I heartily second Rick's recent list of eminently sensible ideas for running a successful con, so much so I will repeat them, and add a couple more:
>1. You need at leasst 150 attendees to make it a go, moneywise
> and eventwise.
>
>2. You cannot advertise too much. The advertising campaign must
> extend beyond a web page (which should allow email registration)
> and putting posts on the daily. It should also focus on "new
> blood" from the region.
>
>3. Events need to focus on getting new players interested. Just
> appealing to the old timers isn't enough any more.
>
>4. More games, freeforms, and interactive events, and less seminars.
>
>5. Many hands make light the work. You need a team of organisers,
> not just one or two dedicated (and overworked) heroes.
To which, here's my rules #6 and #7:
6. The con auction can be a major money raiser for your convention if
you plan it right.
Make sure con auction is scheduled for a time when the maximum number of punters will be in the room (ie. not at midnight on Saturday after the major LARP has concluded, which, unbelievable as it sounds, did happen once). Sell items that are 100% donated to the con first, and work your way down. If you don't get to those 10% to the con items in the alloted time, tough titties to those mingy bastards who put them up for sale on such ungenerous terms.
7. An attractive con publication (ie. Questlines, Enclosure I,
Questlines II, Ye Book of Tentacles), can help generate additional funds for your con. If you can, get your fundraiser out *before* the con when you'll probably need the extra capital.
Rick noted:
> Convention attendence:
> Chicago 97, Victoria 97, Australia 98, and LA 98 all suffered almost
> the same fate. Somewhere around 75-100 people showed up and they were
> lucky if they broke even.
Andrew Bean tells me that QL II certainly helped GloranthaCon DU (Jan '98) run at a profit, despite the fact that attendance was a tad disappointing. Remember though, that Down Here, we're working from a population base fully 1/15th the size of the US or Europe (so does that mean if we can get 100 or so along, shouldn't you guys be able to pull 1,500?).
Cheers,
MOB
9 Parker Street, Richmond 3121, Victoria, Australia Home Telephone: +61-3-9428-9048
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