A couple of posts on conventions

[wombat_socho]

First, badger2305 has some thoughts on SF conventions in general, how they've changed, and why. RTWT, including the comments. Not all of this applies to Detour, of course; anime conventions cater to a different fandom than Convergence does and Minicon did. Still, there are lessons to be learned here.

Also worth noting: John Ringo on the basic theory of running conventions. Again, this applies more to SF cons than it does to anime conventions, but there are some important lessons for con staff. Knowing what your guests and membership want is damned important!

Comments

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

Actually, my takeaway from John Ringo's comment is really something I've believed for a while: make the convention you want to attend. If you chase something just to boost attendance, or to get approval from the "right" people -- you'll fail. And I think that's true with Detour as well as the various sf cons.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. There are guests that will never be invited to Detour because, frankly, the number of additional fans they might draw isn't worth the hassle to our staff that those guests would cause on account of their obnoxious behavior. As far as getting approval from other fans, well, the ones that matter to us are the members, and judging from the registration numbers these last four years (and the pre-reg for 2008) they think we're doing all right. Which is all I ever cared about, and I'm pretty sure stuckintraffik sees it the same way.