Melbourne TF con

[Vilkacis]

I'm still a newbie/mostly just lurk on the forums, so many apologies if anyone thinks making a new thread for this was out of line.

Here's a link to the facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MelbourneTransformersFanConvention (Here's a link to the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MelbourneTransformersFanConvention)

Some friends of mine who have the experience, knowledge and resources to run conventions (they've already hosted quite a few fan cons in Melbourne already, with significant success) have asked me to try and convince them to run a Melbourne Transformers fan con.

I need to pitch it to them with an estimate of how many people are interested, how much they'd be willing to pay, guests fans would like to see, concerns, ext.

Unfortunately they've only given me a week to gather data, which is not a lot of time.

If anyone has any suggestions, comments, concerns, how much you'd be willing to pay to attend, ext. I'd be grateful!

[GoktimusPrime]

I'd only be able to go if it were during school holidays. That FB link doesn't work for me. Will this be a Hasbro sanctioned event?

[Vilkacis]

www.facebook.com/MelbourneTransformersFanConvention (http://www.facebook.com/MelbourneTransformersFanConvention) might work?
Or copy pasting
www.facebook.com/MelbourneTransformersFanConvention

sorry about that.

Unsure about dates and whether or not it's Hasbro sanctioned, it's too early to say.

I'll add that to a list of concerns though; try and make it during school holidays.

[Paulbot]

Given the small amount of collectable sellers at Victorian toy/collectors fairs that actually have Transformers, the expense of getting any sort of guest, and that Melbourne Transfans have Annual get-togethers that are fun and free, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay anything. What would a convention offer? Where would the attendee numbers come from? Would you expect interstaters to travel? An Oz convention has been discussed here many times before and Sydney has always been the most likely venue.

Can you provide any details on the other "successful" cons your friends have organised? Dates, locations, themes, flyers, programs, Facebook links?

[Sinnertwin]

FB's not playing nicely. Even if it's tentative, I'm interesed in reading what your friends have in mind.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'd only be able to go if it were during school holidays. That FB link doesn't work for me. Will this be a Hasbro sanctioned event?

Same


Given the small amount of collectable sellers at Victorian toy/collectors fairs that actually have Transformers, the expense of getting any sort of guest, and that Melbourne Transfans have Annual get-togethers that are fun and free, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay anything. What would a convention offer? Where would the attendee numbers come from? Would you expect interstaters to travel? An Oz convention has been discussed here many times before and Sydney has always been the most likely venue.

Can you provide any details on the other "successful" cons your friends have organised? Dates, locations, themes, flyers, programs, Facebook links?

Yep, I'd be interested in all that info as well. If no convention occurs, I wouldn't mind if ever I make it to Melb from Swan Hill one of these days attending one of the casual Melb Transfan get-togethers Paulbot :)

[Gouki]

Don't forget Ratimé (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=16035), just because it's not exclusively Transformers.:P

But that brings up something: would you guys prefer something solely Transformers related, or something that just has a heavy Transformers presence but envelopes multiple interests?

[GoktimusPrime]

Solely Transformers related.

[Vilkacis]

Don't forget Ratimé (http://otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=16035), just because it's not exclusively Transformers.:P

But that brings up something: would you guys prefer something solely Transformers related, or something that just has a heavy Transformers presence but envelopes multiple interests?

I'm afraid I can't view that page, I assume because I don't have a high-enough board member level clearance.

[Gouki]

Solely Transformers related.

Well coming from you that doesn't surprise me. I honestly, and not as a bad thing, just assumed you had no other interests.:P

[Seraphim Prime]

In terms of time - school holidays
In terms of cost - it depends on guests, but I've never really been convinced to go to Supanova, so take that as a guide as to how much I'd spend. Probably less if it involves travel to Melbourne.
In terms of guests, I'm not really fussed, as my itch is scratched by getting the read the reports of international guests on the international sites. Maybe people specific to the Australian section of the franchise?

[GoktimusPrime]

Supanova's more expensive because it's a really big convention with a lot of international guests. If we're talking about a smaller scale convention with fewer guests, then I'd say the pricing of the Heroes and Villains convention is more reasonable (e.g. $25 for a 1 day adult pass).

[Paulbot]

Can you provide any details on the other "successful" cons your friends have organised? Dates, locations, themes, flyers, programs, Facebook links?

Still waiting to hear about the other conventions these people have organised. What were the prices for those conventions?

[Vilkacis]

What is the maximum cost people would be willing to pay if the con looked extremely relevant to their interests?

In order to make it a polished, professionally organised and valuable experience for attendees the price would have to be higher.

[Demonac]

Some friends of mine who have the experience, knowledge and resources to run conventions (they've already hosted quite a few fan cons in Melbourne already, with significant success)...

Which conventions would these be?

[GoktimusPrime]

Heroes and Villains is a smaller scale but well executed convention with international guests and they charged $25 for a 1 day adult pass. Last year Smash! charged $35 for admission on the day, or $29 if people preordered online. Smash! also has international guests (and they also needed to hire interpreters for them too).

So judging from the prices of other professionally organised conventions of what I'd expect to be a similar size who also had international guests, I'd be willing to pay up to $35 for admission.

Also remember that unless this convention is officially sanctioned by Hasbro, you can't actually use the name "Transformers". That's why the 2004 convention was called "Sabretron" and the 2006 convention was called "OzToyCon" - in both cases the conventions avoided using names that were trademark property of Hasbro.

[Raptormesh]

Which conventions would these be?

Yeah would like to know too.