Sci-fi conventions are luring fewer fans

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Even if the con itself is affordable, my problem is getting there. A plane ticket and a few nights in a hotel room just isn't happening. *sniff* I'm still holding out hope to back to Comic-con this year. It sucks being a poor, work-study college student.

[Gategirl]

Sad thing is, if/when ppl wise up and stop paying those outrageous prices, Creation/MGM/whoever will stop having cons all together rather than decrease the prices. That's just my opinion but they seem the type.

[gatelover12]

may take 5-10 years before they give up the ghost, but it will happen

That stinks what about the young fans? in 5-10 years I may have been to 3-6 cons and if the prices keep rising maybe not even that! (I have never been to a con)

[Albion]

I found it very sad reading the posts on these threads. I did my con attending back in the '80's and had no idea that things had gotten so commercial over the years since.

It's such a shame that so many fans will miss out on the great party experiences I had back then, when it was apparently so much simpler and just a group of fans joining together to meet up, party, and talk about their show till the small hours of the morning.

Albion

[FoolishPleasure]

My brother and I used to go to cons all the time and had a blast - and you could actually get autographs for FREE! Don't go now due to cost. I'm about an hour away from the con just held in Arlington, VA (which was supposedly quite good) but there was no way we could afford for my husband, son and I to all go, even for one day passes for all of us.

It isn't that fans aren't interested in cons, they are just too danged expensive.

[Matt G]

Anyone thinking that the web has anything to do with dwindling con figures(if that's the case) is completely insane! I'm not even dead cert how people got to hear about cons before the Web came along!

The money thing is possibly a bigger PITA. For a student, I'm relatively well off for a variety of reasons, so can afford to splurdge on an SG con and would be very annoyed if I didn't have that sort of cash, given that SG cons tend to be a blast! I do know more than a few Gaters who don't have that sort of ££$$£!

Stuff like the mess that blew up between Corin, Wolf and Amanda over here probably wouldn't have helped!

[Skydiver]

It isn't that fans aren't interested in cons, they are just too danged expensive.

yep. i could budget gatecon simply because the tickets weren't all that expensive (200ish for 3.5 days) and i could share rooms with my friends and even with air fare and hotel and food i'd usually spend close to 1000 for the airfare, hotel, food, sight seeing and con

not bad for almost 2 weeks (which is how i'd stretch it out)

but with cons around here now going for 300 - 600 just to walk in the door PLUS travel expenses...fugeddaboutit

I am saving up for Gabit, but that is the only con for me within the next 2 years and i really doubt i'll be doing any more after that.

if the only fans they want are the rich ones...fine. We'll see how long that ever dwindling pool of fans sustains them.

You know, we had a fast food restaurant here in town. it was doing ok....then the owner got greedy, prices went up and up and up...he kept trying to make more money off a smaller and smaller pool of clients...eventually it went under

it will happen, and it will suck for the younger fans who will miss a lot of opportunities. of course, maybe they'll decide to plan their own cons...gathering of fans without messing with all the actor and 'official' stuff

they'll do what our parents' generation did...make thier own

[slipstream]

Anyone thinking that the web has anything to do with dwindling con figures(if that's the case) is completely insane! I'm not even dead cert how people got to hear about cons before the Web came along!

The money thing is possibly a bigger PITA. For a student, I'm relatively well off for a variety of reasons, so can afford to splurdge on an SG con and would be very annoyed if I didn't have that sort of cash, given that SG cons tend to be a blast! I do know more than a few Gaters who don't have that sort of ££$$£!

Stuff like the mess that blew up between Corin, Wolf and Amanda over here probably wouldn't have helped!

What was the blow up between them about?

[Shep'sSocks]

It's also that the same guests tend to appear at each con. Now, if RDA went to a con every SG fan in existence would probably go regardless of the expense.

[slipstream]

It's also that the same guests tend to appear at each con. Now, if RDA went to a con every SG fan in existence would probably go regardless of the expense.

You know I noticed that he never is mentioned - does he just disdain soiling his royal personage by contact with the slobbering plebians or what?

For me, even RDA couldn't coax me to go while he still acts on the show. It would spoil the illusion even tho I still think of him as McGyver sometimes.

[Skydiver]

It's also that the same guests tend to appear at each con. Now, if RDA went to a con every SG fan in existence would probably go regardless of the expense.

he does not do cons, that's all it is

there is a vague rumor that he used to, way back in the macgyver days, but the whole room full of screaming women gig just isn't his thing, so he chooses not to do them

[Skydiver]

It's also that the same guests tend to appear at each con.

that's another reason these uber expensive cons don't do much for me. I've been lucky enough to go to gatecon 4 times. i've seen a lot of the supporting cast members, ms twice, cj once, don 4 times, amanda 3 times, various members of TPTB....you know, you can only hear the same anecdotes over adn over before, well been there, heard that

why should i keep shelling out hundreds and hundreds to hear the same stories, collect autos i already have???

if i just want to go and meet my fellow fans, that's what i'll do.

since we can't do gatecon and won't do creation, my friends and I are going to do our own private convention in Las Vegas this summer. We're all going to get together, watch some eps, sight see, have fun

hey, we can do whatever we want, the only schedule we have to follow is our own

[prion]

Anyone thinking that the web has anything to do with dwindling con figures(if that's the case) is completely insane! I'm not even dead cert how people got to hear about cons before the Web came along!

Okay, before the web came along, fans used phones (yes, that thing you used to plug a modem into before cable came along) and that ancient thing called the US Mail (or mail from other countries) It was slow, but efficient, and fans did pretty well before the net

[Shipperahoy]

I don't really know anything about dwindling fans or fan run vs. corporate or any of the things that seem to be hot debate topics. I've never been to any kind of con before, Stargate or otherwise. I am going to the Creation Con in Vancouver however. I do realize that the Vancouver Creation Con is a bit of a sore area so I will explain my reasoning.

A) Yes, cons are extremely expensive. I figure that this one may very well be the one and only con I go to. Bearing that in mind I was lured by the set tours. I admit to being totally geeked out at the thought of being able to see behind the scenes.

B) I have friends from GW going.

C) I haven't been on a vacation in over 3 years.

D) Yes, I want to see the actors in person.

It really is too bad that the prices are rising and the fan run cons seem to be fading out of existence. If there was any way possible I would do both Creation and Gatecon but it's just not feasible and if I'm going to spend my hard earned money I want to be able to go to an actual Stargate convention.

[Slainey]

I agree that the internet is a red herring in the decline of cons. As much as meeting actors is cool, cons have been the way to meet online friends.

Back in the day you had to scour fan magazines for the listings for cons. Then you sent away for the information packet or you just showed up. You hoped that the people running it had clues. Really, planning a convention is a lot of work. The company I works for has a whole department that runs a profession convention for a medical speciality every year. They have to plan it out years in advance.

Still prices for SF cons are rising. I wonder if the trend started in the 90s during the tech boom. We geeks had more disposable income then. lol