Oh I love 'Dead Like Me' and I would love to meet Ellen Muth! But that is a little off-topic for Whedonesque (LOL). I would love to get to the UK for a convention (or for any reason).

embers | March 20, 20:38 CET

Apparently 50% of the tickets have already been sold. Adam's a big draw! I can't wait. XD

Vel | March 20, 22:10 CET

Lots of disclaimers there... And not so vague either... Who's friends are those?

And, Dead Like Me so got a whedonesque connection... Jewel Staite guest starred there, you know!

All that aside. Yeah, it'd be real neat to attend that thing. Hoping for the best.

[ edited by Garim on 2007-03-20 20:11 ]

Garim | March 20, 23:10 CET

Starfury will also be doing a Serenity convention in LA in November which is good news for all you guys accross the pond. No guests announced for that one yet though.

Cider | March 20, 23:30 CET

It's not good news for the guys putting on the Browncoat Cruise in Dec.

RavenU | March 20, 23:53 CET

God I wish Ellen Muth would get on another show, she's so great but she hasn't done anything else after DLM got cancelled. :/

Storyteller | March 21, 00:46 CET

Starfury will also be doing a Serenity convention in LA in November which is good news for all you guys accross the pond. No guests announced for that one yet though.

this says Morena and Jewel.

It's not good news for the guys putting on the Browncoat Cruise in Dec.

Although Sean Harry has told Jeremy that he'd like to help promote the Cruise a bit.

The One True b!X | March 21, 00:53 CET

well its great thing to promote the cruise... but going to conventions ain't cheap and going on this cruise aint cheap. Especially for thse of us who fly in. I mean it kind of sucks... so people will end up choosing one con over another.. and guests may not do both cons :S I already booked my ticket with the browncoat cruise... so no turning back(and I wouldnt given the oppurunity), its jsut it would have been nice to not have competting events like this. in my mind it sours the fandom a bit(especially after the flan fiasco).

kurya | March 21, 01:20 CET

I'm with you, kurya, fundamentally. But at this point there's nothing to do about it but try to make it work properly for both, as much as possible.

The One True b!X | March 21, 01:25 CET

Same here. I am already locked in to the cruise in December, and I couldn't come up with a convncing argument to my radio station for time off in November and December anyway. I wish both events the best, and maybe we'll come out ahead.

impalergeneral | March 21, 01:45 CET

I'm sure both conventions are different enough for both the guests to be able to attend both, and if they are unable to, to be able to choose the cruise over Sean's event, or vice versa. Most of the BDH's have already done a Starfury con, but have they been on a free cruise? It would be a hard thing for me to turn down.

Personally, I'm really pleased about the Starfury con, because it means that my holiday to the US is back on. Having to cancel the cruise due to the mister being unable to get leave was devastating on two counts, one that I couldn't go on the cruise, and 2, that I couldn't go on the holiday I was planning.

If it wasn't for that fact - then I would definately choose the cruise over the con. There's probably also a lot of people who would not have been able to afford the cruise so wouldn't have booked anyway - that might be able to afford the con. Starfury's UK con's are way, way cheaper than cons like Booster Events.

I really hope both will be able to run succesfully without stepping on each other's toes. I would like Starfury to do well in the US so that they keep running affordable, reliable conventions in the States (and maybe bring the cost of other conventions down in the process) and I really want there to be another Browncoat cruise next year that I can go on.

Cider | March 21, 02:38 CET

I don't remember him announcing Morena and Jewel - I just remember him saying that he couldn't confirm guests because the contracts weren't back yet. But I could have missed it due to the announcements about Infinity.

Cider | March 21, 02:41 CET

Cider, I can see your point. Its always great to have successful conventions for the fandom, I know the fandom needs it. And if starfury can be a success in the US like in the UK then I guess its a good thing. And the cruise is different enough from cons in general that it has a spot in the convention circuit so to speak and guests may be interested in it, especially if they are able to have off time and not have to deal with people it can be like a vacation for them.

Its just too bad they have to compete for the same spot almost. Although because it will be cheaper than the cruise, than those people who cant afford the cruise and/or cant take time off in december may go for this convention and might be little competition... I guess I am a bit selfish since this cruise will be my first con and I wanted to see everyone(and not just the BDH's its the fans for me mostly).

kurya | March 21, 03:52 CET

The Starfury event will create competition for the Cruise, no doubt about it, as Sean's guest costs and such will be cheaper so he can potentially book more people, and the event itself will almost certainly be a lot cheaper, and it's less of a commitment to make to go to.

The interesting thing will be to find out if there's enough fan support still to have both events. Interest in Firefly/Serenity is dropping off, at about 20% a year of the hardcore fans, so I can see why Starfury are starting this year -- if you're going to establish an event, now is the time.

gossi | March 21, 03:59 CET

We're pretty bummed about the situation. Sean is being about as nice as can be expected (though the best thing he could do would be to move his con several months away).

That being said, we are moving ahead with the cruise and it will be a lot of fun. We plan to differentiate it from a standard con as much as possible.

Keep an eye on our website for some big announcements, hopefully within a week or so.

Jeremy
BrowncoatCruise.com
DoneTheImpossible.com

[ edited by JeremyN on 2007-03-21 04:47 ]

JeremyN | March 21, 07:46 CET

I don't really think these two events will be competing for guests. They both take place near where most of the actors live and work, and they aren't on the same weekend. I don't think if a guest chooses one event, that rules out attendance at the other event. For an actor who only works occasionally, getting 5 or 10 grand PLUS food, drink, and a cruise or hotel stay for weekend of work is a pretty sweet deal. For the more successful actors; well, none of them are demanding millions yet, so even they can appreciate con pay. I think barring work schedules or each events' finances, there should be no reason guests wouldn't do both.

For myself, I'd like to do both, but I can't. I will have to choose. And I'm not happy about having choose. I really wish that Sean's con would be in 2008. I understand he is trying to strike while the iron is still lukewarm, but it creates such a conflict. I only hope that having two events so close doesn't spread the fandom too thin and that both end up failing. Because no events in 2008 is worse than two in 2007.

Dizzy | March 21, 18:18 CET

Yeah, I guess that is the concern...what if both events fail... or maybe the starfury event will succeed but the cruise might fail :S I think that would be most unfortunate... anyways I guess time will tell.

kurya | March 21, 18:29 CET

Yeah, I guess that is the concern...what if both events fail... or maybe the starfury event will succeed but the cruise might fail :S I think that would be most unfortunate... anyways I guess time will tell.

kurya | March 21, 18:29 CET

You also have to concider that for all the events Sean has done in the UK, his reputation is rather limited in the US and anyone who has been to events in the US and UK can tell you the attendees expectations are different. Add the fact that there has been a large UK contingent at both US Serenity events, the fact he is holding a con in the UK a month before will cut down on the number of people who might have come to the US to attend this event. So I think Mr Harry might want to look at the all the possiblities that a Serenity event in the US in Nov may not be a good choice. There are many factors at play here that I do not think he has concidered. One fact is the actors love free trips to the UK and they may not be interested in doing events in their backyard, so much. Also if there are actors who are employed on television, Nov is still peak filming season, before Thanksgiving they are trying to wrapup production before the holiday break. So you cannot count on their schedules being flexible. They may be able to plan on a trip out of the country but not down the street during that time. Factor in the time frame you are working with, then factor in the less than 8th month window your into a tight squeeze. Once you get a venue and a guest announced, your down to 6 months to sell tickets, minus the 30-days out (leaves you with 5 months of sales). Because people have to plan and save for travel exspenses, in the US that means flying most of the time. Then how many people are you expecting to show and the price of the con, concidering the price of travel by plane or car. The more it cost to get there the less likely people are going to come no matter what the ticket price. If the travel cost from abroad is to exspensive then you have to look to the locals to fill up the place. Even though SoCal has a fairly large BC community how many of them would be willing to come to the con or would they be more inclined for a cruise. I could go on but that is just some of the issues facing Mr Harry's descission to do it in LA. One last thing to concider their are at least 3 sci-fi cons happening in Burbank that month and other events going on in other areas of LA during Nov that might impact his potential audience. I have seen at least a dozen cons in the LA area get canceled cause of low ticket sales within the last 2 years, with and without guest.

Ok my 2 cents thrown in.

RavenU | March 21, 20:25 CET

So I think Mr Harry might want to look at the all the possiblities that a Serenity event in the US in Nov may not be a good choice.
And there was me assuming Mr. Harry had already considered these issues. He's been in the convention game quite a while now, I can't imagine he's doing this on a whim without any thought to the issues you raise.

helcat | March 21, 21:07 CET

I'm not sure that I follow your point, RavenU. Subjecting the Browncoat Cruise to the same level of scrutiny surely raises just as many questions about that particular event. Are we supposed to debate the relative likelihood of success of each event and then support only the likely "winner"? Or are fans instead going to be permitted to choose which event best suits their preferences, travel constraints and budgets without being made to feel like they're choosing sides?

BrewBunny | March 21, 21:44 CET

Fans should choose whichever event suits them best, and should expect it to run as promised. As that's what being a paying customer is all about. To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if more events arrive closer to the time parked right by the Cruise's departure date, as that's the nature of the convention business. As long as all the events run as planned, it's really just choice for fans on what they want to do. Certainly sucks to divide people up, but I'd rather 4 events than 1 from a choice point'o'view.

Right now, as long as all goes to plan, personally I think these things are all good news. I won't get into if I think Sean's event will be successful from a financial point of view, as really, I don't care as long as it runs.

gossi | March 21, 21:50 CET

And there was me assuming Mr. Harry had already considered these issues. He's been in the convention game quite a while now, I can't imagine he's doing this on a whim without any thought to the issues you raise.

Perhaps in the UK but he's not doing the rumored event there, he's doing it in the US. You would be surprised how many details tend to get lost along the way esspecially when you have done something in one area for a long time and you assume it would be the same elsewhere. Many US convention companies have expanded to other locations in the past year or two thinking they knew what they were doing only to lose money in the process. They learned their lessons quickly and went back to where they knew they how things worked. Just pointing stuff out, so the details don't get lost and nobody, not even Mr Harry, gets screwed. Mr. Harry's company is not as large as other event organizations and because of market mis-steps they have had to rethink and re-tool, some selling out, others being aquired, or joining forces. If you don't pay attention to the details, the details will bite you no matter what expirence level you have.

ETA------------------------------------------

BrewBunny - Choose whoever you wish if you can do both great. The cruise itself is a whole different level of issues that are not helped by a con 30 days prior. If you go to either you will have fun.

I am simply pointing out that choice is good for the attendee but not for those promoting it. If they loose to much money they may not offer future opportunities and that sucks.

The better solution, just observing the con climate as a whole in the US right now, would be for Mr Harry to do something Serenity related on the East Coast in Nov (actually on the East Coast NY use to have a huge Thanksiving weekend sci-fi con up until thhe late 90's when all cons took a hit and slowed down and the company moved west). Thus you have the location distance from the cruise, you have a market that has cried out for an event. You have a better chance of a sell out, most NY/Philly based events are heavily attended. It would give him a US reputation for him to build from as well and in 2008 he could do a split coast event.

[ edited by RavenU on 2007-03-21 19:10 ]

RavenU | March 21, 21:53 CET

esspecially when you have done something in one area for a long time and you assume it would be the same elsewhere.
Maybe you're right, but why are you assuming he is assuming anything?

helcat | March 21, 22:16 CET

I am not assuming anything, I am simply stating observations.

RavenU | March 21, 22:39 CET

Add to the fact that there is a Farscape Con in Burbank on the very same dates as Sean's event. I know a lot of cross over fans between those two shows.

I agree moving Sean's event to the east coast would be an ideal solution.

However, I'm inclined to think that if only one will succeed, it will be our cruise, since it is so different than the typical con. That and the upcoming announcement we have, leads me to believe that we'll be just fine, conflict or no.

Jeremy
BrowncoatCruise.com

JeremyN | March 21, 23:43 CET

That's great to hear, Jeremy. I'll be looking forward to the BC Cruise announcement. :-) (By the way, were you at the CA Browncoats table at WonderCon a few weeks back? I think we may have briefly met.)

BrewBunny | March 21, 23:58 CET

Dammit i hate waiting! can you say the announcement now? :P ;) I know i know.... like i said i hate waiting!

kurya | March 22, 01:57 CET