Re: PBM Conventions

From: madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)

Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 00:00:00 +0000

>>Speaking as he who has organised the last four PBM conventions (lots of
work for little praise and less profit!) I would like to say that I
welcome the present discussion and hope to hear of good new ideas
(still hoping). If anyone is seriously planning to take over con
organisation, please let us know as there's no point in competing.<<

Ken!  You've been trying to get out
of it for years now! <grin>  Nobody
is going to let you off the hook!

>>Hot news is that the next convention is now being organised by Carol
Johnson of SFCPress (Chart International), with Carol M and I doing
publicity and certain admin work.<<

That's good news.  With your experience and Carols organisational flair you've
got a great team.  Your promotion sucks though.
Sorry.  But I've been saying so for years.

>> The provisional date is Saturday 15th
April 2000. (You heard it first here guys - mark your diaries!) Carol J
is pushing the Bishopsgate Institute to allow us to have an in-house
bar and snack bar - <<

A very good idea.

>>she is also looking for an alternative venue with
these facilities but I know from my own attempts that any such place
costs twice as much as Bishopsgate which would cause stand fees and
entry fees to rocket.<<

Bishopsgate was good.  I'd stick with it
if you can get a bar in the actual hall where the Con is going on.

>>Money is, of course, a vital factor: the stall charges at big games
cons tend to be too high for PBM GMs, because other games firms sell
boxes and can expect to make a profit on the day, while PBM firms can
only hope to attract players to a continuous service and risk making a
loss. Additional events need to be paid for, even just for room hire.<<

You had plenty of space in the main hall.  Taking everybody to another room
wasn't necessary, really.

>>The format we use is tried and trusted. Last year we did have a special
speaker, Eddie Bersan from America,<<

"Special" speaker.  Indeed.  Although he didn't do much more speaking (or say
anything different) to the previous year, really.....  Eddie Bursan's
participation seems to involve saying things which wind Justin Parsler up ....
<grin>

>> We contacted the landlords of the two adjacent pubs, <<

Which was a mistake.  Everybody who goes to a convention wants to drink.  The
bar should be where the Con is.  Anything else will remove the players to where
the bar is.

>>One of the many good aspects of the London convention was that it did
not tail off towards the end. In fact I had to ask the caretaker if we
could have an extra hour from 5pm to 6pm!<<

I found it to be an excellent day.  It is the attitude of some of the GMs who
came which brought the atmosphere down.  The seeming ''need'' to gripe and moan
and see ''signups'' as your 'right' rather than something to be earned.  Many
of the GMs seemed to have forgotten how to have fun.  That's the key to a
successful convention and its the GMs who drive it, not the players.

>>We look forward to the next convention and hope to see you all there. <<

We certainly will be, as usual, with the usual brand of stupidity and nonsense
intact, of course.

Steve
-Madhouse UK

References

Re: PBM Conventions
Ken Mulholland <Ken@timepatternspbm.demon.co.uk>
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: PBM Conventions
Ken Mulholland <Ken@timepatternspbm.demon.co.uk>
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 00:00:00 +0000