con_dom_wank

Hello, my Pretties!

What’s been going on in the land of conventions, you say? Most of us already know that JMLive held their first James Marsters-centered US Event this past September. JMLive--are they fans? Who are they? They don’t really say, but it’s generally assumed they are the fans folks who Mr. Steve Himber trusts to help him run his events. No doubt James and his manager agent Himber probably receive 99.99% of the proceeds. They’ve got a new event planned for the spring. Unfortunately, if you need wheelchair assistance, sales are limited to two. Must be a fantastic venue.

Vulkon changed hands – The Joe of Joenando has cut bait and moved on—the new owners, Gary and Terri Tripp seem to have retained most of the old employees.

Aria seems to believe she's still having a Moonlight Rising in 2007. She announced Jewel Staite yesterday. It could happen--there's one born every minute, and they all line up to help her buy her horses.

AUP’s fugalicious website is still there, and remains unchanged since their only event in 2005, but they’ve dropped off the earth as convention runners. As for Motor City Buffy Convention? That website is completely gone.

---

Pardon? Was that a yawn from the collective? The real news, you say?

Flanvention Cancelled


After several months of limping along with poor ticket sales and too many events in too little time, Booster Events has cancelled their event...which was to begin today and with less than 24 hours notice.

Many Browncoats are already at the hotel or on their way. It’s been said that some celebs may still be showing up (reports are that Adam Baldwin has arrived) and that fan meetups are still planned.

If you want an explanation, forget it--the website has been taken down, only the following message remains with which to assuage any fears:

Booster Entertainment apologizes for the great inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Flanvention is cancelled. An official notice will be posted within 10 days.

Most contracts/payments (guest/hotel/etc) normally should have been finalized within at least a week of the event, so the WHY of a cancellation should be a great tale--a very tall one, to be sure!

For a humorous take on the kerfluffle, check out fandom_wank’s accounting.

Additionally, regan117, has begun another community in be_victims.

Professionalism? Reputability?

::crickets::


finis

**taps microphone**


I've emerged briefly from my year of silence to bring you a brief update on the state of the Whedonverse Convention World - it seems that some things never change!

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Vulkon has been sneakily cancelling guests (*after* refund deadlines have passed, of course). Goodbye Sarah Thompson and Brian Thompson. See
http://forums.vulkon.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2413.0..

At least Joenando are upfront about cost being the explanation. But, then, Highlander's (the "nando" of Joenando) never been one to keep quiet. Strangely enough, there weren't supposed to be any more Vulkon Buffy conventions after that Buffy Convention Cruise last summer, and yet - looks like they couldn't resist the chance to make a go for your pocketbooks at least one more time.

Meanwhile, Moonlight Rising is drowning in a sea of its own wank. After four years, it's hard to believe folks are still falling for Aria's bullshit--but there's one born every minute, and they all flock to her conventions year after year handing over increasingly large chunks of money to see one actor (or the implied promise of one actor). It doesn't just stop at the cancelled guests, either: bounced checks, "stolen" checkbooks, missing money, conned charities, faux family crises invented to deflect blame from lying promoters, staunch defenders, personal rivalries--this wank has it all!

Much of the drama has been happening at our own Moonlight Rising thread (896 comments and counting!). The latest starts around page three and gets really good around page four, when con runner Aria, posing as her flunkie Kat, announces that she can't pay her bills because her (fake) neice is dying of (fake) leukemia. (Remember the neice who magically appeared as soon as a certain celebrity began discussing his niece?). MR does have its own forum, but threads mysteriously disappear in those tar pits, and you have to be a member to read. Most people know this, however, and you'll find copies of deleted posts in our own thread.

Also check out the mr_victims LiveJournal community; just be aware that it's run by regan117, not exactly known as an impartial observer - but that doesn't mean there isn't truth to be found.

And despite Aria's earlier protestations, MR WILL be back next year, more eager than ever to take your money. All it takes is One Thousand American Dollars ($1,000.00) from 16 very eager fans (without a clue as to who guests will be) who are willing to help seed Aria's dream of an MR 2007.

Ultimately, the funniest thing about this is watching the promoters scrambling to cast blame elsewhere (usually the fans). So, is the problem simply that Whedonverse fandom has passed its prime, or should corrupt promoters take some responsibility? Well, you know what the promoters say. But take a look over at Booster Events, which (by all reports I've heard) has been running (SHOCK!) ethically, and is still growing and going strong: www.boosterevents.com. (And nope, I'm not associated with them in any way.)

Any other Whedonverse Convention World news that you want to share?

I think we’d all agree that in discussing whether or not a convention experience is good or bad, we find ourselves at a gridlock—it can be a highly subjective topic. Let’s face it—your convention experience will ultimately be what you make of it.

But, there’s a ton of fun to be found at events in which you get to travel, spend the weekend with friends you rarely see at any other time, and get to learn more about the shows/books/art/people you enjoy.

What I’d like to do is ask all of you to describe the conventions that you’ve found to be worth attending. If you have an event close to your heart, tell us about it here—and don’t forget to link us!

Below are a few points to ponder to give you a good place to start, but don't let the meme nature scare you—tell as much or little as you like. Please limit your comments to conventions with at least a Whedonverse element. You're also welcome to mention events that may not technically count as "conventions" (posting board parties, concerts, poker tournaments, whatever, local fannish get-togethers, fundraisers, etc.).

Name of the convention/event:
Year(s) attended:
Whedonverse con or multi-fandom con:
About how many people were there:
Who ran it? (fans, a business, non-profit, for profit):
Are you associated with this convention in any capacity? (If so, please describe):
Describe what you enjoyed about the event:
What criticisms, if any, did you have about the event:
Website where people can find out more:
Cost to attend this event:
When is it:

It's your turn! Let's remind each other why we love conventions.

This is a test of the public broadcasting system. The next 250 words, while ::yawns:: a little prosaic, bear mentioning. In the event this were a real emergency, TPTB would get mighty cranky with us. I repeat, this is only a test. [/lecture]

First, a bit of housekeeping. I'm glad many folks are finding the information here useful.

However, this journal is about conventions. For this reason, a few off-topic threads in the previous entry have been deleted. The personal lives of actors and other fen aren't relevant, unless they specifically relate to the convention experience.

It's important to have an open forum--try any official convention forum and you'll find that all harsh truths are deleted instantly and attendees are kept in the dark about worrisome controversies. Anonymous comments and behind-the-scenes controversies will continue to be allowed here. Just please do remember to keep your comments on the topic of conventions. This isn't to create an atmosphere of censorship, so as long as you're on topic and not posting something illegal, your comment will not be deleted.

Here's a quick guide:

Behind-the-scenes dirt on the latest convention = on topic
Debate about whether a given celebrity is an acceptable parent = off topic

Fairly straightforward, yes?

Second, some emails have been concerned about photos. All photos here were found publicly on the web--it took less than ten minutes of clicking around to find images to go with all the upcoming convention organizers. Since these people have already posted their photos publicly, and they are being trusted with tens of thousands of fan dollars, it's a fair trade that attendees know to whom they are trusting their cash. If you want to run a convention, you're going to have to endure some public scrutiny.

Finally, just a reminder of the three community rules:

1) No posting of people's personal contact info,
2) Leave children out of discussion--whether they belong to your fellow fans or celebrities--they aren't target fodder,
3) And try not to lie.

Now, let's get on with it! Why exactly is it necessary to examine the motives of convention organizers?

Well, let's take a look at the worst-case scenario: When cons go bad.

I don't want to turn you off conventions entirely--and I'll be posting soon about what's been good about conventions. But it's also important to be aware of the dangers.

Take, for example...

The Slayercon 2005 in Adelaide, Australia. It was to feature Amy Acker, Clare Kramer, Julie Benz, Iyari Limon, Camden Toy, and Mark Lutz, and was scheduled for July 2005.

However, for months now its website has featured a generic "SGP regrets to inform you that SLAYERCON '05 has been postponed" announcement.

And what about the fans who already bought their tickets?

The event has been 'postponed' and the organiser has run off with thousands and thousands of dollors of fans money. He hasnt been heard from in a month, even by people who were closely associated with the organisation of the convention, and ticketholders havent been contacted. The only way to know its been 'postponed' is to go to the actual website.

Vendors who were booked for the convention have been contacted and they were told it was cancelled, not postponed so we can only assume that the 'postponement' was a ruse to get people to give him a bit longer before they started kicking up a stink.
I'm a ticketholder, and I'm in contact with many others. We have filed a letter of demand and are in the process of getting all ticketholders to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Trading. The next step is making a police report regarding Fraud charges.

Oh, dear.

You'll find more on this topic here.

But Slayercon could just be one bad egg, right?

Well, then, let's take a look at Hush.

The Hush Convention in Aberdeen, Scotland was scheduled for October 2004, then moved to April 29-May 1, 2005. It was to feature Adam Busch, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Iyari Limon, Robin Sachs, Anthony Head, and Common Rotation. And, big surprise, Julie Caitlin Brown was the convention "consultant" (WHY does her name keep recurring?).

Hush had its problems from the start--obscene ticket prices and competition from more established cons, just to begin.

And then, in early April 2005, Hush posted the following announcement:

Due to circumstances beyond our control we are sorry to have to announce that the event called HUSH due to take place in Aberdeen at the end of April has unfortunately had to be cancelled. We will be in contact with all ticket holders for the event in due course.

And about those refunds?

Well, there was this article in the Sunday Mail:

BUFFY LOVER GOT TEETH IN FANS' MONEY
EXCLUSIVE Vampire girl blames partner over £14,000
By Marc Horne

A COUPLE who charged Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans £500 to meet the stars of the hit TV show are at the centre of a fraud probe.

Police are investigating claims that Buffy fan Ben Bush embezzled more than £14,000 from lover Denise Goff.

The cash had been set aside for a Buffy convention called the Hush featuring stars such as Anthony Head (Rupert Giles), Iyari Limon (Kennedy), Adam Busch (Warren) and Robin Sachs (Ethan).

But the gala event, planned for Aberdeen's Granite City Thistle Hotel, was pulled at the last minute, leaving a string of angry Buffy fans out of pocket.

You can read the full article here.

Thus far, nothing quite so horrible has happened in the United States. We've had plenty of complaints about unscrupulously run conventions, but no one has simply run off with the money. Still, with the proliferation of fly-by-night conventions, anonymous con-runners, and escalating prices, there is reason to worry.

And even when a convention does happen, an unscrupulous organizer can certainly make fans regret the money they've spent. Rumor has it that the organizer of 2003's The Harvest spent the weekend chasing James Marsters, leaving unpaid volunteers to run the entire convention for her with no advance planning. (And did the celebrities ever actually get paid for that one?)

Or we could ask why Flashback Weekend usually gets referred to as "Cashback Weekend" by those who attended...?

And then there's the old news about Moonlight Rising--its first year took place in a fly-ridden labyrinth, and in its second paid attendees were forced out of the first three rows at the concert so that the convention organizer (Aria) and 30 of her friends could have the prime spots.

Am I missing anything here? Fill us in if you have more details about conventions gone bad.

This isn't just about the wank; these are people to whom you are handing cold hard cash. As a consumer, you have a right to know their con history and track record.

Your PSA for the day: Having a good time at a convention means making educated choices. Inform yourself about a con runner's reliability before you buy tickets.

The Fan-Run conventions—part the last. Alternate Universe Presents – themselves very late in the game, actually. Their convention was announced March 1, 2005, according to their website. Cutting it a bit close for a con that takes place in July, aren’t we?

So, who are they? Well, Alternate Universe Presents, LLC ensures us they are “…an event planning company committed to bringing both guests and attendees a fun-filled professionally run event. We're a trio that has a combined experience of 20 years in the entertainment industry, 9 years in fandom, and 7 years experience working behind the scenes at conventions, planning events and charity auctions.”

A trio of…? But with a bit of scrutinous poking around, you’ll find one name on the website—Ginger--in conjunction with the charity event. That’s as much as they want you to know on their event site, because even their contact page gives no information except for a generic email address with a strange mailing address in Bangor, Maine.

Except, wait! Through a link to their LJ community aupnews, the murky puddle begins to clear--you’ll discover that three users update that news: vampgaia, thefangirl, and soulmate815. It’s probably a safe bet that this is our trio of organizers. Follow the crumbs and do a bit of time tripping backwards, and voila! we can find faces to go with two of these names:

vampgaia, who lists her website as jamesmarsters-online.com. There you will find pages and pages (and pages and pages) of photos of Mr. Marsters.

thefangirl, who writes in her userinfo “I have happy, stable relationships with fictional characters and the actors who portray them!:)”.

And while a photo of soulmate815 can't be located, she too is apparently a Marsters fan. (Just a note that when this was posted, all of her icons were racy images of James Marsters. She has since changed them in response to this post.)

(all images found openly on the web, fyi)

What was it that was said in the Initial “Who Runs These Conventions?” post? Oh, yeah:

Businesses. However, most of the choices for Buffy specific conventions are run by fans who formed businesses so they could have a convention. Fans who probably thought they could make a better convention than the ones they’d been attending. Fans who wanted to run fan-friendly events.

Fans who want to have their weekend with the stars funded by you, the consumer.

Moonlight Rising, much?

And that’s where you might have seen the folks who are auPresenting the Whedonverse and Beyond event. If there is a convention—more specifically, a James Marsters convention/event to be held—these girls will undoubtedly have tickets for it. You’ll see them hanging out doing volunteer duty in the photo ops or being personal assistants. Some in Fandom know these folks as Julie’s Angels. (The Julie in that being Julie Caitlin Brown.) And you may recognize thefangirl, also known on various forums as NYC Ingrid--she co-ran the Moonlight Rising event in its previous two years. In fact, she’s probably best known for being one of the two con organizers who were asked to leave the stage by James Marsters, because they were sitting on the side talking during his Q&A. These girls also ended up with all the cush volunteer jobs at the Vulkon Oakland Slayercon (courtesy of Ms.JulieCaitlinBrown).

This year, they aspire to do it on their own, yet they’ve already had their first kerfuffle. A number of fans received postcards advertising this event—without having signed up for any mailing list. Turns out the names came from Vulkon and Moonlight Rising photo shoots, information which was given solely for attendees to have their photographs mailed to them. No warning was ever given that this personal info might be shared. So how did it end up in the hands of AUP? Well, Vulkon and Moonlight Rising both shared a photographer, Craig Damon. Craig Damon is Julie Caitlin Brown’s husband. Draw your own conclusion.

Privacy on the internet is a big deal; that’s why most websites post privacy policies. Of the events we’ve looked at, Booster’s the only company who’ve bothered. The fine print on the other sites is pretty much non-existent; the only thing AUP informs us is that their HTML fugly is an allwebco template.

So, how about the event itself? The programming template looks to be purchased from conventionsRus.com, with concerts, cocktail party, banquet, and Q&As. One difference, however, is that they offer up for sale the limited “James Marsters Talk Back” ticket, which one assumes is an exclusive Q&A for after the concerts, not to mention that Pretty Pass ticket holders will get a free! goody bag!

And about that cost thing. If you're going in style (choosing their premium weekend pass, "Talk Back" with James Marsters, and attending the cocktail party and banquet), a ticket to AUP will run you $655. This is the most expensive of any of this year's U.S. conventions. (This price doesn't include photo shoots, items to have autographed, airfare, or hotel, btw.)

The high cost is partly due to their cocktail party and banquet prices--at $85 and $125, respectively, they are more expensive than any con save Booster. And while Booster at least offers premium menu items, AUP hasn't given any indication that they're overcharging for anything but the same old generic hotel buffet.

And what about that plane ticket, sports fans? Sure, there have been other cons past, present, and future that have been in Sunny California. But Sacramento? Comparing flights both from Middle of Nowhere, USA and major hubs, it is on average $75-100 more expensive to fly to Sacramento than it is to fly to LA or even to San Francisco up the road. Better hotel deals? Hold on, who has said numerous times he likes to spend his weekends in that neck of the woods? At least Sacramento isn't as obvious as Modesto.

Their cost-to-guest ratio isn't great, either. AUP only has 9 guests, which is on the lower end of the scale (and just who in the Sam Hill are Matt Van Dyne and Shirley Lipscomb?). So what exactly is justifying their high ticket prices?

Well, the great news is, if you're in it for the Firefly, they do have the two major stars, Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin. And while these guys are appearing at plenty of upcoming cons, DragonCon is enormous, and Booster's Firefly event takes place during the school year. If you want to see the Firefly boys at a (relatively) small summer con, AUP is the one for you.

...Oh wait ... just as this went to press, they dropped Team Firefly from the lineup, so they can't even claim this difference. And just remember what Tony Head last year about promoters cancelling apperances at the last moment? Prior acting committments? Or is it a case of a con going over budget and diverting funds away from chasing their sweetie bear? Either way, definite bummer since the initial marketing was obviously to Firefly fans. Ah Tony, what a wise sage/loose cannon you were...

And if you're in it for Buffy & Angel, the appeal is murkier. By dropping Firefly and adding Amber Benson, they’re starting to look eerily similar to the recent Vulkon Houston event, which also had James and Amber as headliners. They do have 2/3 of the Trio, but you could've just seen all three in Detroit. (And what's the Trio without Danny Strong's snarking, anyway?) You could've caught Common Rotation in Detroit, too, and you can still see them at a living room show for $10, which hardly justifies AUP's prices. Jonathan Woodward is a minor star, and tends to show up everywhere. David Fury is fairly new, but his frequent antagonism toward Spike fans probably isn't going to win him any friends at this con. That leaves James Marsters, of course--he's the cash cow of conventions and despite his rising fees, conventions seem to still want him. Yet, is he still pulling in the attendees? If you are just in it for the music, you could've just seen him perform in Houston or Detroit or London, but AUP also has him doing a Q&A--one day only. Massively inflated prices for one day only? Um, okay.

Oh! Musn’t forget the Program Cover Art Contest: Attention artists! Alternate Universe Presents is proud to announce our first annual Program Cover Art Contest. We need a snazzy graphic for the cover of our program. So let your creativity go wild.

Except--you have to pay to enter the contest. $10 per submission. All righty, then.

Our second newcomer to the con circuit has a very snappy tag line to go with their very happy attitude: BE there and BE entertained!

Booster Entertainment (aka Booster Events) tells us that they are a collective of four women, aspiring to celebrate the special connection between actors and their fans. Not only that, they are striving to promote and celebrate fans’ love for superior entertainment, aiming to ensure us that quality entertainment thrives.

Our cheerleaders Vicki, Denise, Jenn, and Marla (along with honorary cheerleader and webmaster Wes) make no secret they are Christian KANE fans:
That’s their Fearless Leader Vicki (with friends), pictured on the left—and if you search closely enough on their website, you’ll find other pictures of a couple of them in their gallery.

Yet, despite the cheese and muddle of their website (knowing HTML does not a web designer make!), it is packed full of info, is continually updated and has an active forum community. Of all of the conventions we are having a look at to date, these folks are the only ones who’ve even bothered conducting business with and posting any sort of privacy policy—and that’s somewhat comforting, because at least they seem to care. They’ve even recently reiterated this sentiment in their forums when privacy concerns regarding the dubious obtaining/use of a certain mailing list (by AUP & Detroit) became an issue—BE assures us that they respect our privacy and will never release our private information to any third party.

The BE girls first came to the attention of fandom back in March 2004 (known then as Mutant Boosters) when they organized the Angel's Food Drive Fan Campaign to help save ANGEL – sending cakes to sets and raising over $23,000 for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

So, what does Booster Events have in store for the potential attendee? For the most part, their convention offers the standard programming that we’ve all become very used to—although they do have a bus tour of BtVS and AtS sites organized as well as live music planned at their dance party. In fact, they’ve already got a preliminary schedule posted for events—but the jury's still out on the type of specific day programming that's planned.

Pricewise, they are not exactly inexpensive—but, in the past couple of years, nobody seems to be blinking twice at the inflation of convention ticket prices. BE is certainly doing their part to boost inflation by offering a cocktail party and banquet which blows the roof off former high prices—both events require a bunch of dough if you wish to participate. The only redeeming point is that the quality of the food and beverage you are paying for seems to be at least worth part of the fee you are paying (the menu is posted on their site!).

Another point worth making is that while news of this convention only hit fandom last Autumn, there has been no cessation in forward movement since day one—these girls seem to have their shit together. They’ve been actively fundraising through various activities this entire time, and rather than dropping/changing guests like the other events (knock wood), they’ve actually been adding to their event (they have 17 guests on their roster!). Confident in the success of this Angel event, they’ve begun to organize a Serenity Flanvention which already has a number of guests booked. Unfortunately, they’ve picked some craptastic dates (Dec. 9-11, 2005) that will make attendance difficult for anyone with educational obligations.

No doubt about it—this group has got some moxie. We’ll know at the end of July whether or not the bet pays off.

So, Who Runs These Conventions? Part III

We've addressed the established conventions, Vulkon and Moonlight Rising. But this year brings many newcomers to the fan-run con scene. Which will sink or swim? And just who, exactly, is behind Motor City, Booster, and Alternate Universe?

Let's start with the first announced, Detroit's Motor City Buffy Con.

Detroit is spearheaded by…Robbie. That's the information available. Yes, that's right, no last name. Cher, Madonna, The Artist Formerly Known As.... They have earned the one-name titles. But a con promoter? You might be able to find someone who knows her, but that person is also usually a faceless/nameless internet handle who "…knows her, she's cool." Word of mouth only goes so far, and I'm not ready to bet the farm on this far from ringing endorsement.

Robbie has a biography on a site linked from Motor City. She writes:

Became a Buffy fan at the age of thirtysomething, after swearing that I'd never watch that "kid's show"! Soon became a loyal fan of James Marsters, and even more so after having two private signings with him. Have attended two conventions, the second one inspiring me to try and promote one myself. With the help of my husband, an awesome consultant, and this group, it looks like a reality. However, my family is my real pride and joy.

So she's attended a total of two conventions, and feels that this qualifies her to run her own? And she was inspired by "private signings" with James Marsters? Oh-kay, then.

Her event is apparently being co-run by: surprise, surprise Julie Caitlin Brown (who had her fingers in the proverbial Moonlight Rising pot as well). They recently started their very own kerfuffle by canning four long-announced guests, Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Kelly Donovan, Jason Carter and Stacey Scowley, and replacing them with Andy Hallett (Lorne) and Michelle Kelly (who? [Gunn's sister]).

No one seems too excited that four guests have been replaced by two, or that Nick Brendon--hello, original scoobie, remember--has been replaced with the overly exposed Andy Hallett. We won't go into the whole musical chairs aspect of the con circuit; suffice to say it seems the music has once again stopped and Andy, having stepped away from his MR chair, now sits on a Detroit chair, with Nicky landing in that vacated Moonlight Rising seat. (Is any one keeping this straight?) And is there anyone here that didn't have to google Michelle Kelly to figure out she had a miniscule role in the land o' Joss?

On the other hand, Detroit is cheaper than Booster or AU, is the only con this year to have the full Trio (if you missed the Trio at the many cons they did together last year), and has concerts from James Marsters, Common Rotation, a mini-concert by Anthony Stewart Head at the Banquet, AND there will be a special appearance by--wait for this--JULIE CAITLIN BROWN! Will she sing? Will she workshop her book? Or will she just try to sell you her very own autograph and wares??

It's also located in Detroit. Though word has it that the Motor City convention is, in fact, nearly an hour away from the actual city.

So I guess the question is, how much are you willing to risk on an unknown?

So, Who Runs These Conventions? Part II

The Fan-Run conventions. So, if a convention is being run by fans who formed businesses so they could put on a convention, what should you expect?

Most of these people have no business experience—unless you count being employed BY a business as having business experience—even knowing how to spell business isn’t always requisite.

In a nutshell? That means you, yes YOU Burger-Bob! You can plan conventions if you can find the dough—and get people to hand you theirs!

To be fair, these fan-run events can be successful. On the upside, they’ve been where we are. They should know how to treat us, right? They wanted to run a fan-friendly event, right? And, it can be, even if the organizers aren’t agenda free (i.e. fans who want to have their weekend with the stars funded by you, the consumer, etc.).

Who are they? No doubt you’ve seen these folks at other conventions--they might have been volunteers--or, possibly you stood next to them in the autograph line. Maybe you even made fun of them, or have an on-line war going with them. Chances are you know someone who loves/hates them. We are a small world, after all.

There are FOUR major players in the fan-run arena in the U.S. this summer. They are major players because they have signed on/invested in major talent to woo your dollar.

Team the First: Has a track record. Has a reputation. Have you met Aria, Rosey and Kat? Aria and Rosey ran Moonlight Rising the first couple of years, and Aria is spearheading it with the help of her pal Kat in MR’s junior year.


Moonlight Rising's organizers: Aria and Kat (all images found openly on the web, fyi)

Aria is very fond of James Marsters. She helped to successfully plan two conventions with JM as headliner. Of course, Julie Caitlin Brown ran both conventions. (Who is Julie? That’s a whole different topic!).

What is different this year is that Julie Caitlin Brown is no longer associated with this convention—and James Marsters won’t be returning any time soon.

But as far as events go? With 13 guests and a concert, there’s quite a bit of celebrity bang for your buck. And hey, if enough tickets sell, you might even get to see all of them.

So, Who Runs These Conventions? Part I.

Businesses. However, most of the choices for Buffy specific conventions are run by fans who formed businesses so they could have a convention. Fans who probably thought they could make a better convention than the ones they’d been attending. Fans who wanted to run fan-friendly events.

Fans who want to have their weekend with the stars funded by you, the consumer.

And that’s quite okay, as long as YOU are getting what you are paying for, as well.

Vulkon says they’ve been in the business for 20 years. I’m sure they started out as fans, but having gone this long, they’re a bona fide business who runs conventions. And that can mean cold and formulaic--which is fine if the original formula kicks ass (and it usually doesn’t). There are worse, and we’ve not listed them in our comparison. (Creation Conventions)

But, what we really want to know is who specifically runs these things? Who puts them together?

We all know Chang and Eng Motinez of Vulkon. They’ve been putting together sci-fi conventions for a good while, and finally jumped into the Whedonverse in 2002 when Marsters Mania hit the big time—overwhelming the poor folks at Shore Leave (who run a friendly convention, btw).

We’ve witnessed these two behaving professionally and treating fans well, and we’ve seen the exact opposite. To say they get a little frustrated with enthusiastic fans is an understatement. They are cheered and they are boycotted. One thing’s for certain with the boys—what you see is what you get. They provide you with the service you signed on for, and sometimes it leaves you feeling like a bit of the old slam-bam--but they never profess to be providing anything but.

In the last post, there was discussion within on convention guests and the reasons why people would choose to attend a specific convention.

Do you pick based on the guest line-up, or do you really just want to meet up with your friends? For most of us, it's a huge combination of both no matter what sort of convention we attend.

Let’s compare the general cost of the conventions and their guest lists. Who is giving you the most bang for your buck?! (Don't worry; you won't be subjected to data charts in every post!)

Keep in mind, we aren’t even going to compare those conventions like San Diego Comic Con with this group—because at conventions like Comic Con, you’ll get 100s of media guests with variety in programming on every topic for just about any fan for less than $75 for a 4-day weekend. We also won't include the smaller events in this comparison, because the agenda is completely different. The focus in this entry is on the big-bucks conventions put out by regular corporations and LLCs.

So, let’s say you want to attend a convention that focuses on a specific fandom:

Compare your prices for a general convention experience with the number of actors you’ll get to see (bands aren't included in the count). It’s pretty obvious that Booster Events and Moonlight Rising cons give you the most actors—and for your hard earned buck, MR's the winner. The Buffy City Motor Con in Detroit follows closely at $225 for the weekend. While the Houston Vulkon has already occurred and the guest list was small, the general price of admission wasn’t so bad at $225, either. Of course, considering the ticket price two years ago for a Vulkon Buffy convention was only $100, cheap becomes a relative term. Last is Alternate Universe with the second highest price tag overall with a lower number of guests.

At least if you are attending to meet up with your friends, you’ll get your picture with them for free.

So, what are the costs involved if you want to attend a convention? In the Buffyverse, costs have skyrocketed. Let’s compare the primary choices for this summer:


That’s to get into the convention, the banquet, the cocktail party and the concert.

Booster’s prices are higher for the cocktail party and banquet, though they promise extra: unlimited top-shelf open bars at both, with the food at each being of very high quality--they even post the menus at their site (the Westin is their venue, so this is most likely the truth).

The banquets at the other conventions are offering the typical slop-in-a-bin heated by candles—$75 and $80 for Vulkon and Detroit, and $125 for AUP!

Everyone's got concerts planned, and those will run you about the same. Booster and MR will have Christian Kane's band, KANE, Vulkon hosted JM, while Detroit and AUP will host both JM and Common Rotation.

Of course, some conventions also have special events or tickets that you must purchase in order to gain access to “special” limited access situations. Vulkon had all-inclusive platinum tickets which provided a prepaid encore of the JM performance for you and 199 other people at $800! MR is offering a special shindig in which you can share Anthony Stewart Head’s airspace for an hour or two that will set you back an extra $150!! Alternate Universe has a special event wherein you get to hear extra-special words from El Marsters** that will only be heard by you and another 149 people!!! Of course, an enthusiastic attendee wants these specials, which is why they are included on the total cost breakdown.

So, speak up. What’s the major difference between most of these events (besides diverting you of your hard earned cash)? What leads you to pick one venue over another, and what makes it worth this much money?

Just a quickie side post:

A number of folks are alarmed that they've been mass friended. If you were chosen, it is because you belong to a Whedonverse fandom community, not because you are being *watched* as an individual.

It is not the intention of this LJ to alarm anyone, unless it's about "Buyer, Beware". This LJ is a sockpuppet, afterall!

It was less intrusive, in this poster's opinion, than actually joining communities and spamming them. I personally hate that, but you may feel this is a bigger invasion than an annoying post in your communities.

Apologies if any of you were tweaked out about this. However, by joining LiveJournal, you accept the fact that other LJ users will "friend" you--including LJ users that you don't know. This isn't "spam"; it's just how LiveJournal works. You're under no obligation to friend back or ever even look at this journal. However, since I have no desire to offend anyone (who doesn't deserve it), I'll be glad to remove you if you ask.

Those of you interested in this community forum, please pass the word along.

Interestingly enough, there is a Con related kerfuffle going on now about invasion of privacy--with actual personal info and all that. But, that's a post for later on.

The rising price of conventions in the Land of Whedon

Summertime means convention time! So what does that mean for our fan community?

It means, we want to dish: spread information—all of the good and the bad of it.

And that’s why this LiveJournal exists. It’s a forum for YOU to pass on your information, your comments, your opinions. The best part? You are welcome to say it without signing your name.

There are a few rules: minors are not target fodder, no posting of people’s personal contact info and try not to lie.

I’ll start.

Ever been to a convention? Those of you new to the game (or who have memory problems) might not realize how much and how quickly the prices of conventions for our little section of the universe has risen. They have. Like, a lotsa lots.

For sure, if I’m going to travel across the country for one of these cons, I want the best, and I know many regular con attendees feel the same way. Factor in the $200-$300 airfare (in the USA), the hotel which may run from $100-$400 (but often higher), and ask yourself:

Is it worth it?

That's a good question. Thanks for asking.

First things first, I'll admit: I'm a Sockpuppet. Don't be alarmed. My Dr. Frankensteen actually has a personal LJ and is already reading who s/he wants, so please rest assured that your personal journal is not under attack. Dr. Frankensteen will never post in (nor read, for that matter), your personal LJ. Leave that up to people on friends/friends lists (or crazies pimping Mel Gibson's Christ movies).

As for me? Well, I'm merely a Sockpuppet!


This Editorial LJ was created so that there would be an open forum available for dialogue opportunity. A number of people have felt over the years that it was important for members of the Fandom of Whedonverse to be able to share the information we've accumulated about our experiences--the good AND bad!

In fact, part of the reason this forum was created is so that fans might speak their minds--and do so anonymously if they choose to do so. Anonymous comments are allowed and IPs are not tracked. We should all feel free to post in the manner most comfortable.

Please understand that in no way will you be Spammed. This LJ was created only to house information. In fact, this LJ has no interest in your life beyond those pieces related to fandom that you choose to share here. Should you choose to read this LJ but not have it friend you, that's A-Okay.

Lastly, the decision was made to make this an LJ rather than a community simply for the reason that you cannot post anonymous posts to a community. The truth of the matter is, things can get pretty wankable darned fast in fandom. This could change in the future--let's see how it goes.

And the name? Because sometimes things can get messy.