Well, before anyone strains themselves pooh-poohing the paid con experience as a crass waste of money, let me say that I considered mine well spent for getting to hang out with Bronzer friends and Angel-loving co-workers for a weekend, find a shirt printed with Jilli's cartoon doppelganger, attend a great concert, sit at a table with Camden Toy while he waxed enthusiastic about live theatre, and not only crack David Boreanaz up but also unwittingly spur him to call Christian Kane his bitch in front of about 3000 people. I have no regrets.

Kiba, DragonCon won't be scary.

From my experience at Comic Con last year and WonderCon and WizardWorld this year, I have discovered that there is this great network called browncoats with cell phones.

It enables you to be constantly in the loop and never miss a thing.

I plan on putting it to good use.

Matt, it's just that, if you do the math for the Angel Booster event, it's $720 to get it all.

And that's just so ridiculous to me. Add in hotel and airfare, and it just pains me, because it's so out of reach.

But my perspective is a little different in that I think the weekend is about making friends and hanging out. I like that the entire weekend isn't scheduled. People plan lunches and dinners and go off and explore the city in groups.

It's not that you're not getting your money's worth, the price above includes all the dinners and open bars.

I'm a bigger believer in cutting that stuff out to bring the price into a range that more fans can afford.

I'm also weirdly jaded. I'm not interested in the lines for pictures. I'm not interested in signings and Q&As. I'm interested on that moment when Greg Grunberg says, "hey, let's call your mom!"

At $300, I think it's more acceptable. $720 is rent.

But these are soley my issues, and i can see youir points and don't find them ugly or anything. I'm egalitarian about fan events. I love, LOVE, that I never had to pay anyone to show up and say hello to their fans. They come because they just really want to.

I love that at D:LA they all sort of shrugged off security and ran into the room with open arms.

I love the pics of Drew Goddard rolling around on the floor with fans at W&H.

It's better for me, as a fan. It's not the greatest thing for other fans.

Different strokes.

Allyson, i have been to paid cons and i have been to two of your events. and i totally prefer YOUR events.

for the reasons that you stated. you throw a wonderful time AND it is all about the fans being with fans. and if the VIPs should show up, great. and if they do show up, they are having a good time and WANT to be there and NOT b/c you paid them. i LIKE having the mingle time with them and the fans. and no lines per se, and fun all around. impromtu fun!

your events offer more than i have gotten at any other con. either here in the states or in England. and for way less. i have come to the conclusion that i would prefer to go to one or more of your events each year than to go to other cons.

simply put, i will continue to attend the events that you put on if i have the chance to do it. after this DLA thing, you have gained a lot of fans. their word of mouth stories have spread through LJ and various posting boards. you have done a great job.

(someone linked me to your post and i have not read all the previous ones so this next comment may be out of context from the discussion)

my understanding of the convo thus far is that you are wondering about doing your Serenity fan party. and something about a con. personally i would prefer YOURS over that. and the group that i attended DLA with sorta has your event penciled in. (penciled b/c we dont know the dates yet)

that is all i think.

(out of practice with the posting here. hope the post doesnt look more stupid than usual. *g*)

Halfrek,

Tell her that we NEED her touch for the release date of Serenity.

Allyson,

I agree with Halfrek on this. I've been to cons as well as the events you organized. I won't stop going to cons, but I'm feeling a bit of the been there done the photo/auto/dinner and I have to pony up for each one of those in order to meet the VIPs. And it's become way out of reach for a lot of people here in the US. I don't think it's quite so bad for the cons in the UK.

The W&H Review was more relaxed, fun, and sociable. If the VIPs come by, they can just hang with us, if not, there are so many fans/friends to be with anyway. And really, isn't that the point of fandom?

Kiba, no matter how good or bad the con is, you'll have a good time if you're hanging out with people you love. I almost always go to cons much more to be with people I never see otherwise (read: 'Net friends) than for the con itself. Though, meeting authors I love (and taking them out to lunch) and laughing riotously at "Star Wars in 30 Minutes" I wouldn't pass up either *grin*

And from all I've read while lurking, an Allyson (tm) Serenity party just might be enough to get me down to LA despite my small-town-girl never-wanting-to-visit-said-city. *starts eating catfood and saving pennies*

That Flanvention thing is more expensive than a Creation con. I'm agog: I really didn't think that was possible.

I've been to one con, and it was to see Dana. And it was great. There was bonus shriftage meeting, which took me by surprise.

You know, it might seem to the outside that the fanfic room at the con is going to be where the wackiest people congregate, but it was a haven of sanity. No one was wearing anyone else's nightclothes, for instance.

What HiddenSky said!

When considering Fan Parties vs Conventions, they really are totally different.

Which is what Allyson kinda said… In fact, dig out any of her numerous posts on What Makes Fan Parties Special, and she probably says it better than anybody.

I have thoughts! Also perhaps an unhealthy amount of Allyson-love….

I could grossly over-simplify this topic and suggest that, to me: Running Conventions seem to be about Money, and running Fan Parties seem to be about Love.

Of course, if I made such a simplification, then I'd have to be extra-sad to hear that Allyson's heart wasn't/isn't/may not be fully passionate about certain shows/events...

On the other hand, it’s a huge testament to Allyson's skills, ability and commitment that she can be pivotal in staging such insanely successful Fan Events as she has without 100% Heart Factor. In fact that's pretty bloody amazing.

If Mutant Boosters paid the entire cast of LOST to show up, they could charge $600 and D:LA would go away.

They could, yes, but I disagree about the second part. They would be two entirely different things, surely? I see nothing about Mutant Booster that suggests a fun-filled fan-gathering in aid of a great cause.

If I had $600+ or so to spend on going to a Deluxe Convention with all the Cast present? Well that would maybe be great, but lines, autographs etc. would surely just be so... conventional (pun intended)... To be honest I'd rather go to a Charity Fan Party, be guaranteed a great time with fan-friends, and be able to throw the extra $$$ at auction items or raffle tickets for charity.

Yes, many fans want to go to Conventions and see their favourite showpeople and VIPs. Stand in lines for autographs and enjoy structured activities, panels etc. I'm not knocking that. It certainly seems to be a majority thing in fandoms. But there are also fans who want to meet up, hang out and celebrate with other fans, regardless of VIP presence. When VIPs turn up to such parties to hang out with their fans it’s a wonderful bonus for all involved, because it shows that they care and they want to be there.

Random D:LA example: As I remember, John Terry flew quite a way to attend your recent Lost party. Nobody paid him to do that, or paid for him to do that. He came to the Party. He met and talked to fans. He hung. He didn't have to *do* anything, say anything, sign anything. He was there because he wanted to be there, because of the Fans and the Charity effort. He seemed to enjoy himself and be very glad he'd come along. The fans who met him were over the moon, and he's not even a Main Cast Member… the joy they experienced….one can't put a price on stuff like that. Which is why imho, conventions paying talent to appear will forever have a hard time replicating the success of the more intimate fan events.

[sidetracked] Sidenote here: While typing this (and googling to check which spelling of "John" Mr. Terry uses) I just realised that he played Bob Warner in Season Two 24. Of course!!!! ACK! I feel so stupid. *hits self* That I did remember to praise DDK for his work on Crusade doesn't make me feel any less stupid either. *hits self again*[/sidetracked]

I appreciate that I'm maybe not the best qualified to be offering opinions on these subjects. I've never been to a Convention. I have been to two Fan Parties, and both were planned by the same team of people, so I have nothing similar to compare them to, but they were both FANtastic.

I just have these thoughts, and when I have these thoughts my fingers tend to do the typing thing. Maybe more a quarter than a simple two cents worth, but doesn't matter because I am of the pounds sterling anyway. :)

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