beg-a-con

[davemerrill]

So there's an outfit called Sukoshi Con, or Destination Anime, or Gaijin USA, or something, that runs events in several states including Georgia. The only way I know about it is because somebody from the organization posts a lot on the AWA message board promoting their different one-day and two-day and three-day anime events.

It's kind of, I dunno, a little presumptive, so far there have been 16 Sukoshicon posts from this user and not one post about AWA, or Japanese cartoons, or anything, other than pimping their show.

Their latest post is an ad for their Indiegogo campaign. Yup, another anime con is resorting to crowdfunding to support their con lifestyle of con-culture conventions because they have to have cons even if they can't fund the con they want to have without asking people for money - I mean, asking people for money above and beyond selling tickets and dealers room tables and artist alley tables, which they already do.

Here's their pitch (which will soon be gone from the AWA message board). Bolding is mine.

We are currently excepting contributions threw this web site from anybody that wants to contribute check it out if you give so much you get something in return.

$25.00 gets you a Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$50.00 gets you 1 day pass to a Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014) Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$100.00 gets you a weekend pass to a Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014) Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$250.00 gets you VIP weekend pass to Destination Anime 2014. Weekend pass to a Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014) Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$500.00 gets you Professional Photo Shoot with Destination Anime guest of your choosing. VIP weekend pass to Destination Anime 2014. Weekend pass to a Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014). Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$1000.00 gets you Lifetime Pass to all Sukoshi Con conventions. 1 night room stay comped at Destination Anime 2014. VIP weekend pass to Destination Anime 2014. Dinner with Destination Anime guests. Professional Photo Shoot with Destination Anime guest of your choosing. VIP weekend pass to Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014). Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

$5000.00 gets you Lifetime pass to all Sukoshi Con conventions. 3 night room stay comped at Destination Anime 2014. VIP weekend pass to Destination Anime 2014. Dinner with Destination Anime guest. Professional Photo Shoot with Destination Anime guest of your choosing. VIP weekend pass to Sukoshi Con convention of your choosing (effective January 1 2014). Photo signed autograph of guests and name in program book.

there are a limited number of these to get but only if you get the amount of money associated with each one.

What You Get

In addition to our existing lineup of guests and events for Destination Anime 2014, our $20,000 goal will bring you in:

4 Voice actors
4 Cosplay guests
2 music guests
Full LAN gaming room
Game Shows
Dedicated inflatable room (??)
Promotional/commemorative merchandise
Additional convention space
Additional production equipment (lighting, staging, sound)
How would you like to get autographed signings from our guests, or even dinner and professional photo shoot with them? Free weekend passes to Destination Anime, or any Sukoshi Con production? How about lifetime membership and free hotel stay? Take a look at our funding tiers to see all the perks we're offering! Every little bit of money helps, and there are great perks for you at every level.

All funds received-regardless of how much funding we raise-will go directly into the above-mentioned content. You may now be asking, "Which guests are going to be brought in?" Over the course of the campaign, we will announce the new additions to our lineup.

So What's the Dilemma?
Conventions are our passion. We eat, sleep, and breathe them, spending the bulk of our work hours developing new concepts and ways to improve your convention experience. However great our planning is, though, first requires substantial funding. Convention organization requires an immense amount of time, resources, and capital. The costs associated with running a single event can quickly become staggering, and Sukoshi Con produces at least 4 per year.

That old adage, "It takes money to make money," is certainly true in our line of work. To pay for guests/advertising/venue, we need money. To make money, we need attendees. To get attendees, we need guests/advertising/venue. Additionally, conventions receive the majority of their revenue day-of-show, while the majority of expenses are incurred before the event even happens. Suddenly, convention planning can become a vicious cycle of finance juggling. Our budget decides EVERYTHING. With your contributions, we can plan in peace, free from the worries of budget restraints.

Free from the worries of budget restraints! And not unrealistic at all. In fact many businesses operate free from the worries of budget restraints. Let's see, there's... uh... um.... well, I'm sure there are a lot of businesses that do. Or did, until they ran out of money.

Let me be frank; I have no problem with crowdfunding in principle. I DO have a problem with for-profit businesses using crowdfunding to finance their unsustainable business practices. Even if it does involve dedicated inflatable rooms, whatever the hell those are, and "autographed signings", which I assume is an autograph that is later signed. I believe this is taking unfair advantage of the goodwill of the fandom community; goodwill built up by decades of fan conventions working within their budgets and delivering on their promises.

Comments

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

It's worse than you think.

I got bit by Destination Anime 2013; $400 for a 10X10 booth (a few vendors haggled them down to $200, and one got hit for a massive $800/booth) for a show that had maybe 200 attendees (they claimed over 1,000). The at-the-door registration for this event was $55.

After the show- I mean the WEEK after- they began trying to sell me a booth for 2014. They claimed all but three of the other vendors had re-upped- which I knew was a lie, since all but one of the dealers I spoke to during the show said, "Never again." Despite my telling them in no uncertain terms to get lost, they contacted me again in July, saying they had ONLY fourteen out of fifty-four booths left! (First: lie verified. Second: that's expanding the room close to 20% when all the vendors who showed up in 2013 had a TERRIBLE weekend! WTF?)

And then there's PokeCon, another show they run. "3,000 pre-reg!" they promised. I didn't go, but I know a couple of vendors who did. Total attendance of maybe 300... and again the booth prices were outrageous.

If the goal of Gaijin USA was to fleece every dealer and attendee to line their own pockets, they wouldn't have to change the way they do things one iota. As it is, I wouldn't trust them if they came in the door soaking wet and said it was raining.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

You know, I saw in their promotional posts on the AWA message board things like "The Artists Alley is sold out!" and "The dealers room is sold out!" and it made me wonder, why does a con that sells out its dealers room need to go on IndieGoGo to raise funds?

Wow, multiplying their attendance TEN TIMES?? There's fudging your attendance, and then there's building a giant fudge factory to provide enormous amounts of fudging for your attendance.

Thanks for the data. This explains a great deal about the IndieGoGo thing.

[footyfoot.livejournal.com]

SnakeOilCon, Pig-in-a-Poke Con, Desecration Anime... the frantic tenor of the publicity makes me eagerly await the inevitable story about some dude sitting in front of a computer pretending to be a con organizer and using all the cash to buy smokes and titty dances.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

"Pig In A Poke" is appropriate, considering much of what "Gaijin USA" sells is something called "Star Boxes", which are mystery-item grab-bags. Already banned at at least one convention!

[damerell.livejournal.com]

What will AWA give us for four thousand quid, eh? :-)

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

At current exchange rates, that will get you 153 3-day passes to AWA!

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Great. If I'm planning to live to be 190, I'll take that deal.