"Furst Contact" - What happened?
Jonas
Does anyone know what happened to the "Furst Contact" con that was supposed
to happen up in BC next week? (http://www.pawscon.ca/) The site just has
an abrupt 'cancelled' notice on it, no info.
-- Jonas
Chris
Lots of things happened. But to make a long story as short as
possible and to the point.
As I undersatdn it, there wasn't at least a minimum number of
attendance to prevent the ConCom from possibly losing an unacceptable
amount of money.
So it was cancelled, with looking at holding it either next
year or the year after, on a different date, which won't conflict with
AC or other major cons.
Ostrich
news:8gc9mu4fm2q3h0bu2...@4ax.com...
>
> As I undersatdn it, there wasn't at least a minimum number of
> attendance to prevent the ConCom from possibly losing an unacceptable
> amount of money.
>
as closely as I used to, but still, I think new cons aren't advertising as
much as they ought. It doesn't matter what date you choose, if no-one knows
there's a con planned.
-Ostrich! <")
Atara
>I hadn't even heard of it until now. Granted, I don't follow these
>things as closely as I used to, but still, I think new cons aren't
>advertising as much as they ought. It doesn't matter what date you
>choose, if no-one knows there's a con planned.
People were mentioning the same thing about CACE, despite announcements and
updates regarding the con that were posted here, on Yerf, VCL, Flayrah, and
some non-furry outlets.
Where, and how else, would you suggest cons advertise? There really aren't
any central places to do so. I'd be interested to hear suggestions.
--
Atara
"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."
http://www.FurNation.com/Atara/
***What doesn't fit in my email addy? NADA.***
Ostrich
news:9272C87FBa...@66.120.4.171...
>
> Where, and how else, would you suggest cons advertise? There really aren't
> any central places to do so. I'd be interested to hear suggestions.
Well, Tim Gadd's correct in that there just isn't anyplace that *everyone*
looks at anymore. Cons have to advertise more these days. The good thing
is that advertising is never going to hurt you - it's just that some
advertising is going to be more effective than other.
1. I'd suggest advertising on the regional mailing lists. When I
administered OhioFur I welcomed any and all furry cons to advertise there,
and the policy's continued under the new admin. I don't know of any
regional list that doesn't welcome con announcements, although to be safe
you should prolly ask beforehand. I did always require an advertising con
to have at least one official representative on the list to answer any
questions that might arise, which seems to me a sound policy to me whether a
particular list requires it or not. I'm on several regional lists, and I
didn't see anything about CACE.
The good thing about advertising a con on a regional is that generally
there a lot of interlocking friendships among the list members, and if one
person says that he's thinking about going, it can push others in that
direction. Since the list serves a geographic region, ridesharing
arrangements are easily handled. Since most of the people know one another,
roomshares are easier to arrange too.
2. Special interest mailing lists are another good resource. Most startup
cons are going to do better if they have some 'gimmick' that makes them
stand out from the crowd. CACE (fur instance) has their PG art policy. The
Christian furry lists would have been obvious places to advertise CACE. I'm
on one generic furry Christian list, and one about Narnia, and I didn't see
anything about CACE. Special interest lists have most of the virtues of
regional lists, except that they're probably not going to do very much about
facilitating rideshares.
Since CACE is possibly thinking about a competition masquerade next year,
the fursuiting lists would be good places to advertise too.
3. Other cons are good places to advertise. People who'll go to one con are
more than averagely likely to go to others. Don't fall into the trap of
thinking that the only way you can advertise at a con is by putting out
flyers or buying a table, either. At FC2 we had a fursuiter wandering the
halls wearing a sandwich board advertising MFF. We also subverted a
masquerade entry into an advertisement. People take a lot more notice of
stuff that they don't expect.
4. Be ready when opportunity knocks. If a concom member's going to be
attending a con, give him authority to speak for CACE if the opportunity
arises,and make sure he knows what to say. At MFF 2K I emceed the
masquerade ^1, and the judges took longer than I'd expected to make their
decision. I finally ran out of steam, and threw the stage open for anyone
that wanted to entertain. Two guys from Feral seized the moment, and got up
on stage to tell people why they should attend Feral. Their con got
advertised when others didn't because they were ready to exploit an
unexpected opportunity. The moment would have been lost if they'd had to
worry about their conchair pitching a fit because someone other than the PR
officer had made an announcement, or if they'd not had material ready.
5. Don't underestimate the value of having a loud, enthusiastic person
working for you. Even if everyone runs away when they see him coming
because they know he's going to harangue them about CACE, it still keeps the
con in their minds. If you've got someone that *everyone* knows by name on
constaff, that's an asset, even if he doesn't really do anything. You go
from being "just some con" to being "that con that has Bob the Famous Guy on
staff".
6. Invite feedback BEFORE the event, in all the various venues. Give the
attendees something to discuss - would they rather have A or B. Don't make
it a plain vote, because then everyone just votes and it's done. Let the
potential attendees talk about what they want, much like Novotny did with
the masquerade a few weeks back. You'll get ideas you'd not have thought of
yourself (you may find that people really want C, once they talk it over),
plus you'll keep people talking about the con.
-Ostrich! <")
^1 King Dumbass XIII, Wearer of the Chicken Hat and Electric Shirt, for
those who wondered who that fellow was...
Jeff Novotny
> 1. I'd suggest advertising on the regional mailing lists. When I
> administered OhioFur I welcomed any and all furry cons to advertise there,
> and the policy's continued under the new admin. I don't know of any
> regional list that doesn't welcome con announcements, although to be safe
> you should prolly ask beforehand. I did always require an advertising con
> to have at least one official representative on the list to answer any
> questions that might arise, which seems to me a sound policy to me whether a
> particular list requires it or not. I'm on several regional lists, and I
> didn't see anything about CACE.
We did some information on regional mailing lists here in Canada, as I
figured that most of the people on those lists might have been potential
attendees. However, there is a limit as to how many mailing lists it's
practical to advertise on. And unnecessary or irrelevant advertising is
considered rude and turns a lot of people off. Mailing lists have a
purpose -- mass advertising isn't one of them.
I'm not saying it couldn't be done, just that it's difficult. Generally,
I haven't seen any of the major cons doing it outside of their home
mailing list, so there is no precedence.
> 6. Invite feedback BEFORE the event, in all the various venues. Give the
> attendees something to discuss - would they rather have A or B. Don't make
> it a plain vote, because then everyone just votes and it's done. Let the
> potential attendees talk about what they want, much like Novotny did with
> the masquerade a few weeks back. You'll get ideas you'd not have thought of
> yourself (you may find that people really want C, once they talk it over),
> plus you'll keep people talking about the con.
Yeah, we tried to do some of this. Generally, it's not considered a
sound practice, and the established conventions rarely do it. However,
as a new con, we really had very little choice. And I really needed to
do a sanity check on the date for this year.
However, the main problem remains that people don't read a.f.f. anymore
and there has been nothing that has taken its former role as an
informational resource.
Thanks for the feedback.
Best;
Jeff