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Con stuff -Ghosting and discussion on FWA Ghost claim
9 years ago
I've been going to cons for along time. Sci-Fi cons, Star Trek Cons (Before they become giant media events) anime cons, Furry cons. I've probably racked up around 250-300 easily in my lifetime. Here are my opinions.
Cons and Ghosting..
1) Regarding FWA specifically, I heard it was a 27% increase in room block and a 6% increase in attendance. So this = $42,000? - 700 attendees? Seems really off. At cons I used to do 4/room but now I do 2. Maybe more people are tired of sharing and room density is lower? All you can count on is 1 person to a room.
Now on to cons in general. This is my opinion -
Cons tend to try to act like they aren't a business then complain when the business of the con is off kilter. Is ghosting really that big of a problem? I seriously doubt it. We all know someone who ghosts or has. So why come to a con if that's what you are going to do? Well, the answer is clearly that cons aren't supplying what (some) people want aside from a central gathering place with a little discount on a hotel room. The hotel room thing goes a lot further when the con eats an entire hotel and you don't have to deal with mundanes as well.
Maybe cons should start to ask themselves what would engage people if ghosting is a problem? Maybe not. Most cons are cookie cutter anyway. Location and time of year tend to be more of a factor for success than what the con offers.
They all offer:
Services for fursuiters
Several flavors of dance comps
Dances, raves, whatever they are
A Dealers room
People known in the fandom who have 'story hour' or ' Let me tell you about my acid trip' stage shows
And even the smallest cutest little con huffs and puffs and tries to do it all. So really it's more about who I know who is going than the background noise of the con.
Want to get more poeple engaged? Offer more engaging programming. I think I may go into more specifics on my own journal but for this discussion I'll say if you are sleeping at the hotel, you should buy a memberhip. And if a con wants to allow someone to drop off a thank you $10 they need to find a way to do it that doesn't involve a long line, because f-that.
OK some cons I go to and why: (And what cons could do to stand out)
MCFC - 2.5 hour drive - Hotel really engaged and nice. In fact the hotel could be said to be part of the attraction, with it's nice lobby bar and staff. If they move hotels it could be bad. They have a minimum age because they supply beer!
Last year I hardly entered a con-specific space aside from the free food and drinks. I didn't even hit the dealer's room (same stuff, different con). I still sponsored because MCFC enabled me to have my get-together with friends.
Michigan is a big Beer state. It has some notable breweries and a large home brew population. I think MCFC should consider capitalizing on it's notoriety for beer by being a bit of a home brew con. Have a demo of brewing, have a home brew contest and tasting. Lots of furs brew no other con does the beer thing that I know of, as well at MCFC.
TFF - Been there once, hate hyenas, never going back! OK just kidding about hyenas. There's only 2 cons in the USA I would put up with air travel to attend (on my own dime), because F-air travel! TFF and Megaplex. TFF is a well run con that I did hardly any con stuff at and yet, I can't help but like them even though I hate the hotel. The building is nice, the staff were by far the worst people I've dealt with in a long time. Others have not had my experiences so make sure to note that. At any rate at some cons, the staff are far away, lofty and above everyone, inaccessible. At TFF the mood is your buddies have this party they are putting on and you want to go. The area TFF is in has really good food options, too.
Megaplex - Probably one of the most engaging cons I've been to in a long, long, long time. I found myself making notes on the schedule to get to places, set up for video, roam aimlessly shooting video and still attending events! They have an Ice Cream social that's not some simple dude scooping to peopel in a line. It's a full blown dessert Bacchanalia. Then there's the amazing Pool area, the musical guests and the full band they put together for performances. They are doing a lot of good stuff and stand out.
Anthrocon - I can drive to it in 3 hours but I don't go anymore. I have a well defined sense of what I want in a con and AC doesn't meet it. Go if you like, it's too big, too spread out and too expensive for what I take away.
Indy Fur Con - I was there once years ago (2013). I spent ost of the time in room parties because it was a clone of other larger cons. (Story hour, Acid trip comedy). I may drive over to see it for the weekend this year and see if it's found it's niche. It's a good time of the year to hang out with friends, for sure.
Cons and Ghosting..
1) Regarding FWA specifically, I heard it was a 27% increase in room block and a 6% increase in attendance. So this = $42,000? - 700 attendees? Seems really off. At cons I used to do 4/room but now I do 2. Maybe more people are tired of sharing and room density is lower? All you can count on is 1 person to a room.
Now on to cons in general. This is my opinion -
Cons tend to try to act like they aren't a business then complain when the business of the con is off kilter. Is ghosting really that big of a problem? I seriously doubt it. We all know someone who ghosts or has. So why come to a con if that's what you are going to do? Well, the answer is clearly that cons aren't supplying what (some) people want aside from a central gathering place with a little discount on a hotel room. The hotel room thing goes a lot further when the con eats an entire hotel and you don't have to deal with mundanes as well.
Maybe cons should start to ask themselves what would engage people if ghosting is a problem? Maybe not. Most cons are cookie cutter anyway. Location and time of year tend to be more of a factor for success than what the con offers.
They all offer:
Services for fursuiters
Several flavors of dance comps
Dances, raves, whatever they are
A Dealers room
People known in the fandom who have 'story hour' or ' Let me tell you about my acid trip' stage shows
And even the smallest cutest little con huffs and puffs and tries to do it all. So really it's more about who I know who is going than the background noise of the con.
Want to get more poeple engaged? Offer more engaging programming. I think I may go into more specifics on my own journal but for this discussion I'll say if you are sleeping at the hotel, you should buy a memberhip. And if a con wants to allow someone to drop off a thank you $10 they need to find a way to do it that doesn't involve a long line, because f-that.
OK some cons I go to and why: (And what cons could do to stand out)
MCFC - 2.5 hour drive - Hotel really engaged and nice. In fact the hotel could be said to be part of the attraction, with it's nice lobby bar and staff. If they move hotels it could be bad. They have a minimum age because they supply beer!
Last year I hardly entered a con-specific space aside from the free food and drinks. I didn't even hit the dealer's room (same stuff, different con). I still sponsored because MCFC enabled me to have my get-together with friends.
Michigan is a big Beer state. It has some notable breweries and a large home brew population. I think MCFC should consider capitalizing on it's notoriety for beer by being a bit of a home brew con. Have a demo of brewing, have a home brew contest and tasting. Lots of furs brew no other con does the beer thing that I know of, as well at MCFC.
TFF - Been there once, hate hyenas, never going back! OK just kidding about hyenas. There's only 2 cons in the USA I would put up with air travel to attend (on my own dime), because F-air travel! TFF and Megaplex. TFF is a well run con that I did hardly any con stuff at and yet, I can't help but like them even though I hate the hotel. The building is nice, the staff were by far the worst people I've dealt with in a long time. Others have not had my experiences so make sure to note that. At any rate at some cons, the staff are far away, lofty and above everyone, inaccessible. At TFF the mood is your buddies have this party they are putting on and you want to go. The area TFF is in has really good food options, too.
Megaplex - Probably one of the most engaging cons I've been to in a long, long, long time. I found myself making notes on the schedule to get to places, set up for video, roam aimlessly shooting video and still attending events! They have an Ice Cream social that's not some simple dude scooping to peopel in a line. It's a full blown dessert Bacchanalia. Then there's the amazing Pool area, the musical guests and the full band they put together for performances. They are doing a lot of good stuff and stand out.
Anthrocon - I can drive to it in 3 hours but I don't go anymore. I have a well defined sense of what I want in a con and AC doesn't meet it. Go if you like, it's too big, too spread out and too expensive for what I take away.
Indy Fur Con - I was there once years ago (2013). I spent ost of the time in room parties because it was a clone of other larger cons. (Story hour, Acid trip comedy). I may drive over to see it for the weekend this year and see if it's found it's niche. It's a good time of the year to hang out with friends, for sure.
Hope we can hang out and maybe have a drink at MCFC!