Most of the good stuff in my life over the past 30 years probably wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for fandom (including, quite possibly, most of those years), so I agree with your basic thesis. Unfortunately, I think that the larger a fannish gathering, the less friendly it is, and the more people are likely to escape rather than return.
The largest Swancon ever, AFAIK, was the well-publicized Swancon 5 in 1980, but if you did a survey of current Swanconians (and feel free to do so), I think you'd find relatively few for whom it was their introduction to fandom. By contrast, Swancon 6 was one of the smallest, but was the first con for a remarkably large number of our regulars. GothCon attracted a great many Gaiman and Storm Constantine fans, and I'm sure some of them returned, but a great many didn't.
Note that I'm not advocating smaller Swancons. I think that niche is being filled Perth's smaller and cheaper cons, and clubs such as UniSFA, which are excellent ways to attract fans who're interested in community rather than a particular sub-genre, author or show. Swancons should continue using guests as bait to attract more people (publicity would help!), but its sheer size and the simple fact that many of the other attendees have known each other for decades and go there largely to catch up with old friends is likely to be daunting to many.
Rather than newbies days or newbies panels, how about a newbies fan lounge? Hosted, if need be, by former Mumfan award winners?
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The largest Swancon ever, AFAIK, was the well-publicized Swancon 5 in 1980, but if you did a survey of current Swanconians (and feel free to do so), I think you'd find relatively few for whom it was their introduction to fandom. By contrast, Swancon 6 was one of the smallest, but was the first con for a remarkably large number of our regulars. GothCon attracted a great many Gaiman and Storm Constantine fans, and I'm sure some of them returned, but a great many didn't.
Note that I'm not advocating smaller Swancons. I think that niche is being filled Perth's smaller and cheaper cons, and clubs such as UniSFA, which are excellent ways to attract fans who're interested in community rather than a particular sub-genre, author or show. Swancons should continue using guests as bait to attract more people (publicity would help!), but its sheer size and the simple fact that many of the other attendees have known each other for decades and go there largely to catch up with old friends is likely to be daunting to many.
Rather than newbies days or newbies panels, how about a newbies fan lounge? Hosted, if need be, by former Mumfan award winners?