I’m delighted to see so much activity in comments on the Worldcon post overnight. Hopefully that will continue today. However, there is one thing that I wanted to raise. Many of the people commenting are still stuck in binary thinking, which in this case means the following:
Worldcon must stay exactly as it is. If any changes are made then Worldcon will become exactly like Dragon*Con or ComicCon (and the world will end).
This is silly. Few things life are either/or in that way. For Worldcon to survive it must have its own identity, distinct from that of other major conventions. In marketing speak, it needs a mission statement and it needs to know what its core values are. Hopefully I will have a post up about that today, but I want to run it past Kevin first and he’s asleep right now. In the meantime, please keep talking.
Thank you for stimulating useful discussion
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I insist that Worldcon become exactly like Readercon.
Thanks for that comment. I go to Comic Con every year (and have, since 1974 when I was one of less than a thousand there). At this point it’s more an endurance test than a joy, and I don’t really need any more of those.
That said, I think a Worldcon that averaged 10,000 members would be a more robust and exciting event, and have enough financial clout to lessen some of the recurring facilities problems. And I think getting there is a matter of some pretty minor tweaking that wouldn’t in any way compromise either Worldcon’s history or purpose.
It would help with some of those ROI problems, too.
David:
Brilliant idea. I shall order it done. 🙂
I don’t think it’s a binary thinking issue. I think it’s more a case of serious disagreement over whether Dragon*Con or Comic-Con should be considered a “good example” and whether Dragon*Con and Comic-Con’s numbers are appropriate success criteria for Worldcon.
While I think that the current Worldcon numbers (let’s say 4,000-6,000 members) makes for an expensive con and one that may not be so attractive to the industry, I don’t equate that with failure like many of the people making the Dragon*Con/Comic-Con argument seem to do.