Over at the Engine, Another potential NYCC controversy may be set to break, as Brit writer Tony Lee explains:
“So I’ve been asked to come to New York for a meeting or two in February. And, as it’s the month when the New York Comic Con is on, I thought I’d combine the two, with a couple of days in NYC before and after. However, when going on the NY Con website, and filling out a ‘Pro Registration Form’, it told me I had to pay $45 for the privilege. I’m sorry? Is this a common thing, that professionals at cons pay for their tickets? I’ve never seen it at a UK con, WorldCon didn’t, San Diego doesn’t, so I’m just looking for clarification… What usually happens?”
NYC Mech and Cross Bronx writer Ivan Brandon:
“it’s not a common thing, but it’s an especially small venue with an especially high demand on the pro side, so they’ve cut off the comps. that’s my understanding of it, anyway.”
Brian Wood:
“$45 for a working professional is ludicrous. I can’t think of a single convention that ever charged me to attend it as a professional. If they are so inundated with people wanting in for free and its breaking their bank, they can tighten the requirements.”
Craig Taillefer:
“What’s annoying me is, I’m shelling out $350 for an Artist Alley table and I can’t seem to get a second exhibitor badge so my girlfriend can man my table while I stalk editors. I’m a little pissed that I have to shell out an extra $45 dollars to get her into the show when I’m already paying a pretty stiff fee for a table. I’m a little neutral about the whole making ‘pros’ pay to get in thing. If I’m not exhibiting or on any panels then I’m not really a part of the show. Then it’s just a status thing. But if they hand them out to anyone and everyone (like they do in Chicago) then having a pro badge doesn’t really give you any status on it’s own.”
December 28th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Right. I never was at a large show that required the pros to pay for registration. Ridiculous. Even Wizard shows don’t do that. I think they will be hurting themselves in the long run.
December 29th, 2006 at 9:39 am
Anyone who knows me knows that I’ll happily pitch in at any convention I’m at. I did four panels at Birmingham, two at SDCC and five at Bristol. And I offered my services for NYC.
If I was just wandering around, saying hi to people then sure, I’d expect to pay an entry fee. It’s just taking the piss otherwise. I’m not known well enough to walk the floor and sign for adoring fans.
If I’m a guest at a convention? It’s not a holiday. It’s my job. I’m there to do panels, read portfolios, sign comics - whatever the convention wants me to do. And sorry guys, but I won’t pay out $45 for the privilage of working for you. I give a convention organiser my time and effort for the cost of a free ticket.
I don’t expect hotels. Flights. Meals. I pay my way in everything - I’ve never let a publisher pay for me and this means I’ve never had a publisher stop me doing something on behalf of that convention. And to be honest, I’ve not yet done a convention where I’ve lounged about on the convention’s buck. Ask anyone who’s seen me at a UK con.
But come on, guys - there are people paying over $300 for a table and still having to pay out for the ticket? That’s ludicrous.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Thats odd, i allways assumed that Cons paid the creators, isnt that why fans show up in the first place, to meet the creators?
December 29th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
1. Many conventions do give free memberships to people who are participating in the convention’s programming. (Note that this is not the same as “free memberships for pros.”) Guests of Honor usually get their expenses paid. Few real conventions actually “pay the creators.”
2. It is unusual for a Worldcon to even give the program participants free memberships. The 2006 Worldcon in Anaheim did so. Most do not do so; instead, they refund the cost of the membership to the program participants if the convention is able to do so. (Each Worldcon is a stand-alone event, not financially connected to its predecessors or successors, so you can’t use the surplus from one to pay the deficit of another.)
3. Some Worldcons will offer complimentary admissions to selected people who are not part of the active SF/F fan community. That is, if they invite someone from NASA to come in and give a talk for an hour, that person will come in, give the talk, then leave. They’re not otherwise participating the community.
4. For most general SF conventions — as opposed to for-profit “gate shows” — you’re not buying a ticket. You’re buying a membership in the convention. You’re part of the community. SF conventions were not actually created for the purpose of providing a place for fans to worship pros; they were places where fans of the genre could meet with fellow fans. Some of those fans are also pros, and so they buy their memberships, too.
5. In reply to the “I’m here to work; I shouldn’t have to pay for it” response: The convention organizers at a Worldcon pay for their own memberships, too. I co-chaired the 2002 Worldcon in San Jose. I had to buy my membership like everyone else. Yes, I got a refund post-con, but the co-chairs were in fact last in line for refunds, after the program participants, at-con volunteers, staff, and other committee members.
6. Much of this doesn’t apply so much to the comic convention field. While comic conventions are historically a spin-off of SF/F conventions, they have developed their own related but not-quite-the-same ethos.
January 1st, 2007 at 9:12 am
You’re stating a generality to a specific fact.
I said ‘Worldcon didn’t.’ Not ‘Worldcon DOESN’T’. The Glasgow Worldcon did not charge me for a ticket when I was asked to attend a panel.
Thanks for clearing up the Worldcon situation, but I think you’re reading too much into a two line comment.
January 2nd, 2007 at 4:22 am
Well, I felt that I had to make that clarification, because you make the statement that “Worldcon didn’t” as if there was only a single entity called “Worldcon” with a unified set of policies. There isn’t. Although there is a convention called “Worldcon” held annually, every single one of them is a completely separate event, with relatively little overlap between their management. It’s as if the NYCC were in it’s first year, then went out of business, then a completely different group of people put on a convention the following year by the same name, and then repeated the process.
One thing that’s pretty consistent, however, is that no Worldcon sells “tickets.”