Worldcon Vs. Comic-Con?

[kevin_standlee]

SF Signal has published one of their "Mind Melds" about What Worldcon and Comic-Con can learn from each other. Like Cheryl says, I think anyone proposing that Worldcon should settle down in one place so it can Get Big has missed the point. The Olympics have had similar arguments. It's very inefficient for the Olympics to be in a different place every four years; it would be much better if they picked one place and built a permanent Olympic facility. (Greece would be traditional, but I bet Sydney would work out better and be more comfortable.) But part of the point of moving around is to bring the event closer to different people. Comic-Con may be wonderful, but it's always in San Diego, and if you live in (say) Glasgow, it's always going to cost you a fortune to attend, whereas a Worldcon can be expected to sometimes come within relatively easy striking distance.

But what do I know? The last time I attended Comic-Con, it was merely 30,000 people.

That doesn't mean that I think Worldcon is Just Right. It isn't. If we could get it up to or beyond its historical peak attendance of about 8,000, it would work better as a convention without destroying the management paradigm Fandom developed for running it. And it would cost less per person and we could charge less for membership, too -- on the order of $100 less at the door than we currently charge.

Comments

[wayward-va.livejournal.com]

Another virtue of Worldcon traveling to different places is that it galvanizes and energizes local fandom. IIRC fandom in south Florida got a huge boost from Magicon in 1992; partly in monetary resources but also in networking and organizational experience. Even a losing bid can get people talking and involved who were never involved before. Putting Worldcon in one permanent location would destroy that.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

And, conversely, ComicCon pretty much wipes out San Diego (and a chunk of LA) fandom. San Diego and LA should easily support local gen SF conventions in the 2500-3000 member range, but LA tops out at around 1k with Loscon (no, I refuse to count AnimeExpo) and the SD locals tend to run in the 500 person range.