FWIW, I wholeheartedly agree with Cheryl's five points, as well as most of John Picacio's.
On the whole, though, I don't think Worldcon needs to make a lot of changes. Sure, let's bring the graphics side of the con out of the mimeograph era and at least up to late-20th Century desktop publishing levels, but on the whole there's nothing wrong with Worldcon's content.
What it needs is presence. Worldcon is pulling 3000 paid attendees each year because there are only about 30,000 people on the planet who know there's an annual event called the World Science Fiction Convention. (If 10% of the people worldwide who know Comic Con exists all showed up there at once, southern California might actually break off the continent.) And no, it wouldn't be hard to do a whole lot more than is being done without spending any additional money at all. I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say I've been in touch with Reno to offer some assistance in that area if they want it. It appears to me that a huge portion of Worldcon's current logistical and site problems would be solved by having a con that consistently draws 8,000 to 10,000. It would also most likely offer a little more staff rotation, which I know at least some staffers would appreciate.
There are 3,000 people who go to Worldcon every year (more or less) because they like it and what it contain. It doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me to think that in the 6.5 billion on this planet there are another 5-7 thousand who would also like it, if only they knew it was taking place.
no subject
On the whole, though, I don't think Worldcon needs to make a lot of changes. Sure, let's bring the graphics side of the con out of the mimeograph era and at least up to late-20th Century desktop publishing levels, but on the whole there's nothing wrong with Worldcon's content.
What it needs is presence. Worldcon is pulling 3000 paid attendees each year because there are only about 30,000 people on the planet who know there's an annual event called the World Science Fiction Convention. (If 10% of the people worldwide who know Comic Con exists all showed up there at once, southern California might actually break off the continent.) And no, it wouldn't be hard to do a whole lot more than is being done without spending any additional money at all. I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say I've been in touch with Reno to offer some assistance in that area if they want it. It appears to me that a huge portion of Worldcon's current logistical and site problems would be solved by having a con that consistently draws 8,000 to 10,000. It would also most likely offer a little more staff rotation, which I know at least some staffers would appreciate.
There are 3,000 people who go to Worldcon every year (more or less) because they like it and what it contain. It doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me to think that in the 6.5 billion on this planet there are another 5-7 thousand who would also like it, if only they knew it was taking place.