Worldcon v. DragonCon

[wombat_socho]

So the two big conventions of my fandom just wrapped up, and a lot of people have things to say about them. I gather from mzmadmike's comments on FB that the dealer's room at D*C was...less than optimal, shall we say, and the concom's reaction to the complaints ran somewhat along the lines of "Oh yeah? Well, wait until NEXT year, you ungrateful bastards!"

Comments

some considerations off of this

[phoenixalpha]

It's all well and good to encourage people to start new conventions, but a better way to approach that would be providing those folks with the tl;dr guide to convention creating. Most people don't have the experience or the know how in terms of what kinds of moving pieces it takes to set up a convention.

It'd be good to have something that was an idiot's guide to con forming. This should probably include:

- considerations for and against for-profit conventions.
- how to get the ball rolling on incorporation
- basic features and how to staff/run them
- troubleshooting interpersonal BS
- scheduling for cons OR why you set up Thursday and break down Monday
- getting and keeping function space
- seeding and growing a community to support the convention
- care and feeding of volunteers
- basic book-keeping
- skillsets needed and how to divide them
- checks and balances on both the corporation board of directors and the staff

Re: some considerations off of this

[wombat_socho]

This stuff is all out there, actually; you have to look for it a bit, but it is on the Internet. Some things, on the other hand, are best learned by actually putting your shoulder to the wheel and doing it yourself.

Re: some considerations off of this

[phoenixalpha]

I'm just thinking that asking people to start their own cons without pointing them at resources is a bit pointless.

In regards to class:

Time is money. The poorer you are, the less time you tend to have, unless you're investing all your waking hours into con-running - which I have seen people do. That having been said, teaching people about how to get funding going to start conventions is valuable. It does take some initial investment.

Re: some considerations off of this

[wombat_socho]

That's not what I'm doing here, though. People are whining that Worldcon doesn't look the way they want it to look and the Procedures Are Some Kind Of SOOPER SEKRIT Hidden Knowledge. Which is bullshit. WSFS has its constitution, rules and business meeting minutes posted on their website for everyone to see.

Time is indeed money, and I think people who devote all their waking hours to running cons are batshit crazy, unless they're making money off it. As for startup cash, it all boils down to getting the staff and supporters to buy in early. Which is and was why buying in early got you the reduced prices.

Re: some considerations off of this

[phoenixalpha]

I don't think most people are organized enough to parse said constitution and rules and exploit them, sadly. It's just not a context they're used to.

Re: some considerations off of this

[wombat_socho]

True; for all the emphasis on "critical thinking" in the Education-Industrial Complex, there seems to be a terrible shortage of liberal arts types who can actually think, period. Of course, if you start with the presumption that Robert's Rules Of Order are some kind of hideous oppressive patriarchal construct, well...good luck there, Sunshine.