If you've read anything I've written so far, I'm an opinionated,
judgemental, tactless jerk. You read my articles either because a)
you're bored; b) you get a perverse kick out of hating me and need fuel;
or c) because although I may be annoying, I speak the truth. Ideally, I
hope you chose "a." If not, then you know where to go.
Today's rant is on "Houston Conventions." I know that is an odd pairing
of words there, but hear me out.
So . . . Houston Conventions . . . wow . . . That's about it. Why do
Houston convention suck so much? Are the cons inherently pathetic?
Or is Houston inherently a pathetic place? I think it's a little of
both, but primarily I don't think "pathetic" is the right word.
"Apathetic" is more like it. Houston is just an apathetic city. People
here are generally listless and unmotivated. Trust me. I've lived here
for 20 years and I can get away with saying that. It's not a baseless
opinion.
There have been some decent conventions in Houston: Con Troll,
HoustonCon, Nancon, etc. All those cons made a valiant effort and
struggled against the odds to provide the die hard enthusiasts a venue
for their hobby. So, why do they die? I've contributed it to three
overriding factors:
1. Con Politics
2. Bad Marketing Tactics
3. Houston's Apathetic
1 - I don't even need to cite the Nancon story, however humorous it
may be to do so. Nothing like two cons trying to kill each other . . .
and succeeding. Too many conventions develop an elitist "Our con rules
and everyone else's suck!" kind of attitude. They scrape and scramble
to kill the "competition," and in so doing hurt the marketplace. Cons
don't make money (I know how phonetically ironic that is). Trust me.
Unless you happen to be running a giant event that brings in over four
thousand people, generally, cons break even if they're lucky. The
purpose of a convention is to stimulate the market, promote the
industry, highlight the retailers and manufacturers to the consumer,
etc. Many cons lose sight of this, and fall into ruin, kicking and
screaming all the way down to the Hell of Bankruptcy.
2 - What are you thinking? Word of mouth is great! Really, it is.
But a con can't sell on that alone! Sheesh! Get some frickin guests
or something. Get city sponsored by the CBH! Negotiate deals with
local media venues in exchange for guest interviews. Something! Get
the word out. I never heard about Con Troll till two years after it
died, and I'm an avid gamer.
3 - Houston is apathetic. I think I already went over this . . .
But . . . despite all this, there is a convention that has . . .
potential here in our glorious city of Houston. <shameless plug> I
Think Therefore I Con. In its first year it advertised on 107.5 the
Buzz, the Sun, Wizard, the Internet, Dragon, Con Temporal, Massive and
Copious Flier Drops. In its first year it scored GARY GYGAX, STEVE
JACKSON, C.S. FRIEDMAN, and SUSAN VAN CAMP! This year they have Bob
Trebor "Salmoneus", Sean Stewart, P.N. Elrod, C.S. Friedman, and Susan
Van Camp. They know what they're doing, and they're bringing a good SW
Con to Houston for the first time . . . ever.
I may only be saying this because my company runs this . . . but I mean
it. We got a good thing going here. But we need all of you to make it
work. Period. No buts about it. So do your part to promote the
industry you love so much. Pre-register for ITTIC '99 by going to our
webpage at .
You won't regret it.
Timothy Till
President Rune's Law Inc.
P.O. Box 73146
Houston, TX 77273
(281) 397-7595 Phone
(281) 397-6640 Fax
-- Makers of Wayfarer Infinity: Science-Fantasy Role Playing
-- Hosts of "I Think Therefore I Con" in Houston, Texas
