Smofing in Colorado

[mishalak]

The idea that Colorado (note, this is coming from outside Denver) ought to do a Worldcon. So I'm going to have some thoughts about this for the next couple days.

So I'm looking for some locals interested in starting a con for relaxation. A relaxicon. This is not a new idea, but I've got an idea that might be a bit different than what has been tried before.

The Front Range Geek Calendar:
Mid January: COSine (science fiction)
Mid February: Genghis Con (gaming)
Mid April: Starcon (trek)
Mid May: Opus (we don't know)
Late August: Taticon (gaming)
Mid September: Nan Desu Kan (anime)
Late October: MileHiCon (science fiction)

Obviously the calendar is pretty full. But the way Opus is being run currently I expect there to be a vacancy in the future. Plus it is a totally different market. Opus is more a drum circle and crystal healing sort of crowd. Barely in the fannish spectrum and they are a for profit enterprise from what I've heard, so I don't expect them to be around after this year. And I don't expect to start a con until 2005 at the very earliest. Just to talk about it.

I am inspired by Karvel Kon, Rose's annual trek to Limon Colorado. I think that this could work as a mandatory participation event. Because that isn't scalable to have one big group of people my idea is to create lots of little party crews. To be a member of the con you must belong to one of the crews doing something for the con. Each crew would get a room themselves or with another crew and throw a party at least one night or do one of the other con functions like getting a little newsletter together. People showing up at the door can try to join a crew then or join one of the newbie crews with some nice personable people to introduce them to the concept of the con.

People who've been around are part of whatever crew they want (if that crew wants, each crew sets its own rules, it just has to get its job done however it wants). Though after a while it might be good to shake up the crews and make sure they don't get too set in their ways.

If the rates are good and the crews are interested we might not hold it in Denver. In fact Rose suggests that it would be best to get outside town a bit so people won't go home and kill the life of the con.

This would be my preferred way to create a base of people who have experience with at least running a scale model convention before we even talk of doing a Westercon or a Worldcon. As has been suggested that Colorado ought to get together and do.

Comments

Progressive con

[(Anonymous)]

So here's a thought, which would work both for an active relaxicon and your crew idea: a progressive con! Like a progressive dinner, the convention would flow from one crew to another, and each could do some kind of activity. One could do a participatory art show/project, another a masquerade/costume party, or a panel, or a hot tub trivia party, or whatever. And of course everybody would go to the con suite/parties. Whatta ya think? (I'm ll be back home tonight ... talk to you soon.) --Rose

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

Could you hit a happy medium? Keep it in Denver? Frankly, I would avoid a prison-on-the-plains mandatory-participation con like the plague, but would love to be involved in an alternative.

Karval Kon is too emotionally claustrophobic for me. Milehicon is exactly the opposite, and I treasure it. Rose programs both. I'd love to help work on a convention that was highly participatory, but entirely un-mandatory. Otherwise, I'd go nuts.

Have you examined the structure of Burning Man? It's pretty much what you describe, except in a hallucinogenic techno-hippie context instead of SF fandom.

Re: Progressive con

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Actually that sounds like a very good idea for the convention's first year. If it does get larger than ~30 people I do think that there would be have to be multiple tracks going on. Then again would making it progressive be too organized and kill the fun?

So many questions, so few answers. I don't know about doing a organized masquerade. That works at Karvel Kon, but I don't want to end up with everyone having to do a costume. Though I'd want to encourage it. Actually more than a masquerade where people dress up to be someone else I want to encourage people to dress up in some way they think is cool. From Stormtrooper Armor to 21st century evening wear. A sort of dress up evening would be cool. Wear your best tee shirt at the very least.

I want this to be mandatory participation in that everyone helps out in some way, but not in the sense that everyone has to participate in everything.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Well I'm not looking for the prison thing, going to a town where there is nothing else to do. But it would be kinda a bummer if everyone packed up 'round about 8pm. Keeping it in Denver wouldn't be bad, but I keep thinking it would be nifty if it didn't go to the same place every year. Try going up to Idaho Springs one year or down to Colorado Springs. But I want to go with what works. We'll do Denver at least twice before saying "hey being local doesn't work because of X".

Actually I've heard the criticism that Burning Man isn't working anymore because there are so many people showing up who don't participate. So I anticipate needing con badges. I'm thinking that could be the work of an artistically inclined crew. Make badges to hand out to the crews, who then give them to their members. With the newbie crews taking care of the people showing up at the door I suspect we wouldn't even need a registration crew.

[mix-o-choc.livejournal.com]

I can honestly say I have never been invited to or ever have been tempted to attend a con. I barely know what a con is in fact. As far as I know it's a whole bunch of geeks in one large space geeking out at the same time not unlike the mass spawning of salmon. Ok I'm going to have to work on getting that visual out of my head for about two days now.

[aylinn.livejournal.com]

1) re: running con - you are nuts
2) re: running a worldcon type con - you are clinically insane.

speaking as someone who has been involved with concoms to some degree
you need money, more money, somebody who can and will beat the hotel into submission when they try pulling tricks. and they will.

are you prepared to give up milehicon to this new con? what are your PUBLIC standards on alcohol and minors? Sexuality and minors? open sexuality? recreational substances? what are your local COMMUNITY'S standards on same? how good is your brute squad i.e. security? ditto the medical team?

can you deal with:
asthma attacks, terrorist attacks, flood, fire, bomb threats, racks of swords falling over on top of people in the dealer's rooms, domestic disputes, detached sprinkler systems, the UNDERAGE lacross team that is also staying in the hotel sneaking a beer keg through your supposedly closed and securely locked dealer's room, lost children, lost adults, hysterical guests, hysterical registration staff, the hotel threatening to pull your main demo space for a local church group's sunday service, half the hotel staff engrossed in your gaming room and thus not performing requested and required duties, half of your entire con space being "suddenly" yanked out from under you by government workers who then proceed to spend the entire weekend drinking the hotel bar dry and in general doing more damage to the hotel and acting stranger than your entire con even though they are 1/10th the size of the con?

<whew>

these are only a sampling of things I have seen concom & security deal with. I can go on and on. I have attended conventions since the mid 80's and have been at conventions ranging in size from 125 attendees (including dealers and concom) up to GenCon Milwaukee and Bucconneer

I have both attended and worked these cons.

If you want further advice, ping me off list and I'll let my husband who was _official_ concom have at thee.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

If you're waiting for an invitation you're not going to get one. This isn't a formal dinner party where one RSVPs to an engraved invite and we'll be simply devastated if you don't accept. The local fans probably don't care one way or the other about your attendance. And I'm not going encourage you either. If you don't have the curiosity to go find people to socialize I am not going to try to improve your life for you and against your will.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Oh I know about this. I also know how out of my mind I would have to be to run a Worldcon. I am that insane, but I do not care to do it. Going to Worldcon is fun, but why would I want to run one or help to run one? I can't think of a reason.

I do know about the problems conventions face. That's one of the reasons I'm proposing a small managable con with no fuction space outside of the rooms rented by the crews. The other is to divert resources that would otherwise go to a bid or create a group that could bid. Depending upon my purpose at the moment. <grin>

[shadowpryde.livejournal.com]

Hmmm sounds fun.

I'd have to agree with the concept of holding it away from Denver, though, because that will get people more relaxed & like a "real" vacation instead of, "Oh, I have to go home and feed the cat" attitudes.

On a participatory level, I'd definitely be interested. God knows I've got volunteering experience out my ears ... and am getting more experience with every year at MHC.

On the subject of Opus ... well, they're trying to cater to more than just the crystal crunchy crowd, however, as the people running that are that crowd, it'll be hard to convince them otherwise. They'll be running it someplace different this year and if it doesn't work this year, I think they'll be giving up ... but they're definitely implementing some of the changes which were heavily recommended to them last year, post-show.

- Annabel -
Draconis Leona

Re: Progressive con

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

That sounds like fun, too. I really like where you and mish are going with all this and am curious to see what evolves.

(Hey, how about we get you a LiveJournal account for your birthday? You wouldn't have to actually *use* it! The comment-forwarding to your email address is really, really handy, and I don't think that comes with free accounts.)

Hope you had a nice trip. See you soon sometime...

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

geeking out at the same time not unlike the mass spawning of salmon

Well, only if you get lucky. :^P

No invites. Pay your money and show up. It helps if you go with a friend or three for a day, just to see what it's like.

What do you want to geek out *about*? Surely there's some interest you'd like to share with several hundred perfect strangers for a weekend? :^D

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

Burning Man has outgrown itself - which is fine. Something like that doesn't (and probably shouldn't) have to go on forever.

Your idea sounds like a cross between a con and a rave or a big urban open-space party (abandoned factories...) but more comfy.

I like Rose's monthly progressive-party scheme too...

Let's work on it. Or them. Sounds like a couple of things coming together. Why bother using it as a WorldCon training camp when you could grow something even more interesting out of it? Instead of a huge multi-thousand-person meme like WorldCon, perhaps it would spawn dozens of smaller things?

I want to decorate a cake the size of God. I want a cooking party/convention in a big hotel kitchen with enough freakin' space and equipment to make anything. God, I wonder how we'd do that?

Hm...

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Not just a training ground for Worldcon, a thing unto itself and a training ground for the next generation of fans that may or may not be interested in running MileHiCon, Nan Desu Kan, Taticon, and all the other local cons. I'm really much more interested in the local cons than I am in bidding.

Want to be in charge of the Crew of Cake? Because you totally could build such a cake with help. Because even the professionals build those huge cakes out of smaller ones iced together to look like one big cake. So all you need now are three or four friends to join your crew... right? <grin>

Opus, Opus, Dreaming of Wings That Work

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

So what sort of crew would you want to be on? Party, newsletter, or something else?

The thing is about Opus is that I've yet to hear of a reason that I would want to go. I wish them luck and everything, but as much as I love hanging out with the geeks I don't know anyone who is going. At least none of my friends have said to me that they are. Also I'm rather dubious about this as a Dragon*con type event. Is that what they want to grow into? I've heard that, but I've not heard anything directly from the organizers. And why do they want to run a con?

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. Both far-sighted and far-fetched, like all the really good ideas.

I would love to captain the CakeBakers Crew. (Krewe?)

Perhaps I should start collecting Easy-Bake ovens now, so we can build a supercake out of little ones...

[mix-o-choc.livejournal.com]

No not really, at least not with several hundred complete strangers watching that I know about.

[mix-o-choc.livejournal.com]

Of course I'm not waiting for an invitation. I'm just saying is all. My thinking is I probably won't enjoy going even if I do turn up to one. Mind you the dressing up one could be interesting if people went all out anime. I'd spend the whole day having my picture taken with people and pointing and laughing etc.

Re: Opus, Opus, Dreaming of Wings That Work

[shadowpryde.livejournal.com]

I did mostly volunteer work for them (inbetween Passover & work shifts) last year, so I never got to see much of the rest of the convention. As far as why they want to run a con ... because they're nutcases, last I checked. {grin}

Hmmm ... I'd be inclined to be on either a party crew or some sort of e-newsletter crew.

Annabel
-Draconis Leona-