Hello all, Ms FashCon reporting for duty. Please excuse any typos or double-entendres in this newsletter as I am dog-tired…! Scribbling out entries past midnight may not be wise. I’d appreciate you all reading this newsletter. Thanks!
1. Group IM spaghetti
Group IMs seem to have taken a serious dive in the last few days, and right now responses are often delayed by up to 30 mins (really). This leads to very frayed temperatures, as some make mistakes, and others think that the huge delay means it’s deliberate. Please remember that FashCon is over 2500 people, and new people are always joining. As I’ve learned not everyone will read these notices, or the website. But most people who make mistakes in group IM just need some gentle pointers.
Right now, I would ask you all refrain from using group IM until the lag problems have gone away. In particular, do NOT reply to misdirected group IMs in a sharp or nasty way: this will have exactly the opposite effect to what you want: it will cause more group IMs. Once group IMs are working again, check http://fashcon.com/faq for the group rules on IMs, which are strict.
Please be assured that anyone who is rude or nasty in group IM, even in response to spam, will be removed from the group. This is a cardinal rule for me: be nice. Deliberate spammers will also of course be swiftly removed.
Finally, if you want to help out (please), IM people who misdirect IMs to group IM: and do it with a SMILE. Be nice, they are probably just confused. And note that FashCon now has a small team of official helpers who have my blessing to try to herd the cats in Group IM :) They really help me out, so please respect their word. They too have privileges to remove offenders from the group. You can check if someone if a FashCon IM Helper by checking their “Title” on the group front page.
And remember to join the Fashion Consolidated Cafe group if you want unconstrained unlagged chat! It’s a lovely place.
2. 60 applications
A week or so ago I sent a notice about the application system for designers being closed for now. This was a result of receiving 60 applications in 10 days, which my poor little hands can’t handle manually :/ Behind the scenes there are currently furious attempts to solve this problem in a systematic scalable way, and I’m confident that a new masterplan will be available soon, and applications will be re-opened. I’m sorry for the 60 designers waiting – please don’t IM me, I’m getting along as fast as I can. I’ll fix this somehow I promise soon :)
3. Notice content
I’ve sent this out before and I’m terrified of boring you all, but, well hey, I’m a bore, and quite a few designers have said to me “I didn’t know that”. So: please all vendors note that your notices should concentrate on new fashion releases with pics. This is so that people who signed up for FashCon get what they signed up for and stay (and buy your stuff). It’s hard for me to explain to vendor D why I’m IMing them to ask them to do this when vendors A, B and C just did it today and there’s only one of me so I can’t IM them all. So please when you send notices:
- Concentrate on your new releases. Related notices about shows and sales should be kept to “occasional” if not accompanied by new release: sending these is a privilege, not a right, for vendors who have stuck to these rules in the past. This group is about new releases.
- Do not send notices about parties, notices for others (ask them to join!), notices about new scripts, scams, etc. We need to keep content concentrated so people stay and are happy.
- Do not send blank “come to my shop” notices. That’s bad.
- Always send pics of your new releases with your notices. No landmark only notices please.
- Please CHECK your notices before you send. A ton of people are forgetting to attach stuff, sending wrong landmarks etc. Everyone makes mistakes (I will now), but please doublecheck before sending.
- Ignore it if others don’t read this or follow it. Follow this guide, not what others do. The buyers will love you for it.
Thank you all who read this far. Please pass this entry on to others it may explain things to. Not that many people read the website or notices, and you should consider yourself a FashCon VIP for reading this sentence. There’s only one of me, so passing on these words in good humour to others means you are helping me a ton!
I <3 you
Honey Fairweather
