Science fiction conventions proved to be like the Australian kangaroo...
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| Title: | Science fiction conventions proved to be like the Australian kangaroo... (title used here on Fanlore) |
| Creator: | Paul Stuart |
| Date(s): | October 1979 |
| Medium: | |
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Science fiction conventions proved to be like the Australian kangaroo... is a 1979 essay by Paul Stuart.
It was published in Probe One #15 as part of a series about science fiction conventions.
It is written with a focus on hucksters and their challenges to make money with during a time of proliferation of conventions.
Some Topics Discussed
- the proliferation of procons
- differing views about the purpose of cons
- pranksters playing dirty tricks
- making money at cons
- fighting over fans and ways to part fans with their money
From the Essay
For a long time many people who attended science fiction conventions wished that there were more rather than two or three a year although their reasons varied. The fans wanted to see more films on a big screen and meet more tv and movie stars. On the other hand people who went to conventions as dealers, to sell movie material and science fiction material thought that the more conventions there were the more money they could make.
Science fiction conventions proved to be like the Australian kangaroo, if left unchecked they will multiply to the point where they will leave very little space for each other and starve to death. Case in point: Memorial Day weekend 1978. Three science fiction conventions were planned to go on around this time period in southern California; Phantasmicon at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Movie-Expo in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Wilshire and Space Con at the Anaheim Convention center.
It would appear on the surface that fans would have a choice of conventions to go to. Phantasmicon would start on Thursday and run through Sunday. Movie-Expo would begin Wednesday and end Saturday. Space Con 4 would run only two days, Saturday and Sunday. Many dealers toyed with the idea of making a big profit at one convention during the week and then moving on to another convention on the weekend to make even more money. This, however, was not to be the case.
From the onset the promoters of each convention were not pleased that there were other conventions scheduled so close to their own. This would mean fierce competition to woo the fans to their own convention instead of a rival con. Before the conventions started there was trouble brewing already. Somebody had called a local newspaper to cancel the advertisements which were to appear in the paper promoting Phantasmicon. Fortunately the paper called to verify the cancellation and found that the call was made probably from some prankster.
Once the conventions started it appeared as though Phantasmicon was doing the best in terms of fan attendance. Most of the dealers there had done brisk business and there was talk among some of the dealers of leaving Phantasmicon on Saturday and Sunday for the Space Expo convention in Anaheim.
Some dealers decided to play it safe and bought tables at two conventions. They would divided their inventory and have an assistant work one convention while they work the other con.
Although some dealers did leave for the other convention they did not receive the additional revenue that they had anticipated. The large crowds that the dealers expected to attend the other conventions just didn't show up. One dealer who went to Space Con in Anaheim commented, "We were all in this big hall, about forty of us and we outnumbered the people who came in. All we did all day was sit around and look at each other."
What was the cause of their poor business? One science fiction convention promoter attributed the problem to "There's just no way southern California fans can support two science fiction conventions in one week let alone three. In order to make any money conventions must be spaced at least a month apart."
The promoter was basically correct. Fans can't and will not pay $10-$15 a convention two or three times in one weekend. Even if they could they would have little left over to buy the dealers' merchandise. One promoter decided to do something about it. He sent out letters to dealers stating that if they promised not to attend another science fiction convention in California within thirty days of his he would give them a ten percent discount from his dealers' table charge. Many dealers found his letter to be quite humorous, especially since he had increased his dealers' tables charge to a little over ten percent.
This act was one step towards a convention competition war where there would be location stealing, name calling and threats to bring lawsuits. There would be many casualties and very few clean winners.