Please read this FAQ before you fill out the application, if you are interested in being a dealer at NASFiC 2020. You will be expected to abide by the information and rules presented here if you apply and are accepted into the Virtual Dealer Room.
What’s going on? What IS this?
NASFiC 2020 has cancelled our physical convention due to pandemic safety concerns. We are instead presenting a virtual convention event over the same weekend, August 20-23, 2020. This event will be online primarily through use of a Discord Server, the Columbus 2020 NASFiC website, and may also have a presence on Twitch, Zoom and YouTube. Please check the NASFiC website for further information. As this is new territory for all concerned we don’t know what it will end up being but we won’t find out unless we start doing!
How are you going to have a virtual Dealer Room? How is that even going to work?
We are planning our virtual Dealer Room experience to be 2 parts; a website gallery and collection of links and a dedicated Discord channel for the convention weekend. The first will allow attendees to see a curated list of dealers and how to contact them for transactions and questions; the second will allow dealers a chance to chat online via text, audio, or webcam with attendees during core dealer hours.
How much will this cost dealers?
Nothing. We are offering this experience as a way to keep our community engaged while it’s not safe to gather in groups. You are not required to be a member of NASFiC nor are there dealer fees to pay. If you are inclined to donate to NASFiC please visit the website for contact information on how to do so.
Who’s going to be there?
We hope to welcome virtual attendees that were originally planning to come to NASFiC as well as any other interested people. This event is free to the public.
We hope YOU are too! While we can’t offer you the experience we were originally planning we would like to adhere to the spirit of what was originally planned so any dealer that was accepted into NASFiC 2020 before cancellation is automatically welcome to participate.
I’m not a previously accepted NASFiC dealer. Is this only for them?
As this is a virtual experience we are no longer limited to physical location and we are happy to entertain new applications from dealers from anywhere! That said, we still plan to curate this room for content and balance. If you have any questions on what this means for you as a prospective dealer please email with your questions as we are handling this case by case. We are a family-oriented event with a focus on science fiction and fantasy related goods and your merchandise should reflect that.
What do I need to have or do to participate?
As this will be primarily an online experience you will need to have an online presence. This can be as limited as an email and pictures of your merchandise to share with us for the NASFiC website but the more things you have online the more engagement you’ll be likely to have with online attendees. What we are hoping dealers will provide are the following:
- 3 to 5 or more pictures of your merchandise for use on the NASFiC Virtual Dealer Room landing webpage. Pictures must be in .jpg or .png format, at least 640 x 400 pixels (larger formats preferred), titled with your business name and a picture number (e.g larrysmithbooks01, etc). Pictures of you, your staff or a pet in your business context are also acceptable. These need to be “G” rated pictures. Smartphone camera pictures are acceptable. If accepted into the virtual room you will be given an email address to send pictures to.
- Your business name, contact information and relevant URLs. You do not need to share physical location information or phone numbers unless you wish to. This information will be on the NASFiC landing webpage. Relevant URLs are things like your business webpage, Etsy store links, business FaceBook pages and similar.
- A blurb to go with the above. Blurbs are 2-3 sentences of information about your business. Type of business/what you sell, what makes your business pertinent or interesting to our attendees, whether or not you accept wishlists/custom orders/wholesale or similar are all good things to put in a blurb. This is not meant to be a biography or list of accomplishments of your business.
- Some kind of process for accepting sales while not physically present with a customer. This includes a shipping process. While NASFiC will not interfere with individual dealer practices we would really like attendees to be able to buy from dealers, and if you can’t or won’t ship your merchandise, this isn’t a good fit for you.
- If you wish to participate during the convention you will need to be able to access the Discord server. Instructions for how to do so will be posted on the NASFiC website but the minimum computer capability you will need is a computer with online access running Windows 7 or Mac OS 10.10 or a cell phone with iOS 10+ or Android 5+ as the OS. This will allow both text and voice chat. We anticipate “core hours” for dealer room Discord interaction and these times will be posted closer to the convention dates.
Link To Dealer Application