Subject:
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Re: AFOLs feelin' no love
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events
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Date:
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Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:45:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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4412 times
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In lugnet.events, Todd Thuma wrote:
> Duane,
>
> I am always amazed when someone writes a post criticizing others for speaking
> out and putting in their 2 cents and then calls for others to stop speaking out.
>
> I realize that many 'Fest attendees think it is none of their business where the
> money goes and that they should vote with their attendance. I however, have
> personal experience with a 'Fest where the organizer absconded with the money
> and the vendors never got paid. The actions of that one individual put a black
> mark on the AFOL community and as such no event has taken place in that city
> since. Do you remember BricksWest?
>
> I was one of the volunteers and organizers of that event and allowed one
> individual to control the purse strings. I allowed myself to be placated by
> reassurances that everything was being "taken care of." Well, I and a few other
> organizers lost our innocence that day and I resolved never to be that naïve
> again.
>
> So you and other organizers of ‘Fests on the behalf of the AFOL community must
> excuse me and others when we ask basic questions and believe we have a right to
> those answers. So here is a few questions I think every organizer of an event
> should be willing to answer when they plan an event that will bring the AFOL
> community together.
>
> 1. Where will the money to hold the event come from and where will it go?
>
> 2. Is this a profit making venture? Who among the organizing committee will
> profit from the event?
>
> 3. Is there a public day? How much for admission? Where will the money from
> admission go?
>
> Now for my money, I would like to have answers to these questions before I make
> the decision to book a hotel room, purchase a plane ticket, and go to
> considerable expense to attend an event. Granted in the past I have attended
> events without having all of these answers in place, but I have gone with the
> other deciding factor, do I trust the people running the event? But I have also
> been an organizer and volunteer to be more privey to these answers.
>
> I love the comparisons people make to other conventions. I worked for a couple
> years for a member organization whose stock and trade was their annual
> convention. They made millions off the convention and ran the organization the
> rest of the year off of it. I remember their anxiety prior to and relief at the
> end of each convention when they had the financial resources to survive another
> year. Prior to my working for the organization I had attended their conventions
> in the past. I had ever realistic expectation that my $200 plus registration fee
> was going to profit the organization.
>
> The question is will any AFOL event last if the organizers only have a profit
> motive in mind?
>
> I am also intimately aware of another convention, DragonCon, that happens in
> Atlanta every year. That Cluster-(Fest) each year leaves me wondering how it
> continues from year to year. Those volunteers do not get paid but get a free
> room and some eats during the convention and maybe a few drinks. Their reward is
> to hob-nob with the celebrities from science fiction and comic books, etc. All
> of the money raised for that goes to the convention space, the hotels, and to
> bring the celebrities in on an all expense paid trip to Atlanta. Ever year
> DragonCon happens I wonder how it keeps from imploding. Between screw ups in
> every conceivable way, to absolutely poor management and organization, it is a
> wonder the thing comes off at all.
>
> So the next question is without a small to moderate profit incentive for the
> organizer/s, how will the AFOL events continue?
>
> I for one, do not have all of the answers, but without knowing up front that the
> convention is for profit or not for profit how can I make an informed decision
> and vote my approval with or without my attendance?
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Todd
Todd,
Just as an aside--DragonCon Volunteers get free admission, have to work 20 hours
of the convention minimum, and they get a free T-shirt if they attend two
organizational meetings--no free room or anything else. (This is from a person
who volunteered for four years at DragonCon.. two years in VIP suite, and two
years in green room... VIP suite was quite neat..especially getting to meet Ray
Harryhausen.. and the memory of Slymen Hymnestra of Gwar in full costume,
walking into the VIP room, and asking me (in a manner completely opposite of her
costume) "do you have some band-aids? My heels are killing me in these boots!"
(after a few years, I figured 50 bucks divided by 20 hours equals 2.5 dollars an
hour..that was essentially what D-con was paying me...and what got me out of
going to DragonCon...was BrickFest!
Scott
Scott
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: AFOLs feelin' no love
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| Duane, I am always amazed when someone writes a post criticizing others for speaking out and putting in their 2 cents and then calls for others to stop speaking out. I realize that many 'Fest attendees think it is none of their business where the (...) (17 years ago, 24-Oct-07, to lugnet.events)
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