Split Shift

[kevin_standlee]

I once again was overcome by fatigue this afternoon and went to bed shortly after ending work around 2:30 PM. This wasn't just an afternoon nap: I woke up five hours later. That does mean I'll be up for a while before going back to bed, but I hope to be better off tomorrow.

My thanks to those of you who reassured me that I'm not crazy for believing in a model for SF conventions that assumes that it's a gathering of friends organizing events for each other rather than a commercial function whose purpose is to sell tickets to vend prepackaged units of extruded entertainment product to customers.

Comments

[clothsprogs]

My thanks to those of you who reassured me that I'm not crazy for believing in a model for SF conventions that assumes that it's a gathering of friends organizing events for each other rather than a commercial function whose purpose is to sell tickets to vend prepackaged units of extruded entertainment product to customers.


I've only been to one commercial type convention (some years ago now), but it was awful enough to convince me they aren't actully conventions (not as I know them) and I won't be going to any more of them.

It was a media convention. There was very little programme to speak of (other then screeings, GoH appearnaces - which were basically question-and-answer sessions where the really sad-obsessive fans would ask the same question that had already been asked by five other people, because the GoH in question would be sepeaking to them when they gave the same answer as the previous five times... and the "Fancy dress" - a decidedly poor-relation of the Masquerade where a continuous stream of entries walked on and off again in a parade with no gaps between entries, no presentations, soundtrack, or "skit" involved). The Dealers Room was almost entirely commercial (available-anywhere, usually for lower prices) merchandise, everything was more expensive (membership, hotel rooms, food), or charged extra for (stand in line for hours to pay-through-the-nose for the official guest photograph, then stand in line for hours to pay-through-the-nose to get it signed, just so you can say you spent a few one-to-one moments with the guest...!).

Not a fun experience, and I don't consider it a real convention if the guests have to be kept coralled away from the fans for fear of the sad-obsessive fans mobbing said guests. When they aren't on-duty for guest-appearnces they should be free (and feel free) to wander the convention unmolested as if they were just any other attendee at the event (although I have heard, from an author, that GoH's are "worked" a lot harder at U.S. fan-run conventons than they are at European ones, and don't often have off-duty-as-guest time at the convention, so perhaps that's just a U.S. import rather than a feature of commercially run "conventions").

Teddy

[scott_sanford]

You've probably heard Be our GoH by Tom Smith...

[clothsprogs]

I most certaily have... Although I USED to think it was exaggerated.

Teddy