Comments on: ISNA Review 2009 – Washington D.C. http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/ A Single Muslimah's Musings Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:31:33 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: jannah http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/comment-page-1/#comment-85884 jannah Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:39:18 +0000 http://jannah.org/blog/?p=886#comment-85884 Wa iyyak bro! I did enjoy your perspective from the psychology viewpoint in that lecture and in the other one I heard (the one on depression- soooo needed jazaks~!). As for bros, true I don't know how much they absorb, but I do think they listen especially when it comes from older, married brothers and if they at least think about it a little that's all that I can ask for! may Allah bless you and your family and thanks for reading the blog. Now if only I can get Altaf to fit it in his schedule! :) wsalaam Wa iyyak bro! I did enjoy your perspective from the psychology viewpoint in that lecture and in the other one I heard (the one on depression- soooo needed jazaks~!). As for bros, true I don’t know how much they absorb, but I do think they listen especially when it comes from older, married brothers and if they at least think about it a little that’s all that I can ask for! may Allah bless you and your family and thanks for reading the blog. Now if only I can get Altaf to fit it in his schedule! :) wsalaam

]]> By: omar m. mahmood http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/comment-page-1/#comment-85880 omar m. mahmood Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:54:05 +0000 http://jannah.org/blog/?p=886#comment-85880 jazakum Allahu khayran sister for the review specifically, and for you blog in general! I am glad you found some benefit in the late night session with my dear friend Altaf. It was meant to be relevant to the crowd ... but one never really knows exactly what is "absorbed" by the audience and what is not. some of the topics, especially the scolding I was trying to give the brothers about being superficial and just immature are things that Altaf and I and others have been discussing for quite some time... I hadn't had the fortune of reading your blog prior to the convention -- but I'm glad there was some harmony, alhamdulillah. And from now on insha Allah, I will try to check up on the posts here in the future! wassalam. jazakum Allahu khayran sister for the review specifically, and for you blog in general!

I am glad you found some benefit in the late night session with my dear friend Altaf. It was meant to be relevant to the crowd … but one never really knows exactly what is “absorbed” by the audience and what is not.

some of the topics, especially the scolding I was trying to give the brothers about being superficial and just immature are things that Altaf and I and others have been discussing for quite some time… I hadn’t had the fortune of reading your blog prior to the convention — but I’m glad there was some harmony, alhamdulillah. And from now on insha Allah, I will try to check up on the posts here in the future!

wassalam.

]]> By: jannah http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/comment-page-1/#comment-85869 jannah Sun, 26 Jul 2009 06:44:58 +0000 http://jannah.org/blog/?p=886#comment-85869 Julie thanks for your post about the perspective from the Bazaar ppl! I know it's terribly expensive to have a booth and sometimes that carries over to the prices/lack of merchandise. And so shopkeepers keep prices really high to try to 'recoup' their losses there or make up for the rent. Unfortunately that affects people who maybe wanted to buy. Looks like we have the whole recession effect in the bazaar too! :) Everything gets more expensive and people stop buying! I think also that the bazaar is a major component of how ISNA pays off rental of these huge convention centers and maybe they could consider a different way of doing it. About the bazaar fee, in previous years they started checking people at the door of the bazaar for their registration tag to make sure they were registered but I think now they were trying to making it easier for people who didn't want to register and just wanted to go to the bazaar! It is cheaper than just regularly registering but I'm not sure what they're encouraging?? I think in Chicago they would stop checking on Monday so a lot of local people would come and shop on that day. Agreed about the bazaar in a different zip code!! That place is huge!! Thanks for your comments :) Julie thanks for your post about the perspective from the Bazaar ppl! I know it’s terribly expensive to have a booth and sometimes that carries over to the prices/lack of merchandise. And so shopkeepers keep prices really high to try to ‘recoup’ their losses there or make up for the rent. Unfortunately that affects people who maybe wanted to buy. Looks like we have the whole recession effect in the bazaar too! :) Everything gets more expensive and people stop buying! I think also that the bazaar is a major component of how ISNA pays off rental of these huge convention centers and maybe they could consider a different way of doing it.

About the bazaar fee, in previous years they started checking people at the door of the bazaar for their registration tag to make sure they were registered but I think now they were trying to making it easier for people who didn’t want to register and just wanted to go to the bazaar! It is cheaper than just regularly registering but I’m not sure what they’re encouraging?? I think in Chicago they would stop checking on Monday so a lot of local people would come and shop on that day. Agreed about the bazaar in a different zip code!! That place is huge!!

Thanks for your comments :)

]]> By: Anonymous http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/comment-page-1/#comment-85858 Anonymous Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:25:10 +0000 http://jannah.org/blog/?p=886#comment-85858 Thanks for the nice comment about the information booth, because I was one of the volunteers for the booth this year and also my first Isna Convention ever. So I really appreciate your show of appreciation. =D Thanks for the nice comment about the information booth, because I was one of the volunteers for the booth this year and also my first Isna Convention ever. So I really appreciate your show of appreciation. =D

]]> By: Julie http://jannah.org/blog/2009/07/11/isna-review-2009-washington-dc/comment-page-1/#comment-85857 Julie Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:39:39 +0000 http://jannah.org/blog/?p=886#comment-85857 Masha'Allah love your review. Excellent details. The main reason vendors couldn't lower prices is because bazaar attendance was extremely low and expenses were out of this world. We spent a fortune about $5,000 to get there, ship our stuff, charge for the booths, plus the hotel expense which we expected. However, we did not expect to have the decorating company Shepard (teamsters) charge over $700 just to sign for our stuff when it was delivered to the convention center and move it to our booth, 5 minute job! When I confronted them, they cut the bill in half. It was a very inflated charge. I heard one booth was charge over $1,100 for this service! The worst thing they would not let you touch your merchandise until the bill was paid. Believe me... this is the tip of the iceberg of how Shepard tried to rack up inflated charges. Attendance at the bazaar was low not only because fewer people could afford to attend the convention but because ISNA was charging shoppers who had not bought a ticket for the convention $25 each to shop at the bazaar. I was told this was new this year. Plus the bazaar was located in almost another ZIP code far away from all other activities. All of the vendors I spoke to did not do well, unlike previous years. I think ISNA needs to be more supportive to the vendors by encouraging shoppers, not isolating the bazaar and securing decent rates with the teamster management company Shepard. I hope this helps explain the vendors position insha'Allah. Masha’Allah love your review. Excellent details.

The main reason vendors couldn’t lower prices is because bazaar attendance was extremely low and expenses were out of this world.

We spent a fortune about $5,000 to get there, ship our stuff, charge for the booths, plus the hotel expense which we expected. However, we did not expect to have the decorating company Shepard (teamsters) charge over $700 just to sign for our stuff when it was delivered to the convention center and move it to our booth, 5 minute job! When I confronted them, they cut the bill in half. It was a very inflated charge. I heard one booth was charge over $1,100 for this service! The worst thing they would not let you touch your merchandise until the bill was paid. Believe me… this is the tip of the iceberg of how Shepard tried to rack up inflated charges.

Attendance at the bazaar was low not only because fewer people could afford to attend the convention but because ISNA was charging shoppers who had not bought a ticket for the convention $25 each to shop at the bazaar. I was told this was new this year. Plus the bazaar was located in almost another ZIP code far away from all other activities. All of the vendors I spoke to did not do well, unlike previous years. I think ISNA needs to be more supportive to the vendors by encouraging shoppers, not isolating the bazaar and securing decent rates with the teamster management company Shepard.

I hope this helps explain the vendors position insha’Allah.

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