Table registration is FULL.

Links:

• Art Track Bios *NEW*
  
• Table Assignments and Map
• A Beginner's Guide - A guide for artists new to the alley.
• Updated Hours of Operation *NEW* (See Check-In for AA check-in hours)

Quick Links into this page:

• Check-In information has been updated
• General Information
• Rules / FAQ
• Violations
• Fun Facts

There have been a lot of changes over the years to the Anime Boston Artists' Alley. This year we have the most changes ever! It has been seen over and over again, how popular our Artists' Alley has been, selling out quicker and quicker every year. We add more and more space and it's never enough. This year, we have the strong hope that it is.

The biggest change were making this year is our location. The Alley is moving from a hallway into large room to allow us to have more tables. The change in location changes the logistics of how the whole Alley works so be sure to check the rules for changes in the details.

The information has been re-organized for easier information look up, but its best to look over the whole thing as there can be consequences for the lack of following certain items.

Guest Artists: It is recommended for Guest Artists or potential Guest Artists to sign up with everyone else to gaurantee a spot in the Artists' Alley if you're interested in being there instead of the Dealers' Room. We'd love to have you and other things can be worked out later after your guest status is confirmed.

Panels: Also note that the panel submission for Anime Boston has gone online. If you have been rejected for a panel and it is artist-related, we do have a limited amount of time and space we can fill up on our own. Please contact us with your panel submission, but only if you've already been rejected by the main submission. We do not want to double-up on the same panels.

General Information:

• Location - Ballroom B
• Table Sizes - 8 feet broken down into 4 foot spots
• Table Prices - $20 for 4 feet, $45 for 8 feet
• Table Skirts - Anime Boston is unable to provide table skirts.
  Feel free to put your own personal touch to your table by bringing your own
• Lighting - Currently unknown
• Electricity - Available but limited, no cost. Check below for details.
• Number of spaces available - There are 97 tables for a total of 194 spots.
• Date for Online Registration - Saturday, February 24th at 5:00PM EST

Please look at the Artist Rules / FAQ for information on how to get a table in addition to other important information.

After the FAQ, there is a list of violations and their repercussions. After which, there are some fun facts on the history of the growth of our Artists' Alley.

If you've looked over the FAQ and still have questions, please use our contact form to email us.

Artist Rules / FAQ

Jump to a specific topic:

Badges Con Registration Reserving a Space Unreserved Spaces Check-in

About Refunds No Adult Material Stolen Items Setup and Take Down Table Locations

Table Listing Availability Chairs Electricity Other

• Badges

  There are two badges for artists and both are important!

  • Con Badges

    This is your three-day membership badge for the Anime Boston convention itself. This is required to attend the con, even as an artist.

    We are currently working on arranging a special set up for picking up your con badge. It is not yet in place, but if we manage to get it in place we'll need to inform you before the con. Please make sure that the e-mail address you list is correctly spelled.

    If you don't hear from us and the con is getting closer, feel free to e-mail us just to double-check that we have a working copy of your e-mail.

  • Artist Badge

    Received upon check in at the Artists' Alley info desk, this is to keep people from squatting.

    This means that by having an Artists' Alley-specific badge, we can keep people who did NOT pay for a table space from setting up shop at what they think is an empty table and thereby taking someone elses spot.

    If you do not have an Artists' Alley badge and you are found sitting at an artist's table, you will be evicted. It's important that you get your badge on check-in.

    When you sign-up, you'll be asked how many artists there will be and who they are. If you decide to add more after this, that's also perfectly fine but be sure to inform us so that your badges can be ready upon check-in. (The first person to check-in for that table will pick up all the artist badges and is thereafter responsable for passing them out to the other artists at the table.)

    You do not have to be an artist to get the badge. Assistants are welcome so that artists can have help and breaks. Just tell us so that they can get a badge too.

    In addition to this important feature, there is also the fun feature that the badge becomes a nice little keepsake.

• Convention Registration
  • Requirements

    It is not required that an artist needs to be pre-registered before buying their table in the online registration. It is required that the artist has their three-day convention badge at the convention. It is highly recommended that the artist does pre-reg BEFORE the convention to save time.

  • New This Year

    New this year, on a trial run, we have made available the option of getting your con registration at the same time as your table registration. Don't worry about it if you already bought your registration, it's not required to buy it through us. But if you haven't done so, buying it through us will give you a con badge at $35 which is cheaper than the current rate through regular registration and will stay at this cheap rate.

    If you buy a registration through us, you have to provide additional information: name, address, e-mail, badge name (pretty much everything you already gave us for being an artist, so you won't have to fill it out twice)

    NOTE: Only ONE person can register for the convention with each spot or table. (Buying a 2 spots or 1 table does not get you two convention registrations.) It is currently too difficult to set up the form to do multiple people. The person buying the table is the only one who can get the registration through the form.

  • Pickup

    We are currently working on a special pickup so that artists can get through regular registration faster. Please be sure to spell your e-mail addresses correctly so we can contact you with the finalized information.

• Reserving a Space

  Tables for Artists' Alley are available on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE basis.

  • Online Form

    To reserve a place in the Artists' Alley, artists must register in advance by using our online registration form or by postal mail. Online registration is highly recommended due to the sheer number of people trying to register.

  • Payment

    Paypal, check, or money order are all accepted through online registration but paypal is preferred and recommended. Spaces are registered to you for the entire weekend.

    All electronic payments (Paypal) must be recieved within a week of registering. If you are paying through the mail, you will be contacted with how to write the check/money order out and where to send it. You then have one week from being notified for us to recieve it.

  • Space Limits

    In fairness to others, a single artist is limited to reserving no more than two spaces in the artists alley (1 full table). If you are a group of artists, it is recommended that you elect a head person for each table and register separately. Be sure to let us know that you are together by providing names so we can do our best to make sure your tables are also together.

  • Information Required

    Please print or type your information so that it is legible.

    Artists' Alley reservations must include at least one Legal Name and your art moniker / group name / studio name if you would line one to be used. Also including your mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address in case we need to reach you (which has been the case for the last two years). This information will not be distributed.

• Unreserved Spaces

  If any spaces are unreserved by the start of the convention, at-the-door registration will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Pricing for any spaces available at the start of the convention will be the same as advance registration. Cash or money orders will be the only form of payment accepted at the door.

• Check-In

  All artists must check in at the Artists' Alley info desk which will be located at the entrance to the Artists' Alley. Once checked in, you are registered for the entire convention, regardless of how often you use your table.

  Check-in schedule:

  • Thursday from 8:00PM-9:00PM
    
    • You must pick up your AB Pre-reg badge first
    • Setup Only
    • Artists Only (no attendees)
  • Friday from 8:00AM-12:00PM

  If you do NOT check in by Noon Saturday morning of the convention, you will forfeit your space and your payment will not be refunded.

  If you know in advance that you have special circumstances, then you must contact us and make arrangements with the staff of the Artists' Alley.

• Refunds

  Effective March 30th, your Artists' Alley table payment will not be refundable. Please alert one of the Artists' Alley staff via e-mail as soon as possible if you cannot attend. If you e-mail a cancellation notice before this date, you can still get a full refund.

  We can only give you a refund of your art table registration. ALL CONVENTION registrations are non-refundable and non-transferable, regardless of where you got it.

• Adult Material

  Any artist with adult related material must have it marked, covered, and supervised at all times to make sure no minors are viewing it. This also means you cannot sell this material to minors. Artists are responsible for verifying the ages of potential customers of this art. Failure to comply could result in disciplinary action and repeated offenses may result in expulsion from the convention. Nobody wants that, so please be careful.

• Anime Boston Is Not Responsible for Stolen Items

  Never leave your table unattended. If you must have a bathroom break, find someone to watch your table. If you plan on being away for two hours to get dinner, pack up your belongings and materials and bring them back to your room.

  The only time you can leave your stuff behind is at lockup. Artists' Alley is in a room this year, so we can lock up the room at night. However, if you do not show up promptly at opening time, we will not be responsible for anything you left behind.

  Disclaimer: As stated above, Anime Boston is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

• Setup and Take Down Times

  As we are in a room, we actually have opening and closing times this year. We aren't worried about setup times because the Artists' Alley will be open pretty early.

  • 8:00 am - 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday
  • 8:00 am -  4:00 pm on Sunday

  It is not required that you stay in the Artist's Alley at all times. You can set up and take down your materials whenever you want as long as the room is open.

  Early Setup on Thursday: We don't know yet if this is possible due to scheduling. If we determine it is possible, we'll let you know closer to the convention. Keep checking this page.

• Table Locations

  In the past, a map was put online and artists were able to -- in a limited sense -- choose their tables.

  • New This Year

    Artists' Alley has grown so big that table selection is no longer possible. Instead, when the online registration form fills up the last table, the form will automatically shut down. The art staff will then place artists at tables based on their timestamps for a first come, first serve basis.

  • Special Requests

    If you need to be placed with another artist, you and the other artist must take note of it and we'll do our best to place you together. When all artists have been placed, the map and artist location list will go online for review.

    If you need electricity, you'll need to take note of that as well. It's limited availablity, but we'll do our best to seat you near an outlet on a first come, first serve basis.

    Also, if you are an artist who has a very large setup, please note that as well. We'll try to put you on one of the wall tables to make things easier to manage.

    The availability of getting a wall table with electricity is even more limited than just getting electricity, but we'll do our best.

  • Changes

    It's perfectly fine to make switches or changes as needed, but there are guidelines:

    If changes are needed, the staff must be contacted by all parties involved in the change. (If you are part of a group, we only need to hear from the head of the group and the artist or head artist of the other group if you and said artist/group have agreed to switch tables.) Changes will no longer be available after the program guide goes to print. (This date will be printed as we get closer as well.) This is to try and keep our map as current as possible as we prepare for physical print outs of this map.

• Availability of Table Listings and / or Map

  The map will be posted in three places that are open to the public:

  • Online, mainly for artist review
  • Program guide
  • The map on the sign by the Artists' Alley info desk

  If you do not want to be listed on this map, you can click "No" on the options during online sign-up. However, you wont be listed on ANY map. If you have a web site, your site will be linked online for potential customers to review, so think of it as free advertising.

  You do not have to have a web site to be listed. The only information that will be posted is the name of the artist OR studio name (or both if asked) and web site (if available).

• Chairs

  Yes, the chairs are enough of a special case to get their own space. This is the only place we need to restrict number of people at one spot due to the fact that we've learned it's impossible to fit more than 4 chairs behind a table (and sometimes hard to fit just the 4!)

  • Setup

    All tables will have 2 chairs (1 chair per spot) unless otherwise specified.

  • Limit

    The limit is 2 chairs per space (4 chairs per table) because, as mentioned, the tables are too small too comfortably fit any more than that. 3 chairs is comfortable. 4 chairs is possible. 5 or more is right out.

    While we will not regulate how many people are at your table (pre-con), you must be aware that if there are more than 2 people for one spot, you will have to switch on and off -- which is a good way to make sure you get breaks. If there are two artists on, the third can go off to attend panels or visit the dealers room or whatever! Sadly though, we will not be squeezing more chairs to accommodate.

• Electricity

  We are getting electricity, but due to the location of outlets, we only have a limited amount to "give out". Please remember to note that you need electricity when you fill out your information under special requests. It will then be done on a first come, first serve basis.

  If you will be using the outlets, you will likely need to bring a surge protector and extension cords since we don't have exact distances between outlets and their locations on the wall and in the floor. If you do use these items, you may want to bring gaffers tape (available at Guitar Center for $12 to $22 per roll) to tape down all wires to keep people from tripping. Duct tape, packing tape, masking tape, and any other type of tape is prohibited by the Hynes for use in taping electrical cords to the floor. The convention will not be supplying gaffers tape.

  There will be no extra charge for usage of electricity.

• Other Notes
  • The Hynes Convention Center itself prohibits the selling or distribution of stickers
  • Please be courteous to all other artists and convention staff in addition to your patrons.
  • Of course, all other convention rules apply and be sure to have fun!

Violations and their Repercussions

What's a violation?

• Selling the work of other artists and / or other copyrighted material without prior permission.
• Selling store-bought merchandise. (What this means is that you can't buy Hello Kitty merchandise at the toy store and sell it in the Artists' Alley, but you can get your original artwork printed on a T-shirt.)
• Selling or showing adult material to minors.
• Setting up shop at someone's table without their permission.

What can happen to you?

• 1st Offense: WARNING.

  You will be given conditions with which you must comply. (Such as taking away all offending material out of sight and never showing it again, etc.)

• 2nd Offense: EVICTION FROM ARTISTS' ALLEY.

  If you have already been given a warning and you have not complied, or have violated another rule, you may be evicted from the Artists' Alley and banned from the Anime Boston Artists' Alley.

• 3rd Offense: EVICTION FROM CONVENTION.

  If you are found trying to get an other artist (knowing or unknowing) to help you sell the material you can no longer even set up, having already been evicted from your own table, you will henceforth be evicted and banned from the convention. We would be within rights to share your name with other conventions as a warning.

Items to be careful of:

• Fanart is okay, as long as it is not a copy or tracing of any kind of material that is already out there. If it can be proven that you have pictures on your table that are somebody else's (for example, a picture of Dark from D.N.Angel and we can bring a copy from the art book to compare with your piece and they are exact) that is a violation.
• Many artists practice by copying art from their favorite series or books. That's fine, just DON'T BRING IT or DON'T DISPLAY IT. Avoid problems and avoid complaints by just not bringing it. It will not be an issue if nobody sees it. If you still bring it, each one must be individually and CLEARLY MARKED as being NOT FOR SALE. If you are later found selling it, you will be found in violation of the rules.

  Our Recommendation is: be safe and don't bring it at all.

Artists' Alley Fun Facts