From: mwallis@lunacity.com (Michael Wallis)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
Subject: Re: Hello Confrancisco?
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 14:59:03 PST
Organization: LunaCity BBS - (Clan Zen Relay Network) Mountain View, CA

chris@keris.demon.co.uk (Chris Croughton) writes:

> To me, to include non-attending artists at the cost of a lower support
> for those who do attend is even worse.  If an artist actually attends,
> possibly from a long distance and at considerable expense, and then
> finds that they only have a small space because of people who have sent
> work in by mail, then they (the attending artist) have every right to be
> very annoyed.

Any artist who just shows up and expect to get lots of space will have
problems at ANY convention. THAT's why art shows have panel reg forms so
that artists can request space and know well ahead of time how much space
they'll have. That wasn't the issue at all. We were discussing Jim's
contention that mail-in should be actively discouraged as it's too much of
a hastle for art show staffs and they shouldn't have to deal with it.

> Why?  Other awards and benefits are only available to "those who
> attend"...

he art show isn't a "usual" part of a con. It's one of the few areas where
people CAN participate without physically being at the con. It also
benefits the con to be able to show art from non-local artists and some
celebrity artists who may be busy at another show or simply unable to
attend.

> I think that most people would agree that only the people attending the
> Masquerade get awards.  If most of the time in the Masqerade were taken
> up by videos of people who didn't attend, those who did attend would get
> very upset.

Again ... the analogy doesn't hold up. As for "mail-in costumes" that can
and has been done. At Ad Astra in Toronto, and again this year at BayCon,
we had a Costuming Static Display room.  The costumes weren't entered in
the Masquerade, but they WERE available to the attendees and shwed off
many top class costumes that wouldn't have otherwise been visible to the
members.

> It's not considered 'elitist' to say that you must attend a
> convention to receive a costuming award, so why should it be any
> different for the art show?

Are we talking about displaying artwork or getting awards for artwork? In
either case, again, the costuming analogy doesn't apply.

> Another point - if 'mail-in' artwork is treated exactly the same as
> 'attending' artwork, those artists who mainly attend conventions to
> display will soon not bother and mail in their work too.

In almost 20 years that I've been attending cons, I haven't seen that at
all. In fact, most artists who can DO try to attend the shows. Having
stuff in the art show is not the sole reason they attend. They attend for
the same reasons anyone else does. They get to hang out with friends and
collegues they may not ordinarily have the chance to, the get to go the
the partiues and have fun, they get to see the other artowrk and discuss
style and structure and colours and techniques. They sometimes get to be
on panels and expouse their view on things. In short, they come to be PART
of the convention. If they like a convention but can't make it, they'll
ceratinly send art, but if they can, they usually try to attend too.

> If the membership of the convention is open, and the art show is open to
> all attendees, then the art show cannot be said to be 'elitist'.

That's the crux of the problem. Do you restrict the art show to JUST those
who attend. I don't think you should. Appearently you and Jim think
otherwise. I doubt either of us will convince the other. Shall we move on
to other topics?

> Incidentally, what would be *your* criteria for limiting the size of the
> art show?  Assume (for discussion) that you have 3 times as much art as
> you have room to display, with a mixture of local/distant and
> pro/known/unknown artists:

As mentioned in a post to Jim ... the criteria is "first come, first
served" with regard to booking panels in the show. ANYONE who sends
mailing art to a con without at least enquiring if space is available,
shouldn't be surprised if their art isn't displayed if the show has sold
out.

> Now take the same figures, but instead of Local and Distant put
> Attending and Mail-in - what would your allocation be then?

Same thing. I have x number of panels. I mail to the artest and say " the
line forms to the right." If I get more reservations for space than I can
accommodate, I write thesee artists and let them know the show has filled
up and that they are on the waiting list. As the show approaches, I keep
the list up to date as some artists cancel. Anyone who hasn't confirmed
for and prepaid for their space, or who hasn't assured that they will be
there, is contacted. Any available last minute space is distributed to the
top waitlisters. At con, you make do with the situation that arises. It
really isn't that difficult.

        Michael

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Michael Wallis -> mwallis@lunacity.com

PLAN:   Live fast, die young, leave a neat corpse.
        Oh ... I'm too old to die young?     Rats!
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom