Re: The Business of Conferences
In article ORG -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com, bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com (Bruce Byfield) writes:
>Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com wrote:
>|
>| It strikes me, after reviewing a number of posts in this thread, that the
>| STC should be put in contact with a few experienced Science Fiction
>| Convention runners. (There may even be a few with concom experience within
>| the sound of my keyboard right now, dare I suggest even a SMOF or two?)
You rang? :->
I'm involved with SF conventions as well (as you know), though my experience is primarily with Minicon, a regional SF convention.
>Science fiction conventions went through a similar period over a decade
>ago when Harlan Ellison and a number of other writers decided that they
>would no longer attend conventions unless they were paid to do so.
This is entirely untrue. Many top-name writers, including Harlan
Ellison, still attend science fiction conventions and are *not*
paid to appear. (To my personal knowledge, Harlan spoke at a
small convention in Boston just last year and was not paid.)
To corroborate -- I've never heard any such thing for standard SF conventions, which are generally run on a not-for-profit basis, whether the organization running it is a 501(c)3 or not.
Media conventions, the kind where actors are the main attraction and are paid to attend, are often run on a for-profit basis, and I believe in that case some writers have asked for equivalent compensation to the actors when invited as a guest of honor. That might be where Bruce's impression came from.
>Considering that guests of honour at SF conventions are often on stage
>for the entire convention - even suffering from a lack of privacy in the
>washroom - their position was even more justified than the professional
>lecturers who balk at STC policy.
You seem to be confusing guests of honor, who of course are
remunerated for attending the convention, with writers who
do programming, who are *not* remunerated. There are usually
two or three guests of honor -- often a writer, a fan, and
an artist or editor, sometimes a writer toastmaster.
And it should be made clear that such remuneration does not include an honorarium or speaking fee, but only repayment of travel, lodging, and associated expenses.
Writers who do programming sometimes get free memberships; this is a contentious issue and varies a great deal from convention to convention. Minicon no longer offers free members to programming participants except for the guests of honor.
--
Beth Friedman / bjf -at- wavefront -dot- com
When you're shooting the rapids is _not_ the time for a long multimedia presentation on the engineering dynamics of rapids-shooting, complete with bitter arguments between proponents of two different theories of fluid dynamics.
-- Patrick Nielsen Hayden
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