How to Convention: Venues and How They Shape Conventions
Fannish ingenuity is legendary. Events have been held in all sorts of unusual places, from archaelogical sites to campsites, in museums, and on all sorts of mass transportation. But most convention venues fall into one of three groups.
A room
A convention which is just starting out, or a hyperlocal event that feels no need to grow, can be held at any sort of facility that has a big room for events. This might be the party room at a restaurant, the main hall at a fraternal lodge, an event space at a community cultural center, or similar.
For conventions that keep it small and simple, renting a space like this comes with a simple fee structure and no complications like having to negotiate a room block. However, an annual event that isn’t trying to stay small may soon outgrow spaces like this.
Hotels
Hotels are primarily in the business of selling room-nights, and event space is mostly a means to that end. Hotels certainly don’t mind making some extra money off of space rentals and food service, but a convention that can reliably fill a hotel on a weekend when business would otherwise be slow can negotiate extremely favorable rates for the space.
The catch is that a convention which doesn’t come close to filling its room block will have to pay a substantial penalty. So if you’re going to a hotel-based convention that isn’t so overbooked that hotel rooms sell out in a few days, expect to see lots of nudges from it about booking a room yourself.
To increase bookings, a convention will try to negotiate as big a discount as possible off the standard rate for the rooms. This further pushes conventions onto weekends where hotels have little other competing business. If you’ve ever wondered why so many conventions are squeezed onto big holiday weekends, that’s one of the main reasons.
Convention centers
Hotels are a sweet spot for holding conventions, but eventually a convention may outgrow all the local hotels. At this point its choices are either to cap attendance, which many have done, or to make the leap to a convention center.
The baseline for a convention center contract is a set of dark, unfurnished rooms. The convention will be charged for electricity, for water stations, for every single table set up in a room or a hall. If there are food vendors there will need to be a minimum sales guarantee, with the convention making up for it if the attendees don’t buy that much, for the vendors to be open. A con can have convention center staff helping with con operations, running the A/V, checking badges, or so forth, but it all costs.
The move from a hotel to a convention center is a wrenching one for a convention’s budget. Unless it is able to grow very quickly to spread out the cost, the convention will either have to pare its offerings to minimize the space it uses; raise the price of attending; focus more on things that bring in money from other directions, such as an expanded dealer area to sell more tables; or bring in sponsors, with the added risk and complexity that entails.
In Brief
While the new owner-to-be of Warhorn has still not been revealed, current owner Brian Moseley has reassured anxious users that “things are moving behind the scenes”.
The trial of Andrew Giaume and Thomas Dunbar for the theft of a pallet of Magic: the Gathering cards from last year’s Gen Con has been delayed yet again. The trial is now set for October 9, with a pretrial hearing October 3.
RisuCon (Rockville, Maryland, August 17-18) has added Bill Lobley as a guest.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Jodi Benson, Hayden Christenson, Miko Hughes, and Sarah Natochenny as guests.
Spooky Empire (Charleston, South Carolina, August 23-25) has added Kristy Swanson as a guest.
Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 30-September 1) has added Dee Wallace and Jimmy Hart as guests.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Kathryn Newton and Lucas Grabeel as guests.
Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, October 12-13) has added William Shatner and Gates McFadden as guests.
ConVivial (Williamsburg, Virginia, February 28-March 2) has added Calibas Ran as its Fan Guest of Honor and the Blibbering Humdingers as the Musical Guest of Honor.
Game On Expo (Phoenix, Arizona, April 4-6) has added Kaiji Tang as a guest.
Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 30-June 1) has added John Billingsley as a guest.
Event Calendar
Weekend of August 2-4
Diversicon 31/Mythcon 53: Fantasies of the Middle Lands, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
AMA-CON, Amarillo, Texas, USA
PulpFest 2024, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK
CanFURence 2024: As Seen On TV (anthropomorphic), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Gen Con 2024 (gaming), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
StarCon (gaming), Rye, New Hampshire, USA
24 Hour Board Game Marathon, Ilminster, UK
AnimagiC (anime), Mannheim, Germany
Anime Town Louisiana, Gonzales, Louisiana, USA
Otakon (anime), Washington, DC, USA
Otakuthon (anime), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Otakukon 2024: Chuunin Exams (anime), Harare, Zimbabwe
Really Cool Comic Con, Flint, Michigan, USA
Bell County Comic Con, Belton, Texas, USA
Enid Comic Con, Enid, Oklahoma, USA
Monster-Mania 59 (horror media), Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
STLV: 58-Year Mission (Star Trek), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Starfleet International Conference 2024 (Star Trek), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CybFest NW (Transformers), Kent, Washington, USA
Weekend of August 9-11
Geek Out at Staten Island, Staten Island, New York, USA
Key City Steampunk Convention: Steampunk Noir, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Furrydelphia (anthropomorphic), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
HandyCon Lucky 13 (gaming), Milton Keynes, UK
Game & Party Con, St. Augustine, Florida, USA
Pixel Con (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (video games), Garden City, New York, USA
Fragapalooza 2024 (LAN gaming), Leduc, Alberta
Utah Retro GameXpo 2024 (retro video games), Davis, Utah, USA
Grand Tribunal (Ars Magica RPG), Cheltenham, UK
AniNite 24 (anime), Vienna, Austria
AniBash (anime), Rochester, New York, USA
Abunai!: Kitsune Matsuri (anime), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Queen City Anime Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Anime 414, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Anime Revolution, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Anime-zing!, Rock Island, Illinois, USA
Animethon 2024, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Mid City Micro-Con (comics), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Comic Market 104 (fan comics), Tokyo, Japan
Wicked Comic Con, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Fandom Fest 2024 (media), Schenectady, New York, USA
D23 Expo (official Disney), Anaheim, California, USA
TFNation (Transformers), Birmingham, UK
Weekend of August 16-18
Epic Nerd Camp, Darlington, Maryland, USA
NecronomiCon Providence 2024 (H. P. Lovecraft), Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary
Argentina FurFiesta (anthropomorphic), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Texas Furry Siesta 2024: Walk On the Wild Side (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA
Dragonflight Gamecon, Bellevue, Washington, USA
Coulee Con (gaming), La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA
Field of Games, Silverstone, UK
Phoenix Con (gaming), Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Gratislavia (gaming), Wrocław, Poland
MaricopaCon 2024 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA
HistoriKC Fest: Midwest Madness (historical boardgaming), Olathe, Kansas, USA
Nashcon (miniatures gaming), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Tokonatsu (anime), Henlow, UK
Hikari (anime), Poznań, Poland
Shikkaricon (anime), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
RakuCon Manchester (anime), Manchester, UK
Stars of Time (media), Weston-super-Mare, UK
TERRIFICON (media), Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
RisuCon (media), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Fan Expo Chicago (media), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Fairfax Comic Con, Chantilly, Virginia, USA
Station Unity 2024 (media), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
UniCon 2024 (media), Riga, Latvia
Flame Con X (LGBT+ media), New York City, New York, USA
Weekend of August 23-25
Bubonicon 55, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Dni Fantastyki, Wrocław, Poland
OutsideCon 2024, Burns, Tennessee, USA
Camp Feral!: Business Casual (anthropomorphic), Algonquin Park, Ontario
IndyFurCon: Monsters vs. Mechas (anthropomorphic), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
DenFur (anthropomorphic), Denver, Colorado, USA
Weekend at the Asylum (steampunk), Lincoln, UK
Northeast Ohio Steampunk Festival, Burton, Ohio, USA
MillCon 3 (music), Peterborough, UK
FallCon 37 (gaming), Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Tacticon (gaming), Aurora, Colorado, USA
Brussels Games Festival, Brussels, Belgium
Norwich Games Con, Norwich, UK
Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Great Escape on the Lake (gaming), Bradford, New York, USA
CrashCityCon (gaming), Roanoke, Virginia, USA
2D Con: Survival (video games), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Windblume (Genshin Impact), Mesquite, Texas, USA
Kokorokon (anime), Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Superstar Anime, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Conjutsu (anime), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
PopCult Anime Con, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Ganbatte 2024 (anime), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Fan Expo Canada (media), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tampa Bay Comic Convention, Tampa, Florida, USA
Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
Hub City Comic Con, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Covington Comic Con, Covington, Tennessee, USA
Long Island Doctor Who Convention, Holtsville, New York, USA
Everfree NW (My Little Pony), Bellevue, Washington, USA
Weekend of August 30-September 1
Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CoKoCon 2023, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Bouchercon 2024: Murder and Mayhem in Music City (World Mystery Convention), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Oxonmoot 2024 (Tolkien), Oxford, UK and online
Viencon 2024: Shark House, Best House (relaxacon), America, Netherlands
Big River Steampunk Festival, Hannibal, Missouri, USA
Eurofurence 28: Cyberpunk (anthropomorphic), Hamburg, Germany
Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con: Furries in Space! (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Mephit Fur Meet: The Rawring 20's (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
FursonaCon: Dungeon Delvers (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Megaplex: Terror at Typhon's Keep (anthropomorphic), Orlando, Florida, USA
PhiliFUR 2024: Nostalgia Saga (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Phillipines
Pacificon Game Expo 46, Santa Clara, California, USA
TCEP 29: Your Route to Fun! (gaming), Sterling, Virginia, USA
SaltCON End of Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA
Gamesfest, Pasco, Washington, USA
WGGCon (gaming), Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA
PAX West 2024 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA
Gateway 2024 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
GrandCon 2024 (gaming), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
NOVA Open (wargaming), Washington, DC, USA
ReaperCon 2024 (miniatures gaming), Denton, Texas, USA
Nan Desu Kan 27 (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA
San Japan 15 / Okashicon (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA
MatsuriCon 2024: Tricks and Treats (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Saboten Con 2024 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Tucson Comic Con (media), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach, California, USA
Meta Con Minneapolis (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
No Brand Con (media), Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
Afro Future Con: Educational Culture Complex (media), San Diego, California, USA
Whooverville 15 (Doctor Who), Derby, UK
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