Eastercon

[drplokta]

I just posted the following to the Eastercon Yahoo group, but I'll repeat it here:

My thoughts on the situation, in numbered paragraphs to give an illusion
of organisation.

1. We are probably at more risk of having several competing Easter
conventions in 2007 than of having none.

2. If anyone speaks to Tim Kirk in the near future, we need
answers to some questions, e.g.:

a) Is it likely that the circumstances of Convoy's cancellation will
preclude the use of other Britannia hotels (e.g. Britannia
International in Docklands, Sasha's in Manchester) for 2007, or indeed
for future years?

b) Is Convoy prepared to endorse some alternative rescue convention as
an "official" successor, and if so then by what process?

c) When are refunds being mailed, and are they prepared to enclose
fliers from 2007 conventions (whether held at Easter or not) with them?

d) Is it likely that Convoy's guests of honour would wish to be
invited as guests to a replacement convention?

3. Getting good hotel rates is easier five months out than it is two years
out. If they don't have a conference booking for Easter now, they know
they're not getting one unless a miracle comes along.

4. Legitimacy is over-rated (and certainly over-discussed). If there is a
single convention run over Easter 2007, by people who have some previous
track record of running Eastercons, then that's the Eastercon (and can
select the 2009 Eastercon). Legitimacy only becomes an issue if the
Eastercon forks.

5. Sizing a replacement con is a problem. Assuming we end up before
Christmas with a single con, held over Easter, with Convoy's blessing,
somewhere between London and Bristol on the east-west axis and between
Brighton and Newcastle on the north-south axis (sorry to the Welsh and
Scots, but Scotland had 2006 and Wales doesn't have the population), then
would it get 300 members? 500? 700? It makes it hard to budget. I feel
that under the circumstances it would have to be deemed acceptable for an
Eastercon to close memberships at a particular number, as long as that
number is at least 500.

6. Notwithstanding point 5, running a replacement con is going to be a
bigger financial risk than is normal for an Eastercon. Are there any
fannish organisations able (and willing) to underwrite part of the risk?
Does the Mexicon Hat have any money left? LFF? Interaction? Concussion?

7. I have seen on Livejournal but not repeated here that Chris O'Shea has
contacted the Britannia International in Docklands, where the proto-Plokta
Cabal held the 1995 Eastercon (with 750 members), and they do not
currently have a conference booking for Easter 2007 (but see point 2a
above).

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

I'd also support "finding a venue and Convoy taking over again".

I'd very much hope for at least the British guest line up. McKinley and Dickinson are not regular convention goers and Judith Clute is a delight.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

Given that the Convoy committee are (a) an Adelphi or nowhere committee, and (b) don't want to use online forums as a publicity mechanism, despite their being essential in this context, and given that (c) finding a site is pretty much the single worst bit of conrunning, I think this would be a poor approach.

The guests are fab and I do hope the new con chooses to pick them up.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Re: 7 - this would mean two London eastercons in a row. Not necessarily a problem but it will be an issue for some.

[drplokta]

There is a precedent from 1995 and 1996 - not just two in London but the same two hotels.

[twinfair.livejournal.com]

Considering the circumstance, I would be disappointed if anyone complained that London had two cons in a row. Seeing as the alternative would be no 2007 con, the normal preferences to spread cons around the country should be irrelevant.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

The only downside is that it would definitely preclude an opposed bid for 2009 in London.

But I see that as unlikely. London Eastercons are remarkably rare, considering the population size.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

I'd be surprised at point 2(a) being a problem unless we've badly handled the cancellation. It should be made clear that this is a problem with the Adeplhi and the way it is run and should serve as a wake up call to the group but we're still happy to give them business.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I'm not privy to the yahoo groups discussion (and don't want to join, thanks, I've had endless grief from Yahoo), but do we actually know if this is (a) the con pulling out, (b) the Adelphi pulling out, or (c) a mix of both?

7.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I tried posting to the Yahoo list, but I'm using an online mail reader (www.mail2web.com) and I think the sending address is not known to Yahoo and so it's blocking my posts and replies to the list. If anyone knows an easy way around this I'd be delighted.

Re: 7.

[timill]

Can't you just configure it appropriately? I've done that to Cix Online.

I have no idea ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... have a look at www.mail2web.com and tell me if you can ... I use the Cix email gateway but it seems to require that I use a sending address of something like magician@mail.cix.co.uk which isn't what Yahoo expects, and if I change the sending address, the CiX gateway rejects my email as an attempt to use their gateway to send spam.

I could use the CiX Online, but the last couple of dozen times I tried it was incredibly painfully slow so I gave up eventually.

Re: I have no idea ...

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

I used to occasionally use mail2web, and never had any problems, so I think it's the Cix end that's being difficult.

Why don't you just use Yahoo's web interface?

Because Yahoo makes me scream ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... I'm a member of several lists on Yahoo, but either because I was joined by someone else or because the list migrated from egroups, I don't have a valid user ID on yahoo for those list memberships, and I've tried at least 15 times to get the passwords but they always ask things like "birthdate" which they've never had but won't give out or reset the password without, and they never reply to emails.

If they've changed things recently, or you know some clever way of getting the password etc. then that's certainly an option ... otherwise I'd have to sign up with yet another user ID and live is too short to keep fighting bad user interfaces and bad customer support.

[pnh.livejournal.com]

Is it likely that Convoy's guests of honour would wish to be
invited as guests to a replacement convention?

Sharyn November is a friend of mine. I haven't spoken to her about this yet, but I strongly suspect her answer would be "yes." She was very much looking forward to Eastercon.

Of course ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... depending on the membership uptake and the cost of a new venue, there may not be much of a guest budget left (on the other hand, with an appropriately cheap venue and a reduced programme, maybe there would be enough left for international guests!) ... we'll have to see what the proposals are ...

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

I was very much looking forward to meeting her.

[pnh.livejournal.com]

Followup with further info:

"d) Is it likely that Convoy's guests of honour would wish to be
invited as guests to a replacement convention?"

Sharyn November tells me that the Convoy committee have told her they'll be bringing her over to the UK and entertaining her over Easter weekend anyway.

I have no idea of the scope and/or location of said entertainment, but there's a data point, at any rate.