As it stands at this moment Nekopan Bakery will not be allowed to sell food at Kumoricon this year.
Those of you who've had their cupcakes have probably just gotten suddenly very upset. You're not alone....trust me.
I'm sure the Kumoricon staff is doing all it can do to reverse the hotels decision, but we can do stuff too. I don't mean harass the hotel or anything, lord knows that won't work. But we can, each of us, send a polite respectful letter to the hotel explaining why Nekopan is so important to us, and why it might be in their best interest to let Nekopan stay.
And no, we still might not be able to do our panel, or sell cupcakes. But if we set a good example this year, they may allow us to come back next year.
I've already sent my letter to this email pdxph.salesadm@hilton.com
I implore you to do the same in your own words. I urge you to be polite and respectful, please think about what your are writing and word it carefully. Threats and warning would only deter the hotel from allowing us back.
I'm including the letter I sent as a reference if you need.
And please spread the word around!
Dear Hilton,
I am an unofficial representative of the Kumoricon convention that is being held at your hotel Labor Day weekend. I am in no way affiliated with the convention other than I enjoy attending it every year, and am friends with several people who make it happen. Everyone I've talked to so far has been really excited to be at your hotel this year, we've been in need of a larger venue for awhile now, and from picture it looks like your hotel would provide plenty of room for the amount of people who usually attend. Many who used to be turned away for lack of space.
Because of how excited we were, we were surprised and disappointed when we heard that Nekopan Bakery, a firm staple at this convention, would not be allowed to sell their cupcakes this year. The Nekopan group is run by a woman who is possibly the most polite and respectful person you will ever meet, if you tell her not to sell something, she most defiantly will not. I'm writing to make a plea on her behalf. Like I mentioned before, Nekopan cupcakes are a staple at Kumoricon, they have flavors that you can't find anywhere else, and I know for a fact that many convention guests will be sorely disappointed if they are not made available.
I can think of one major argument against Nekopan which of course would be money. The belief that Nekopan selling their cupcakes would take money away from the food services you provide in your hotel. But I urge you to consider my argument.
A: Nekopan would only be open during the hours the dealers rooms are open. At anime conventions we run around during the day, but prefer to stick to the convention center in the evening so as to be close to the action, and not to miss anything. And since the dealers room will be closed well before then, there wouldn’t be any competition at all.
B: A large number of attendees are also accompanied by their parents who would ask that their children have something healthy first. The closest thing on hand would be your restaurant, so having Nekopan there might actually encourage people to frequent it.
C: Cupcakes go best with milk, and nobody will be selling milk but you.
D: Let’s face it, if someone wants a Ramune, Green Tea, or Lychee flavored cupcake the desserts at your restaurant won’t cut it. Not allowing Nekopan to operate as they normally would, could actually cause your restaurant some losses as people might travel else ware (Cupcake Jones, St. Cupcake) to find what they’re looking for.
I sincerely hope you reconsider and let Nekopan do what they do best. In all honesty they do it because they love it and barely make any profit from it. If not I hope that you will allow us our Cupcake Decorating Panel this year. There would be no money involved, we will be sure to clean up. If you leave a vacuum in the room we’ll even do that afterwards too.
Thank you for your time,
Arika
Feel free to post this anywhere you'd like.
