kevin_standlee: (Reno)
[personal profile] kevin_standlee
And remember, as an ex-Worldcon chair, I have an permanently-paid-up Get Out of Conrunning Free card. Therefore, I can muse about such things and the $20 bills y'all toss at me as bid-starters bounce off me like I was rubber.

After reading this post, it occurs to me that a Westercon at John Ascuaga's Nugget could do worse than to use a steampunk-style mascot named "Sparks Nevada."

The real challenge with a Westercon in the Reno area is that I have yet to find a hotel that is right-sized the way the Sacramento Hilton is. Although I've heard some (sometimes justified) complaints and lukewarm reviews of Westercon 66, overall I think the fact that we "owned the hotel" and had slightly too little room meant that the social aspect of the convention was much better than facilities that have dozens of rooms, thereby allowing Programming to Never Say No, resulting in 27 program tracks, each of which has five people on a head table and two in the audience.

(It is possible that if WC66 had had 50-in-60-minute panels (instead of 60-in-75), they could have put in a few more slots; however, there still would have been a lot of saying No. I like those fifteen-minute breaks myself, and I was impressed at how many panels really did stick to 60 minutes instead of trying to use 80, the way so many 50-in-60s try to make 70-minute panels and don't get out of the way at 50 minutes.)

The Reno/Sparks-area hotels I've reviewed so far (I can't go into a hotel without sizing it up for conventions) are all too large. We could make something happen in them, but the 800 people we expect for a Westercon could easily vanish like a drop of ink in a barrel of water at most facilities. The reason Westercon 66 worked as well as it did was that nearly everyone in the building was One of Us. That doesn't work when there are thousands of other people there while your 800 people are struggling to find each other.

Date: 2013-07-12 08:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redneckotaku.livejournal.com
I am looking to possibly start an adult (21 plus) anime convention and that's the second highest priority is finding the right space. The highest priority would be finding the space at the right price. I can understand walking into hotels and thinking that same thing.

Date: 2013-07-12 08:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rono-60103.livejournal.com
That is one symptom of con-runners disease. It may be one of the early signs.

Not being able to say "no" is the sign of a more serious case.

Date: 2013-07-12 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redneckotaku.livejournal.com
Long past the point of initial symptoms of conrunners disease. I am ending a long term conrunning relationship after this con and want some new challenges. I admit I'm a strange fen.

Date: 2013-07-14 12:51 am (UTC)
delosharriman: a bearded, serious-looking man in a khaki turtleneck & hat : Captain Tatsumi from "Aim for the Top! Gunbuster" (captain tatsumi)
From: [personal profile] delosharriman
That's definitely becoming more common. With more mature anime fans today, I guess there are just a lot of folks who don't want to have to put up with the screaming fourteen-year-olds. I worked a small one (in a very minor capacity) a few years back.

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