Hey, the Marketing Worked!

[kevin_standlee]

This evening being the last time Lisa and I are likely to get any farther off site than the Peppermill, we went over to John Ascuaga's Nugget for dinner at John's Oyster Bar, where (as usual) we had the shrimp pan roast. Alas, by driving off site, I lost the excellent parking space; Lisa and I had managed to get all three of our vehicles parked side-by-side-by-side.

Upon our return to the Atlantis, Lisa wanted to get dessert, so we went over to the Manhattan Deli, which was closed, but the coffee stand/dessert place next to it was open. I was off having a conversation with David Clark, Tom Galloway, and Mike Willmoth, and when I came back over, Lisa was chatting with another convention member. She said to me, "Hey, this is his first Worldcon!"

I sat and talked with him. It wasn't just his first Worldcon, it was his first SF convention of any sort. (Shades of my introduction to Fandom in 1984.) I asked him what attracted him to Worldcon. He said that he'd always been an avid SF/F reader, and he had been using things like "Hugo Award winner" as a sign of likely quality, and he learned that the Hugo Awards had something to do with Worldcon. As he was in the process of moving from the Bay Area to the Midwest, he thought this would be a good opportunity to attend, what with the Worldcon being so close.

I asked him how he found out about how the Hugo Awards work and how they're part of Worldcon, and he said, "At the Hugo Awards web site."

I was, I hope you can understand, well pleased. Anecdotes aren't data, but now I can say that I've personally spoken with one Worldcon member we probably wouldn't have had without TheHugoAwards.org.

Comments

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Nice!

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Very cool.

Sure, doesn't really prove "it's working" in any broad sense, but I'd absolutely be happy at getting to talk to somebody it HAD worked on.

And the fact that publishers and bookstores continue to feature the Hugo awards suggests that my delusion that they're still important is fairly widely shared. So this trick you're trying really OUGHT to work.

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

Great story!

[chocolatescifi.livejournal.com]

A virgin! Be sure that he's treated gently, Kevin. :)

You might try to get him to attend the business meeting. Having him talk about how he learned about Worldcon might serve as a kick in the head to certain stick-in-the-muds (or is that sticks-in-the-mud?) who think that marketing the Hugos is Such A Horrible Idea.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

For all that I attended the Business Meeting at my first Worldcon, I didn't even bring up the subject, specifically because I wanted to treat him gently. Lisa and I went on about how everyone is pretty approachable, even the "big names." We explained that parties to him as well, and encouraged him to get involved with anything that interested him.

[chocolatescifi.livejournal.com]

You do realize that I was being less than serious with that first line, don't you?

And I attended the Business Meeting at my first Worldcon (Magicon). I even contributed to the general insanity, uh, discussion.