RPG cons are typically held in schools, we book the school out for a weekend or long weekend during the school holidays, giving us heaps of room at an affordable rate. Sponsorship levels vary from 'pitiful' to 'completely absent'. Some conventions will charge retailers a couple of hundred dollars to set up a stall for the weekend, others consider having retailers present a service to the community and don't charge for it. Massive amounts of volunteer labour are contributed - I wrote one of the events, and spent $100 on printing, and still had to spend $50 for entry (yes, I'm aware of the irony when it comes to complaining about $150).

Conquest setup took place on the evening of Easter Thursday, registration opened Friday morning, and the awards were presented Monday evening. Diehards like myself were there for more than 12 hours every day.

International speakers are quite rare, but we occasionally get someone who is promoting something with an Australian tour. It's more a chance for players to connect and play games than anything else, so the draw-value of international speakers is relatively low.