Fur enamel pin trading idea for FM

[Kikyoyaoi]

Over the last two years I’ve noticed a good amount of people wishing for some sort of pin trading or a room designated for pin trading at the convention.
I have ideas and would actually like to try to get a designated pin trading room for attendees at the convention.
A few things to note
I have never been to a straight up pin trading event let alone run one.
I have done some pin trading myself with others the last two years at the convention, So I’m not totally in the dark on this.
I want to include others inputs and concerns so I can write up the best proposal for Furry Migration Before I approach.

-rough room setup-
various roundtables throughout the room, none of them reserved,
to one side or both along the side walls, long tables to display Ita pin bags that showcase peoples collection or otherwise themed & treasured work they put into the bag itself of those in the room at the time.

-scheduling times-
if it was up to me entirely I would love if it was open about as long as say the gaming room or dealers den for each day but with the limited space I’m sure at most 2 maybe 3 hours might work, Again I have to check more on those details.

-rules in the room-
1. No MONEY EXCHANGED AT ALL (same as the convention and hotel itself, keep it as a pin for a pin, its in the name.
If the person you happen to be trading with also happens to be a registered dealer that has a table in the dealers den/artist alley then take business to there.)

2. 3 big pin binders max (yes the tables are big but lets be courteous to other pin traders and not take up the whole space of the table if you can help it)

3. Be kind and be aware, (ex. if someone says no thankyou to your trade in the end still say thankyou for considering.
Also someone’s value on a pin can be wildly different then another’s but still show respect to the best of your ability)

4. If you Came in with a Ita bag to display along the wall while you are there. Then when you leave. The bag goes with you, (thinking of either having a nametag, badge or small polaroid pic next to the bag to indicate who in the room it belongs to with lowering chances of it being taken from some random individual)

5. Keep it pg-13 (room is open to all ages but lets keep language and Pins shown to minimum of suggestiveness

6. No trading knockoffs (I know it can be hard to determine a real version or a fake often but do your best to not trade knockoffs. different grades of a pin is fine)

Those are just what i have so far on top of the conventions, hotel and legal rules.

one question I know will popup is
“What theme or type of pins are we allowed to trade/showcase?”

That I’m gonna be widely open on, much like the furry community fully of color and mini fandoms also businesses within
skys the limit aside from the pg-13 rating in what genres of pins you bring

Examples being Anime pins, Fursona pins, TVShow pins, Gaming, Youtuber pins, and Disney pins too. Basically whatever you want to show or trade with others.

Again this is a rough idea that I really want to go for, So if you have any ideas or questions to put towards this also more then ever interest let me know and I can answer to the best of my abilities.

[Sigil]

Looking this over, I think this would be a fantastic idea, with a couple caveats.

1.) Restricting the hours of the room to a 2-3 hour span might actually be better, as it means all of your traders are going to be in the room around the same time, rather than spread out over the whole day and potentially missing each other.

2.) Displaying Ita Bags is a wonderful idea, but I’d be worried about the potential for bags “disappearing” if their owner leaves the room or otherwise leaves their bag unattended. Perhaps have a “check-in/check-out” system, which leads to my next point…

3.) Would this room have a staff member assigned while it’s open? It could help enforce some of the rules and prevent possible theft, but does mean extra work for the MNFurs staff.

Ultimately, I think this is a really cool idea, the questions are really about execution at this point.

[Kikyoyaoi]

You bring some good points here for sure.

For the ita bag display some sort of check in check out system or numbering system would be a thing for sure, I would be likely stationed near the entrance of the room or at least a spot where I can easily keep a good vision on who enters and who leaves.

I say numbering cause I myself will likely have three ita bags on the table for examples with something next to them to indicate who it belongs to.

If someone leaves without their ita bag I’ll know due to missing number or they leave the number with a buddy for a brief moment.

A buddy system is recommended cause if you want to get up from your table to look at others collections then have a buddy you trust to help ya out and hold your spot or continue on a current trade while you look around/trip to the restroom real quick.

This also gives extra eyes to keep track of bags to make sure they don’t walk off.

As for staffing the room I intend to be there the whole time of it’s opening along with one or two other people from constaff who were interested in this and would likely help staff it.

[Drake M.]

Hi there, Drake with Furry Migration Programming!

I have questions on this so to start things off, are you wanting to turn this into an actual panel to then be held in one of our panel rooms?  If so, how much room would you think you will need?

Second, if turned into a panel, I cannot guarantee 2-3 hours of room time and can do up to an hour, maybe an hour and a half.

I have more questions on this, but I need to think of how to best formulate them first.  We can continue to chat here, otherwise, you can email [email protected] or message me on Telegram – @DrakeM

Thank you!

 

~ Drake M.

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