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Mark wrote:
>
> > The public attendance factor is an interesting one. To me, it matters
> > not much.
>
> I'm glad you brought this up.
> If we want cons to live we need the public. Let that sink in for a sec. For as
> diverse a group as we have here in the NW, it cannot support a regional
> convention by its fans alone. Won't happen. People balk at the money. So what
> do we do, we comprimise. We try to give time for the fans, this year we have a
> space that we can lock, but the public is coming, and they'll pay to get in.
I wonder why this must be the case. BrickFest started quite well as a
purely fan event. We didn't even really have an idea what the draw of
the outlet store would be. Obviously it was some draw, and there will be
some number of folks more willing to attend an event with a LEGOland or
outlet store draw. Are people in the North West really that stingy? Of
course we do have a lower population within reasonable driving distance
than DC has, and it's more of a pain to fly to than DC. There may also
be some differences in how available space is (though I know the GMU
space is not free - I had assumed it was very low cost based on the low
price for BF 2000, of course we also only had 3 class rooms and some
lobby space).
I'm not saying that the public attendance is a bad thing, but I have to
say that I'm very torn between NW BrickCon and the truck tour this year.
To me either one is basically a public show. The plusses and minuses I
see. I've also included a hypothetical BrickFest 2000 like con that I
would have to fly to for example.
NW Brick Con:
+ more AFOLs will participate
+ larger display
+ maintain my complete US brick con brick badge collection
+ support brick cons
+ will have at least some fan interraction
- entry cost
- drive to Seattle
- need for arranging a place to stay
- pirate game unlikely (after last year's experience, I just don't see
it happening, there isn't time or energy)
Truck Tour:
+ local
+ direct interraction with LEGO
+ support the local folks
+ free
- smaller display
- limited fan interraction
- no pirate game
Hypothetical BrickFest 2000 like con:
+ lots of fan interraction
+ pirate game for sure
+ medium size display (BF 2000 had less on display than NWBC 2002, plus
flying would limit how much I could bring for display)
- entry cost
- need to fly to
- hotel room
This hypothetical brick con is probably still a tough sell (I'm starting
to smart from all the costs of flying). Now if the hypothetical brick
con was within 6 hours driving (so I didn't need to use any vacation
days for travel - though the travel would be brutal), it would win hands
down.
But I'm me. I know from talking to some people at NW Brick Con last year
that they got a lot out of showing to the public. I do agree that we
need more ways for non-train folks to share with the public.
I also agree very much with Stephen that the Sunday open doors at
BrickFest was a good thing. Without it, I might have run a pirate game,
but I also very much liked sitting and selling parts, and I might have
still chosen to do that instead of running the pirate game (and would
not have sold as much without the public - almost all of my sales on
Sunday were to the public). Of course for me the thing that recovered
Sunday the most was that I had done my outlet shopping on Friday (though
that killed Friday somewhat but not entirely).
Frank
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