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Con*Cept 2009, the first 2 days
Submitted by Thoth on October 4, 2009 - 1:29am.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the con. So far I've had fun, but it has also had the second lowest attendance that I've seen, the first still being 93, my first year on concom and the year we had Robert Sheckley as GoH, when he hadn't had a book published in many years.
I think too many people are suffering from "con fatigue" with this so close to Anticipation. If so that's a shame considering the anniversary.
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I can't believe I missed Con*Cept.
Darn it. I wasn't paying attention to the calendar and I missed the con. I had decided that despite my misgivings about the guests that I would attend anyway, but somehow I lost track of the dates. This will be the first Con*Cept that I didn't attend since the second one.
Even though I misse the 20th, I hope there will be a 21st because I'll be there!
C.X.
Con attendance
Despite not being able to attend, I'm saddened to hear that the attendance was down. I'm guessing that it will be all that harder to get a decent guest for next year, which is a shame.
Funny how Thoth mentioned that one of the worst attendances was when Sheckley was guest. You would have thought that someone with his credentials would have been a sure fire draw. But timing is everything I guess.
Cap, dontcha have a WatEotU calendar at work to mark up with such important dates? I do!
~ Lazarus ~
Con*Cept was this weekend?
Con*Cept was this weekend? Dang.
I had wanted to go, but I had a much-anticipated D&D session on Saturday, and Sunday was taken up with catching up on house cleaning, website cleaning, and other issues of cleanliness.
Maybe next year.
Blue Jean -- GP/approved -- Beware of Frog!
I know that The con snuck up
I know that The con snuck up on me as well... I just realized last week that it was happening now, and pre-reg'ed on Sept. 30th.
The final attendance was brutally low. I remember years when you could barely walk the hall. There were barely 100 faces I saw this weekend.
The masquerade had only 5 entries, and there was only 1 room party Saturday. Today Cathy even admitted that this was a really bad year for the con.
A new person is taking over as Programming person, there'll be at the least a new co-chair. I still don't know if it'll be back next year, but if it is it'll hopefully have newer blood running it.
BTW Laz: Despite Sheckley's credentials, too many fans hadn't known a book by him in many years. We knew who he was, but we don't make up a large enough sales potential for the con.
That was also my first ever con as dealer rep. To say it was a disaster was an understatement. None made a sale that year.
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I'll sleep when my writing muse wants to.
Here's hoping Con*Cept can survive
A new person is taking over as Programming person, there'll be at the least a new co-chair. I still don't know if it'll be back next year, but if it is it'll hopefully have newer blood running it.
I certainly hope it returns next year. I think there are a few factors that led to the lower turnout, with the most obvious being it was a bit too close after Anticipation. There was also the Montreal Comic-Con in September that was a bigger deal than previous years, not to mention the Otakuthon.
I'm sure there is a segment of fans that attended those three events and were sufficiently burned out that they weren't going to bother with Con*Cept, especially with its lack of big-name guests.
Next year there's even going to be a furry convention in Montreal! It's not my cup of tea, but I found out about it when I stumbled across this interesting convention listing site. It's probably telling that Con*Cept is not listed.
Capt. Xerox
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