Marcon moving? (And Origins too)
I'm back from a wonderful weekend at Marcon, where I saw lots of friends, did panels, appeared as a celebrity square in Babylon Squares, and played Buffy in the Buffy Sing-Along.
Unfortunately, one of the discussions going around this weekend was that Marcon is planning to move to Easter weekend starting in 2012. There hasn't been an official announcement on the website yet, but it sounds like the contract has been signed with the hotel. From what I've heard, the move is driven by two factors: 1) the hotel wants to raise the prices to keep it over Memorial Day weekend and offered Easter as the only way to keep the lower price, and 2) Origins is apparently planning to move to the week before or after Memorial Day starting in 2012, which would be two conventions on two successive weekends, and lots of people can't attend two conventions that close together.
I think this is going to cause problems for Marcon on multiple levels. About half the people I know won't be able to attend Marcon over Easter weekend because of family commitments and/or religious obligations. Several of these people are heavily involved in running various programming tracks and special events at the convention. Based on what I've observed the last several years, it will be difficult to find adequate replacements and the quality and amount of programming will suffer as a result. In addition, if attendance drops by one-third to one-half, it is very likely Marcon will not make their room block, thus incurring significant charges for rental of the conference space that they can't afford. This would probably kill the convention.
On a more personal level, most of my close friends would not be able to attend the convention on Easter weekend, which takes away much of the incentive for me to attend. It's just not fun unless you know people there, and I would really miss getting to see these people.
To me, it feels like a very poor management decision made without consulting the stakeholders and failing to calculate the cost of the move. I think they will lose far more attendees by moving to Easter than they will by being close to Origins and having higher room rates.
Oh, and if Marcon moves to Easter, that puts Millennicon, Marcon, and Conglomeration all within a period of 4-6 weeks. I can't imagine I would be able to go to all three.
So I'm making no plans past 2011.
The one element of good news? Master Choi is moving the martial arts tournament to Memorial Day weekend, which will no longer conflict with Marcon starting in 2012. And I'll be able to attend our annual demonstration at the Asian Festival.
Unfortunately, one of the discussions going around this weekend was that Marcon is planning to move to Easter weekend starting in 2012. There hasn't been an official announcement on the website yet, but it sounds like the contract has been signed with the hotel. From what I've heard, the move is driven by two factors: 1) the hotel wants to raise the prices to keep it over Memorial Day weekend and offered Easter as the only way to keep the lower price, and 2) Origins is apparently planning to move to the week before or after Memorial Day starting in 2012, which would be two conventions on two successive weekends, and lots of people can't attend two conventions that close together.
I think this is going to cause problems for Marcon on multiple levels. About half the people I know won't be able to attend Marcon over Easter weekend because of family commitments and/or religious obligations. Several of these people are heavily involved in running various programming tracks and special events at the convention. Based on what I've observed the last several years, it will be difficult to find adequate replacements and the quality and amount of programming will suffer as a result. In addition, if attendance drops by one-third to one-half, it is very likely Marcon will not make their room block, thus incurring significant charges for rental of the conference space that they can't afford. This would probably kill the convention.
On a more personal level, most of my close friends would not be able to attend the convention on Easter weekend, which takes away much of the incentive for me to attend. It's just not fun unless you know people there, and I would really miss getting to see these people.
To me, it feels like a very poor management decision made without consulting the stakeholders and failing to calculate the cost of the move. I think they will lose far more attendees by moving to Easter than they will by being close to Origins and having higher room rates.
Oh, and if Marcon moves to Easter, that puts Millennicon, Marcon, and Conglomeration all within a period of 4-6 weeks. I can't imagine I would be able to go to all three.
So I'm making no plans past 2011.
The one element of good news? Master Choi is moving the martial arts tournament to Memorial Day weekend, which will no longer conflict with Marcon starting in 2012. And I'll be able to attend our annual demonstration at the Asian Festival.