Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:35:45 -0600 (CST)
From: <samlubell at verizon.net>
Subject: [WSFA] NASFiC... Re: [WSFA] Ah,it's our Gaming room for Datclave II
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Cc: wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

>From: Michael Walsh <MJW at press.jhu.edu>

>Making a profit is Good Thing.  But  is that the"point" of putting on a
>convention?  If it were we'd all be putting on clones of DragonCon, no?

No, because there are only so many conventions that audience will go to.  The book, the Long Tail, shows how there is money to be made serving niche markets.

>
>So... why go to all the work of putting on a convention?  Fans seeingly
>do want to meet up with other fans - it is a "proud & lonely thing" to
>be fan, and it's great to hang out with like minded folks.

But would a relaxacon without programming really bring in people who don't normally come to a WSFA meeting, especially since there are a number of other East Coast cons around February that have programming plus opportunities to meet people.

>It's also a potential drain on local resources. As a hypothetical
>example, what if WSFA were to host a NASFiC.  It would be in Aug/Sept.
>Would we cancel Capclave that year? Or would we try to run both... and
>how many folks would bewilling to make 2 trips to the DC area in in a 2
>month span?

Disclave never recovered from the year it was cancelled.  But we could do what dragoncon did and combine the two.  That wouild really increase Capclave membership.

And wouldn't this argument for not doing a NASFIC apply to a worldcon?  It's the same time of year.  If anything a NASFIC would be easier since it is smaller.