Convention Fans

I normally don’t post on weekends, but this is just too good to hold off on until Monday! TwiCon, the convention that left numerous attendees unhappy and feeling ripped off, has decided to bad mouth Twilight convention competitor Creation Entertainment on the TwiCon forums. And this posting did NOT go unnoticed by Creation Entertainment. (As you may recall, Creation just recently announced that they have partnered with Summit to be the “official” provider of Twilight conventions.)

Now, just to be clear, I’m not a fan of Creation Entertainment (shock of shocks, I know). I don’t attend their conventions, because I happen to not like the way they run things. That being said, I also have nothing nice to say about TwiCon and the way they run things either.

Basically, I am highly amused that these two corporations have decided to have a verbal altercation on TwiCon’s forums for all of their fans/attendees/customers/guests to see.  It seems completely unprofessional and not a terribly smart way to conduct their affairs.

I’m going to link to the thread, but just in case someone has poster’s remorse and decides to delete the original, I am posting the entirety of the two comments below. Go ahead and read it for yourself, and post a comment with YOUR thoughts on this TwiCon/Creation internet fight.

The Original Comment from TwiCon’s Becky Scoggins:

I perfectly agree that many of Creation’s tactics have been….less than professional. However, many of the cast refuse to sign exclusivity contracts with any con anymore. It’s too barbaric of a thing to ask anyone from the Twilight franchise in particular. Although I can nod my head in agreement that they offer them large sums of money, we have personal friendships and relationships with the cast and their agents. They’ve already told us they would definitely come back and yes, their appearance fees have all gone up across the board due to the popularity of the franchise. We aren’t trying to succeed against Creation; we aren’t competing with them. They are free to do what they will, and so are we. We know what they are doing; we know they are scheduling things, contracting fandom guests, etc. so that other fan cons can’t have them. Thankfully, the fandom guests, such as the Hillywood Show, know better than to sign exclusivity contracts that prohibit other appearances. 10 years ago, or for older fandoms such as Star Trek, it may have been done. Now, the cast and other guests know that it limits their income and PR potential by closing other avenues of opportunity by promising an exclusive contract with Creation. Sure, they throw money at them, but I believe you underestimate the love of the fans these actors have. We offer them their going rate and happily pay it, but they join us because we offer something different for the fans and the actors support that. Creation offers them a multi-city tour with income potential that could triple what we offer, but our event has given them exposure in a much more broadbrush and mainstream way. There are pros and cons to holding an event for a franchise that Creation is trying to monopolize. But industry insiders, which we have relationships with, aren’t fooled by exclusivity given by Summit. Sure, Creation will get photos and images from Summit, and the cast will tour with them, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make other appearances and it doesn’t mean that Twilight as a series or as a fandom now belongs to Creation. They focus on a certain demographic of movie lovers….we focus on fans of Twilight in general. I know for a fact that many of the cast touring with Creation aren’t on binding contracts of any sort other than the dates selected for the tour. I hope that clears things up! We’re excited to have the cast join us again, as are they, and I believe that in order to respond to Creation’s attempt to rule the world, so to speak, we’ll be making some exciting announcements that will set us further apart.

Thanks!

Becky Scoggins

The Reply from Creation Entertainment:

Becky:
Really surprised that you have taken to badmouthing our company. This should not be a competition and your negative comments and this thread itself do nothing to help anyone. We are fans that have been running events for close to 40 years and we admire you for attempting to do what you tried to do and I want you to know the following:
1) We NEVER have had exclusive contracts with any celebrity
2) We’re not offering more money for guest appearances than any other promoter, trust us. The British promoters and other groups, including conventions that cancel (one Twilight one recently did), pay more money and raise the speaker prices for everyone. This has been the case for decades and in fact the first time promoters generally way overpay because they don’t negotiate. The managers and agents set the prices of guest appearances, we don’t go and offer more money for them. Your first event was booked very early and you got the stars for a lower fee because of this. They have all raised their fees dramatically because of all the offers from all over the world.
3) We’ve already seen other promoters “jump” our announced Twilight Convention dates (i.e. Miami) so let’s get that straight
4) The Twilight Universe is huge enough for many promotions as is Star Trek, Stargate, Supernatural, Star Wars, etc. All have many conventions and when the promoters run something that doesn’t work they look for a convenient excuse.
Best of luck to you.
Creation Entertainment 

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