Location
One of the most important things that make a Con successful is the location. It isn't just about the Hotel that is important; it is the location of the Hotel compared to the area surrounding it. A lot of guests are either driven in, fly in or for some reason or another will not have a vehicle during a con. It is important to have a lot of things nearby within walking distance food as well as entertainment. It is also important to have other options for staying nearby for people who want to attend but may not be able to afford the hotel that the Con is at. Keeping the same location is also important for familiarity reason and comfort for returning guests.
This was primarily the main reason that Kumoricon 2005 was so good. Not only were 6 different hotel/motels to stay at within walking distance. Major mall literally across the street with a full food court, 2 theatres across the street as well as right next to MAX so anyone who was old enough could hop downtown to enjoy the nightlife in Portland.
Now the location has changed to Red Lion Hotel on the River. Has anyone even seen the hotel, visited it, looked at the space as well as what is nearby? I have stayed there and although a nice comfortable stay, it is not a convention hotel. Not only is space limited but even if you wanted to move some things outside there is no room for it. There are a couple fast food places within walking distance. SuperCenter is further than half-mile when your walking and not convenient. There isn't any major transportation to downtown unless you are taking a cab or going to learn the bus route. It is not 15 minutes from the Airport driving, it is longer than that especially with Portland traffic unless you are coming in the middle of the night. It is good that they have a shuttle but the shuttle does have limited times of running. Not as easy to take MAX or as cheap to take a cab as it was from our previous location.
Date
I have seen it stressed that the date is important. That it is important that we keep the same dates because of the extra day for Labor day would mean that more people would show up.
A date is important but not because of a holiday or it was the same date as last year. It is important that it doesn't interfere with anything local that could be going on, other conventions so you are not competing. During that weekend Cascadia Con (WA), DragonCon (GA), Anime Fest (TX), Pacific Media Exp (CA), Kimi no Hanyo (CA) are going on. The reason it is important to know what cons are going on is not only because you want people to attend but you also want guests to attend. Anime Fest is a fairly large and decent con in TX that most of the local distributions like ADV go too. Which means they will most likely not send guests out when someone is local. Because of the holiday the hotel we had 2005 in was booked and since it was decided to not change it, even a little we are getting stuck with a lower quality area.
Changing a date to because of a location is a viable reason. Almost all Cons go through this at least once if not multiple times, Dragon Con, Anime Expo, Anime Fest, etc have gone through changes because of this. It happens but the reason to change a location shouldn't be because the date for the hotel was booked.
The extra holiday isn't what makes a con bigger and succeeded. If it was I wonder what the other Cons that don't happen around a holiday (majority of them) excuses are for being as big then. Changing the date to the next or previous weekend to allow use of the old location is a better idea. In fact changing the date to fall upon a weekend when a major con isn't happening is better as it provides easier access to get guest panels and speakers from anime companies, etc.
Summary (for those not wanting to read the whole thing)
1. Red Lion is a bad idea to use for Kumoricon 2006. It is smaller, poor location and not as accessible.
2. I understand that the old location was booked for the dates. The dates are good and I understand wanting the extra holiday but the location is more important.
