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Some say there is too many events


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To paraphase the Radio Times disclaimer from years gone by - other event organisers are available. Having two big events on the same date bothers me far more than there being too many events.

This is my only real gripe but it's a big one. It's only real chance I have to showcase any of my "big" costumes so there really is no choice for me, and I wish that wasn't the case because although I've been lucky last year and this year in that there aren't really any guests I'm missing out on, I might not be so lucky next year. It also means that, until there isn't a clash any more (or I stop doing it), there won't be a cosplay event at MK because most cosplayers will be elsewhere, myself included.

 

Apart from that, I'm not concerned about the number of events. I know I'll be hard-pressed to meet the guests I want to meet because they're maybe not big enough to be thought of as "worth inviting" but I'm grateful for those I do get to meet. There are some events I will attend regardless of guests (LFCC, for example) and the rest usually depend on who's there. If there's more of a choice of dates for the guests, there's more chance I'll meet them.

Edited by TurkFox
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Kind of surprised how many people are thinking 2 events a year will increase the amount of top guests that attend.

 

Once again, it will not increase the amount of top guests attending. It will, however, lower SMs risk profile, because they will be focusing on the shows that actually make money.

 

 

Jason already said in this thread that by not having a show on a particular date means he cannot get a big guest that he could otherwise.

 

He also said elsewhere that decreasing the number of shows greatly reduces the possibility of being able to book guests.

 

Location? They know what they are doing and no doubt often look into areas/venues etc, so if they havent put a show somewhere before, perhaps it wasnt possible at that time. Where they stage a show in the future? Waynes world? If you book them they will come? Not always, so again, that is where risk taking on a new show comes in, sometimes it could work, others not. Sometimes a good idea to try, sometimes safer to not do it. Again, I imagine that Jason and co think very seriously about this sort of thing.

 

As to SMs balance sheet, only they can comment how different shows affect that, we cant.

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well how am i to know which events will work and which will not ? with out trying to run them ?

 

i had 9 guests to a Being Human event with all but one main cast , were the fans flocked to meet just to main cast my Birmingham Collectormania show , so a full on con with 9 cast for i think it was £60 odd a ticket should have sold out only sold 56 tickets , so how do you know its going to work or not ?

 

Glasgow dose not make money but it dose not lose money so we get the chance to have a trip to Glasgow have some fun hang out with my friends the crew and put on a fun good event for the people of scotland , now the events is growing and we are spending a little more on each event we run there so we still do not make money but the event is growing the right way and i can see that over time more and more people will attend this event meaning the event will in time be able to have bigger names spent on it , so to just give up on something when it dose not work 1st time is not the right way to start up an event .

 

LFCC lost money lots of it for 4 years

 

Collectormaina MK lost money for 5 shows

 

manchester CM lost money for each event till the hall put up the costs to 3 times what it was when we started to that pulled the plug on it not us as we are in it for the long hall .

 

also another company ran small Stargate cons that did not pull in more that 200 to 300 tops for the past few years in fact these events were getting even smaller these guest list had no A listers at all , we here love stargate and felt we could make a Stargate con work and make it work so well we could start to get all the main cast , and after 6 events were have had most of the main cast and have an event that has sold over 600 odd tickets and is still selling tickets so this event can afford a good line up and have some rare or unusual guest that just would not be able pay for them to attend a singing show as there would not be the mass demand to make it work , so cons really do help the true collector as some guest that attend these events will never go to a signing event .

 

so its easy saying this is how it should be , but guys if it was that easy do you not think i would save my self money and time and just to it like you say ?

 

i will also say this year we "are" running less events , but if i start to run less evens do you think that other promotors will also do the same ? no they will run what they think they can run and there will not be any brakes between events so from my point of view i think that i should run the events i think may work and if in time they do work thats great for all the fans , if they do not well its still best to try and not succeed than to have never run Collectotrmaina at all ? think about it ?

 

imagen if i had never had nerve to run Collectormaina MK 1

 

there were 5 promotors that came to this event to watch me fail and fall on my face as everyone knew that a free entry event would never work , as thats just not how events would work, funny that ?

 

also the first con we ran others promotors and fans said it could not be done the way we did it , no event could be run were you got to do most of the events over the weekend and you had to clash activities over the weekend , well we did it and the people said we could not do it again we try , we sometimes get it wrong , but we learn and get it right next time .

 

others walked out of Glasgow and said it could not work and we would die up there , sorry not true its tuff but its working and it has a good future.

 

so i chose to have a go and try to make them work and some times they do other times they may not but we have done some amazing things and we still have dreams for more amazing events .

 

one last very important thing to talk about , the world is in a very hard place , recession is here and its hard on everything and everyone so for us to find it hard is not a surprise is it , so maybe we do ask for help from the fans of what we do , i do not think thats bad of us i think its smart as we can save wasting money on ads when the fans that like what we do help us to make the money that come is go further and it means we get more guests or have more money to spend on bigger names so i do not feel i should stop asking for help to promote in fact i think we should be asking more and if people like what we do they should help get the word out .

 

this is what makes us different to other events we are all fans and run by fans and the people that work hard at these events are all fans to , to whats the difference from all of you to all of us .

 

too tall meet his wife in the line at C4 now he looks after the crew and helps us run these events , you the fans are us the promotors in a way , you may not have looked at it this way but i know the crew feel this way as we are all a team and make these event happen as a group , we even spend New Years together partying for 5 days together , so its more than just running events that work or do not work its a group of fans trying something new sometimes , giving it a go

 

so we will keep trying and even though its a tuff year we will be here next year and the year after and we will have some amazing events in the future and we may not pull off all that we do , but it will not stop us from trying .

 

people used to say you cannot get this guest or that guest well we have proven that you can never say that anymore and if you try one day you might just get them so i think we will all keep trying .

 

this years cancellation is just a one off and i am not just saying this , never have i been out of it for so long because of being assaulted ,and with one of my business partners fathers having a triple hart op and another partners mum having kidney failure all with in 3 months , in a year when we have some of the worst recession figures for 90 years , so if we are not shining as much as we did 3 years ago then i think maybe this has something to do with it ?

 

but we will keep on going and keep on running some amazing events for everyone that wants to attend

 

well there is plenty in this for the few of you that do feel there is to many show to fuel your debate ;)

 

 

thanks for reading

 

jason :WAVE:

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The Big events need to be events. Look at the US San Diego Comic Con - it's world famous. They don't have one of them every 2 months do they?

 

 

well yes they do there is not just SDCC my friend there is at least 1 big con in the us every month you may not know about them or there names but they are there .

 

also its not just down to me to only run one event a month in fact some other promotors put on events on the same month or even on the same day , i am not going to go into it on here but we book a date and some times other promotors ring the hotel we use to put up the guest to find out when we have it booked to fine out the date of the next event we plan to run and had put there event on the same weekend , why who knows but this has happened twice in the last two yeas its very boring , and nuts , so we can only look after our events and if we only ran one event a year the other promotors would just run more so its not just down to us .

 

jason

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About CM Glasgow the only thing I would say to make it a little more successful is to try and book more local celebrities, Scottish actors etc.

 

 

 

we had James Cosmo at the last event i think no one really cared , he is a great guy and a good actor but no one rally bothered to meet him ?

 

we tried that .

 

and i can see you may think this is a good thing and would work , but as you can see just saying something dose not make it so , you have to try it and understand why something did or did not work ? , this is something we do all the time , and as we see a lot of behind the seen's stuff that most people would not even know go's into running an event , we have built up a lot of knowledge , we do not know everything by far and we are still learning every time we run an event , so we do listen and we do learn and we keep trying to improve after each event .

 

jason

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I bloody love crewing so for that selfish reason the more events the better, but from a business side of things I agree with the likes of (MikeDonovan)

 

Have a MEGA weekend, get the big guns from supernatural,twilight,potter,dr who...etc etc...[no one attack me for those choices they're just examples AS is the following actor] people WILL come for them, people like Jensen ackles etc... he might be extorniate but for an event like this I'd be uber shocked if you didn't make your money

 

Focus on making a couple of AMAZING high class events and then maybe when we're out of the recession pull some more?

 

Or combine the themed events Twilight with true blood and VD for instance...

Edited by Talie
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To add my opinion..

 

I would much rather see 4 larger conventions organised every quarter than have to juggle additional events throughout the year with a smaller volume of guests and less variety..

 

Maybe Two in London, One in Milton Keynes ( seeing as its the original location) and maybe another one in either Scotland or Wales. This would allow fans to budget for the events every 3 months and tie in side trips to meet up with friends, family, holidays etc

 

For example, I love the idea of the Lord of the Rings convention at the end of the year.. Im from England but currently live in Wellington / New Zealand for a year so 'The Hobbit' buzz is all around the city at the mo.

 

This convention sounds very cool and im contemplating tying in a trip home so I can attend, but TBH id much rather have the LOTR presence included in a large con for peace of mind that it will deffinately go ahead.

 

Dont get me wrong, im sure you would never put together any convention if you were not extreemly confident it will go ahead - but providing a good variety of guests at larger events gives me more confidence.

 

For example: The Indy cast members at one of LFCC a few years back.. Awesome event with plenty of variety and 6/7 cast members from the films.. Very cool

 

Either way.. Ive been to many of your events in the past and you do a great job for us fans.. So cheers! :WAVE:

Edited by Delorean 2015
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Ok, this is what I think. Ready or not, here we go...

 

I usually attend conventions if there are, at least, 3-4 guests I really like/want to meet. Once at the convention, I can also get more autographs from "minor" (i.e. less interesting to me but still important to a wide audience) guests.

I live in Clacton which is not very close to any of the usual locations but I once drove up to Manchester just to meet 3 Space: 1999 people! MK is probably the best one for me as it takes 2 hours by car and I don't have to worry about parking. I go to London by train only. I am ready to drive long distances 2-3 times a year but no more than that. I don't fancy "themed events" as I have to plan in advance and cost too much.

 

After all these glorious years there are a certain number of recurring guests (usually on the Star Wars side). It is time to vary a bit more. I did not go to some of the most recent conventions because I had already met most of the guests. I am not saying that some guests are better/more important than others. All guests can be fun and say interesting things.

 

I don't particularly like photoshoots. They are too expensive. Although the initial reason behind them was a good one (i.e. having the chance of a photo with an otherwise very busy guest - and I am still happy with my Leonard Nimoy photo), now there are for nearly everyone, reducing the chances of having one a the table (the ones that I like). But if they are financially positive for the show keep them going...

 

I hope these ponits are useful. Having said that, I hope Showmasters continue to keep up the excellent work and bring more guests. Events are never enough but I would concentrate on 3-4 big ones per year spread out between London (why not to try the Excel? More approachable by car.), MK and Birmingham.

Edited by Bergman
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I think the selection process for these themes needs to be widened as well.

Turn the Twilight events into a 'Young Adult*' orientated event to include shows like Vampire diaries, glee, being human etc - things that will appeal to that audience.

Likewise maybe turn the Hub into a British Sci-fi TV series con, with Doctor Who, Red Dwarf and anything else that might qualify.

Might not always work. I really like Being Human (but couldn't make the proposed con last year). This time it's been combined with two other shows, which I have never watched and have no interest in watching. I'm not going to a con where I'm not interested in two-thirds of the content.I'd need to be a big fan of one of them and at least very interested in one of the other two, and possibly have a pssing interest in the third, before I'd consider going.

By combining shows into one event you dilute the appeal for some people as well as combining it for others; the danger is you dilute it for more than you combine it.

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I would love an event in Wales. Wales nearly always gets missed out for concerts, which can be a tad annoying!

 

Dr Who, Being Human, the old Torchwood, all were filmed here in South Wales. I love spotting the locations when watching the episodes.

 

Treking up to Northampton is no fun, and nor is Milton Keynes, and Birmingham just makes me want to cry.

 

London is the easiest for me, even Edinburgh is easier to get to than Northampton! LOL!

 

So bring a show to Wales, don't leave us out! (Cardiff preferably!)

 

Cheers!:WAVE:

 

I will second this! Or Bristol! The far south west of the UK is not an easy place to travel from. Brimingham isn't too bad to get to for me anyway but Cardiff or Bristol being within the M4 corridor would be far easier for us south westers! Although I realise that Cardif isn't a great place to get to from other parts of the UK. It's a mind bender for sure! But a signing event this side of the country would be grand!

 

I also agree about banding together like genres! Although I do realise that If you had a combined Twilight/Vampire Diaries/Trueblood con, having a main bod from each would be extortionate. But so are the costs of these cons individually to me.

 

It's a hard one to call, I don't envy your job trying to keep everyone happy Jason!

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Personally I think 4 events a year is about right.

It is much easier and cheaper for us to go to MK but we do also travel to the London ones.

I feel that any more than 2 in London would be too much as it is not just the expense of travelling but also the accommodation costs as it is too far to travel there and back every day.

 

Finally me and my family appreciate the hard work that goes into getting the excellent guests we have had the great fortune to be able to meet thanks to Jason, Mark and everyone involved in SM/ME.

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The sad fact is, that if you find it difficult to travel to the rest of the country for events from where you live, then it's highly unlikely an event will be held near to you, as the rest of the country will then find it difficult to get there, and unless there's a hugely popular guest*, most will probably decide it's too much hassle. (And getting a hugely popular guest to agree to attend an event in a difficult-to-reach location would probably be trickier than getting them to an easier location.)

 

Are there too many events? Right now, I don't think so. (Are there too many that I want to go to and can't afford them all? Yes. But that doesn't mean I think they should stop running them just because I can't do them all.) Yes, the weekend conventions are more of a 'niche' market, but I know I'm not the only one who first heard about showmasters through one of them. (If you don't read any/many newspapers and magazines, and don't live in the vicinity of any events, I think you're far more likely to hear about a show-specific event through fandom than about a general signing event, but once you've heard of the organiser...)

 

 

*I'm not going to attempt an example, as everyone's definition of what constitutes a big guest differs so universally popular is impossible.

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we had James Cosmo at the last event i think no one really cared , he is a great guy and a good actor but no one rally bothered to meet him ?

 

To reply to that, I met him, and he was a lovely guy, and he was a pleasure to meet. However he isn't a hosehold name. If I was to tell anyone about the event, the first thing they ask is 'who's going', if I were to reply 'James Cosmo' I know for a fact 100% of the people I know would never have heard of him.

 

When people say Scottish celebrities, I'm afraid most people are imagining people like Billy Boyd, John Barrowman, Robbie Coltrane, David Tennant, a lot of people that you have no doubt wanted to get, but are probably financially problematic to get for an event like Glasgow.

 

As for the 'too many events' arguement. I do have to say it only makes me happy that there are less events this year, as it just means i'm saving money(as long as all guests that were booked are re-booked for another show)

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I bloody love crewing so for that selfish reason the more events the better, but from a business side of things I agree with the likes of (MikeDonovan)

 

Have a MEGA weekend, get the big guns from supernatural,twilight,potter,dr who...etc etc...[no one attack me for those choices they're just examples AS is the following actor] people WILL come for them, people like Jensen ackles etc... he might be extorniate but for an event like this I'd be uber shocked if you didn't make your money

 

Focus on making a couple of AMAZING high class events and then maybe when we're out of the recession pull some more?

 

Or combine the themed events Twilight with true blood and VD for instance...

This is what I don't get - what makes people think that suddenly with less events we'll get an influx of huge main cast guests? We get them where we can, and they're tricky enough to get NOW, without halving the number of events. No one has ever said it's a financial issue that they can't get these guests.

 

It's never going to be as simple as making less events and suddenly it opens up a whole world of possibilities.

 

As for being shocked if they didn't make their money on Jensen? I doubt many, if any attendees really know how much he asks for. A lot seem to assume that big guests are huge money makers but that's really not the case. More often than not, the bigger they are the more you have to pay out. It has to stop somewhere.

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I think some events being cut out would help.

I live in leeds so when you had the manchester events I always went to them and loved the fact that their was one close to me.

I could tell they we're getting a small number of goers though. So wasn't surprise when they stopped.

You do have to weigh things up e.g travel tickets to london are always going to be cheaper because there is a lot more offers and ways to get there.

So even though MK is closer to me I'm more likely to go to london event for the day as it's so much easier to get there and cheaper.

Of course I know this is not the same for everyone and also hotel etc is going to be more money.

I don't think you should ever stop doing the MK events.

Maybe the london ones need to be cut down a bit.

I think some of the cons that have 2 a year need to be cut down to one.

I'm not talking about canceling them all people love those events.

I just think it makes sense for many people will come to one event then 2 as most people can only afford to do so many events a year and to book time off work as well.

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My thoughts...as someone who has been going to cons for longer than i want to admit.

 

 

I love the big mixed cons like LFCC..( but hate the fact that it is in July )...I love the range of guests and dealers that you get. Also i can take my daughter with me now.

 

MK i will only go to, as it is such a schlep to get there, if the guest are amazing.

 

 

Individual cons are okay if they are about what you are into. Though why people keep banding True Blood and Being Human with Twilight i will never know.

 

 

The trouble with the set show cons is of course the cost. I signed up to the BH con last year and was really upset that it folded...the line up was fab. But then you got the stars for LFCC and all was forgiven.

 

So what is the answer...

 

If you only had the big mixed cons i would go to as many as i could...even for just one guest. But because of the individual show cons that i want to attend..( Bitten and LOTR )...that means that i have to be very picky..and my daughter misses out.

 

 

PS...would also love to have a west country venue..ie Bristol.

 

Keep up the good work...and Live Long and Prosper...Oh how sad am i.... :WAVE:

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there won't be a cosplay event at MK because most cosplayers will be elsewhere, myself included.

 

I didn't even know there was a clash then too. I was thinking of November. When and event that has tradtionally been held that weekend for years, now has a EMS rival.

 

well how am i to know which events will work and which will not ? with out trying to run them ?

 

i had 9 guests to a Being Human event with all but one main cast , were the fans flocked to meet just to main cast my Birmingham Collectormania show , so a full on con with 9 cast for i think it was £60 odd a ticket should have sold out only sold 56 tickets , so how do you know its going to work or not ?

 

But you were also appealing to the fan community. The fan community that knew that the NFI did screenings with the main cast that were better value than that; all those flocking fans had already met two of the three main cast, and you then gave them the same two, rather than the third. Your flock here were saying book him and they'd go, but you didn't.

 

Incidentally those two were Dr Who guests as well - I got their autos two or three times each for that at LFCC, rather than start on another show.

 

 

 

The Big events need to be events. Look at the US San Diego Comic Con - it's world famous. They don't have one of them every 2 months do they?

 

 

well yes they do there is not just SDCC my friend there is at least 1 big con in the us every month you may not know about them or there names but they are there .

 

also its not just down to me to only run one event a month in fact some other promotors put on events on the same month or even on the same day , i am not going to go into it on here but we book a date and some times other promotors ring the hotel we use to put up the guest to find out when we have it booked to fine out the date of the next event we plan to run and had put there event on the same weekend , why who knows but this has happened twice in the last two yeas its very boring , and nuts , so we can only look after our events and if we only ran one event a year the other promotors would just run more so its not just down to us .

 

 

I know there are other events in US, but the US is a little bigger than the UK. Are they all run by the same organiser?

 

I seem to remember you booked the NEC Hilton for Collectomania MIdlands the same weekend as other the local very event, before you had to change your plans. So you admit that idea was boring - and nuts?

 

Maybe they ring up to find the next weekend they can book it up? Other organisers use the Hilton too.

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But you were also appealing to the fan community. The fan community that knew that the NFI did screenings with the main cast that were better value than that; all those flocking fans had already met two of the three main cast, and you then gave them the same two, rather than the third. Your flock here were saying book him and they'd go, but you didn't.

 

Incidentally those two were Dr Who guests as well - I got their autos two or three times each for that at LFCC, rather than start on another show.

See, I don't agree with this. If you take into account things like that, then surely you need to think about stage doors, premieres, store signings etc. They are "better value" because you get to meet people for free! And if an event organiser starts thinking about all of that, then surely they'd not get many 'big guests' because they'd tend to be the ones that would go to such things.

 

And yet I've seen time and again that people are willing to go to signing events and conventions for the (mostly) guaranteed opportunity to get an autograph/photo with someone. It's a completely different situation, and I don't think they can think "oh there's a screening somewhere so we won't bother" because there's often many willing to do both, or that don't WANT to go to things like that.

 

I realise you're trying to put things into context but if we considered all of those types of things as reasons not to run events or get guests then I'm not quite sure we'd have much left.

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I'm torn. I love the number and variety of events, but too many in one year does dreadful things to the bank balance. I think a fair point was made about possibly dialling back on the number of events at the moment. We're all feeling the pinch. On the other hand, if you bring the guests people want, then they'll spend the money. Including me. :WAVE:

 

Personally, I like the locations of London and Milton Keynes for signing events and Northampton for conventions, mainly as they're within a reasonable distance for me, and because of all the other facilities within easy reach. The Birmingham Metropole is lovely, but very expensive, and there's not an awful lot of stuff available nearby if one doesn't want to eat lunch/dinner there, with car park charges kicking in as soon as one drives further afield. That's my own experience, so other peoples' mileage may vary.

 

Other stuff: considerations have to be made about clashes with other things, e.g. certain events which will adversely affect promotional prospects (as per Housebroken), holidays (Collectormania London Nov '10), filming schedules, etc. The more events one runs, the more clashes there are going to be. Having said that, running an event at the same weekend as most other convention organizers isn't necessarily a problem, so long as one is aware of what other events are going on, as attendees may be forced to choose, and you guys probably have a good idea by now as to what fanbases overlap. (I personally only attend SM/ME events, but I am probably in the minority.) I also agree that multi-show conventions run the risk of diluting attendee interest more than combining it. I signed up for Abrams Inc and Roadhouse 2 because I do like all the shows concerned, although I was only really interested in one or two, and would probably not have attended a convention solely for the others.

 

I can see the point about avoiding weekend conventions which aren't money-makers like LFCC and CMK until the economy settles, (although, as aforementioned, how do you know? One starter con might sell out, the next might not sell half as much, and vice versa). Personally, I love the cons and try to attend as many as I can.

 

That probably wasn't helpful at all...

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I will second this! Or Bristol! The far south west of the UK is not an easy place to travel from.
Which highlights the problem. I would love an event in Bristol. However I can't think of a suitable venue in the vicinity of the public transport routes. Is there one?
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Alright Jason, I'll be brutally honest (and a lot of people aren't going to like this, but so be it).

 

First, locations. There will be people on here who will happily talk about 'let's have an event in Northampton!', or 'How about another event in Glasgow?'. Bottom line, in this environment, there is only one thing that's important - and that's whether or not an event is economically viable. And an event in Stoke is not going to be economically viable, you know it, I know it, and in their hearts, they know it too. I find it amazing that you ran an event in Glasgow and made money. Maybe it didn't make money - I don't know. And that brings me on to my next point.

 

Now, the amount of events. Honestly? I think you should cut back right now. I think now is the time to cut back, and focus purely on 1 or 2 high quality events per year. Get in as many guests as you can, including the big ones, and don't dilute your offering. But focus purely on those two events. Ditch all of the 'secondary' events (Supernatural conventions, and all the rest of it). Just focus on CM, and LFACC, push them hard, and deliver them well, just as you always have.

 

Don't get me wrong, if a secondary con makes money, stick with it - maybe the Twilight ones are in this category, I don't know. But anything that is 'iffy',or 'debatable', get rid of it. Fall back on your core competencies, and hunker down to weather this economic storm. Because those that are inclined to stick with you, will stick with you, and those that are going to leave anyway, will leave no matter what you do. Right now, there is no growth strategy - there is only survival, and again that is about CORE COMPETENCIES. Stick with what you do well, what consistently makes money.

 

Back to Location. Stick with London, and maybe MK. People will complain about coming to London. But seriously, when a plane ticket to London from Glasgow is £25, there is no excuse, no excuse, for people not just getting on a plane down to London. And if those people don't want to spend £25 on a plane ticket, you don't want them at the con, because they will not spend anything. The people that will come anyway, will still come.

 

I would love you to run an event every month, in every county in the country, but we are not in those times, and you're running a business. If you can't survive by running two events in London / MK with quality guests, then bottom line you cannot survive. Get rid of everything else, and boil down and reduce your offering.

 

That's my view, and no doubt many will disagree - and if I've offended anyone, I'm sorry. But at the end of the day, your balance sheet needs to have a positive number at the end of the year. And right now, focusing on core competencies is the way to do it.

 

Meanwhile, I will continue to support your events, as I have for the best part of ten years.

 

All my best,

 

Mike

 

I agree mostly with this post.

 

In my mind, there is a finite amount of attendees, with a finite amount of cash. If you put on 12 shows a year, then there are very few attendees who can do them all. Therefore you automatically dilute your own fan base. I think the attendances figures can probably demonstrate this. It's made worse by the fact that there is increased competition and also a recession (neither of which you can do anything about).

 

As for guests, I can understand the logic that many events, increase the number of dates, which means that guests have more opportunities to find a weekend when they are available, however, the number of potential guests is finite and again, offering more choices, will dilute the shows. Also, the large number of guest cancellations (and the fact that guests don't want to confirm until the last minute) means that the possibility of a large show like this being cancelled, is greater.

 

I wouldn't go as far as Mike, in that I think it's possible to support a couple more events, but I would much rather see 1 CM:MK and 1 LFaCC a year, with several headline guests, rather than a half dozen signing shows, each with maybe 1 headline guest. LFCC is the cloest thing the UK has to a San Diego Comic Con and I'd rather see it promoted that way.

 

As for ME events, well I'm not sure this is the right climate for them. Certainly events like the Twilight ones are worth keeping, because the subject is hot and in demand. Likewise, the Stargate event is viable because of the huge headline act attending. I'm not convinced that the other shows are really viable though and I'd almost rather see the potential guests for those shows at a CM or LFCC.

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And yet I've seen time and again that people are willing to go to signing events and conventions for the (mostly) guaranteed opportunity to get an autograph/photo with someone. It's a completely different situation, and I don't think they can think "oh there's a screening somewhere so we won't bother" because there's often many willing to do both, or that don't WANT to go to things like that.

 

Screening as in sat down with Q+As, limited photo/auto opps. In the case of Dr Who the likes of Matt and Karen - off limits to other events it seemed. (oh if I lived in London)

 

I'm not saying there isn't room for both, but if 100 of your potential audience know for £30 they can get so much, then someone else comes along offering different for £60, those 100 may need a bit more convincing.

 

I actually think SM are ME's biggest rival. If Gates and LeVar had been annouced for Warp 10, would people have complained?

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