Dalekboy

Actually, those conventions with cash reserves behind them, like Swancon (and I don't know about various others - some do, some don't) don't actually need the starting cash that much - what they need is to the confidence to know they will get the numbers they are aiming for. And early numbers help, but aren't necessarily that reliable for something like Swancon (which would probably get at least 150 people turning up if it had no guest or advertising at all)