I havent directly smoked a day in my life but my mother has been a chain-smoker ever since I was born. Now that she has cancer… she keeps smoking. But I actually get it. People will continue to do things that have a higher than normal probability of shortening their lives. Reasons vary but it is just in our nature. My vice is speed, I drive fast wherever I go. 9-(

I’m afraid I can’t shed any insider light on the reasons for this shift, since my one involvement with a con was some time ago in my student days, however I wish to express my hope that this situation won’t escalate to the point where you stop accepting invitations to cons.

I’ve been a fan of your writing for many years. I was at Eeriecon 9 two years ago and meeting you was the highlight of the experience for me.

Paul Baughman

I know that cons are as hit by the economic downturn as anything else, but the instance I saw could certainly have been handled better.

But, in general, it bothers me more in how it is done than the fact it is done. If what the con is willing to cover is declared up-front, that is one thing. Changes from past policy are another, and last minute changes are right out.

Asking an invited guest (of Honor or Otherwise) to pay to bring a companion to an event is offensive, regardless of the reason. I cannot draw a single analogy to explain this behavior.

Therefore I offer choice 4. They are boors.

We deliberately keep the number of GOH’s low to avoid diluting the honor (Writer, Artist, and Fan, and occasionally a Special Guest or 2 (Musical/ Gaming). GOH’s get all expenses paid for themselves, and 1 (or occasionally more) companions. Depending on the year, Special Guests may get full expenses, or something short of that.

Non-GOH participants are offered a free membership for themselves, and Green Room access. We have never offered companion memberships for non-GOH participants.

BTW, staff get a free membership to the following year, and can be comped for th current year at the Chair’s discretion. I have long been of the opinion that someone who is willing to volunteer to make the con happen should be encouraged to do so, and that starts with not making volunteers pay to attend.

As far as what does it cost us goes, we are currently 2200 attendees or so, and are in a hotel that is small enough to require a strict cap. If we move into a larger hotel again (which won’t be until at least 2011) adding additional comps is really not a big deal. Until then, a comped person is one less paid attendee that we can let in.

Nevertheless, we have gone out of our way to set reasonable and consistent comp policies, and to be fairly liberal with comps offered to folks who are doing something for the con. As a result, most folks are happy with what we offer, and we seem to have no difficulty getting good participants every year. At the same time, we’re in reasonable financial shape.

I invite anyone looking for a good con to come see what we do. http://www.arisia.org

Student cons have structural issues that other cons do not, I think. All of the management is completely changed every four years at a maximum – my wife and I tried to institute some sort of continuity, but there was a strong attempt to reinvent the wheel each year. How much should we charge vendors? It changed on a regular basis. Should we make a profit on the art show? Sometimes yes, often no – all profits to charity. Plus, because the con was a) small and b) associated with a student organization, funds were often hard to pry out of the treasurer, who had other events that needed funding as well, so if the con did not make money (or even break even), it was difficult to adequately plan for the next year.

So, perhaps, what you’re seeing is a combination of 2 and 3 – with the proviso that any organization involved in repeatedly reinventing the wheel looks like one run by idiots. I am inclined to think that most small cons are not a case of 1 – fan run cons should be amateur affairs in the class sense of the word – done out of love; by fans, of fans, and for fans.

Incidentally, repeated suggestions that Mr. Brust be invited as GoH, or possibly as musical GoH, were shot down by Management – too obscure, and too far away (both absurd).