Cons always seem better value when the guests/event themes are new.

I've done 3 Angel-based cons & they're getting a little stale now.
I was finding it hard to justify paying out for the 3rd one - at least the 1st & 2nd had different guests.
I'm also doing a 4th at the end of this year & I just know I'm gonna hibernate in the room, or possibly the talks (if I can be bothered ).
I know this will be my last Angel-based con.

I've also done 1 Alias-based con & that was the one that really stood out, mainly due to the fact that it was all so new - I had never been to a Wolf event or an Alias con.

Next year I have a Dead Like Me-based con.
Although I am excited about it, the fact that they've only booked 1 guest as yet is putting a bit of a damper on having to pay out the same amount of money as for all other cons.

I think each convention should be judged individually (or perhaps by the number there are/have been based on 1 show/around the same guests) & I don't think you (well, I can't) can say that all cons are a rip-off.

I hope all that makes sense - I was ranting in my head & not sure how much of it came out through my fingers

I must admit I do prefer a good meet to a con, I've not been to one in aaaages either.
It's usually the cost that puts me off - not normally much change out of £400 all in, and you could get a half decent holiday for that.. (Which reminds me of something we've been talking about for aaaages too..)

I've never been to a con (except for the big Buffy one in L.A. but that was an accident ) and I never will.

Reasons why:

The thought of grown-ups dressing up as movie/tv characters kinda freaks me out.

I'm not into paying £20 a go for autographs. I'm not into autographs period. I'm not into gushing over 'celebs' (with the exception of Travis Fimmel, David Beckham and Dougie McFly )

People have said to me 'Come for the parties'. I don't do those crappy convention songs where you all stand in line and do the same moves. You will never catch me 'Macaraning'

Nine times out of ten when I read or hear peoples reports of the cons they always say the parties were crap so we spent all weekend having room parties. Fair enough, but if I wanted to room party with my friends I would pay £40 for a night at a Holiday Inn rather than the hundreds that can be spent on con hotels and tickets for the events.

I'm sure I can think of more reasons but I need my dinner. Sorry if I've offended anyone but that's just the way I feel

{EDITED} Just thought of another reason. How many times do you really want to see Clare Kramer or Andy Hallet? *Yawn*



(Edited by Teresa 20/07/2004 18:25)

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by Teresa
{EDITED} Just thought of another reason. How many times do you really want to see Clare Kramer? *Yawn*
18:25)

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Well, if your initials are SH, I imagine quite a bit

The woman wasn't even in Angel & I've never been to a Buffy con

I really just want to shake her & scream "GET A LIFE!!"

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by Whistler
Well, if your initials are SH, I imagine quite a bit

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Wonder if she gives a 'pay for two get one free' deal......

*smirk*

I relaly like them. But I do feel that the organises are getting more and more greedy. Actually, that's kinda obvious.
But what I mean is, even Starfury is getting worse. They no longer sell double picture shots (so that you could get them signed by more than one guest). And when I attempted to buy a Firefly group pic to get signed at Fusion, I was told I had to buy 5 others before I could get that one, meaning I had to spend £50 It's really mean 'cause there's no way I could afford it, I was only 15.
And yeah I totally agree on the Clare Kramer thing. I mean it's cool to meet her once, maybe a couple of times, but she's been at like EVERY Starfury con that I've been to.
Like when End Of Days was announced, SH goes 'it's gonna be Angel, ONLY Angel, no Buffy' and then he announces Clare Kramer, it's like what is going on?

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by Acker
Like when End Of Days was announced, SH goes 'it's gonna be Angel, ONLY Angel, no Buffy' and then he announces Clare Kramer, it's like what is going on?

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Maybe she was on her freebie

I've been to one con, but it's difficult for me to say whether it was overpriced because I wasn't interested in doing any 'con' stuff!

I suppose that in most cases, tickets and photos are priced in order to cover costs (although maybe I'm being a bit naive there?). Ultimately, the question of whether cons are a 'con' lies with whether some 'stars' charge inflated fees because they know that fans will pay well over the odds to go and see them. I don't really know if this is true or not.

Of course, if people think that a con is too expensive or they're fed up of the same guests then they're quite able to vote with their feet and not go




(Edited by DJ Billy 20/07/2004 20:34)

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by DJ Billy
Of course, if people think that a con is too expensive or they're fed up of the same guests then they're quite able to vote with their feet and not go

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The general numbers of attendees, especially amongst the ranks of the old-timey con-goers, being down somewhat at each con I (personally) have attended kinda proves that this is happening more & more.
It might just be me, but the last couple of cons I've been to have been quieter than the ones I used to sneak into years ago *shiftily looks about*

haven't there been a number of cancellations this year due to events not taking enough advance bookings to make them financially viable?

Yeah,I think that's been the case.

They seem to come along so often that people probably don't have time to save up for them.

Also, there have been so many cons over the past few years that potential new guests have been exhasted (apart from ones that don't want to do cons or price themselves out of the market). All that are left are minor/bit part 'guests' who will probably only pull the most committed of fans.

I dont do cons because i dont like people or queing.

Simple as that

I do enjoy going to conventions either as an attendee or as a worker. But even then sometimes I have to draw the line as it can work out expensive especially if you've seen the same guests time and time again.

Most conventions are run not for profit - therefore as DJ said costs of tickets sales and ancilleries like photo shoots, autograph sales etc does go towards:-

Actors Fee (sometimes not cheap at all), Flights - nothing less than Business Class, Hotels, Venue Hire etc etc etc etc. On top of that there are other smaller outgoings - add it all up and it runs into thousands, and I mean, thousands. Look at Valhalla - that got cancelled recently due to poor ticket sales. If it ran on the number of tickets sold it would have run at a loss of £30,000 if I remember rightly from the Yahoo Group, as it is, even at cancelling the event Stuart has still lost thousands due to non refundable deposits, etc etc etc....

So in a nutshell you do need the support of the fans to make the fan events run

But then again, you have the organisations out there to make a profit...... naming no names...... they charge ridiculous amounts of money, way over the top on autographs etc etc.

It's a tough choice for some people. I'd rather stick to the fan run events, catch up with my friends who I don't get to see very often and enjoy myself. As long as you're careful with spendage then it doesn't have to be expensive.

People can make their own decisions but I know I won't pay £300 for a ticket to see people I've seen before for cheaper.

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by KaTiEStar
I dont do cons because i dont like people or queing.

Simple as that

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Yep sounds like me! Been to one of the parties at Fusion because Spike made me and admittedly I had ALOT of fun and got veeeeery drunk but I don't want to spend hard earned cash on photos of celebrities, it'd be lovely to meet them but I'm not paying for the privelage!(sp?)

Agree with T aswell with the dressing up thing, fair enough if it's a bit of fun, I love dressing up and stuff but some of them take it waaaay to seriously! For example a certain 'Queen of the Damned' lady at fusion *shudder*

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by Jola
Actors Fee (sometimes not cheap at all), Flights - nothing less than Business Class

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At Chariots of War 3 Karl Urban(Eomer in lord of the rings) flew economy to be there as he wanted to do a bit of exploring of London, and he was such a nice down to the eart sort of guy and a great laugh, just hope bigger stardom doesnt change him.

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by KaTiEStar
I dont do cons because i dont like people or queing.

Simple as that

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I dont like people.

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by JtB
I dont like people.

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"But I love gatherings! Isn't it ironic?"