Dealer Applications will open on November 10, 2018. Applications will close on December 31st, 2018. Dealer selection is done on a juried process. Applications will be reviewed and juried as they are received, information on the jurying process is available below. Selection of dealers will be done in phases. While some dealers may be approved as early as mid-November, we will make the final dealer selection on January 5th.

NOTICE:
• Con Badges are not included & must be purchased separately! Any assistants must also purchase their own badges.
• Application does not guarantee a dealers den space. Please read the rules. Approved dealers will be notified by January 6th.
• Approval in prior years does not guarantee approval this year.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns regarding the application process.

Cost Increase

We are having to increase the cost of tables for 2019 and onward. Because of additional table count, there is no longer enough time to set the tables up on Thursday morning before dealers arrive. Late setup causes a domino effect of problems: 1) the hotel could not setup the power distribution before dealers started setting up and 2) tables could not be adjusted to provide proper spacing in alleyways, causing some alleyways to be thinner than originally planned. To remedy this, we are ordering the tables on Wednesday so they can be fully ready for you to set up on Thursday. We are hoping that this will help us provide you with a better experience come Thursday setup.

Content Restrictions

We received a few complaints that gave us concern. The complaints were centered around the improper amount of respect given to families with minors who view the general dealer area, censorship was not properly handled by some vendors and it was pretty easy to see that. The convention unfortunately does not have the proper number of staff members required to police all displayed content under such a strict scrutiny, something will pass under our radar. We also may consider something to be tame and safe but it might be considered risqué by some parents.

The biggest (but not the only!) cause of the problem was with Dakimakuras. Many of the pillow cases up on display had the tiniest of censorship stickers or none at all, however even with the censorship stickers, the piece of art could be considered to be too risqué by some parents. Because of this, we are expanding our Content Restriction policy: “Restricted material involves images depicting … (h) overly generous amount of exposed flesh, (i) items that are meant to be arousing.”

Expanded Black Market

Because we know a large number of displays will be restricted by the new policy, we will expand the Black Market area and remove the fee to be in the Black Market. This way more vendors can display their content without restrictions. Our hope is to provide the best of both worlds: a better experience for families and minors, while not inhibiting you from selling your art.

BLFC offers two types of vendor experiences, Tables and Booths. Tables provide you with a typical furry convention vendor experience where you are provided with a table and some seating space behind it. We recommend a Table for traditional vendors, smaller vendors or if it’s your first time! Booths provide you with a floor space that you can use as you wish. We recommend a Booth for vendors who need to provide an interactive space for their customers or have a lot of merchandise and benefit from a “store” setup.

Table - $120

• Includes one 8’x2.5’ table. Additional tables available (see Optional Upgrades).
• Limit two tables. More may be granted upon a special request and approval.
• Badge NOT included; it must be purchased separately.
• City of Reno Vendor Permit is included in the cost of the table. If you’re sharing the table, additional permits must be purchased (see Optional Upgrades).

Booth - $240

• 12’x12’ floor space to use as you see fit
• Includes two 8’x2.5’ tables. More may be granted upon a special request and approval.
• Badge NOT included; it must be purchased separately
• City of Reno Vendor Permit is included in the cost of the table. If you’re sharing the table, additional permits must be purchased (see below).

Optional upgrades

You can select your optional upgrades while submitting your application.
• Electricity upgrade - $60 (up to 500 watts, more than 500 watts costs extra)
• Black Market upgrade - $0 (allows open display of 18+ content! Includes 18+ age check at the entrance!)
• Additional vendor permit - $20 (For sharing a table with a friend!)
• Additional 8’x2.5’ table - $100 for Standard, $40 for Booth

BLFC operates with a juried process for selecting dealers. We avoid the “first-come-first-serve” method because we believe avoiding it helps provide the best dealer hall experience for our attendees. Unfortunately we do not like to go into the specifics of how the jurying process works. If everyone knew how the process worked, it opens up the process to manipulation, then we wouldn’t be able to judge vendors on merits that we deem are important.

To help increase your chances of being a selected dealer here are some tips!
• Fill out your application correctly: We ask that you please take your time to fill out your application properly, accurately, and to the best of your ability. Incorrect applications do not let us judge your work properly. Remember, there’s no rush in submitting your application!
• Present only your work: Be sure to provide us with a website that properly shows off only your work. We need to be able to quickly discern between your work and your tumblr/twitter reshares/retweets. We do not wish to judge your application with someone else’s work or between photos of your delicious dinners.
• Present your work well: Make sure your website is up to date with your latest offerings! Have good clear photos of your merchandise. If you are using art galleries, be sure to use folders to separate your work by types, this will let us quickly find everything you have to offer.
• Apply for the appropriate space: If you are applying for a booth or for two tables, your website and application needs to prove to us that you will use the space properly. If you don’t feel you have enough merchandise, we highly recommend sharing a table with a friend, they can help fill up the table and you get someone to pass the time with.

Should you have questions that are not answered by this document, please contact dealers@goblfc.org The more questions we receive, the better we can fill this document out!