With any Celebration you are going to attract a definite number of devoted fans no matter where it is held. Based on past attendance numbers that seems like somewhere around 15-20000 people. It is the casual fans that you want to attract (from a business POV) because that is where you start to make your money. Casual fans aren't coming out for authors and artists but they will come out for celebrities, thus celebrities will always be a part of any future Celebrations.

As a group, us long-time SW fans tend to have a certain expectation of what we want while not always considering the bigger picture. Attracting new fans is always a goal, and that is what will make SW a viable entity for years to come. That is good for us in the end.


As for GenCon, if they did indeed keep charity money (alleged), than I can see why LFL would want to distance themselves from the GC outfit as soon as possible and with whatever means at their disposal. That is some bad PR

 

Relax... it was just a joke, Val. No harm in having a little fun while we sit here and contemplate what might or might not happen for future SW events. Been a fan since day one and the one endearing quality of Star Wars fans has always been the ability to not take themselves too seriously.

 

Yep... but there are some that are new to the boards that don't know you as we old-timers know you, sweetie . We know when you're having fun. Others may not.

 

Where your teeth clentched when you typed that? LOL You have a point, of course.

 

Sweetie? SWEETIE? Man Val, your lip must be bleeding from biting it so hard. That's awesome.

Back to the cons. I think if LFL wants to continue the Celebrations, there need to turn the page a little. Add something different. Look, it's great that we have Star Wars celebs at the celebrations, but that's exactly what they are, Star Wars celebs. I can walk into my local grocery store and pick up a Peter Mayhew autograph. You get a free Kenny Baker if you buys 2 snickers bars. The celebs that attend these cons really have nothing else to offer but a signature thats as common as air.

LFL might want to consider doing what other conventions do and that's adding additional sci fi celebs and events. I would like to see a Jurassic park, Indiana Jones, Transformers and ET. Something like that. More celebs, more costumes and more collectibles.

 

Ha ha! Big is right. The bigger, the better publicity.

The fly in the ointment is......can you get celebrity guests who will attract the big numbers? They had lots of celebrity guests for CIV, but apparently the attendance was disappointing. So, the guests they had didn't justify their cost --- this is assuming that there wasn't some other money drain from CIV that we don't know about. <cough> <cough> <GenCon bad management> <cough> <cough>

So, how do you get the large crowds if the celebrity guests available aren't doing it? Get other celebrities? More well known names? The problem is that they just may not be available. What do you do?

- Not have a SW Celebration at all?

- Or work out a way to have a decent sized Celebration without the celebrity headliners?

I think that it's entirely possible that the second option may be the only option available. And for any celebrity guest convention I've ever heard about, the guests always have the option of canceling their appearance for other acting commitments. Advertising a guest and then not having them is worse then not planning to have them at all. And if a celebrity guest can't commit until the last minute you just won't get people to come from very far because people have to plan ahead for trips.

If the casual fan would only come for celebrities, then they may not be a market that can be reached, if you can't get the celebrity guests. Are there any other things that a Celebration can have to attract the casual fan? Better advertising? Scheduling things well in advance so they know what they're getting? More fan organized activities? I'm not sure what it would take, but CIV was obviously being put together at the last minute judging from GenCon's very sad web page. That kind of thing does NOT sell tickets.

 

Well, now I think we get to the heart of the matter--who among the SW celebrities will come out for a Celebration that hasn't already done the show 2,3,4, times? It is a short list, and the names on it have not shown any interest in participating in any such event. Where do you go from there? More behind-the-scenes people? More detailed and expansive displays from the LFL archives? What can future Celebrations offer that hasn't been offered before?

 

I think having vendors to sell star wars products is another main reason why I went. I wanted to buy goods and collectibles besides get autographs from star wars celebrities. Not to mention official star wars costumes and props to look at. I disagree with the previous post that you can find Kenny Baker or Peter Mayhew autographs in any retailer. I have never seen those at my stores. The only ones I have heard of on the market officially have been on Star Wars Topps trading cards or something like that. To have a celebrity like that sign that with you right there watching them or getting a photo with them standing next to them is special. Getting it out of a card deck you bought or buying it off e-bay lacks something.

 

Actually in regards to Celebration IV there was the added expectation that being in Los Angeles would be friendlier for certain actors to show up, Mark Hamill, Sam Jackson, etc; and when they didn't I think it unfairly gave CIV a lot less shine. The expectations were greater than the reality.

 

All of this business with GenCon might have turned things topsy-turvy. We'll just have to wait and see.

The big push is on right now for what LFL plans to do at Comic-Con. That's garnering all the attention up north, I'm sure. Sneak previewing the upcoming shows and whatnot. Anything that happens at a Celebration will be taking a back seat to that for right now.

 

Well, I have autographs all over the place - only thing that they 'cost me' was a bit of time (and well spent time at that as I got a kick out of sitting at their tables - ).

In some cases, getting a SW autograph is very easy - but it's part of the experience to meet and chat with them at the con - Kevin showed me how indeed "Ewoks Rock" and was probably one of the most enjoyable two hours I'd ever spent sitting at a con. If I wanted Transformers or Jurassic Park, I'd go to a generic convention...

 

OM*G

Sorry - that part of the acronym can't be used..

 

Transformers have Botcon in Providence, Rhode Island. It started out in Fort Wayne, IN and recently moved a couple of years ago to Rhode Island for some reason. Just like Star Trek have their own. Too many of those to name! Indy was able to get Carrie Fisher for CII from what I heard. I thought Billy Dee Williams was at CII and CIII. I am sure Peter Mawhew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker were at CII and CIII. I personally like going to the autograph areas and talking with the a few of star wars actresses. I have a crush on a few of them. LOL! Practicularly, the women that play Zam Wessel, Aurra Sing, Young Aunt Beru (Episode II and III), Aayla Secura, Luminila, Barris Offee, Oola, and Shak Ti. I know I mispelled their names.

 

I don't see how Gen Con could lose money on C4.

I did some web-surfing and found some attendance numbers for different conventions around the country to see where C4 stood:

CES 2008: 152,203
SDCC 2006: 120,000
NAB 2007: 108,232
E3 60,000
Anime Expo 40,647
C4 2007: 35,000
Dragon Con 30,000
AVN 2008: 30,000
Star Trek Con 13,000

35,000 people is nothing to sneeze at, especially when Star Wars was the only brand at C4, unlike the others.

Actually, if you take the trade shows out of it, (CES, E3, NAB, AVN,) then only Comic Con and the Anime expo had higher attendance.

 

You forgot 2007 Gencon Indy estimates were between 27,000-28,000. They expect more for 2008 Gencon Indy.

 

Aye, that's what he said. And I'm throwing out some speculation that getting an idea of what is on offer in Oz was part of the reason behind a GenCon Oz. Although I guess it's a bit of a moot point.

Celebration Japan would be interesting but personally I'm already committed to something around then.


As to the main subject at hand, I'm not overtly surprised. It wasn't that things were a complete shambles, but after spending the Wednesday helping doing set-up with some of the vendors there were already the signs that things weren't as well run as they could be. There were other examples over the course of the weekend.

 

I can tell you there is alot of genres that are available to the gamer at a Gencon. Just about any game you can think of is there. They added video games in 2007 and that added and additional 1000 people last year. They expect more video game companies to show up to show case their products to the public this year. I was reading their GenconIndy website. They are selling out on special VIP passes already. I think Gencon is one of the few groups that can handle any large convention similar to Star Wars.

 

News to me! Never heard of that one! Sounds like a bunch of people have got major issues with Gencon.

 

Umm.... someone from the Temp company in question posted about that back in Nov/Dec last year on the TOS boards, in the thread you continually post ing. You have the next post directly after one of them.

 

lol