Post #277797 by Otto on Tue, Jan 9, 2007 6:27 PM

On 2007-01-09 15:50, SoccerTiki wrote:
Chill out on Saturday & Sunday shopping in our poolside bazaar featuring over forty vendors...." and NOT be allowed in the "poolside bazaar"???

Otto, this is a question to you. (An open forum answer might resolve some confusion others have.) Thanks a bunch! I also appreciate what you are doing to make T.O.7 a reality....

Hey everyone, thanks for your posts and opinions which I value and consider when planning the event. Although it is a lot of info to digest I do not take offense in Tiki folks questioning aspects of the event.

Your ticket/wristband allows you onto the property and into the event. There will be a Friday wristband, Sat wristband, and an all-weekend wristband. (or I might just make it one flat rate price of $40) There will be security checking these all day and night Friday and all day and night Saturday. On Saturday the security check points leading into the center of the property will require room key in addition to wristband. The daytime seminars are accessible to rooms that are outside of the grass/pool area and outside of the security checkpoints.

First off, to Vendors: Last year I advertised to the San Diego general public and I thought it brought in a few people but half the vendors closed early on Sunday and the vendors that wanted to stay open were left in a ghost town. This year I intend to advertise to San Diegans that the bazaar is only open on Sunday, thereby driving all that traffic to the second day of vending and making it more worthwhile for all. Last year we only had 150 rooms in the hotel (300 guests?). This year we have over 400 rooms in the hotel - that's 800 guests unless they are 4 to a room then its even more. Therefore on Saturday your traffic should be 3-4 times what it was last year. If you thought it was busy last year then this year it will be downright crowded. Do you really want to add another 100 - 200 shoppers from San Diego into that mess?
I strongly urge vendors to plan accordingly.

Shoppers: San Diego locals - I am not trying to exclude you but I do need to offer incentives to guests who book into the hotel rather than staying at the Motel 6 or some other hotel up the street where I do not get a commission. It is also a necessity in order to control capacity issues. You locals that are in the know and can contact vendors prior to the event and make special arrangements for limited edition items or have friends buy select items for you on Sat. All vendors will be listed on the website along with their URLs or email addresses so that with minimal footwork you could contact all of them directly. Please understand that there is no way that the event can be everything for everyone. No matter what I do there will be someone who gets the short end of something. You can also book a room at the hotel for two nights and eliminate the need to drive home drunk?

Remember the last two TO in Palm Springs shopping was open only to attendees of the event due to capacity issues. Some LA folks wanted to drive out and just shop. Was that exclusionary to them, or the PS locals?