Las Pegasus Unicon - Crash & Burn

[Senn555 242]

If there's anything all this LPU drama should be teaching us, it's finding out all of the background details of how a con is/should be put together and managed so as to prevent future mishaps and disasters of this scale.

 

BronyCAN is being set up by people from all across Canada, and some local brony friends of mine are staff, including the con chair whom I've had one or two personal sit-down discussions with. LPU will certainly influence planning of BronyCAN from here on out, and I'm certainly curious as to all of its private background details now, with a ton of lingering questions I'd like to ask and ideas to suggest, especially since it's a first-time con. I'm not a staff member, though I know the people putting it together and I feel it's going to go smoothly.

 

I also agree with Final Draft on the sentiment that there are way too many brony conventions. I mean, it's nice to have one for each region of the US (northwest, southwest, northeast, midwest), and maybe one or two for each other country, but now there's *three* conventions tentatively planned to be held in Ohio this year.

 

I also agree that first-time/inexperienced cons should start small and build up over the years. Even BroNYcon (remember when it was actually called that because it was in NYC?) started out extremely small, only 100 people, and there was maybe one or two special guests max.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

 

I also agree with Final Draft on the sentiment that there are way too many brony conventions. I mean, it's nice to have one for each region of the US (northwest, southwest, northeast, midwest), and maybe one or two for each other country, but now there's *three* conventions tentatively planned to be held in Ohio this year.

Three cons in Ohio? And none in Michigan?

 

You have got to be kidding.

 

I know that Ohio is big but come on, put Canterlot Gardens somewhere in the middle of Ohio and move one of the other cons to Michigan. We have bronies up here too ya know~

[Freewave 1,145]

I know there's a Denver one that's been in planning mode for about a year I've been tried to volunteer for (will dj and perform live for free!) and while it seems they are looking long term as a convention company and doing it professionally they also seemed (based off my one night meeting with them) most concerned on profit sharing and not really interested on what type of experience it could and should be for attendees (no guests as far as i know). I don't know if that will come to fruition this summer or will be delayed yet another year. I just know that I hope they get off the drawing board at least. While Colorado bronies have their own long-running forum their planned gatherings have never been more than 10-20 people at a time instead of aiming for anything higher.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Freewave

[Fhaolan 4,483]

I know there's a Denver one that's been in planning mode for about a year I've been tried to volunteer for (will dj and perform live for free!) and while it seems they are looking long term as a convention company and doing it professionally they also seemed (based off my one night meeting with them) most concerned on profit sharing and not really interested on what type of experience it could and should be for attendees (no guests as far as i know). I don't know if that will come to fruition this summer or will be delayed yet another year. I just know that I hope they get off the drawing board at least. While Colorado bronies have their own long-running forum their planned gatherings have never been more than 10-20 people at a time instead of aiming for anything higher.

 

Profit sharing? That's a really weird topic for a con commitee meeting on a first-time con. It is highly unlikely there will be any real profit in a con's first year, and even if there is, that profit needs to be rolled into the sequel. It takes several years of growth before a con turns self-sustaining and can support paid employees, shareholder dividends and the like.

 

That kind of stuff rings alarm bells in my head; that they seem to be trying to plan a pro con, not a fan con. Pro cons are along the line of trade shows, company meetings, and industry seminars. They have a captive audience with effectively manditory attendance, high-level corporate sponsorship, and lots of people in bad suits trying to sell you a better mousetrap. Okay, so that last one isn't that different.

 

While you can run a fancon like this, it's usually not successful because the con organizer doesn't realize how important that corporate sponsorship is to a procon. They usually think that registration fees are a simple replacement for... ah. Didn't put that together until now. I wonder if that was the root of the Unicon issue? Were they being advised by a procon team?

[Freewave 1,145]

Yeah I was pretty excited when i went down to meet with them but it seemed so business oriented (and they had me wait an hour while they yacked with potential security and talked about their endless experience) and then none of them had heard my music or knew anything about me (but were interested in me joining a few of their potential dj team). What's the point of local brony convention if you don't get local talent to perform (which again i offered for free for months prior)? They kept talking about how i could get a share of profit or get a table to sell cd's and all i really wanted to know was if they were wanting musicians involved and if i would perform. As you said they were setting up the model for a professional convention company model and not really talking about doing one bronycon and doing it right. Was disillusioning.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Freewave

[~Master~ Button Mash 2,307]

All these cons in every corner of the United States, and still nothing in Chicago? Really? Really?

 

Maybe the market isn't over saturated, just clumped. Cons need to spread out a bit more. Seems that would fix a lot of problems.

[Pixel Stick 927]

 

to those of you who are worried that other cons will have the same fate as LPU. Stop for a second. Do you realize how many different kinds of conventions have been going on in the world for how long? How many do you hear of that fail? And how many do you know that succeed? Chances are that you know about more that succeed than fail. SDCC? NYCC? Anime conventions? Youmacon in Detroit started in 2005 and only last year did it become one of the top ten largest anime conventions in the US. And they still grew at an abnormally fast rate. Bronycon is an incredibly successful convention and none of you have to worry about anything similar happening to you.

 

The thing I'm worried about in reading this (and hearing about it from a friend and coworker who is deeply involved in running conventions herself) is not that another brony convention will fail like this one did, but that this experience will have left the featured guests (especially show staff) with such a bad taste in their mouths for this fandom that they'll refuse to attend another convention.  Has anyone reached out to them since this fiasco?

[DJPurplyPi3 22]

I think it's terrible what happened and it really would have been an amazing con to go to if it all went great. A really nice hotel in vegas all fancy like and having a good time there and getting to meet voice actors and stuff and I would have gone as pinkie pie! 

Edited March 2, 2013 by remixedcat

[Lady Leopardess 393]

All these cons in every corner of the United States, and still nothing in Chicago? Really? Really?

 

Maybe the market isn't over saturated, just clumped. Cons need to spread out a bit more. Seems that would fix a lot of problems.

There was one in IL  , Midwestria . Yes it's in the 'burbs but it's only like a 40 min drive from Chicago. Except for some tech problems causes the dances to start late , it seemed to go well. I had fun.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Lady Leopardess

[Senn555 242]

The thing I'm worried about in reading this (and hearing about it from a friend and coworker who is deeply involved in running conventions herself) is not that another brony convention will fail like this one did, but that this experience will have left the featured guests (especially show staff) with such a bad taste in their mouths for this fandom that they'll refuse to attend another convention.  Has anyone reached out to them since this fiasco?

Actually, the show staff / voice actors / their agents are very thankful for the brony community; once it was announced that LPU was out of money (in an emergency meeting between all of the pony news correspondents at around 2AM Sunday morning), emergency charity drives were immediately started to pay the show crew and their agents their attendance fees, travel fees (including airfare), surprise hotel charges, etc. which amounted to $12,000 divided amongst all 22 special guests.

 

They're not angry at the brony community as a whole, but they are upset at the LPU convention organizers for causing the mess in the first place. If anything, the LPU fallout will only influence the show staff's decisions on attending first-time cons. (although, Hasbro's reaction to LPU is still unknown at this point)

[RockinRarity 1,605]

The thing I'm worried about in reading this (and hearing about it from a friend and coworker who is deeply involved in running conventions herself) is not that another brony convention will fail like this one did, but that this experience will have left the featured guests (especially show staff) with such a bad taste in their mouths for this fandom that they'll refuse to attend another convention. Has anyone reached out to them since this fiasco?

I do understand this concern. But I think that most of the extremely important MLP guests (Lauren Faust, Tara Strong, John De Lancie, etc) have all been to several other well-run brony conventions. I think that at worst, Hasbro will be more reluctant to send top-notch guests to first-time cons. I highly doubt that they would pull Tara Strong from Bronycon because of the LPU fiasco. It just wouldn't make sense.

[ViolentBrae 3]

Basically, this is the scenario where the money was handed to the wrong people at the wrong time. In my opinion one of the biggest disasters in brony, no, in all of convention history, and it's gonna take a lot more careful planning, and a miracle from celestia, if they can have another unicon. Otherwise, just lay the idea to rest.

Edited March 6, 2013 by ViolentBrae

[SailorCardKnight 85]

I actually went to Unicon on the Saturday it took place, as Vegas is only an hour and a half away from me and all, while I had a total blast, I was surprised when I got on EQD the next day only to see the whole thing falling apart during the livestreams/news updates. Made me so glad I decided to NOT go on Sunday.

 

I've been following the aftermath since, it really looks like just a case of bad management and I can sense a law suit brewing, but who is going to sue who is the question.

 

But the one thing that has irked me the most is all the people saying that Vegas is not a good city for a pony convention. As a local who visits the city regularly, I cry fowl at this comment. Vegas is actually the *perfect* city, with a potential for a high turnout as the city gets a ton of tourists from all over the globe, its the con organizers that screwed everything up royally.

 

Here where their biggest mistakes for the small turnout of people:

 

#1 - They had it on the strip. Wrong move. The strip is the MOST EXPENSIVE part of the whole city. They should have had it off the strip, and theres plenty of nice places around the city that would be ideal. They could have just as easily had it at one of the many other casinos that where *off* of the strip, just a simple move like that would have instantly cut the costs for everything by half. Casinos off of the strip are ALWAYS cheaper. Personally I would choose Sunset Station in Henderson. Its a really nice casino thats fairly easy to get to in a nice neighborhood filled with affordable shops and restaurants.

 

#2 - Speaking of casinos, another big fail. Many people don't realize that family friendly casinos do exist, these are the casinos that off a variety of things to do for people of all ages. The Riviera is just not one of them. The lack of signs on the street saying "Convention Today! This way! -> " did not help things either. How are they supposed to expect walk-ins if nobody knew where to go?

 

#3 - They had the con during February. February is snowbird season in Vegas, not con-going season. Thats when old retired people from the northern states fly south to the warmer states during the winter. Most people that old don't care about ponies. They should have had it during summer break, or some other time of the year when alot more younger people could attend.

 

But unfortunately the damage has been done now and I doubt many will show up for another pony convention for Vegas, which is a shame really.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

I actually went to Unicon on the Saturday it took place, as Vegas is only an hour and a half away from me and all, while I had a total blast, I was surprised when I got on EQD the next day only to see the whole thing falling apart during the livestreams/news updates. Made me so glad I decided to NOT go on Sunday.

 

I've been following the aftermath since, it really looks like just a case of bad management and I can sense a law suit brewing, but who is going to sue who is the question.

 

But the one thing that has irked me the most is all the people saying that Vegas is not a good city for a pony convention. As a local who visits the city regularly, I cry fowl at this comment. Vegas is actually the *perfect* city, with a potential for a high turnout as the city gets a ton of tourists from all over the globe, its the con organizers that screwed everything up royally.

 

Here where their biggest mistakes for the small turnout of people:

 

#1 - They had it on the strip. Wrong move. The strip is the MOST EXPENSIVE part of the whole city. They should have had it off the strip, and theres plenty of nice places around the city that would be ideal. They could have just as easily had it at one of the many other casinos that where *off* of the strip, just a simple move like that would have instantly cut the costs for everything by half. Casinos off of the strip are ALWAYS cheaper. Personally I would choose Sunset Station in Henderson. Its a really nice casino thats fairly easy to get to in a nice neighborhood filled with affordable shops and restaurants.

 

#2 - Speaking of casinos, another big fail. Many people don't realize that family friendly casinos do exist, these are the casinos that off a variety of things to do for people of all ages. The Riviera is just not one of them. The lack of signs on the street saying "Convention Today! This way! -> " did not help things either. How are they supposed to expect walk-ins if nobody knew where to go?

 

#3 - They had the con during February. February is snowbird season in Vegas, not con-going season. Thats when old retired people from the northern states fly south to the warmer states during the winter. Most people that old don't care about ponies. They should have had it during summer break, or some other time of the year when alot more younger people could attend.

 

But unfortunately the damage has been done now and I doubt many will show up for another pony convention for Vegas, which is a shame really.

 

I can understand and agree with these points. I don't know Vegas personally, so I have to go off of what other con-organizers have told me. Likely they all have attempted to work with Strip casino/hotels and ran into the nasty, which spawned the bad reputation Vegas has with them. Likely because they were either going for the prestige, or were simply unaware that there was a difference with the off-strip locales. Honestly, I wouldn't have known where to go.

 

But that actually re-enforces my original point, in that you should not put a con on in Vegas unless you know what you are doing or understand the venue. Vegas (and apparently New York City) are rough towns to walk in and put on cons if you've not dealt with the venues there before. It's not that they're deliberately trying to defraud you, there's just a high level of expectations and a willingness to go the entire way to protect their interests. I've run into similar (but lower key) versions with hotels in the greater Toronto area, and the Seattle region, so I can imagine what it would be like in high-energy cities like Vegas and NYC.

[GrooveBroove 680]

I'm kind of glad I didn't go to this. Being in Las Vegas its definitely the closest one I've heard of yet by me. Definitely shows you have to be weary and have a backup plan when going to any con.

[Pixel Stick 927]

 

But the one thing that has irked me the most is all the people saying that Vegas is not a good city for a pony convention. As a local who visits the city regularly, I cry fowl at this comment. Vegas is actually the *perfect* city, with a potential for a high turnout as the city gets a ton of tourists from all over the globe, its the con organizers that screwed everything up royally.

 

Vegas gets a bad rap for being "Sin City", among other things, so hearing that there's a family-friendly convention about My Little Pony in the heart of one of the most hedonistic places on earth tends to sound a little strange to people in general.   But I agree, there's nothing actually wrong with running a con in Vegas - I've been to several conventions and business events down there, and I used to visit the place regularly since my grandmother lived there.

 

You're absolutely right that running a con on the Strip is probably one of the biggest problems - the Strip is bloody expensive for events, and one generally doesn't run a convention there unless they have a LOT of money to spend on it, and their purpose is to build prestige and get lots of publicity.  A relatively small event like a brony convention just doesn't quite fit the bill there.  But hotels on the Strip are also notorious for being difficult places - they often have very restrictive contracts, very well-dressed lawyers, lots of bouncers, and a reputation for acting like they're run by the mafia (whether they are or not).  It honestly doesn't surprise me to hear the Riviera might have been treating its guests poorly after the financial debacle - the truth of the matter is, they don't get paid, they don't care who they have to hurt.

 

I hope that if Unicon or any other convention decides to go back to Vegas, they take your advice and go to one of the much less expensive but still equally nice hotels off the Strip.  There are plenty of them who would love to have the business, and would likely be much more accommodating.  And frankly, being off the Strip also means much less distraction from the convention itself - yes, you want to encourage people to have a good time, but if the convention is doing its job right, people will want to spend more time at the con than wandering the Strip.