Shorecon was awesome back in the day. The one year, they had Battlebots, gamer celebrities, Gwar was demoing their mini's game. The dealler room was HUGE! Like, an entire ballroom huge! While I understand WHY Double Exposure is killing it off, and all the **** that went down that killed off Shorecon, DE should really have tried to build back those bridges, and make it a major con again, since it was pretty much the Gencon of the east coast.
Steve,
When I run into one of the old group of organizers, I will tell them all the good feelings about those shows.
The thing with DE is several things... of which no one really has control over. From my observations....
1)
Energy and Enthusiasm. The Folks at Double Exposure used to have a ton of it back in the day- Any of you guys remember Dexcons 2-6? And one of the things I have noticed is they tend to run in cycles of such. Uber-stressing of personnell, too much on their plate, too much real life intruding.
Vinny does like doing these events- however he is afflicted with a bit of micromanage and an unending need to run a Grand Event of a show. Dexcon is supposed to be a Flagship show, with lots of vendors, industry types and diverse games represented. Unfortunately, the vision of the Grand Event has taken a hit and I think he might have lost his way a bit.
And like most visionary types, does not like dissent against visions as to how it should work nor does he listen to many other bits of advice outside a select few. Which is sad. He really is a very nice guy and really frickin' smart... just a touch blind to the reasons things are failing.
2)
Emphasis on LARP. DE started out as a LARP group and expanded their efforts into standard gaming conventions. And for a long time, they rocked at it. Unfortunately, the emphasis on all facets seems to have lessened in favor of the LARP adherents. Don't get me wrong- LARPing can be and is alotta fun
(hell- I happen to play a Tremere Vampire in One World By Night's World of Darkness www.owbn.org) but it is not the be-all/end-all of convention attendance.
I've been of the opinon at one point that Mini's were the way to go- lost that opinion years ago as I got to understand more of how the entire process of convention construction was done (though the old Warfaires I ran seemed to do ok). Diversity is key in a local event, with emphasis placed on specific areas as you grow and the numbers support such emphasis.
Right now (and for the last few shows), LARP Lobbyists in the staff are holding the power/influence and that is not likely to change, unless something occurs to force that to do so.
And I don't see it.
3)
Crony-ism. The other problem DE is experiencing right now is cronyism. With the LARP faction having the most influence and the history of the group being what it is, a number of folks in the DE-created and own LARP have favored status with some of the bigger fish in the company hierarchy. And that is not going to change. The Avatar system (their LARP rules), while fun, is floundering. From what I have heard/been told, its recent revision helped some but the problem of cronyism and a handful of folks holding all the power/influence is holding the system/company down for the whipping that reality is giving it.
If there is one thing I learned from what happened to my old man with his fire-protection business- its business should be kept seperate of friendships and dissenting opipnins heard. and not stifled/driven away It *HAS* to be that way... DE is a business run by a group of friends... and the head of it needs to see what is happening to his orginization before it self-destructs.
Again.
This might seem like sour grapes... and maybe it is a little. But it is my opinion, which is something I am allowed to have. I sincerely wish Vinny and Double Exposure well hope they can overcome the self-inflicted wounds... but unless things drasticly change and some coffe gets smelled in a hurry, it won't be around in a year./18 months. And that clock began ticking not that long ago.
My few cents on the matter.
