LDOLL FESTIVAL: The European BJD Convention (29-30 Oct. 2016 - FRANCE)

I'm so sad - I was really looking forward to attending this, but sadly, it is once again during the school year. I wish it was possible for this festival to happen a little earlier in the year one of these years, like in early September or late August! I can't fly to Europe from USA in the middle of the fall quarter, and I can't take an entire quarter off from school just to attend one festival, no matter how much I want to go! I'm sure that there are other people who are in a similar situation, either as students or as educators.

 

Of course, having to compete with other events (both doll and non-doll related) for convention space is always a struggle, and will dictate when the Ldoll festival can occur. I'm just hoping that some year, I and others like me who wish to attend, but have school commitments that conflict with the October date will be able to go to this wonderful event.

 

I'm so excited to hear that the Ldoll festival is back. Yay!!

I never had the chance to attend in the past but I would love to attend the event this year

 

This thing is like a life goal for me!!!!

 

I'm definitely going like each year before! It will be so exiting!

 

I'm so happy to hear that LDoll is back. I'll be going, too, of course! ^____^

Xaya, it's good to know that I'll see you there again!

 

I soooo want to go!! Need to save up for it now
I really look forward to seeing some artists exhibit hopefully...maybe even get a chance to talk to some of them *___*

 

I'll be there like so many years before! ^^

 

@Sharkyra it will be fabulous to see you there!

 

Yessssssss I am soooo excited! It's gonna be awesome
I can't wait to hear more details on the contests. I get to compete in the photo contest again this year, so I am super curious.

 

I'm so excited, I really missed it last year! I already started sewing and embroidering, haha..xD Can't wait to see everyone again, Ldoll just has such a wonderful atmosphere, so energetic and welcoming, and inspiring!

 

My friends and I have been thinking of participating the festival as a visitors. I am thrilled about the opportunity, this would be my first time going on an actual doll festival!

 

Me and my friends want to go so badly! Are the ticket prizes known yet?

 

I am really excited to be able to go this year I heard many good stuff about the convention, can't wait to see it with my own eyes

 

I can't go this year but I would love to sponsor the event by donating some of my creations for contests or raffles ^u^
I'll stay tuned to hear when you are looking for sponsors!

 

It really is the same for me ! I missed badly the Ldoll last year, although i know why there wasn't one. T-T So i am looking forward for this autumn ! There are no other event i'm waiting so eagerly for *w*

(But i was wondering. In France we have 3 or 4 doll related conventions -well among them maybe only the Ldoll and the Doll Rendez-vous are known internationally-, but are there any other big conventions in Europe ?)(please tell me if this question is out of topic ><)

 

We plan to take a part at this convention. We are looking forward opening the registration and of course this event too

 

I hope to make it, I have already marked it on my calendar ^__^

 

OMG, this looks fantastic! I'm definitely going to make an effort to go. Does anyone know when tickets will be on sale?

 

Last Ldoll was marvellous, and this one will be even bigger as it seems ! The tiquets will be on sale this summer, i guess. In July or August. ^^

 

I wonder when the vendor list will be available? So exciting ^_^

 

I'm so excited, too!
This time, I'll come as visitor and won't have a booth as the last two times, I just want to be a visitor again!

 

I'm curious about that, too. For now I only know about Dollmore that they will attend for certain, since they already have a message about that up on their website.

 

I'm also interested to see the vendor list! Exiting! Good to know Dollmore is coming again.

 

There's no Ldoll without Dollmore! ^_^

 

I just priced out a hotel and air fare and it's really not that bad! I wonder if I can save that much in time. Maybe some of us could share a room?

 

OMG the vendor lists are up!

http://ldollfestival.com/exhibitors/pro ... xhibitors/

Private exhibitors

 

Wow, that looks like a fantastic line-up. Sometimes I feel lucky to be in Southern California because there are many doll events here, but at times like this, I wish I were a little closer to Europe... It is such a long distance from here!

 

Sad to see that Oscar won't be there this time (my wallet is probably glad about this).
But so many others I am excited to see for the first time or see again since last LDoll!

Will be there with Les Enfants Terribles, but I'm just booth decoration/the one who paints the face-ups for the heads shown.

 

@boothdecoration, will you be participating in the contests?

And yes, I'm sad, too, that Oscar won't be there, but there seem to be some other resin eyes vendors there.

@april how about a trip through Europe and plan it strategically, so that you will be in France for LDoll . To get here just for the con might be a little too far, but for a nice vacation might make it worth the effort.

 

That IS tempting! I love going to Europe when I can actually haul myself all the way over there...

 

@Sharkyra
Yes, I actually have epic plans for the photography contest (which is the reason why I want to update Schwarz).
I still am sure some cutesie Pullip who grabs a cookie from a jar will win though.

I'm glad Enchanted will be there at least, I'm sure there will be some "Unique" pairs that would look good in my eye bo....I mean, uh, doll heads.

@april What better reason to "haul" yourself over here than some nice vacation AND dolls?

 

@Ara may I steal your fab Pullip idea? That's totally the kind of photo I could probably get done in time to enter >.< .

 

Heh-- yes, dolls and a trip to France would be fantastic. I will have to see if it can work out. But more likely sometime in future years... SO tempting, though. If I were on the East Coast, I'd be there in a flash. It's like half the distance--and without so many connecting flights (although going out of Los Angeles, at least more direct flights are possible)!

 

I wish I could make it to this, but I don't have my tourist passport. :/ Besides, I'm going to Eurofurence as my choice of convention this year. And October will be a touchy time for me as that is only three months before I leave Germany.

You all have fun for me though.

 

Damn, I just killed my chance to win

No, of course, take it, it's not like it's a ground-breaking idea anyway.
Like said, I'm sure that will be a popular choice both for entries and voters.

I also just saw that the photography contest is so far the only one that still has no rules/more information available on the website.
The other three ones are already filled out, with dates and everything.
From their Facebook page:

Oh my

 

The tickets for LDoll are up! ^__^

Billetterie : Ldoll Festival 6

 

I really want to go and the tickets are affordable!

 

I have to say I am very disappointed with the new photo contest, for several reasons.

First, since the winner will be used for the banner it is obvious that only certain pictures will be suitable for this.
Especially with such a theme you can do a lot of things that are not something you should hang in front of a building, but would be great as an entry itself.
This is more a bad move for the convention than for the participants.
If truly the winner with most online votes will be printed that means you can end up with a "messy" looking photo (too many details for a banner), or one that shows violence/mild sexuality.

Second, why make this a world wide contest?
All the other contests are LDoll only, from LDoll to LDoll visitors.
It was special to know that the people who took part in the contest are also walking around on the convention.
People had to vote on the convention, and the winner wasn't known till the end.
Now it's just some contest, results are out before the convention begins and the winner doesn't even have to attend.

Third, this also makes it easier to manipulate.
Some people have crazy fan following, even if they send in a not so great picture they can animate people to vote for them.

The only way to avoid some of these things is for the organizers to not actually pick the one with the most votes but the one they deem most suitable, which would go against what they claimed (letting people vote and thus decide).

I had already great plans for the contest but I will not take part in it now.
I just hope next year this will change

 

Thanks for the explanation Jaina.

I still am pretty unhappy though.
Unlike all the other contests (the ones you present on LDoll) the photo contest now stopped being about skill and turned straight into a popularity contest.
This also has nothing to do with making voting secure or harder to manipulate, there are enough crazily popular people among doll collectors that just need to let their fans know that they have something to vote for and boom, they win.
It's sad because I always enjoyed how "difficult" the contests were, it was just about skill and nothing else.
Even a total unknown person could win them as long as they are working hard enough!

I understand your wish to gather more attention to LDoll, but the fact the winner doesn't have to attend kills that a little.
You can get hundreds of entries and none of these people will ever bother showing up, after all they don't really have to.

I also am pretty sure the problem with LDoll is not that it's not well known enough!
The fact that it's often the only place to get highly sought after dolls from french artists boosted its popularity a lot.
However, it's still a convention in France, Europe.
It's a small country on a small continent, and for collectors in the US or Asia it's just too far away, no matter what we do.
I'm from Germany and even I have to save quite a good chunk of money to drive down to France, stay there a few days AND have enough spending money for the convention (after all just one single doll can cost as much as a full short holiday for some people).


I think the best would have been two contests:
one for the banner and a true photography contest.
The first one could have been open to everyone, with a huge print of the picture as prize.
That way you can also make sure to receive the best possible banner for the convention, with a suitable photo/design while not watering down the photography contest.
The photography contest should have stayed the same as last years, focusing on photography skills.

Maybe some food for thought for the next year

 

Well, there is some truth about Ara's post. I also think that the major problem in gaining more visitors is a cost factor. We BJD collectors already have an expensive hobby, so traveling to a place that is far away which requires us to buy plane and hotel tickets isn't an easy choice for most of us. Unfortunately Lyon isn't as easy to reach as would be Paris for example. On the other hand I'm sure that accommodation is generally cheaper in Lyon than in Paris. Depending on where you live the costs for getting to LDoll are often high enough to buy a fully dressed ⅓ doll from these expenses so people will calculate twice before going. And those of us who attend regularly always try to find cheaper fares for getting there and cheaper hotels. To give you an example: to make things a little more inexpensive for everyone our group from Germany (who has continuously grown since the first LDoll btw) has chartered a bus from Frankfurt to Lyon to go there. Yet all of this takes organization and time to coordinate people so that 20 of us can travel at the same time, stay in the same hotel, etc.
So if you could do something to reduce the costs for the visitors even more somehow, like maybe talk to a few hotels and ask them if they could arrange special prices for LDoll visitors and stuff like that it would already help. Also please don't forget the language barrier! As strange as it sounds in our times, yes it can be difficult getting along in France if you don't speak French and that also scares some people away. So the more you could help foreigners who do not speak the language in organizing their holidays there, the more readily they might go.

I personally also agree with Ara that one of the biggest appeals (if not the biggest) for people from abroad to go to the LDoll has always been the highly limited and sought after artist dolls that were only available there. A lot of people just came for these dolls alone. So if you could convince the artists to make some more really unique and special LDoll-only LEs, you will surely get more visitors .

Another thing that has always been attractive was that many companies from Asia offered to bring ordered items to the LDoll, so that visitors could save on shipping and tax costs. And I think people also loved that it was possible to buy ready-made dolls at the con without having to wait for the items to be produced. As far as I remember, most doll companies who offered a lot of mid and low priced dolls at the con always sold a lot of them.

As to the photo contest, I cannot say anything about that as I'm lacking the experience with such things. But I hope that it will work out for you to gain more interest for the LDoll through that means.

 

That sounds like a really good plan to me! Especially the last part.
What I think would help most with exposure is being on more social media. For instance, Tumblr has a huge bjd community but I don't think I've seen much on Ldoll on there. And instagram as well (if it's not already on there). I know it can be a lot of hassle to manage social media but it might really pay off, because I think a lot of people just don't know about Ldoll. I mostly see things about it here on DOA and on Facebook and even then you need to know what to look for, you know?

And concerning the photo contest... I'm completely with Ara on this. I was really looking forward to participating, because photography is such a passion of mine. It was my favorite event during Ldoll, also because I help my friend manage her stand, so I'm busy all day and being able to participate and view the photos is a great reprise. Three years ago I won the staff prize and it was wonderful. And a very special experience for me.
I wish you could do two contests, one specifically for a banner, so people can take appropriate photos for that (Like Ara said, you will be looking for something you can actually use) and another contest at the event, with a smaller amount of photos where the people can vote for their favorite.
In an online contest people like me have very little chance of winning. I have a decent amount of followers on Flickr and Tumblr, but there's people who have thousands of fans. It may be a bit petty of me, but I feel like that is a little unfair.
There are plenty amazing photographers attending Ldoll (Ara is SO good for instance), but it would feel like a more fair 'battleground' (not assuming I would get through the pre-selection) where it would be more about taking a photo that appeals to people and photographic skill.

For me it wouldn't even about winning a prize (although it'd always be nice lol) but more about the experience.
The other contests aren't really an option for me anymore. I participated in the cosplay contest twice, but in the end it was too time consuming and it caused too much stress, so I decided not to participate in that anymore.
I really like the theme for the customization contest, and I am trying to figure out if I can enter it somehow, but it's very likely I won't be able to.

I think Lyon is a great location. We have to drive a really long way to get there but it's worth it to me. I was considering going to the Paris event, but I've been in Paris before and it's just not that appealing...
I'm fairly sure Ldoll is the largest event in Europe and I'd love to see it grow more, but like Ara, I'm not sure an online contest will help with that. You might get a little more exposure but I think being more present on social media will reach a lot more people.

Thanks for reading and thanks for having this open conversation with us!

 

Thanks Snow for the compliment

I think the reason this hit me so hard was that I looked forward to this since the last LDoll.
My girlfriend was the one who won the last contest (the Supia guy is still a well loved addition to her crew), since then we joked how she set the bar for me quite high.
I actually started buying stuff for my photo already since the theme was announced.
I had pretty big plans, but I honestly don't want to "waste" this idea now for some online voting and will do the picture some other time.

Also have to admit that I don't think my picture is suitable for a banner anyway

Jaina, I am not really sure what is the best way to boost LDoll and help other people.
I just think that making a contest for a convention where people don't have to show up in the end is silly.
The price is great, and I'm sure lots of people will send in a photo, but it's just because of the price.
They don't see LDoll, they don't care, it's just another online contest where they can win a great price with barely any effort.
Basically how some people enter every giveaway they can find, no matter what it's for.


As mentioned a good chunk of German collectors decided to drive up to Lyon together, we organized all of this ourselves in a Facebook group though.
I also agree that Lyon is a great location, we enjoyed it a lot when we were there in 2014.
It was easy enough to reach, cheaper and, most important, not as busy and intimidating as Paris tends to be.
Opening up a forum might be too much, but sharing good deals on your FB page might be a good idea.
I very much agree with all of Sharkyra's ideas too.

 

I've already booked my ticket for this and my hotel. I'm very excited to finally be able to go to one.

Also in mention to it not being as easy to access. Infact I found it just as easy to find many methods of transport to Lyon as I would Paris. While the journey would be a little longer from the UK in all transport methods for me. I've found the price isn't higher in anyway and the accommodation is definitely much much cheaper. Lyon is a beautiful city and I'm very excited to get to visit as well as experience a doll convention for the first time.

I look forward to seeing everyone else there!

 

I haven't booked the accommodation but I probably should! It seems that everyone has already done so!! Luckily we can drive to Lyon from Milan so no need to book flights ^^
I'm so excited as this will be my first LDoll! Also a bit sad because apparently Asella isn't making dolls anymore and I was really hoping she would be there, to admire her creations and meet her in person...

 

@toletta you should definitively book your hotel if you haven't done so already. I've noticed a price increase for the LDoll weekend during the last weeks. Is there anything else going on in the city around that time?

@Jaina, I think a forum just for this would probably not be used much, as people are often too lazy to register at a new forum. But if you could help out via your FB account, that should do. I do think more people use facebook and it should be easier reaching everyone there.

 

@Jaina, I can at least tell you that we (Germans) have a thread in our main forum (Dollicted).
It's not super active though, we mostly post in there for the biggest updates (date is set, tickets now available etc.) and the rest is all done in private in our groups/between friends.
Maybe for the next year you can try to find "ambassadors" (or supporters), that actively promote on their plattforms/accounts or in their communities?

We need to make sure that the Festival is active throughout the year too.
I know this is really difficult, even for bigger companies, but the internet is fast and people quickly forget things.
It's hard to constantly find content to post, but maybe it's a good idea to start promoting a little earlier and to not let the accounts die down too much inbetween two LDolls.

I also think invitations/tickets as prizes for some small online contests/giveaways or whatever would have been a great idea.
The best ideas sometimes truly come too late


I'm still a little sad regarding the contest, but I'll survive. Maybe I manage to squeeze in a photo inbetween, even if it's just to get me up and take a picture again.
I still very much look forward to LDoll and meeting other collectors.

 

My sis, our friend and I are going this year for the first time, too, and my, are we excited It was a dream of ours for all the years LDoll has been running because I think it is the one convention in Europe so far with true potential to become really big and international, and it's so nice to be able to meet people from all over. So, if you want to support your hobby, what better chance could there be, I think.

Everything is booked, flights, hotel, tickets, no problem there. The flight is actually less pricey than the train or gasoline money for a car, and it saves a lot of travel time because it takes us to Lyon in less than 2 hours. So that's worth money to me also. Hotel prices were reasonable too, by international standards. I don't want to know what the rooms would cost in a capital city...
- And all this extravaganza for a 18$ ticket - I could hardly believe it and am very grateful that the LDoll team made it possible.

Oh, we're travelling from Germany too^^

 

The schedule for the weekend is up! Schedule for the week-end

I'm waiting for the floorplan now! So exiting to be there!

 

Ooh! I didn't see the schedule yet. I'm so excited to go . Last year was one year too many without LDoll.

 

I have to agree on that! I'm exited to see the floorplan, LDoll is so close!!