Kumoricon

Convention Events and Programming => Anime, Manga, and Japanese Media and Culture => Topic started by: Radien on November 13, 2004, 06:18:28 am

Title: Split conventions?
Post by: Radien on November 13, 2004, 06:18:28 am
Disclaimer: This is all out of curiosity. I don't represent any such effort by Kumori Con, not even potential. Just wanted to get that out of the way.

I was talking with my sister about the con today when I had a few musings:

1. Kumori Con is growing. FAST. We have a rough idea of how big it will be next year, but we will probably aim for a target attendance slightly smaller than what we could actually end up achieving, since we have to make sure it's an event our current and future staff can handle the workload.

2. We hate turning people away at the door... but there aren't many alternatives. :( As long as so many people have an incentive to drive across Oregon (or just across Portland), we'll be turning people away.

So, here's the short-lived idea I had: what if a con in our situation split, but on good terms? One half goes north, the other south (or east/west), but they each cooperate in a sort of amiable competition? Total attendance between the two would probably increase, due to increased convenience... but so would staff, since driving distances would decrease. ^_^ Would staff size increases match attendance? I really wonder.

This wouldn't work in Oregon. Period. We're too small. The second biggest city area -- Eugene/Springfield -- can't even handle 1000 people, as we found out less than a month after the end of Kumori Con 2003.

But I was wondering: has any other con ever done this?

I'm sure we have some con-junkies here who have been outside of Oregon and Washington on con road trips. Do you have anything to report? :)
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: princessfrodo on November 13, 2004, 05:22:53 pm
/me runs scraeming into the night at the thought of fitting three cons into her security schedule

And that's my thoughts on the THOUGHT of spliting any COn. ^.^;

There are other big cons that happen about half a year after/before Kumori Con, so I think it's not that Kumori Con is getting too big, but that there are simply more anime/manga fans for us to have to put up with than there used to be.  

Attendence will probably continue to be a permentantly rising problem at Cons everywhere.  My suggestion for people who want to make sure they go all three days: pre reg. ^.^
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: the_wind_the_sea on November 13, 2004, 05:50:31 pm
*Nodds in agreement with Princess Frodo* The thought of spliting Kumori-Con into TWO conventions sickens me... Good idea, just won't work in my opinion. I went to the first Kumori and this years. I like it the way it is. The best way to make sure you go ALL three days is Pre-Reg...
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: Xella on November 13, 2004, 08:59:17 pm
As an out-of-state KumoriCon goer (I don't lie when I say that KumoriCon is the ONLY con I plan on going to on an annual basis), the thought of splitting con into two cons means that I have to make the eight-hour (or more!) drive four times in a year (or find cheap bus/train/plane fares that I can feel that my luggage is safe in), as well as paying for artist's alley and con reg. twice... it just gets too expensive to do, considering my college is already planning on sapping me of $70,000 (plus an hour commute both ways for at least the first quarter and possibly housing after that).  Not to mention finding a way to fit it into my school schedule without missing the "life drawing: now with real lions!" days.  And if it's held on the same weekend... not only would you be missing out on one con or the other, but you'd also have any staff that could/would want to go to both cons to help out, thus spreading yourself thinner than California-style pizza.

If I recall correctly, there was also a problem with not having enough time to REALLY dig down and plan K-3 (KumoriCon '03), and if you have two cons, you have half the time you would for one big con, unless you well and truly split apart and had nothing to do with one another—in which case the point of having two Kumori's is moot, as you've actually got KumoriCon and KuromiCon.

If I recall correctly, Eugene/Springfield is more central, which means you'd get all the central/southern Oregon people going there, while all the people from the coast, the north, and Washington would go to Portland—and I think the Eugene con would end up being bigger.  But I really know nothing about Oregon's layout or demographics, so I could be totally off on that =D;;

In any case, I'd say a definitive "nah, not really." to the idea.  While it sounds like it might be a feasible option, it really doesn't feel like one to me.  I think it worked for AnimeExpo/Fanime (they were the ones that split off, right?  Or was it just that AnimeExpo moved down and Fanime started up to take up my area?), but California is a much larger state, with at least two really, really big touristy, metropolitan areas (Anaheim/LA and San Francisco/Bay Area), whereas Oregon has Portland, and I think that might be it.  Again, correct me if I'm off on that.  We have the area to support large masses of people (hence the fact that we have at least three big cons: AnimeExpo, Fanime, and YaoiCon)
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: TomtheFanboy on November 15, 2004, 01:30:52 pm
There are conventions that do this.
Gen Con now exists as three conventions, one on each coast and one in Indiana.
There's another that does it as well but I can't remember the name.

At any rate, this is something that is definitely NOT needed for Kumoricon. The only reason we were turning folks away is that when the article appeared in the paper there was no time for pre-regges. If all of the Portlanders who read the article had been able to pre-register we would've still had to turn folks away but we would've been ready to, rather than being utterly shocked.

Kumoricon now knows what to expect from Portland and hopefully next year we'll have enough room (and events) for everybody!
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: Radien on November 15, 2004, 03:37:35 pm
Uh... okay, guys, there are three things you guys didn't seem to notice about the idea I was stating.


1. NOT Kumori Con. It wouldn't work. That much is certain. I'm not even suggesting it as something to consider.

2. The POINT of splitting a convention would be so that the same people WOULDN'T all go to both. C'mon, folks. If we lived in a dense population center, with 10 cons all within driving distance, would you still have to go to all of them? More is not always better.

and...

3. I was asking whether any other cons out there had ever done this. In other states. I'm just curious how it went, if it's happened before.

The key part about the question is whether it was "amiable." I'm sure cons have been divided before due to dissonance and disagreement. That's old news. If they did it cooperatively, though, it'd be new and different.
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: superjaz on November 16, 2004, 08:08:57 am
hasen't a split already happend? i've read that the people who put on  kumoricon picked the brains of the people who put on sakuracon, not so much as split as stem off like those spider plants
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: TomtheFanboy on November 16, 2004, 11:27:41 am
Quote from: "Radien"
The key part about the question is whether it was "amiable." I'm sure cons have been divided before due to dissonance and disagreement. That's old news. If they did it cooperatively, though, it'd be new and different.


Oooooh! :D
Smells like a juicy bit of gossip is just waiting to be discovered....
Title: Split conventions?
Post by: Radien on November 18, 2004, 04:59:16 am
Quote from: "superjaz3p"
hasen't a split already happend? i've read that the people who put on  kumoricon picked the brains of the people who put on sakuracon, not so much as split as stem off like those spider plants

Uh... Not really. We had a few people, but most of our starting resources were strictly local in 2003.

It's been more like a "migration"... The majority of the original founders of Kumori Con were Sakura Con attendees, not staff (someone correct me if I'm wrong here). Most of the Sakura Con staff we acquired between October 2003 and today are people who refocused their con efforts south after seeing/hearing what Kumori Con had to offer.

There have been a few people who were not comfortable with Sakura Con anymore, HOWEVER, that doesn't meant it was a significant number. There are a variety of influential factors, including A. driving distance (as in, two hours' drive versus six), B. a preference for smaller cons, and C. familiarity with various Kumori Con founders.

I am happy to point out that the 2005 Sakura Con chair has been actively involved in Kumori Con, which gives me new hope for both the quality of Sakura Con 2005 and a friendly relationship between the two of us. :) He's a nice guy who has a great approach at inter-con relations.

Quote from: "TomtheFanboy"
Oooooh! :D
Smells like a juicy bit of gossip is just waiting to be discovered....

Yeah, it would be if I were basing it on anything other than my imagination... ;)