A Tale of Two Natcons

[dalekboy]

In the early 90's the media Natcon was going gangbusters (300-400+ attendees), the lit Natcon was dying with a slowly decreasing (around 200) and aging membership. With the success of a couple of joint media/lit Natcons, it was suggested that Australia's population was so small the two cons should be joined.

It would mean a bigger overall Natcon with a larger budget. Everyone would win. The media fans had no reason to do this. Their Natcon was doing fine. The only reason they did it was out of a sense of community. It would be good for fandom as a whole to have a single, bigger Natcon.

Both Natcons had their own awards. The ASFMAs (Australian Science Fiction Media Awards) and the Ditmars. Having both sets of awards would be huge and unwieldy. The only reason we still have the Ditmars is because the media fans not only agreed to the joining of both Natcons, but agreed to continue the Ditmars and discontinue their own award since a lot of older fans were concerned about the loss of the Ditmars, and their history, if a new award were started.

The only real requirement media fandom had was that the Ditmars have categories changed or added so that the media side was adequately covered, and the new Natcon have a program that fairly represented both media and lit fandom interests.

In a short time, with no separate Media Natcon to compete against, the Natcon program became heavily lit based.

With no guest or programs that addressed their passions, the fan clubs and groups more or less stopped attending the Natcon, and with their own yearly Natcon and awards gone, there was nothing to hold media fandom together through other issues.

We stopped having regular cons and Natcons in Victoria as we approached the worldcon, and while Perth picked up the slack with regards to the Natcon, it didn't advertise in the east terribly well. With no experience of a Swancon, which does tend towards a more balanced program, the east coast media fans expected more of the same they had already been given - Natcons with nothing for them. Why spend all the money getting to Perth just to be disappointed again?

Having already been hurt by the Natcon, to then have someone loosely associated with the then upcoming WorldCon loudly state at a major pre-Aussiecon 3 event, "We don't need the media fans!" didn't help things. For a group than had already been well screwed, a group that had been far more active in con-running over the previous decade than the majority of the fans working on A3, this was telling them that they, and their expertise, really weren't welcome.

The lack of action on the part of the WorldCon committee to rectify the damage didn't help. Having the creator of Babylon 5 as a guest was all well and good, but other than that, the only answer received to the question, "Why should we attend?" was "Because it's the WorldCon." The attitude was that if you didn't want to come to the WorldCon, there was something wrong with you.

On top of all this, fan politics within and between several clubs further damaged things within the media scene.

The big media expo-style cons had tried to get a foothold in Australia a few times, but previously couldn't compete with the fan-run media cons. Why go to a con where you couldn't really talk to or interact with the guest?

The best of the fan-run media cons was Multiverse, which not only ran good cons (and tried with variable success to also cater to lit fandom) but raised thousands and thousands of dollars for charity into the bargain. That was one of the interesting things about Media fandom - the profits of most Media cons were donated to charity. Again, there's that attitude of trying to help and be a part of the wider community - the same attitude that lost them their own Natcon.

But eventually the folks behind Multiverse decided it was time to finish up. Once they did, in came the expos to fill the vacuum.

Media fandom in Victoria had lost their last interesting media cons, while media fandom in general had lost its awards, its Natcon, and its history. Even the Doomsday Book, a book filled with humourous advice, info, and illustrations from previous Media Natcon committees to future ones, was lost. I think it was later recovered, but couldn't swear to it.

Certainly for a time before the Natcons joined, the two media fandom centres of Australia were Melbourne and Brisbane. But it would be up to someone from Brisbane to tell what effects, if any, losing the Media Natcon had on Queensland fandom.

With this history in mind, take the time to find and go through the last decade of Natcon program books, and decide for yourself if you think Australian media fandom has been well-served by their selflessness.

One of the architects of the change, in light of all that has happened, has commented to me on several occasions over the last ten-plus years, that he thinks they killed the wrong Natcon.

Comments

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Ouch!

I want to step in and quietly say, 'Yep, it's $210 for five days. That's $42 a day, starting in the morning and going through to late evening each day, followed by open room-parties, bid-parties, and get togethers every night. There are no hidden costs, no paying for autographs, photos, parties, etc. There will be at least 3-5 panels and events on at any one time...' and so on.

But it's not my problem.

But I care about WorldCon looking bad to people who don't understand what it's about. It's not bad, it's simply different to what they are used to.

And the problem is that a couple of the more public folks associated with the current WorldCon have a tendency to take an aggressive stance with people who aren't happy with what they're doing, or to be dismissive. Neither of which helps.

That link though, is a classic example of what I've said about cons not being relevant to the new generation of fans. That's not just WorldCon, but SwanCon, and Continuum too. We have to find ways to draw them in without resorting to over-priced actors.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Approaching the clubs is a very good idea, and should be done with every regional SF con IMO.

I've been to Swancon every year since 1993, I've run several of them, administered the Ditmars, won Ditmars, sat on the board of the WA Science Fiction Foundation twice, and the only reason I went there in the first place was because someone went to the Perth Doctor Who club and asked if a few members could come along and present a panel on the subject.

[mortonhall.livejournal.com]

thank you Robin :)

and we won't mention the financial cost to me because, well, WASFF told me I had no right to recoup my expenses :(

[angriest.livejournal.com]

I too have a Swancon ASFMA certificate somewhere. It was quite depressing, because it was the first SF fan award I ever won, and everyone had told me about these scary glass trophies the ASFMAs gave you.

I think that was the last year the ASFMAs ran, actually (1996), although I may be misremembering.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

One thing I did want to point out about media cons vs lit cons is that I honestly don't think lit cons absorbing the media natcon has killed media fandom in any significant way - media fandom just went off and reformed in new ways.

Here in Perth Swancon continues to tout itself as the only significant show in town, while the local anime convention quietly has an annual attendance ten time larger (@3,000 people). I used to run a Star Trek club with a monthly attendance double that of an average Swancon.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

It's very easy to explain the cost of a science fiction convention, and an enterprising con could probably put up a jazzy table on their website to push the idea:

Worldcon = $210 for five days. Assume 12 hours entertainment for three of those days and 6 hours for the remaining two. That's 48 hours, or $4.37 per hour.

A movie at the cinema = $16.50 for two hours, or $8.25 per hour.

A videogame like Halo might take 20 hours to finish, but costs $100. That's still $5.00 per hour.

Dollar for dollar, SF cons still represent damn good value for money.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

I was so fucking angry at that meeting.

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

I think the "don't have a worldcon, it destroyed Victorian fandom" concept came from the misconceptions of Perth fans who mostly had close to nothing to do with Melbourne fandom before A3. Those misconceptions were further fueled by reports of how A3 was run, which were largely the fault of A3 in particular, not Worldcons in general. Unfortunately, those who have only seen one example of something will tend to assume that it is typical.

[greteldragon.livejournal.com]

Only if you can take advantage of the time...

And that's not always easy for a newbie.

And you still have to be able to front up the money to start with (current problem with Swancon).

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah I'm aware of the issues. I'm also aware from the other side of the curtain that conventions are often that expensive for a good reason.

That said, Swancon is currently overcharging by about $30 or so. (Recent Swancons I mean, not singling out this year. I haven't seen their budgets and overheads so couldn't fairly comment on their con.)

Re: Aussiecons...

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Media writers are a bit easier. We went with Paul Cornell for Swancon last year, and when he needed to pull out due to BBC commitments, it was a fairly smooth process (with Paul's assistance) to replace him with Robert Shearman - who was lovely.

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the last of those, but for the first two:

* Multiverse was basically run by a couple of people who were spending astronomical amounts of their own time to run events for hundreds of fans. There were many events, not just cons. If anyone sane had wanted to take it over, there would have had to have been a bigger group of them plus a quick absorption of knowledge. It was indeed a great shame that the excellent Multiverse era ended.

* A3's very first open meeting was on the same day as two media clubs held their meetings. Only those involved would know whether this was because A3 actively wanted to ensure media fans didn't turn up, or simply had no interest and no contact with media fandom. When some of us made the effort to go to the A3 meeting anyhow, we found a room which didn't even have enough chairs, as they clearly didn't intend (want?) many attendees apart from committee. Those who turned up to that first meeting volunteered to participate, left contact details, and were never contacted. A3 made it abundantly clear right from the start that media fans were unwelcome.

[bunny-m.livejournal.com]

And how much of that is the anime con actually advertising and making use of the internet to promote itself, as opposed to Swancon, which is still in the 70s or 80s with it's advertising?

Personally, I love Swancons, was rather underwhelmed with the two Perth anime cons I've been to, but I love that they are both available. Although I wonder if the anime cons are going to be a big deal for a short while and then fade away.

I dunno. I'm a big fan of anime, but I am most definitely *not* an anime fan, based on the Perth anime conventions.

Thanks for posting this, Danny. Interesting to hear more about the history of Melbourne and East-coast fandom.

[kremmen.livejournal.com]

Perth's done better than us. Supanova is about the only big media thing here.

Importantly, attendance figures aren't an indicator of quality. Many people went to Supanova, stayed for an hour or two, got bored and/or complained about the autograph prices, and went home. That's really not a valuable experience, but many of us did it, because it was there and it didn't cost much.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Wai-con (the anime con in question) is just very lucky in many ways - or exceedingly clever. I think they hit the zeitgeist of 21st century cosplay-centric anime fandom at exactly the right time. I'm not sure they're going to be sustainable, because they're reliant on a very specific currently very "hot" form of fandom, but if they do cool off and drop in size I don't think it will be their fault.

I was in charge of marketing Swancon last year and I thought we did a pretty good job. Web and print marketing, cohesive brand, we were on Facebook and Myspace, got some strategic coverage in key Perth-based e-newsletters as well as some support from local radio. We also got the highest attendance at a Swancon since the 1980s, so I think it worked.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

This is a particular hot-button issue for me, to the extent that at a recent US con I attended, I scratched out "Pro" on my name badge and wrote "Guest." (They give free memberships to their programme participants.) I remember one con where someone came up to me after a panel and said "I really enjoyed you on that panel. Could you tell me what books you've written so I can look for them in the dealers room?" She was totally astounded when I said that I was a fan, not a writer, because she had just assumed that only writers could participate in programming.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely - it's very hard to guage these things.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Didn't know about the open meeting being on the same day as two club meetings, though that sort of thing is easily done if you're not in the loop.

I still think that the comment about not needing the media fans did the most damage. It doesn't matter that the guy wasn't on the committee, he was perceived as being associated with the con. By basically ignoring the situation and hoping it would go away, they made it worse. It was a very bad start.

Combine that with the aggression that is leveled at those who disagree with them, and it gets worse and worse.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

They fucking what?!

[paul-ewins.livejournal.com]

Basicon 2 (1997) was the last of the media natcons (and was also the litnatcon). The trophies were designed and made by Peter Lipinksi (from Sydney) and I think and as time went on it took longer and longer for him to make them. I won three of them and shared another but only have one actual trophy to show. Mind you, I also have one of the few unbroken Constantinople Ditmars. They were a nice design but very fragile.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

I remember being told the certificate was a stop-gap measure until the award trophies were completed, but then I suppose it never eventuated.

What did the Constantinople Ditmars look like?

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

And I've been on panels with authors who were far and away among the most rude and unprofessional people I've ever had the misfortune to appear with.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

On a slight tangent - Swancon is in the enviable position of being able to say 'we can expect a minimum number of around two hundred people.'

Having such a high minimum number is awesome, and knowing it should certainly make budgeting easier.

[bunny-m.livejournal.com]

Sorry if it sounded like I was disparaging anyone's efforts. I loved the past several Swancons and thought they were all done very well.

And yet, somehow the profile of Swancon doesn't seem to be rising very much. Maybe I'm just too close/in the wrong position to really see the differences.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I didn't man to make it sound like I thought you were disparaging! : )

The profile of Swancon isn't rising, but that's (purely IMO) due to the product being sold rather than the way they're selling it.