[Purplegodess]

Im am finally home from acen and before I go into my day or so sleep coma I waanted to check in here with the artist forum folks. I sincerely hope everyone did well or at least had a good time this year at acen. It seemed busier in the alley than ever before and I was greatly pleased to see the diversity of the different studios. I wanted to publicly thank my entire staff who helped in making this weekend run, my two adh's Voltaire30(Phil) and Plaguedog(Kel), and the rest of my staff in no particular order Rach, Beck, Faye, Dan, Dirk, Anna, Marcus. Without these people I might have gone a little crazy. And finally Id like to hear how your weekends went, how did you feel about the artists alley. Did you like the variety of studios? Did anyone as a general attendee have any observation about Artist Alley they wish to share with us? Thanks guys for everything

[ranefea]

My weekend went pretty well and I did like the AA. Although I do have one major complaint. There was no space to get in/out from behind the tables. I was in section G, which was one of the longer sections, and only having small openings on either end of the section was a major inconvenience. One end of this row was also blocked off by the artists there most of the time, forcing people to go the long way around - completely out of our way, or by crawling under the table, which wasn't possible sometimes.

[Damica Racall]

This was my first time at Acen, and I really enjoyed the AA. As a matter of fact, I would have liked to have spent just about my whoel weekend there if possible. However, I only have one gripe.

The amount of room the walk ways had.

I understand that the gigantihuge dealers room is rigth next the the ally, but the walk ways were crowded and blukced up. At one point I was stuck for over a min. unable to move due to one booth being VERY busy. It was awesome that they had alot of coustomers, but it made it hard to get to other vendors.

Other then trying to make the AA a little bigger, I loved it! Keep up the awesome work, and I can't wait to come back to see the AA next year.

[Lezzy-cat]

This was my fourth year at Acen, first year in AA. I have to say, I had a really great time, spent 90% of my time at the table (with the exception of running around spending what I'd made and hitting photoshoots ^^). I have to agree with the above complaints about space, both to get behind the tables (which I lucked out, being against the curtained "wall" I used the dealer room as my passageway), and it did look like the walkways in front of the tables were a bit congested. I mean, its nice to see a lot of people crowd around one table looking at a bunch of awesome things, but there were also a couple times that people just stopped to chat with their friends right in front of the table, which people could get around them, but if anyone wanted to look at anything that was on said table, they couldn't (I was very tempted to tell them to move on because they were blocking my business ^^*). I had a bit of trouble getting around to look at peoples' things too when I wandered through the Alley on Sunday (which was the first opportunity I had to really check out what everyone else had x.x).

[Spydie]

I sold way more than I did last year, even though I only brought a few things. On sunday, I gave the rest of my phone charms to artists that were setting up early so they wouldnt go to waste.

I enjoyed the artist alley this year except for one thing: I shut down for most of Sunday, and another artist was IN MY SPACE. I had no notification of this. When I went to go pack up my things to bring them home, they gave me these dirty looks when I asked them for my things. I ended up informing artist alley staff, and they told me it would be taken care of. I wouldn't have minded sharing my space if I had been ASKED and PAID for the time they used, but technically, they were STEALING from me. I hope that they were escorted out of the con. I wasn't able to stick around long enough to see what happened.

[AkaneNoHime]

Words cannot express how happy I was with Artist Alley. Seriously.

I have always maintained that Artist Alley and the Art Show are by far the best run and organized parts of the con, and this year was no different. It was fabulous as always! I loved the neighbors in the alley I had (they were SO nice to talk to and be around), I loved my tables' location, and I loved seeing how large AA was this year. I have to admit that there were a few times when one of my studio members did crawl under the table to get out, but he didn't mind it at all, and it only happened a few times and was no biggie. My studio and all all brought a cooler to make sandwiches for ourselves during the con, and there was so much traffic going through the alley that it took me 2 hours to finish my sandwich! I've never seen so much traffic going through the alley, and I know that all the Alley-ers appreciated it!

It was awesome that so many people were going through, and I hope that based on this year's success for all the Artist Alley-ers that the con allows Jess and all the wonderful Artist Alley staff to make Artist Alley even bigger next year.

Lots of Smiles,
Akane

Katsuyama Studios

[smtemp]

I thought this year was the best artist alley I've participated in!

My friend and I lucked out being on an end cap of one of the middle rows, sorry if we were part of the problem for any of you guys entering and leaving your tables! But we always moved when asked or tapped

Everyone in Artist Alley was very friendly and I definitely noticed a higher quality of work among all artist alley participants! Artist Alley has certainly evolved as a con event in general these days

LOVE being next to the dealer's room. LOVED I could drive right in and drop off my heavy boxes! Staff even helped me carry things to my table!

it was also very convenient having the food court near by! I sit all day at the table. At previous conventions, I wound up never eating because I couldn't go anywhere/there wasn't any food ever available.

REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVED that I didn't have to use the hamster tunnel AT ALL this year XD WOOOOHOOO!! hahahah I found many convenient entrances.. and even in a hurry I was able to run from the lobby to my artist alley table and back to the hotel in less than 5 minutes XD (I forgot something when I needed to be somewhere >.> )

The only thing that irritated me this weekend were a few rude people taking pictures of people's prints and arguing with the artist when asked not to do so. But maybe print artists can make their own signs saying "No Photography" *shrugs*

I made awesome sales and I wonder if the registration problem hadn't occurred how much more I would have made!

Oh, also great we could get our badges early on Thursday! AND that other people from my table were able to pick up my badge for me! They said it went real smoothly.

Great Job on Artist Alley this year guys!

[Dark Goddess]

This was my first year at AA and I had an absolute blast! Business was just fantastic! I couldn't believe how well I did. I really liked how much space there was behind our tables to keep stuff. I'm used to cons where there's barely enough room to sit behind the table and here I could keep my stuff out and not worry about trapping myself.

The staff was very nice and helpful and I loved my neighbors. They were all so friendly and courteous. It's nice to see other artists respecting each other and I felt like I had been next to some of them at many cons.

Thank you so much to the staff of ACEN for making this a wonderful weekend and thank you to all the wonderful artists out there who share so much love for art and anime.

Diane Kowalski
Dark Goddess Productions

[AkaneNoHime]

Dark Goddess, on May 20 2008, 04:47 AM, said:

This was my first year at AA and I had an absolute blast! Business was just fantastic! I couldn't believe how well I did. I really liked how much space there was behind our tables to keep stuff. I'm used to cons where there's barely enough room to sit behind the table and here I could keep my stuff out and not worry about trapping myself.

The staff was very nice and helpful and I loved my neighbors. They were all so friendly and courteous. It's nice to see other artists respecting each other and I felt like I had been next to some of them at many cons.

Thank you so much to the staff of ACEN for making this a wonderful weekend and thank you to all the wonderful artists out there who share so much love for art and anime.

Diane Kowalski
Dark Goddess Productions

Hey you!

I was right next to you in the Alley, and I was hoping you'd post here! You were an awesome neighbor, and I hope that I get to be by you in the future. The same goes for the ladies at the table on the other side of me (I forget the studio name off the top of my head, but they were selling the really pretty sets of brocade arm bracers...I bought 2 sets myself!), and also for the Beadsprite tables (Nick and the other guys were so nice), and I was really happy to see them and everyone down our aisle doing so well!

[fev]

hee, think the only thing I got as a suggestion, that isn't already mentioned is having trash cans available in the alley for artists.. the only route we had was using grocery bags if we lucked out enough to have one! Was gonna mention it on the feedback paper y'all gave me, but someones soda from a leaky bag spilled on it XD

Though it got crowded in lanes and behind tables, I'll have to say that it definitely was better than other cons.. the exits on either ends of the long table blocks was brutal, between bodies, art displays, printers and stuff it was a bit tight!

only other pick i have is the selling of official logo stuff, and things that were bought at stores and resold. Saw a few items that I can find in a dollar store down here in GA that was bein' sold in the alley.. can't say thats cool, seeing as this is an artists alley, not a family dollar or dealers room :\

The other issues

[DarkBladeAlchemy]

ranefea, on May 19 2008, 06:36 PM, said:

My weekend went pretty well and I did like the AA. Although I do have one major complaint. There was no space to get in/out from behind the tables. I was in section G, which was one of the longer sections, and only having small openings on either end of the section was a major inconvenience. One end of this row was also blocked off by the artists there most of the time, forcing people to go the long way around - completely out of our way, or by crawling under the table, which wasn't possible sometimes.

I'd like to say thank you so much for the Vincent keychain sunday moring! ^-^
I LOVE IT!

[ranefea]

Spydie, on May 19 2008, 10:06 PM, said:

I sold way more than I did last year, even though I only brought a few things. On sunday, I gave the rest of my phone charms to artists that were setting up early so they wouldnt go to waste.

I enjoyed the artist alley this year except for one thing: I shut down for most of Sunday, and another artist was IN MY SPACE. I had no notification of this. When I went to go pack up my things to bring them home, they gave me these dirty looks when I asked them for my things. I ended up informing artist alley staff, and they told me it would be taken care of. I wouldn't have minded sharing my space if I had been ASKED and PAID for the time they used, but technically, they were STEALING from me. I hope that they were escorted out of the con. I wasn't able to stick around long enough to see what happened.

Ah, you were the one who gave me the phone strap. =) Thank you, I really like it. ^^

DarkBladeAlchemy, on May 20 2008, 07:38 AM, said:

I'd like to say thank you so much for the Vincent keychain sunday moring! ^-^
I LOVE IT!

I'm glad you like it.

[Purplegodess]

Spydie, on May 19 2008, 10:06 PM, said:

I sold way more than I did last year, even though I only brought a few things. On sunday, I gave the rest of my phone charms to artists that were setting up early so they wouldnt go to waste.

I enjoyed the artist alley this year except for one thing: I shut down for most of Sunday, and another artist was IN MY SPACE. I had no notification of this. When I went to go pack up my things to bring them home, they gave me these dirty looks when I asked them for my things. I ended up informing artist alley staff, and they told me it would be taken care of. I wouldn't have minded sharing my space if I had been ASKED and PAID for the time they used, but technically, they were STEALING from me. I hope that they were escorted out of the con. I wasn't able to stick around long enough to see what happened.

They were infact dealt with, Im sorry you had to deal with someones oppertunistic greed.

[Purplegodess]

fev, on May 20 2008, 06:23 AM, said:

hee, think the only thing I got as a suggestion, that isn't already mentioned is having trash cans available in the alley for artists.. the only route we had was using grocery bags if we lucked out enough to have one! Was gonna mention it on the feedback paper y'all gave me, but someones soda from a leaky bag spilled on it XD

Though it got crowded in lanes and behind tables, I'll have to say that it definitely was better than other cons.. the exits on either ends of the long table blocks was brutal, between bodies, art displays, printers and stuff it was a bit tight!

only other pick i have is the selling of official logo stuff, and things that were bought at stores and resold. Saw a few items that I can find in a dollar store down here in GA that was bein' sold in the alley.. can't say thats cool, seeing as this is an artists alley, not a family dollar or dealers room :\

The other issues

I do agree about the trash cans. I had asked for them, but someone conveiniently decided we didnt need them, I will try again for next year Im sorry.

I also wish we had more space and I will continue fighting for it. I dont want to loose booth space butI know aisles need to be larger. Hopefully we will be granted the spaces we need!

I really wish you would have come up to the staff table at con about those people. I personally busted two studios for copywrite peices and my staff would have taken care of it as well. I do not think it is cool either to scam the artists alley and pose those peices as personal work, its just wrong.

[Purplegodess]

Carshow

so i dont know if i formatted this correctly but from the tons of complaints I got on paper about the carshow this might be of interest to you guys to have your voices heard by others. I know this was one of the big complaints out of my hands

[AkaneNoHime]

Purplegodess, on May 20 2008, 05:23 PM, said:

Carshow

so i dont know if i formatted this correctly but from the tons of complaints I got on paper about the carshow this might be of interest to you guys to have your voices heard by others. I know this was one of the big complaints out of my hands

Hmmm...the link didn't work for me...does it just point to the carshow thread?

[Genmaru]

It was my first artist alley, and now I know better what to expect in the future. I will have a colorful eye-catching banner or something. Plus I now know to bring something to attach my prints to it going vertically, so as to save table space.

What really bugged me though was how much people say "oh, that looks real great!" but would then keep walking despite the fact I was selling my prints for pretty cheap =/ I think I'll be back next year, but I don't know. People only bought enough prints and commissions for me to regain the money spent on printing, and my registration. Mostly people just bought my Deathnote Ukiyo-e print, and a couple people bought a Link or Frog print. Despite what I heard on different forums about people liking seeing OCs, people never glanced twice at my original characters =/ And of everyone there, only two guys knew about the Japanese musician I was selling posters of (Merzbow), and they were dressed as Dethklok roadies. Though they didn't buy the screenprinted poster, even though I lowered the price to $12. Which was funny, since my graphic design professors were saying a poster like that would usually go for $40 in the art scene -__-; In the future I'll just do the popular stuff I guess, with a bit of older/more obscure fan art (like Chrono Trigger and Earthbound).

Other artists around us were nice. But across from us, and to our left there were much more professional people who had been doing Artist Alleys for much longer. So that was difficult, since people usually just passed by us to get to them.

[Purplegodess]

http://www.acen.org/forums/index.php?showt...mp;#entry531932

i fail at working hte boards thats the web addy

[bunnybeth]

Overall, we had a great experience as usual this year. Button and print sales weren't very good, but our cookbook sold out on Saturday, and I was thinking we'd done a big enough print run for ACen and AI. Commissions were also good sales for the weekend.

Only minor complaint is due to a rough overnight on Friday, our members were a bit rushed on Saturday morning, and only one of us made it to AA first thing, just squeaking in at 10 am. She actually got a talking-to by an AA staff member as to how we should be at our table before the opening of the alley. Sure, that's all well and good to have all artists in place before that, but as we weren't coming in after the opening, I don't see that my studio-mate had to get reprimanded for the help she gave me following my food poisoning Friday night that caused us all to be late! Just a minor annoyance, but really the entire AA staff should be considerate and realize artists are people to.

[Voltaire30]

bunnybeth, on May 20 2008, 03:31 PM, said:

Overall, we had a great experience as usual this year. Button and print sales weren't very good, but our cookbook sold out on Saturday, and I was thinking we'd done a big enough print run for ACen and AI. Commissions were also good sales for the weekend.

Only minor complaint is due to a rough overnight on Friday, our members were a bit rushed on Saturday morning, and only one of us made it to AA first thing, just squeaking in at 10 am. She actually got a talking-to by an AA staff member as to how we should be at our table before the opening of the alley. Sure, that's all well and good to have all artists in place before that, but as we weren't coming in after the opening, I don't see that my studio-mate had to get reprimanded for the help she gave me following my food poisoning Friday night that caused us all to be late! Just a minor annoyance, but really the entire AA staff should be considerate and realize artists are people to.

Hmm that sounds really strange to me because we really were not policing your tables and what time you got to them, but if you would like to pm me with a description maybe I can help?

[Iris]

Despite a nitemare trip up there, and making only half of what I usually do (didn't even cover my costs this year T_T ) I had a really good time in the alley. Other artists were really friendly like usual, and though it did get a little irritating that some groups (con guests, not particularly artists) stopped in the mind of a walkways to chat and plan out stuff, basically blocking tables for short periods of time without even looking at the art it really wasn't taht big of a deal.

For sake of not repeating people again I'll simply give my kudos on something I think is really important. Thanks SO much for getting us so near the bathrooms and food stands! When you're sometimes spending 6+ hours sitting around at your tables it's so wonderful to not have to trek all over creation to find food or a bathroom. I really hope those two things return in AA'09

[fev]

Purplegodess, on May 20 2008, 10:28 AM, said:

I do agree about the trash cans. I had asked for them, but someone conveiniently decided we didnt need them, I will try again for next year Im sorry.

I also wish we had more space and I will continue fighting for it. I dont want to loose booth space butI know aisles need to be larger. Hopefully we will be granted the spaces we need!

I really wish you would have come up to the staff table at con about those people. I personally busted two studios for copywrite peices and my staff would have taken care of it as well. I do not think it is cool either to scam the artists alley and pose those peices as personal work, its just wrong.

Mah, no need to apologize for the trash can thing XD Things happen

but honestly, I tend to chalk up lacking space to the fact that we're not paying big ol' dealers room rates.. and in comparison to other cons' Ive been to, this was a good bit roomier than most XD.

But yeah, bootleggin' & resellin bought items is a big ol' peeve of mine, and I would have reported them had I seen it sooner (saw store bought items when I was walking back to my table in Sunday just before the alley closed).. my bad for not reporting. Is nice to know that y'all actually do enforce anti bootlegging policies

Quote

What really bugged me though was how much people say "oh, that looks real great!" but would then keep walking

hee, I don't know anyone who HASN'T experienced that.. its the norm . kindof like going clothes shopping, & thinking that some outfits look great.. ain't gonna buy everything that looks great neh?.. but yeah, don't feel insulted or frustrated about it, as at the very least, your work got feedback!

[Missyeru]

Bootlegging?!? what bootlegging? I didnt see any?


hmm this year was AMAZING this was my second year i thought it was much better than last year, i pretty much ran out of everything i made! there were so many more people!!!!!!!! I loved the layout i thought it was great, i thought the artest were amazing this year and that it was very quality work, and i with i spent more money on fellow artist goods!!! The table next to me was their first year and i adored them!!!!

i was just very happy but thinking about it trash cans would be a great idea, me and the table next to us just had a trashbag that we filled up..... but we didnt know what to do with it when it was full, someone eventually took it from us but still...

oh and jessica THANK YOU for putting up with my early morning spazing!!!!

~Missyeru

[ranefea]

Genmaru, on May 20 2008, 12:44 PM, said:

What really bugged me though was how much people say "oh, that looks real great!" but would then keep walking despite the fact I was selling my prints for pretty cheap =/

Yeah, I got a lot of that, too. That didn't bug me as much as that the artist that had two tables behind my friend's and my tables had their prints hanging high up, facing the front of their tables, and facing behind, which in fact would many times distract people who were just about to buy something from one of us, and I got a few "nevermind"s as they went scurrying off to look at those instead. Multiple times my friend was asked how much those posters were even, since people kept thinking they were hers, and they never even bothered to look at her stuff once she said that they weren't hers.

[Esther Nairn]

I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of the AA staff. Akane said it already but I will repeat it: Artist Alley is hands-down the best-run part of this con. This year I think you guys outdid yourselves. It felt like a big artist love fest going on all weekend and it was awesome to be a part of.

Just by way of background, Akane and I have had a really rough time of it the past couple months. Our Dad had a heart attack ~6 weeks ago, our Grandpa fell and broke his hip that same weekend, three weeks ago Akane had an emergency appendectomy and had to be in the hospital for 4 days because of allergic reactions to medications, and then last week our Grandpa succumbed to the infections from his injury and passed on. This weekend felt like a holiday from reality, and it is exactly what Akane and I needed. It went so smoothly we just couldn't believe our luck!

I have never considered myself an artist at AA, just someone helping run Akane's booth. But this year I was able to come up with a cell phone charm design and Akane applied her artwork to it, and I did the beadwork on all of them. I did beadwork years ago when I had a lot more time on my hands, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. So, AA brought out a little of an artist in me and I really enjoyed seeing people holding up a cell phone or Nintendo DS with something I'd helped create on it.

Ordinarily, I would have a list of things to be improved but really, I can't think of anything major. There were a few minor things that folks brought up, like trash cans and a little space to get out of the long rows, but those are really minor in comparison to the awesomeness that was AA this year. So I think I need to give a list of things that I particularly liked, in hopes that they can continue next year.

-->Artist support in advertising. We got an ad in the booklet and were immensely pleased with both its position in the book and the business it generated. We were assured by the sales department that ACen wants to continue supporting its artists with good ad rates in the booklets in future years, which is very cool.
-->Artist support in general. I have been to other cons and I have to say ACen supports its artists more than any of them I've been to. It's hard to be an artist and yet everyone we have ever dealt with for AA and AA-related things understands that perfectly.
-->The staff. You guys are amazing, and every year you out-do yourselves. Please keep up the good work--we all appreciate it!
-->Placement of AA. Between the registration and dealer's room. Perfect. We got as much traffic as I saw at the dealer's room, and you can't ask for anything more than that!
-->Size of AA. We kept hearing from people how they enjoyed walking around such a huge area to see so many different artists.
-->Quality of AA work. It does indeed get more professional every year, and I'm glad to hear that several artists are reporting that their sales were good. A lot of people worked very hard and I'm glad to see their work was appreciated, because I saw excellent stuff out there.
-->Proximity to food. I get headaches sometimes, and sometimes omgneedcaffeineandaspirinrightnow. Our lil' cooler was mostly stuffed with Pokka coffee but I needed soda, so the closeness to the food really helped.
-->Proximity to autograph signers. This was really helpful when Akane was looking to get Kenichi Sonoda-san's autograph. ^_~
-->Our booth location. Against the blue curtain wall was awesome.
-->Our neighbors. A more professional, nice bunch of people you couldn't have. It really makes a difference when your neighbors are supportive, creative, intelligent, sweet people. I hope they all did as well as they'd hoped, and even better!
-->The way the booths were arranged in general. It wasn't like you had a cosplay section, a doll section, a print section, a plushie section etc. I think breaking up the kinds of booths the way they were both helped traffic and helped ensure people were exposed to different mediums of art.
-->Booth size. 6x8 is a good space. This year we went for a double booth and it was fantastic. We like having our shelves up and having enough room to display our black flats, and still having enough room to seat everyone.
-->Allowing cars in to help set up and break down. This helped us immensely, we could not have gotten everything in to AA on time without it.
-->The number of people allowed to help man AA booths. We couldn't have done it without the help we had, and letting them all get badges thru AA made it all possible.
-->Badge pickup. So, so, so convenient. I hope it also helped reg out to not have to worry about our badges along with everyone else's.

If I think of anything else I'll post it, but that's what I can come up with off the top of my head.

Thanks again to everyone who makes AA possible, you are the best!!

[Juri]

I had a super amazing great sales run at AA. The bass from the car show did get to my head (I couldn't hear all of the music because I was on the opposite side of the alley) but I just figured it was part of the con so whatever. It might have bugged me more if I was on the other side of the alley ^^;

AA was SO on the ball this year. It was great. I loved the balloons! Very clever!

[Worldlygate]

ranefea, on May 21 2008, 09:20 AM, said:

Yeah, I got a lot of that, too. That didn't bug me as much as that the artist that had two tables behind my friend's and my tables had their prints hanging high up, facing the front of their tables, and facing behind, which in fact would many times distract people who were just about to buy something from one of us, and I got a few "nevermind"s as they went scurrying off to look at those instead. Multiple times my friend was asked how much those posters were even, since people kept thinking they were hers, and they never even bothered to look at her stuff once she said that they weren't hers.

ooo I know what you're talking about. That sucks...I got confused about that too though. Since they had posters on the back too I was like, "Huhh? Does the person behind them sell the same stuff as them too?" So it was pretty awkward. Sorry that had to happen to your friend

[fev]

Missyeru, on May 21 2008, 02:02 AM, said:

Bootlegging?!? what bootlegging? I didnt see any?

oh mah bad..poor wording choice.. plagarism.. like takin official logos and/or art, sticking it on something, and selling it..

[Missyeru]

fev, on May 22 2008, 12:02 AM, said:

oh mah bad..poor wording choice.. plagarism.. like takin official logos and/or art, sticking it on something, and selling it..

ohh like what do you mean, gosh i feel so dumb when it comes to this, or maybe i seriously just didnt notice, i saw just fan art.....
are you talking like[for example] someone printing a photo of pac man and ironing it to a shirt they bought at walmart? and selling it as art?

[sweetplushiecak]

Genmaru, on May 20 2008, 05:44 PM, said:

It was my first artist alley, and now I know better what to expect in the future. I will have a colorful eye-catching banner or something. Plus I now know to bring something to attach my prints to it going vertically, so as to save table space.

What really bugged me though was how much people say "oh, that looks real great!" but would then keep walking despite the fact I was selling my prints for pretty cheap =/ I think I'll be back next year, but I don't know. People only bought enough prints and commissions for me to regain the money spent on printing, and my registration. Mostly people just bought my Deathnote Ukiyo-e print, and a couple people bought a Link or Frog print.

Hey I was next to you! Those Ukiyo-e prints were amazing, I think if you expand the selection to more characters and series you'll get more attention and buyers.

The con went great for me, made double what I did last year. I was really glad to have a table on the outside perimeter of the alley, made it easy to sneak behind the curtain to get in and out of the alley. It was kind of a pain that there wasn't space between tables. Sure it was done for space reasons but it made it hard to get out for some artists.
Also with the layout and the alley being set up backwards my table was on the complete opposite end of the alley (supposed to be in the front) and the lack of garbage cans was kind of disappointing (ended up using a grocery bag)

All in all it was a good experience.