Dec 01 2008
Pros & Cons: Small Conventions (The Pros)
For many years, I only attended small conventions. While the term “small” is certainly relative, it has been my experience that a small convention is usually one with 5,000 attendees or less. “Large” conventions would be classified as around 25,000 - 50,000+, with “medium” conventions falling somewhere between the two. Feel free to disagree, but that is a general estimate of size. Having said that, I have attended some with as few as 1,000 people in attendance on the main convention day (Saturday). There are certainly pros and cons to each of the convention sizes I mentioned, and over the next few days, I’m going to post a list of pros and cons of both the small conventions, and the large ones.
Feel free to post your own “Pros” in the comments!
Pros of a Small Convention:
1. You Don’t Have to Fight Your Way Through the Vendor Areas
The crowded vendor room at Megacon 2004 in Orlando, FL
If you’ve ever attended a large convention like Comic Con or Dragon*con, you know how frustrating it can be to have to elbow your way through throngs of people in order to see what’s for sale. Heaven help you if you’re wearing a costume with wings, or are not a particularly tall individual.
2. Lack of Huge Queue Lines
I’ll never forget the first time I walked into Dragon*con, and saw the line for one of the Firefly panel discussions. People had been lined up two hours before it even got started. I experienced the same thing while waiting for the anime version of MST3K at Otakon 2003. While small cons can have some lines (I waited four hours to get Robert Beltran’s autograph once at a Vulkon), they certainly pale in comparison to what the larger cons have.
3. Opportunities for Up Close & Personal Guest Interaction
I have had the best experiences with guests at small conventions. I once got to share an elevator with Armin Shimmerman (Quark of DS9), after he had been hanging out in the hotel bar chilling with fans. But my best experience, by far, was the Hour of Shakespeare with Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun/Brunt of DS9) and Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat of DS9). For an extra $20 on top of the general admission, myself and twenty other fans (give or take) got to see these two classically trained actors perform pieces from Shakespeare. It was one of the most intimate theatrical performances I have ever attended, and it was worth two or three times what I had paid for the opportunity.
Of course, this is not to say you can’t have these experiences at larger conventions, but the guests definitely seem to be more relaxed and available to con goers at a smaller event.
4. A Relaxed Atmosphere
Smaller conventions tend to have a more laid back atmosphere in general. There isn’t an entire convention center (or four hotels in the case of Dragon*con) to traverse. There aren’t 40,000 people to wade through. There isn’t a line you have to be in two hours early just to get a seat. You can generally take your time, see the events, meet the celebrities, and not need a vacation from your convention when you’re done.
Next: The Cons of Small Conventions
I went to a small convention at a small hotel once. I got to hang out with Brent Spiner AND the cost of attendance was less expensive. Total bonus!
Brent Spiner is a blast. I saw him at Dragon*con one year, along with Frakes and McFadden. He and Frakes were hamming it up the entire time.