopefully I'll be able to make it for the Masquerade contest (where does one find an EID size doll stand) :/

 

@Meyneth - Olord, I just tried to buy a 70+cm stand for my doll and they were sold out (it would've fit 65-85 cm dolls TnT). Luckily enough my doll is 65 cm so a 1/3 stand is being sent as a replacement, but other than that I had no luck finding anything remotely affordable. I would say check out ebay, though, they have a plethora of different things and most offer express shipping, too. YOu'll just be paying a bit extra.

 

You're welcome to craft something makeshift too. The doll stand requirement is really there to keep your doll as safe as possible while they're on display. If you need fast turn around maybe contact My Favourite Doll - My Favorite Doll she is a doll retailer located in Toronto she might have a stand made for a large doll that would fit your guy? Glass Domes, Acrylic Risers Cases Showcases Doll Stands & Doll Domes is located in the US and has a big selection you might be able to ask if a stand would fit.

 

@moonlitparadox I have a Kid delf kelp head on a model delf body, plus the two incoming so ... They're great! I'm definitely bringing my two new ones though! Plus I'll be in the Crowne, so if you wanna see them, just poke me! I'll be dressed up as Korra from Avatar Friday and sunday, and Link from breath of the wild Saturday. (And will be tagging along with my sister, who will be Katara from Avatar Friday and Sunday, and Zelda Saturday) At least I know I can run up and get them if needed.

 

Yeah I figured, I even started doing research into how to make a stand.
I'll have to make an eBay account. I've been trying to limit the amount of stores I use so that it forces me to get creative. :/

Yeah I did some research on the previous masquerades and some people have little boxes for their dolls to sit on. So I thought in the worst case scenario I'll just make them sit?

I was going to go thrift store hopping this weekend to get ideas. ><

 

Oh! Oh! Me me me! It'll be the full convention, though I imagine most of my Saturday will be spent basking in pretty dollies. I'm so excited I could burst. My friends all talked about Anime/Doll North like it's paradise. Sort of a long trip since I'm in the southern US but I love traveling and this is our big expenditure for the year. The only thing I'm having trouble with is deciding who comes with me and who has to stay at home!

 

@Cat Grenade : That is ALWAYS the hardest part :P Two years in a row I packed up ALL my dolls with me to chill in the hotel with me. Back when I had like 14 of them, haha. (I've sold a bunch since then) I'm going to bring my dearest and most favouritest boy with me this year instead of my usual: my dearest and most favouritist girl who has accompanied me to every Doll North so far. I'm also bringing a blank head xD Because he needs eyes. My other boy will in the Masquerade! So, not much of a tough choice there. But, I"m also onthe fenvce cause I wanna debut my new djinni girl to my friends so she miiiiight come along? WHO KNOWS AUGH

 

@xkelpiex Aaaaaah I so wish I could do that, but there's only so much room in a carryon bag!! You know I hate it because I always want to bring my SOOM Amber with me to conventions but she's so cumbersome I usually only bring her to local meets. Haha I think our thoughts are similar as far as doll shopping goes, because I really want to bring my Serenade Doll Suu to find her some decent clothes (poor girl only has lingerie) and maybe better eyes. She's so oddly proportioned it's really hard to shop for her online. Other than that I know I'll have my ios Chaos now that he's (for the most part) complete, but I think I'll have to leave my favorite doll at home. ;-;

 

Guess who started their masquerade entry yesterday! (I'm such a big slacker Lol) Can't wait to see what else everyone else is doing. :P I think we're gonna have a big turn out this year!

 

I just finished mine about an hour ago!!

 

We hope so

Ugh every one we have TOO MANY prizes this year, we're struggling to find places to give them out and the charity raffle has never been this full. Make sure to enter every game and event you can make it out to we are going to be dropping prizes like mad.

 

@SaturnRose Wow! Too many? That's amazing. and will make for an amazing year!! It would be great if you guys hosted maybe 'fan favorite' for everything? (Face up, masquerade, photo contest?) Just as an idea~

 

I'm counting down the days like a mad!! lol
I am waaayy too excited since its my first time going to DN

 

I hardly have time to work on this masquerade costume. I really hope my feathers make it here on time...
Pray for me

 

Gah, I really wish I could go this year; I saw the schedule and it sounds like so much fun. Hopefully I'll be able to go next year with some of my amigos

My tiny books will be there though - I sent up supplies and put together a bookmaking tutorial to be taught there!

 

@SaturnRose Oh-Oh my, that sure is exciting news! 'Too many prizes' seems like an odd problem to have, though, haha, but I can understand the dilemma. I never really enter anything expecting to win anything (more for fun) because I'm not really ~good~ at anything (besides naming sculpts in past years) but maybe I'll actually get something this year just because of the sheer amount pffft. I WISH. But, as Fate said, this is going to be quite an exciting year.

 

I am quite excited about the mini meets. Though I may not have a doll with me I am hoping to make it the Fans of Fairyland and the Grown-Up (30+) Doll Collectors meet ups respectively, and maybe a couple others. Which meets are you looking forward to/hoping to attend?

 

I just got the shipping/tracking for my Akhmel Nathan and if Customs and CANPost play nice with me, I should be able to bring him to DN. I know somebody in the local group (who's name I totally forget, I'm sorry) wanted to see him when he arrived and considering how... unusual he is, others may want to have a gander as well. I'll also be dragging along Rhas-Khan (Soom ID51 Gluino) for anyone curious about those gorgeous hunks of resin. I'm hoping to be able to make some of the mini-meets *fingers crossed*.

Does any who's going have a DC kid boy body with the bone wings (K-12 I believe)? I'd be forever grateful to see one of those in person.

 

I was really hoping to go this year, and bring my doll along, but it was a choice between going to Doll north or buying a piece of one of my dream dolls. So I'm hoping next year will be the year that I'll finally get to meet real life doll people.

 

I really enjoy the idea of the mini meet up's that are scheduled! I'd have loved to have attended the Fantasy Doll Collectors meet up but I'll be at my doll market table during that time on Saturday~ I hope that mean's I might see people with their lovely fantasy dolls walking around though! I might try making it to the 1/6 scale collector meet up; we'll see! I'll definitely be at the Dollfie Dream and Smartdoll Meet-up on the Sunday.

I'm getting more and more excited as Anime North and Doll North creep closer. I'm still debating if I'll bring one of my dolls with me; it will all depend on how my sale stuff packs up. My hope is to bring my custom-dyed Soom Skoll so I can have a browse around market for some clothes for it when I have a chance to.

 

Looks like I'm in for a good year~ I'm sitting here, looking at the schedule wondering when I'm going to get my shopping in at both Doll north AND anime north. xD I want to do everything!! Im afraid I wont' have enough time between the price is right and project runway. ;0; Maybe I'll just miss name that sculpt -cries-
Good job guys!

 

@Fate We both know I WILL NOT be missing Name that Sculpt haha But, yeah, ir's going to be hard trying to get shopping in both areas done this year. Especially as once I start shopping I get lost in my own world for a million years @n@

 

My wallet is going to be begging me not to do anything rash *snickers*. I have a plan for what I want to purchase, but there's always something that you didn't expect to see and suddenly NEED to have for [insert doll here]. Maybe it's a good thing that the dolls I'm bringing this year are in the difficult to clothe size (ID51 and mature tinies) and 2 of them are incapable of wearing shoes (hooves and fairy feet). Not that I really think that'll stop purchases from happening....

 

Maybe someone will have nice ankle tassles/decor you can get and then you are screwed either way, @Iron_Dog! Lol

@xkelpiex haha I know. I'll figure it out either way. I'm so bad at name that sculpt Lol



To anyone who has stayed at the crowne before: Does anyone know if there's a fridge in the double rooms? We're trying to figure out our food/drink packing situation. x3

 

I just looked at a map of where my brother booked us. The Hilton. The farthest hotel from the con.

 

My roommate and I signed up for the face up workshop, and now I'm trying yo figure out if I should use Sock(since i cleared his face) or buy one of the heads at the con to work on. The closer the con gets the more anxious I am ;w;

 

There are free shuttle buses that run during the con specifically for con goers. However, I'm not sure of the exact route they take/timing of the trips. I think that info is in the pocket con guide.

 

We have a great assortment of heads from Parabox this year we asked for a mix of Anime & Realistic style heads so you are sure to find a nice practice head if you do not want to wipe a current face up. Practice heads are $17 CAD taxes included, cash only.

You're correct The shuttle bus schedule can be found on page 3 of the pocket survival guide here: http://animenorth.com/an17/2017pocketbook.pdf

 

I am very excited about this year. Last year was my first Doll North (or any sort of doll gathering for that matter) I only got to spend an hour or so there last time but I am hoping to get a chance to actually participate a bit more this year. I will be running the pattern drafting panel on Sunday and have been busy getting all my sample pieces ready!

I'm hoping to have something to show in the doll masquerade, but we'll see if I have time to get my doll done with all the other things I need to get done before the event.

 

I'm going this year! This is my first BJD con and some of my friends from the NYC meet ups are coming as well. I'm really excited to meet other collectors and see their dolls.

 

Just finished making shoes for my masq. entry. Took like 3 hrs haha. They look terrible but I did my best so they're staying. I'm oddly proud of them, yet at the same time ashamed? Is that supposed to happen? Probably not. I got my sister to come and "judge" my entry and she told me it was too plain so it's crunch time to add some things; those shoes were included in that process. I'm so excited to see all of the other entries. I always loved watching the masq. contest the other years and am so happy to be able to finally participate this year, especially as the theme (Fairytales) was my suggestion that I made on Facebook! My entry is definitely not going to be on par with everyone else's as I am nowhere near skilled enough, but it's still good fun

I'll be bringing my boy Darche to carry around with me. I know I'm going to regret this choice as he's am SD, haha, but I just can't not do it. He's my BABS. I also think he'll be a cute model for Project Runway

 

I haven't been active in the bjd community for a few years now, but I'm hoping I get the chance to scuttle away from my booth to pop by Doll North this year. I would love to meet some people, since most of the community I knew was back in Norway where I lived for a while.

 

I feel you on a spiritual level
The mix of pride and shame while working on my costume is kinda weird. ><
Especially since I couldn't find all the ideal materials and have had to make due with a lot of things...