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- Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!yale.edu!jvnc.net!rutgers!tle.enet.dec.com!insinga
- From: insinga@tle.enet.DEC.COM (Aron Insinga ZK2-1/Q18 1N24 dtn 381-1928 04-Jan-1993 1357)
- Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc
- Subject: Re: Arisia vs. Boskone
- Message-ID: <9301041944.AA10416@enet-gw.pa.dec.com>
- Date: 4 Jan 93 19:44:07 GMT
- Sender: nobody@rutgers.rutgers.edu
- Lines: 34
-
- I certainly agree that Boskone and Arisia are not the only cons in the area and
- that the more smaller, different cons there are here, the better. (Running a
- "winter Worldcon" [sic] every year can be tough on anyone!) But I do wish that
- Arisia had picked a different date, so that anyone interested in attending both
- Boskone and Arisia would have a better chance of doing so.
-
- ratinox@iota.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri) writes:
- >> Boskone was neither the first nor the last con to melt-down (often due to
- >> growing too large).
- >
- >One of the reasons (maybe the primary reason) that Arisia has a membership
- >limit of 1500-2000.
-
- So one difference is that Boskone now limits size by self-selecting to those
- fans interested in the program, art show, and special events (limiting the
- number of areas so that it can do better in each of them) and those fans willing
- to come to a non-urban location; Arisia limits size by first come, first serve
- (having everything possible at the con, but spreading efforts more thinly).
- [Didn't this thread start out with someone asking what the differences were?]
-
- As the saying goes, "Be careful who you pick for your enemies, for you will
- become like them." Arisia started out ranting about Boskone not allowing ray
- guns to be carried around, but then adopted a similar weapons policy to
- Boskone's. Both cons are in the same real world and are dealing with the same
- set of state laws and mundane hotel businesses; this will force them to adopt
- some of the same solutions to some of the same problems. Likewise, the serving
- of alcohol in con suites in the US has been affected (if not eradicated) over
- the past couple of decades.
-
- As for the relative merits of non-mail-in art vs. mail-in art, non-mail-in art
- has the big advantage that there are more artists at the con who can appear on
- the program, do demos, and talk shop.
-
- - Aron Insinga
-