From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Capclave
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:03:21 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Lubell" <samlubell at verizon.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 8:31 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Capclave

> At 07:17 PM 10/18/2004, Ted wrote:
>
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
> >To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
> >Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 2:42 PM
> >Subject: [WSFA] Re: Goodbye?
> >
> > > You missed an excellent con.
> >
> >Really?  By what standards?  I heard a lot of complaints.
> >
> >They boiled down to two things:  That a decreasing number of
> >out-of-the-area fans showed up (especially contrasted with Capclave 1,
> >which drew a number of people from elsewhere)
>
> This is something we do need to work on.  However, those who did show had
a
> great time.
>
> >, and that the GoHs were
> >neither significant nor a draw.
>
> Considering that last year we had William Tenn and still had a decline in
> membership, I think our problems run deeper than the choice of
> guest.  Besides, considering Capclave is a relaxacon, I'm not sure that
the
> guest of honor really is the cause of membership shifts.  Looking at the
> list of past Dis/Capclaves, Pat Anthony got more people than Michael
> Swanwick, George RR Martin got more people than Connie Willis etc.  Do
> these necessarily represent popularity?
>
> Last year's GoH, Phil Klass, was an *excellent* choice -- a man who has
> >written some of the best SF of the last half-century.  This year's was
> >someone I'd never heard of
>
> As the one who picked Klass, I'm glad you liked him.  However, no guest
> pleases everyone.  I picked Tenn because he was the writer I most wanted
to
> spend a weekend honoring, but I'm sure a lot of people new to the genre
> took a look at our flyer and said, "William Tenn, Never heard of him"  as
> his only recent books have been the expensive (and not usually found in
> bookstores) NESFA Press books.  That's why it is important to have a
> variety of guests, including some newer writers.
>
> >Next year's GoHs -- Howard Waldrop and the Nielsen-Haydens -- are far
> >better choices, and I hope that will help re-energize Capclave.
Otherwise,
> >I can see it fizzling into extinction.  And that would be a shame.
>
> Okay, let's turn this in a positive direction.  You're an experienced,
> long-time fan.  Any ideas about how to prevent Capclave from fizzling
into
> extinction?

Well, the first thing I would do, I think, is to stop referring to Capclave
as "a relaxicon."  It isn't.  The original relaxicon, still going strong
since the early '50s, is Midwestcon.  It has no program.  Most of it takes
place around the (outdoor) pool, on the last weekend in June, in or around
Cincinnati, with a variety of room and pool parties at night.  It's
basically a *party* con, and that's what "relaxicon" means to most people.

Party cons work best when they consist of a gathering of the tribe(s) --
friends who use the con as an excuse to get together once a year.   WSFAns
see each other every other week anyway, so what would be needed to take
Capclave in that direction is more out-of-towners who are friends with
(some) WSFAns.  (I, for instance, was glad to see Bud Webster and Kip
Williams again.)

On the other hand, I thought I'd previously heard Capclave described or
defined as a *literary* con, devoted to short stories -- and there was
plenty of evidence of that at all Capclaves thus far.  This is a different
niche, one loosely allied with, say, Readercon (East Coast) or Potlatch
(West Coast).  Perhaps, if we wish to pursue this direction, more should be
learned about the strengths and successes of cons like Readercon and
Potlatch -- both of which have been around for a while, now.  (Personally,
I've attended neither convention; but I hear about them now and then and
gather they are successes.)

I think success lies in attracting more out-of-towners, and to do that we
need to *be attractive* to more out-of-towners.  I suspect that some ways
of doing this are to offer a more interesting program and guests of honor.
I think next year's GoH's are a positive step in this direction, and will
generate a more favorable buzz, if you will.  Especially if promoted.  I
kinda wonder if World Fantasy Con is the best venue in which to promote
Capclave.  I'd definitely advertise Capclave in the program books of
Readercon and Potlatch, for example.  Potlatch is early next year and
Readercon is in the summer, so the timing is right.   As for the
programming, perhaps there should be more of it, and it should be more
specifically focused on short SF.  Right now our programming does seem a
shade "relaxed."

--Ted White