Hello everyone!
I am one of Farpoint's co-chairs and I was directed to this board by a couple of fans who told me that potential Farpoint guests were being discussed.
We always listen to fan requests for actors and programming. Having fans who are involved and interested in helping create a fun convention is what Farpoint is about, and we thank you for your ideas. And this is not only the fans in our audience, but the fans who are the organizing committee. Unfortunately, the timing of when we get these ideas and when we are able to act on them hardly ever match up. Discussion and panel ideas are things we have more flexibility on and can usually stage fairly quickly. Actor requests are a totally different aspect of the convention organizing experience.
Getting an actor guest is not always an easy prospect. Being a science fiction media convention, for every one actor we book, you can bet that we have received at least 12 other requests from fans of every movie and show out there, past and present. So, how do we decide which actors to bring? It comes down to 3 things: money, interest and availability.
1. Availability - actors are not always available when we first invite them. Even if they accept at first, they have the option to back out of they get an acting job. It can also be difficult to find the proper representative to discuss an appearance with. Many actors have separate "people" who handle public appearances which is different from their theatrical agent.
2. Interest - this item goes both ways. Actors have to be interested in making an appearance, and fans have to be interested enough to want to come. There are quite a few regularly requested actors who are simply not interested in convention appearances. The nice thing regarding fan interest is that Farpoint has a regular base of fans who come every year. They come not only for the actors, but all the other programs we stage: live theatre, Masquerade, workshops, discussions, art show, gaming, books etc. Our program schedule offers activities touching on the many interests of science fiction fandom. There will be quite a few Star Wars-related activities on the schedule this year in recognition of the huge fan interest in the upcoming episode 3 release.
3. Money - here's the biggie. The biggest name actors on the convention circuit receive upwards of $25K-$30K for a single weekend appearance and are simply out of our budget. Raising membership rates is an option to pay for these higher priced guests. We asked the fans at one of the open meetings we hold on Sunday afternoon at Farpoint about raising rates to pay for bigger names. The fans present told us that there is a specific point where they would not be able to pay to come, even if we had the ultimate big name actor. The majority preferred that we do our best to keep our membership rates down. While none of us on the organizing committee gets paid, Farpoint and every other fan-run convention is a BUSINESS in every other aspect. We have to make enough money to pay our bills. To ensure that, we have a budget and stick to it. Doing otherwise is financial suicide. All of our profits are put toward the next convention. If we make a higher than expected profit one year, we are able to expand appearance budgets in the next year. On the flip side, if we don't make enough money to pay our bills, there won't be a Farpoint convention to invite guests to the next year.
Now, this board has had a lively discussion on the merits of bringing Ms. Leanna Walsman to Farpoint in 2005. The timing of this idea makes it impossible for us budget-wise. We start booking guests for the next convention immediately after the previous one. We negotiate with one guest at a time, and book as many as we can afford. Our appearance fee money is either spent or committed by mid-summer. If booking an extra actor involved only a small budget overrun, it might be considered, especially if the actor is much-requested. Our 2005 budget for appearance fees is committed. Booking any other actor would involve a large overrun, especially one like Ms. Walsman who would have to be flown from overseas. If the idea for an appearance by Ms. Walsman had come in to us in April or May, we might have been able to work it. Coming in to us in the late summer/early fall makes it just too late for us to consider for 2005.
Ideas have been floated to us off this list for various ways to pay for this appearance, including corporate sponsorships and merchandising. Number 1 on this topic - almost every idea we have received is one that has either been tried before and failed; tried and gave us just a little money; or it was considered and rejected for being too risky. Several of our committee members have been with us since the days of ClipperCon and OktoberTrek - what may be a new idea to someone has usually been tried before and our committee members with 30+ years of convention experience are a great source of knowledge in this area.
Number 2 - the particular ideas in this instance have no guarantee of providing the multiple thousands of dollars that would be required. We have to be comfortable that the proceeds from any effort will pay our expenses. And note I said "We" - after all, it's going to be Farpoint's name on that contract and we're the ones ultimately responsible for making that payment.
Number 3 - Farpoint is a fan-run convention. Adding corporate sponsorship is not a direction we wish to move into. Not to mention that even if we did make such a decision in the future, we would have to make those arrangements on our own behalf. Would you sign onto a deal, especially one involving money, that you didn't make your own arrangements for?
I hope this explains some of the behind the scenes work and considerations that go into staging a convention. Thanks again to the fans who care enough to want to make Farpoint a great convention for everyone.
Sharon Van Blarcom, Farpoint co-chair
