Thoughts on BronyCon attendance growing slowly/dropping?

[Ed Lyons 105]

So this won't be a 'the fandom is dying' fear threads but i made one a while ago where i said, although still growing, the bronycon attendance had grown at the slowest rate ever. At least it was growing. Now, this year, the attendance was the lowest since early 2012! 7609 people came down from 1011 from last year. This may be a sign of the fandom slowing down, again, i'm not saying we're dying because of a single reason. A reason that the show, however, is in trouble MIGHT be it appealing more amd more to bronies and their liking. How might this be bad? The official viewing figures and official merch sales are down so hasbro decide to appeal to its loyal fanbase. I mostly see fan merch in photos or houses of bronies and little official merch if that. FIM is a merchendise based show, hence, the ever more camera focus and detail on shiny and big buildings. Without the merch sales, hasbro won't see much point in keeping FIM or even MLP as a whole as part of their tv or toy lines. Oh god, this is just a 'MLP IS DYING NNYYAAAHHH!!!!' threads. Sorry but i hope some evidence gets through. If so, let's make the most of the time we have left. After all, all things must come to an end. If not, still, let's have the best time we can!

[Silver Letter 1,832]

It could be that they changed the date which might have conflicted with other conventions.

[Trixie Heartstrings 434]

For the BronyCon attendance, I think the reason is because this year it was in July, when in other years it was in August. Also, it was exactly 2 weeks before San Diego Comic Con, which is one of the biggest conventions in the world, so it had serious competition. I expect that attendance will grow next year since it will be in August again.

[TopQuark 409]

Lack of growth is not indicative of nearing termination. Humans stop major growth sometime in their 'teens, but that doesn't mean they're anywhere close to dying. I'm no statistician, but I'd say that the fandom has been around long enough that it has already attracted most of the people predisposed to joining it. What Hasbro will make of the situation is yet to be seen, but even if they cancel the show and primary toy market, I don't see that having too much of an effect on the 'core bronies', as much of our content is third-party anyway (PMVs, fanfics, etc.). If anything, Hasbro cutting the MLP line might actually help brony creators, since the corporation wouldn't be so desparate to keep the brand in its iron fists, thus less likely to bother dishing out C&Ds left and right.

 

 

For the BronyCon attendance, I think the reason is because this year it was in July, when in other years it was in August. Also, it was exactly 2 weeks before San Diego Comic Con, which is one of the biggest conventions in the world, so it had serious competition. I expect that attendance will grow next year since it will be in August again.

 

Is there any word on why they did that, exactly? It was almost enough to keep me from going again this year.

[Solid 1,327]

Probably because this year's BronyCon is in July instead of August, which might conflict with a lot of people's schedules.

[Trixie Heartstrings 434]

 

 

Is there any word on why they did that, exactly? It was almost enough to keep me from going again this year.

 

I'm not exactly sure, but I think it might have been because Otakon this year is going to be on the weekend that BronyCon usually is on. It was probably that weekend because this will be Otakon's last year in Baltimore (it's moving to DC next year), and that weekend was the only one that was convenient for them, since they needed to do things like sign paper work for the move.

[Zantetsuken 364]

The fandom is not dying, and Bronycon was not Sub-par this year.

 

I went to Bronycon and it was the best weekend of my life this year, as always.

 

This year's low attendance rate is due to the Convention being held in the second week of July as oppose to the second week of August. I'm unclear as to why they did it in July this year. I have heard a couple reasons but I don't know if any of them are actually true or even actually happening.

 

One might be because of renovations to be made to the convention center soon. The BCC will be having extensive interior renovations soon, as well as a sky bridge to a building that no one used being removed entirely. Bronycon wanted to do 2016 before these renovations took place.

 

I was told back in 2015 that another convention was scheduled for the second weekend of August 2016 at the BCC. This is true, Baltimore's last Otakon is to be held from August 12th to August 14th.

 

There is also Anthrocon, which people are also citing as negatively affecting Bronycon's numbers this year, due to it being the weekend prior.

 

I also heard Bronycon wanted to happen before SDCC this year. I'm not sure if this is true but if it is I would label it as a strategic move that backfired. Then again I'm not sure about this one because I don't think any convention in their right mind would challenge SDCC, especially Bronycon... they seem smarter than that.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Zantetsuken

[Jeric 46,854]

Regardless ... a 25% drop in attendance is significant enough for the con to evaluate ... this year should have met last year's attendance or increased it based on just the GoH pull. Did they do anything else differently this year other than scheduling? Was there anything last year that turned people off?

 

A slow down in fandom is possible, these things ebb and flow. 7000+ is still a good attendee count, though it raises eyebrows.

 

 

Edit: Zantetsuken cited Anthrocon, and that would shave some numbers away.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

Regardless ... a 25% drop in attendance is significant enough for the con to evaluate ... this year should have met last year's attendance or increased it based on just the GoH pull. Did they do anything else differently this year other than scheduling? Was there anything last year that turned people off?

 

A slow down in fandom is possible, these things ebb and flow. 7000+ is still a good attendee count, though it raises eyebrows.

 

 

Edit: Zantetsuken cited Anthrocon, and that would shave some numbers away.

I'd just face the facts and say that MLP fandom is a fad. A very durable one by today's standards, but a fad nonetheless. We see it in things like the declining ratings, merchandise being squeezed out of stores like Hot Topic in favor of hotter IPs like Steven Universe and Star Vs., etc., and on top of that, hugely conflicting opinions on where the show is going because of Season 6. If attendance is declining, I think the only option is to scale down the event and face the reality that MLP peaked already.

 

I'm not saying the fandom is dying or dead, but that there's evidence that numbers are declining and we need to start doing things differently.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[Scootaloo Is Best Filly 578]

I think the July thing was one of main reasons because of Otacon being at the same place in August this year. But, seeing as not only is Otacon moving to Washington next year, but bronycon is in August again in 2017, I think attendance will be up.