[torontocbm] Re: WOC date still unclear
- From: Jason Compton <jcompton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Greg Van Laere <gregvanlaere@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:07:16 -0500
Greg Van Laere wrote:
The Nov 29 date was only briefly considered before we realized that it
was the American Thanksgiving. We then set the date for Nov 22 but we
were informed that Nov 22 puts World of Commodore just 6 weeks after
the Chicago show finishes, and the view from the Cincinnati show
during the c64 friends chat was that moving it earlier might be
hurting both the Chicago show and WOC as a visitor or demoer may
choose to do one of the shows only. They may be forced to make the
decision to drop one show if they are that close together if funds are
short, or there is not enough time to regroup from one show to the
next show.
So, the question is: Do you think that this is a valid argument? I
hadn't heard of this being a problem before. Personally, I wasn't
privy to any discussions about it. Would holding our shows six weeks
apart hurt both of our shows? The date change is something we're
considering for next year anyway. I know it would be a switch from the
'traditional' first week in December, but the real reason Commodore
held the World of Commodore show on the first week in December was
because they wanted to see thousands of C64's under thousands of
Christmas trees during the holiday season!
Let me know your thoughts on this as a date change to the third week
in November is something we are considering for next year, and again
sorry for the confusion.
It's a reasonable consideration, and I get your point about the
tradition of the date being far less important to TPUG than it was to
Commodore. Money-wise I would be surprised if somebody's travel budget
would be made-or-broken on two weeks in either direction, but some
people certainly might *feel* squeezed by the proximity. And yeah,
getting a flight home on that Sunday last year was a bit of an
adventure, although I did make it. Of course, I don't think it's
impossible for Toronto to get socked by a bad storm in the second half
of November, so I'm not sure how much insurance you really buy.
It's also worth pointing out that ECCC is not run as an event intended
to make money or preserve the coffers of a non-profit organization, etc.
I simply lay my money down and hope that a bunch of people show up. So I
still hope that lots of people show up, but nobody's taking money away
from me or any group if there is a potential conflict between shows.
If there's a bigger implied question here of "if WOC moves earlier, will
Chicago move earlier as well to preserve the gap?" my answer is "I'm
really not sure." Although the date ranges have fluctuated a bit over
the years, the end of September has overall worked out really
well--people seem to be finished with their summer activities, so a nerd
weekend doesn't seem like a bad way to spend some time. And Chicago
tends to be neither brutally hot nor brutally cold by then. I'm
reluctant to mess with something which seems to be working reasonably
well. (And, of course, moving Chicago back takes it closer to the
Cincinnati show, so it could be substituting one collision with
another...) I'd probably be reluctant to move it more than one week
earlier, since moving earlier you start running into wedding season and
that makes space rental more difficult/expensive.
My intuition is that the third Saturday in November will still tend to
discourage Americans as it would be just a few days *before*
Thanksgiving (those mid-week holidays really do throw off planning,
don't they?) and people may be reluctant to abandon family-gathering
planning so close to the date. (and yes, I realize Chicago is fairly
close to Canadian Thanksgiving as it is.)
So, to sum up. If you move earlier...
* I won't be mad.
* People might indeed end up making "Chicago or Toronto?" choices who
would go to both currently, although the difference budget-wise is
really only one biweekly paycheck's worth.
* I _may_ move ECCC in response, but I doubt I would move it by more
than one week, for numerous reasons.
* You may not dodge snowstorms.
* You may still end up losing American attendance by flipping to the
near side of Thanksgiving.
...have you looked into holding it in the spring?
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