Need some questions answered about
Con 80?
Hopefully this Frequently Asked Questions section will
help
 .
What is the stance
regarding special guests?
Will horror be
included?
What do people do at a
convention?
You say Con 80 will be
the last convention, why is this?
If traditional fan
based conventions like Con 9 and Con 70 are so
great then why aren't there more of them?
.
What exactly is Con
80?
Con
80: The Ultimate 1980s Sci-Fi Experience is an
Australian science fiction convention which will run
for three days over the Labour Day long weekend in
2017. The focus of the event is based around science
fiction TV shows and movies from 1980-1989.
Unlike
modern day conventions, Con 80 will follow
the "traditional" fan run format where the
focus of the event will be on panels, discussions,
presentations and its atmosphere.
What do you mean when you say
"non-profit"?
Unlike
modern commercial conventions (known as ProCons) who
operate like a business, Con 80 is a self
funded event where the financial profits - if any -
won't go into the pockets of the organisers. Our aim
is only to cover costs.
Traditionally
non-profit conventions would hand over any excess
monies to a nominated charity or use it as a rollover
fund for another convention. Either way none of the
organisers profit financially from the event.
Why would anyone run a convention
that makes no money?
The
answer to this is simple ... "for the sheer
enjoyment of it."
Fan run
media conventions like Con 80 no longer
exist in this modern era, in fact the last two of
this type were run by ourselves - Con
9 From Outer Space and Con 70: A Retro
Sci-Fi Adventure - so unfortunately many fans
have never experienced a traditional science fiction
convention before.
This is
why Con 9 and Con 70 were regarded
so highly by those who attended them - including
people who heard about them afterwards - and why
people were still speaking about these events
sometime after they were held.
From
our perspective we just want to enjoy classic media
conventions the way they used to be with panels,
discussions and with genuine passion for the subject
matter. This is why we like to say Con 80 is
"by the fans for the fans" because everyone
can enjoy the convention on the same equal level
regardless of their financial status.
What is the stance regarding
special guests?
Over 25
years ago conventions in Melbourne were lucky to have
3 or 4 international actors appear in a year (back
then they were known as Guests of Honour or GoH) and
getting them to attend an Australian convention was a
very special privilege. These days, with the pop
culture expos and ProCons being so prevalent, that
number has swelled to over 40+ so the market is now
diluted with celebrities.
As a
consequence a single actor doesn't have the same
"crowd pulling" power they once did which
is the reason why we don't include them.
Moreover,
as a non-profit event we simply can't compete against
the Pop Culture Expos or the ProCons, so instead we
focus all our energy on creating a unique and varied
programming/atmosphere which you simply don't find at
the commercial events.
Having
said that, if a suitable guest happens to come our
way then we would certainly look at including them,
but it's not something we plan to actively pursue.
Plus as we proved with both Con 9 and Con
70, you don't always need the appearance of an
TV or movie actor to run a successful event.
Will horror be included?
No. We
believe horror is a specific genre unto itself which
doesn't fit into the theme of our convention,
however, Sci-Fi programmes that have horror elements
in them are included, eg The Fly
and The Thing.
What do people do at a convention?
With
Con 80 taking place over a three day long weekend you
make ask yourself "what will I do during that
time?" As organisers our task is to provide the
entertainment but what you do with your time and how
you enjoy it is entirely up to you.
Historically
conventions were a fantastic place to meet new
people, make new friends and be the only place
where you could immerse yourself in the realm of
science fiction for a couple of days and leave the
real world and its troubles behind.
So on
Day 1 you'll probably spend your time just working
out what's what and who's who. By Day 2 and 3 faces
will become familiar, conversations will start up and
before you know it new friendships will begin to
form. If there is one true benefit to running a
small, intimate convention like Con 80, then
this is it. It's all about the people, the friends
and the memories.
Finally
at the end of the convention you'll understand why
these events are so special and why some people are
prepared to travel interstate or overseas just to
attend them.
You'll
also get to appreciate why conventions of this nature
are remembered decades after they were held.
You say Con
80 will be the last convention, why
is this?
Although
running these conventions has been a joy to do, they
are simply not sustainable on an ongoing basis. On
top of this some of us are either in our fifties or
heading towards fifty and after spending decades in
the fan community, we believe we've done our part for
local Sci-Fi fandom.
As
organisers we were really keen to run a convention
covering classic 'golden age' Sci-Fi (Con 9)
and retro Sci-Fi (Con 70), now we get to
cover off the most famous Sci-Fi decade of them all (Con
80). So what a great way to finish!
Our
belief with Con 80 is that we will have
achieved our goal in putting on three great shows,
thus completing our own little trilogy of
conventions. More importantly, we truly hope these
three events will be fondly remembered by our
attendees for many decades to come.
Once Con
80 concludes, our organising team will disband
and move onto new projects. However, this doesn't
mean other people can't run their own versions of Con
9, Con 70 or Con 80 as we
certainly don't own the monopoly of this convention
concept (hey after all, Con 90 and beyond
would be up for grabs!).
So who
knows what will spring up from the ashes of our
events.
If traditional fan based
conventions like Con 9
and Con 70 are
so wonderful then why aren't there more of them?
Despite
the enjoyment they bring to fans, traditional
conventions aren't always guaranteed to be successful
- which for a non-profit, all volunteer event is a
critical requirement. In the case of Con 70,
we were able to just break even financially which is
why Con 80 was able to go ahead. Yet prior
to that Con 9 made a $2,100 loss which was
paid out of the pockets of the organisers.
Furthermore,
despite the members of our conventions thoroughly
enjoying themselves, Con 70 had 11 fewer
members than Con 9, proving that not
everyone is enamoured by this old school convention
concept. Maybe with Con 80 we can turn the
tables on this belief and prove once and for all
there is a place in the world for conventions of this
nature.
Finally
as mentioned earlier, with so many Pop Culture Expos
and ProCons operating today it's a lot harder to
establish a place in the market, especially when so
much focus is given to the appearance of celebrities,
actors, autographs and photographs. To highlight this
further, there have actually been ProCons featuring
multiple international actors as guests of honour who
have had less people attend them than at our
conventions, which proves that even these events are
now struggling to succeed.
.
Have you got any other questions
you'd like to see added to this FAQ? Just let us know at con80convention@gmail.com and we'll
look at including them
.
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