About World Goth Fair – 2015 FAQ

World Goth Fair is an annual Second Life event, officially sanctioned by the folks at  World Goth Day.  Although it used to be a charity event, it isn’t anymore. If you want to know why that change was made, please read this post.

If you have questions not covered here- please comment with them so they can be added.
FAQ:
1. When will the fair be held?

NOON SLT May 15- MIDNIGHT June 1 2015.

2. Where will it be held?

WGF 2015 will be held on ONE sim. (Cursed.)  To explain why this change has been made from previous years, please read this post.

3. Who is organizing World Goth Fair?
World Goth Fair is produced by Cursed Events.  The team consists of Axi Kurmin, Lokii Violet, Sonya Marmurek, Nephilaine Protaganist, Synjari Myriam, Sohma Dix and CruelBritannia.

For more information about the Cursed Events crew, go here.

4.  Do I have to specifically have a gothshop to be in the fair?

Not specifically,  but due to space limitations this year we will be be giving gothshops a significant amount of first priority.  What is important is that everything that comes to this event be goth. We do not care what flavor of goth, but that’s what it needs to be. A note to the horrorgoths – even though we’re not involved with a charity anymore, the previous rules still stand. I’m still not putting “bruised and battered” stuff in this event.  I mention this because every year someone wants to bring “bruised and battered” tattoos and makeup layers and every year I have to tell them no.  Please don’t make me have this conversation again, okay? Thanks.

5.  What sort of things won’t you accept at all?

Sadly, we find it necessary to mention that urban streetwear? Not goth. Grunge? Not goth.  If you have a problem figuring out what goth is, this is probably not the event for you.  We will not be accepting gesture stores or stores that only sell shapes(and nothing else as a regular item.  This does not mean you get in by offering all shapes, and a hat, either.  If you’re a shape store, we can tell. Really.)

Also, to try and prevent the whole “Im’a bring my whole store!” thing that happens at events, we’re not going to allow anything at the event that’s more than 2 years old. This prevents people from bringing the same stuff over and over year after year.

If you sell things that are racist, sexist, homophobic or misogynistic, we’re not going to think it’s “ironic”. We’re not going to think it’s “herp derp” funny to drag out the same tired,  stereotypical tropes. We’re going to toss your application.  I promise you, if you think selling stuff that calls women gendered slurs is okay? We don’t want you. Really.

You will be strictly held to the Cursed Events policy regarding IP/Infringing content.  We don’t mess around about this, and it’s something you need to familiarize yourself with.  ANY HINT of unlicensed band merch (and by licensed you had better be prepared to show us the license- if we have to get them, so do you.) will get you immediately removed from the event.

6. What about logos?

We will require a 512×512 full permissions logo be provided at the time of your application within 24 hours.  We aren’t kidding.  We will not process an application without a logo. If you think we already have yours (and it hasn’t changed) just ask us (if you think we have the logo you already know who to ask, I assume.)  If you were in the event last year, I have it. If you’ve been in ANY Cursed Event since last year’s WGF, I have it. You don’t need to resend it.  But if you haven’t, then I need your logo.  Please don’t make me chase you for it- it’s a pain in the ass to have to do that.

Please send all logos inworld to Axi Kurmin- I will send them along to Lokii. She has enough to do without trying to juggle that also.  Please NAME them something that makes sense, like “STORE NAME logo 512” or something. I have over 107K items in inventory.  It’s organized and all, but come on, give me a break here.  Remember to send your logo in after you drop off your application.  I really mean it- we *wont* process that application until we get a logo in our hands. Every year people “forget” to send them and it prevents us from assigning booths and making an event map in a timely manner. This rule was implemented to solve that problem.

Filling out an application is not a guarantee of acceptance.  We will be reviewing stores as they come in for content and suitability.  You will need to pay attention to the merchant list to see if we’re current on applications or not.

7. How many merchants can you accommodate?

In theory, we can accommodate 40 stores.  In reality, we would rather only take stores we think are suitable than push the event just for the sake of doing it. We have gotten a number of requests for extra-small sized kiosks so we can accommodate more stores because of the one sim this year.

8.  Will there be specifically themed areas?
Not really.  We build out booths to spec so there’s no reason for people not to get the size they want.

9. What are the booth costs and prim limits?

small    25prims 5x10m    500L

medium    50prims    10x15m    1000L

large    75prims    15x20m    1500L

Booth fees are not refundable. Note these are called booth fees for a reason. You will be assigned a booth, not a blank parcel of land.  We will TRY make booth shells available as soon as we can (it will probably not happen until at LEAST May 1, and please don’t ask us before that) so people can figure out how theyre going to work their booth out.

10. Are sponsorship packages available, and if so, what do you get for sponsoring?
Yes. We have room for 8 sponsors in total.  We expect them to go VERY quickly.  These slots are 2500L over the regular booth fee.

You do not have to have a particular size booth to be a sponsor.

You get:

Your logo displayed on the site in the sidebar, and a mention on our sponsors page.

An extra 25 prims (if you need extra ask, it’s a matter of if they exist or not ,really).

As best as we possibly can, your booth within sight of the landing point on your sim of choice.

Please note: our landing points are not, and have never been forced.  We cannot force landing points as the sim is occupied on the ground, and it would massively screw things up there to force a LP.  However you should know that the vast majority of people use the landing point just fine.  So if your booth is right by the landing point? About 90% of people land there anyway, even though we don’t force it.

11.  How does the fair work?

You are required to have one NEW item.  Retextures of existing mesh is fine, straight recolors are not fine. You can have more than one new item, but you are required to have at least one.

You are not required to bring exclusives. But since we’re on the topic, let’s talk about what “exclusive” means, because it needs to be clear.

For purposes of this event:

“Exclusive” means that whatever it is will only appear at this event.  Whatever version of whatever it is will not be sold later. This is it- if you want $thing, you need to buy it at the event.

“Reserved” means that whatever it is will only be at this event until the event ends.  After the event, it will be on sale as usual in store/on marketplace.

There are no requirements for exclusive or reserved items. The requirement is that one item be brand new. We don’t care (even a little) if you sell it on MP or in your mainstore at the same time as the event. It’s a non-issue. That being said, people love exclusives/reserves. So it’s up to you.

12. What is your policy regarding scripted vendors?

Landmark givers/group joiners/subscribos are all okay. No autogreeters of any kind. Everyone hates those things anyway.

Regular split scripts are okay.

However, there is a non-negotiable rule in place.  No. Networked. Vendors.  That means no Caspervend, Hippovend, BSM, E2V,  etc.  Networked vendors make off-sim calls to a central database and when under load simwide,  can drag a busy sim to a crawl.  If you can’t live without your networked vendors, then this isn’t the event for you.  Sorry about that.

However, that said:

There isn’t a discussion about this. There are no negotiations about it. In fact, we’re fantastically tired of even HEARING about it.  Just accept it.  It’s very frustrating to hear about how your vendors are somehow special and mystically don’t cause lag.  Trust me- they DO cause lag, when used simwide on a full sim.  We are not willing to police who is using what networked vendor system, and not all of them are created equal.  We cannot spare the time to have to negotiate who is bringing what vendor.  We don’t allow them at all, and this is a firm, non-negotiable point.

13. Where do I send booth fees?

WorldGothDayOfficial resident (and NO ONE ELSE.) Please do not send ANY fees until you have received AN EMAIL confirming your acceptance and your booth fee cost.

14: Is there a flickr group? 

Yes.

15.  When will merchant setup take place, and will there be early access for bloggers?

Merchant setup will take place starting no later than the 12th of May and no earlier than May 9. This is due to the fact that we must close the sims in order to facilitate setup and on Cursed there are stores and houses on the ground that are impacted by this. No, you can’t load in early.   Bloggers will be allowed access through all phases of the build process.  More information for bloggers is on the blogger faq.

16. What is the policy regarding infringing/ripped content?

The policy of ALL the events I’ve ever organized has always been the same- if you rip stuff, be it art, textures, models, whathaveyou – I will punt you out so hard and so fast they will see you fly across the grid. If you buy stolen/infringing content full perm on marketplace, and then resell it, I will pull you out just as quickly.  I have done this before, and will not hesitate to do it again.

SOME SPECIAL NOTES:

***IF YOU HAVE AN ART GALLERY***

If you, personally, did not create the artwork or photos in that gallery YOURSELF, do not bring them to this event. We will remove you. If you grabbed it from the net, google, whatever, and messed with it in photoshop- do not bring them to this event. We will remove you.

It does not matter if you make “an original piece just for the event” if everything else in your store originated as someone else’s artwork. We will not keep you at the event. we are *Not interested* in work that is not completely created by the merchant. Please, save your time and ours- we *really will remove you* if you’re selling work that isn’t yours.

***IF YOU HAVE A TEXTURE STORE***

If you, personally, did not create the textures in that gallery YOURSELF, by your own hand/photo work, do not bring them to this event. We will remove you from it when we find out it’s happened, and someone *always tells us* it’s happened.

It does not matter if you make “an original piece just for the event” if everything else in your store originated as someone else’s texture. We will remove you. we are *Not interested* in work that is not completely created by the merchant. Please, save your time and ours- we *really will remove you* if you’re selling work that isn’t yours.

***IF YOU HAVE A STORE THAT SELLS ANY ARTWORK/TEXTURES AT _ALL_***

Also, please read the above. This rule applies to you also.

***IF YOU SELL MESH CONTENT***

You had to go through the same IP quiz that everyone else did to upload meshes at all. If we find out you’re selling ripped content or if we find out you’re selling INFRINGING content – which doesn’t have to be ripped, just be ripping off someone else’s IP – we will pull you out of World Goth Fair so fast it will make your head spin. It is not fair to everyone else who busts ass to make their own stuff from scratch. There is no way for us to know the legitimacy of every item in every booth, but you can bet that with that many eyes on items, SOMEONE will know, recognize, and prove where it came from. Don’t do it. We will find out and we will remove you from the fair.

If you don’t make your own meshes yourself, and aren’t uploading them, but are buying items full perm on marketplace, is is up to YOU to know that your stuff is not infringing someone else’s IP.  It is up to YOU to know it’s not ripped off from a movie, a video game, or some other property under copyright or trademark. It is up to YOU to be sure that the merchants you’re purchasing things from, full perm on marketplace are legit, and not thieves themselves.  “I didn’t know it was stolen” is a limited defense. When it’s one item, and everything else is obviously fine, well you know, stuff happens to everyone sometimes. No one can be expected to know everything.  But when there’s multiple problems, that defense doesn’t work, and our only recourse is to remove you from the event – because what it tells us is you aren’t aware of your own genres to know what’s real and what isn’t.

If you will be selling music related merchandise at this event you MUST HAVE A WRITTEN LICENSE from the band. No exceptions. So help me if I see one freaking ripped Joy Division album cover someone is going to get punted all the way to Ahern.  Get. A. Freaking. License.  WE DO IT, and you have to also.

Because we aren’t a charity event anymore we can’t in good conscience ask for band licensing for WGF merchandise sold through Gothika. Trying to send profits out to each band is not worth the time it would take to mess with it (it’s a logistical nightmare) and still make it worth the time to create all the product. We *REALLY* wish this were otherwise, believe me.

We shouldn’t have to say this, but we realize we do- it’s not ok to use ripped textures on other things.  So no, you can’t use that album cover texture. No, you can’t use that fabric texture that you grabbed off google, etc. If it’s someone else’s copyrighted content, someone’s gonna report it to us, and once they do, we’ve no choice but to tell you to remove the item and retexture it. Please, don’t make us have to do this. It sucks for us, and for you.

There will be *NO EXCEPTIONS* to this policy, and just to be clear – the org team is the arbiter of what we feel comes too close to the line of infringement(or in fact, sails right over it). We are not beholden to anyone else on this.  Save yourself the hassle and just don’t do it in the first place.

18. Can I have more than one designer in my booth?

We understand that a lot of stores are partnerships, and that some folks have multiple brands. That’s a problem we encounter ourselves, actually.  Here’s the deal – yes, you can do this, under certain conditions.  Here’s what they are:

a) we have to be notified about this *BEFORE* applications close (in this case, before April 30) .  Past that point we do not have time to effectively research additional brands-  we have our hands full.

b) we need to approve the additional brand- that means we need to know the name of the store, what it sells, where we can find it, and who owns it. Just like every other merchant in the event.

c) the additional brand cannot have been denied entry on its own. That is to say, if that brand applied to the event and was turned down, they cannot come in under someone else’s brand either.

19.  How will I know if I’ve been accepted?   

We will have an ongoing merchant list available on this site. I will also be emailing acceptances to everyone, as well as sending group invites (if you’re not in the merchant group already).  We know that SL likes to eat group invites. If you miss yours, just ask one of us to resend it.

20.  What is your merchant policy regarding cancellations?

We maintain a waiting list for merchants once all booth slots are gone.  No one minds if you have to cancel. Stuff happens, RL intervenes. That said, we mind a LOT (no, really, a LOT) when people decide not to do the event and don’t bother to TELL anyone about it.  If you aren’t set up 24 hours before we open and you have not communicated with us despite our attempts to do so, we are giving your booth slot away, and we will roundfile any further applications to our events. Not telling people you have to cancel is just fantastically rude, and we have no patience for it. At all.  If you have to cancel that’s totally, utterly ok, but TELL SOMEONE.  If you have stood us up before(told us you were coming, gave us a logo and then never actually put stuff in your booth without telling us) don’t bother applying. We won’t take you.

20. Why is the group just for merchants? Is there a shoppers group?

The group is for merchants because that’s it’s intent. We need it in order to disseminate info to merchants and bloggers. It’s not intended for shoppers.

Over the past couple of years MANY people have asked us for a group for shoppers and gacha traders.  (many. )  The reason we never did it was because there were very poor group management controls available to us, and none of us has the time or patience to babysit an open group.  However, the newest release of Firestorm contains the LONG awaited group ban function.  As promised, as soon as it dropped, I installed it and created a group. It’s called Cursed Shoppers, and will cover all our events in order to save group space. The group is open and free to join.  The group key is here:  fe9d4c5b-4fa9-a1df-dd7e-adb54a334366 .  It will take some time to populate, but merchants are welcome to join and send out demos if they like, or whatever else they’ve got.  Gacha trading is welcome and you can ask questions about our events there too if you want to.  Have at, people.

Cursed Events merchants are welcome to send demos through the group as well(just poke someone for a merchant tag so you can post notices).

 

21. Who is the Cursed Mascot?

The Cursed Mascots(I think there are four…) are actually all one person with various accounts.  They all have the same typist.   They’re mostly harmless. Do not  eat them in ways they don’t like – seriously, that’s even in our sim covenant.

22. Will there be music events?

Yes. Aside from the 12 hour WGD Marathon on May 22, and the regular Gothika schedule we have anyway, we have plans for live shows and DJ sets from guest artists.  Names and dates TBA.

If you’ve read all that (if you haven’t go up and read it- it’s pretty obvious to us when people apply to an event and haven’t read the rules, and it makes us less inclined to accept them to future events.) and want to apply, here’s your application.