As D.J. Butler pointed out to me Sunday morning, we made it happen, and that was the important thing. A few of the salient points, by way of an after-action report…
Attendance: 29 paid members (25 attending, 4 supporting) Two attending members didn’t show up for various reasons but warned us ahead of time, so we rolled them over to next year. D.J. Butler insisted on paying for a membership to support the con, God bless him.
Programming: “Much like the cake, the programming schedule is a lie.” Some of the topics were actually covered, if not in the times and places we originally planned them, and gaming actually did take place at the time it was scheduled. As for the rest of the programming schedule, it was superseded by open discussions.
InterMountain Cookie Conspiracy: This worked better and worse than I expected. People contributed vast quantities of BBQ and chikuns and other foods & snacks, but nobody approached Jolie, Caitlin, or myself with receipts, so nobody got buttons (whatever happened to the buttons?) or credit toward their 2024 memberships. We’ll try to do better with that last part next year.
Vendors: We had nobody register for vendor tables, but our authors sold a (sorry) buttload of books from the (again, sorry) Dealers’ Bedroom. This will be phased out next year in favor of real tables in a real Dealer’s Room, which may also have art in it. By my count, we sold about 16 of the inaugural T-shirts, gave out six to staff and guests, and have seventy-eight left over for next year.
Satisfaction: Great success! Everybody seems happy with the way the convention went and wants to come back next year. All we need to do now is convince everyone to bring half a dozen of their close personal friends to the con…and I think Sarah has already started firing up the masses.
I was one that couldn’t make it–but next year fersure. I’m VERY glad that you folks put the con together. First takes can be hard, but from all I can tell (not having been there) it turned out very well. Thanks!
We rolled your membership over to next year, so come on up and join us at the Plaza!
Not to worry about the low attendance (except for budgetary reasons). I understand Comic-Con had about 40 attendees its first year in 1970. I attended TusCon I in ’74. Those who know claim attendance of 65, but it included Ted Sturgeon and a half-night bull session, so I was over the moon. I’m pretty sure all of us had fun.
Looking forward to next year.