Who would want a Fan Reunion?

To bring up the discussion again... :lol

I say instead of organising an event ourselves... why don't we pick an upcoming Con we all like and agree on, plan on that and attend that on
e? I know Cons are becoming all inclusive events which include Sci-Fi or whatever. I know DragonCon, GENCON, and others are really successful at including ALL elements of TV, film, and comics.

Shoot... I say we plan on invading Comic Con in San Diego. That event is FREAKING AWESOME I hear. Plus, LA isn't that far away and we could all hit California again!! I know a handful of groups that hook up and do their own things when they hit the Cons. I'd even be willing to bet that a Con like Comic Con or Dragon Con would love to have a Quantum Leap booth.

Just brainstorming!

Chris :)

PS: Comic Con in San Diego is getting bigger and bigger each year with a lot of celebrities in tow. The only downside is that it wouldn't have the intimacy I thought Leapback had.
 
Not a bad idea Chris, having met up with leapers I had met in LA at the London Film & Comic Con was such a huge buzz. I would probably go to more cons knowing there were QL fans there to meet up with.
 
There are a lot of good, valid ideas here.

While it would be great to have a convention every year, its not something that can be planned in advance. Really all that can be done is to plan one reunion. See what the turn out is, and hopefully plan another. Take it one step at a time.

Attending a existing con is great idea. Though I am not San Diego Comic Con is, or at least fits sure this idea. While I am a comics fan and all round genre fan, not every QL fan is. Comic Con seems like a bit of a circus, in a bad way, from what I have seen. Similarly I went to the last two Star Wars celebrations and that was the reaction I had. Too much happing at once so you could not see what you want and too many people.

umm at the same time I would not mind seeing It at least once and I have a brother who lives in San Diego ( yeah I have family everywhere!). So if a large enough group of Leapers were planning on going a certain year, with our own Leap themed plans, I would consider going.

Hmm I am contradicting myself. I guess my point is that the original idea was that many of us will be not going to California anytime soon again. In fact some who have expressed interest in this were not able to go to the convention because of distance and money. So this planned as more a regional event.

Maybe the multiple con thing could happen. With gatherings planned in different cities at the same time. With a internet and conference calls joining the groups together. Almost like a Quantum Leap holiday. Of course with this idea, it would not be limited to United States either. Individuals who can not go to the specific reunion/convention/party locations could still be involved online.

Any of that sound good??? i am making this up as I type! LOL! Actually we could have a trail run for this "International Convention DVD Viewing Day". Once we get all get the DVDs agree to watch them, for the first time or again, on the same day. With online commentary and communicating.

I guess all of this are just ways to keep this little community connected.
 
It would be nice to have local ones too with regards to travel time/costs.
I'd like to go to an Australian one :)
Open attendance of course, non-ozzies welcome.

Although I'm assuming that the U.S. one will be identical to the international one as most fans are probably from the U.S., I think.
 
What a great brainstorming session, everyone! The idea of "reunions" is so good - getting to see your fellow fans that you might not otherwise get together with.

Isn't there a site out there that has interests and then broken down by location so that you can find other fans of whatever in your area? Does anybody know what I'm talking about? I'm pretty sure I was a member of the site at some point. :nut

The largest fanbase is likely in the USA (as far as I know, there weren't that many Canadians at the convention - met one person from Vancouver and another from Edmonton), so that makes a logical testing ground. Joy's idea of going along Route 66 is very cool! 8) Probably best to keep it in the middle of the US, though, even if the city changes each year. Maybe along the Mississippi River as a guideline?

If it's in driving distance, I'd definitely go.

... Mike.
 
Yeah, it's meetup.com, but whoever starts a group on there, aka the Organizer, has to pay to keep the group going. I think it may be easier to use this forum to find "leaders" from various regions to help organize the annual get together in their particular region.

I don't really know much about organizing stuff like this, so I really wouldn't be much help, but if someone wants a co-organizer or whatever for my region (Ozarks; Missouri/Arkansas/etc), I could try to help as much as I have time for (what with school and all).

Joy
 
Hi, all! Haven't had much time to post but I still have warm memories of The Leap Back 2009.

Tom had a very good idea about tying meetings to regional conventions. You'll find that most major metropolitan areas have one or more fan-run SF conventions.

The least expensive and easiest way to hold a fan gathering is to host a room party at a convention.

Most conventions have a party coordinator, and that's the place to start.

Please support the convention by buying your admission. Some conventions require that party attendees have a paid admission for security reasons. (The first time you're at a convention where some college students crash a party, get bombed on the free drinks, and have an "Animal Frat" moment or two, you'll understand.)

Still, it's a pretty inexpensive way to hold a get-together - especially if interested folks pool their resources to help out with the food.
 
what else? Does one really need a comittee or organistation?

These days you can't put on even a small con without some sort of committee or core group of people.

Even a small relaxacon with 50 attendees needs several people working together to pull off.

Legal issues these days mean you have to have some sort of umbrella organization to handle taxes and liability.

If you're interested in reading up on what goes into putting a convention together, there's a wiki called conrunner.net. There's even an annual convention for people who put on SF conventions where people meet to share information about legal issues, negotiating with hotels, getting the most bang out of your limited budget, and so on. Take a look at that site and see all the departments listed. A QL con won't need some of those (child care, gaming) but there's a lot going on behind the scenes with a typical convention.
 
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.
 
These days you can't put on even a small con without some sort of committee or core group of people.

Even a small relaxacon with 50 attendees needs several people working together to pull off.

Legal issues these days mean you have to have some sort of umbrella organization to handle taxes and liability.

If you're interested in reading up on what goes into putting a convention together, there's a wiki called conrunner.net. There's even an annual convention for people who put on SF conventions where people meet to share information about legal issues, negotiating with hotels, getting the most bang out of your limited budget, and so on. Take a look at that site and see all the departments listed. A QL con won't need some of those (child care, gaming) but there's a lot going on behind the scenes with a typical convention.


Wow that is really a great page, but gee indeed all them tax laws, maybe one should just hire a tax attorny or something instead and save themselves the headache :hmm

It would be nice though, on last con, and the clock is ticking when it comes to Dean. I so hoped he would have been there in March and was so dispointed he wasn't.

I wish I could have the option to even consider putting up a con, but alas, foreigner and all you know, I guess I would have to become a US citizen first :D.
 
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.


I doubt anyone who would consider setting up a Leapcon would want it any other way, and getting 4 people together wouldn't be that much of a problem either. I think the major problem indeed is setting up the con and all them taxlaws. Wow I'm getting more and more respect for Brian every day.
 
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.

At little or no pay, yes. But look at groups like Creation. If you set up a for-profit group and pay them...

At most conventions (at least the non-profit SF cons) the Guests of Honor usually go in return for expenses. Some get a small fee, but it's nothing compared to what some of the stars want to go to the profit-making conventions. I've heard of fees ranging from $5,000 to $150,000.
 
The only way it was possible to get ~50 celebrities, producers, writers, directors, actors, etc. to the Leap Back was the charity aspect. You would have to set ticket prices at astronomical heights, and then it would be impossible to have the intimate, fun event like Leap Back was. It would have to be very commercialized, selling space to vendors, and those vendors would have various rules they'd want, etc. etc.

The big commercialized conventions weren't about maximum face time with the celebs and the fans. It was about making money just to pay for the event.

Even with the charity aspect of Leap Back and being done basically on a shoestring budget, some of the actors did not join the fixed autograph fee and charged a bit extra. I do understand why. Not every actor or actress who appeared on Quantum Leap is rolling in the dough. Some really haven't worked much since at all, or in small productions. Imagine what they'd all want to charge if this was a for-profit event? I don't think with the limited size of the Quantum Leap audience that another Leap Con like the ones in the 90's could be done again.
 
I don't think with the limited size of the Quantum Leap audience that another Leap Con like the ones in the 90's could be done again.


Well first of all, if one wouldn't try than one wouldn't know that right? And what if one would just keep the quests down to just Scott, Dean, Don and Deborah. Than instead of asking astronomical prices (cause i think 250 dollars per ticket was a bit high) one would have several prices in the range from 250 for say first row, and less when you move back ending with about 15 dollars. QL is still loved all over the world, there are many, many new fans and a lot of old fans, many which couldn't make it due to the high prices.

Many of us ladies got it somewhat fixed by sharing our rooms, how about fans knowing this and getting together online to keep down hotelroom prices. "roomies wanted" area. I got one on my forum, so why not?

And how about instead of doing this in a high class expensive hotel one would rent down a hostel or something. Okay so fans would be spread cause not eveyone would want to be in a hostel, but main thing is people could have an affordable ticket as well as an affordable bed and cook their own food if they care to do so.

Than how about renting out a hall. Okay so that would need to be march or april just so you don't freeze your butt off or melt while enjoying festivities.

Tickets for planes are cheapest in feb and march for foreigners comming in to LA so march april would be good for foreign fans.

I do believe if this could be set up, even a low budget fan might have a shot at comming with a 15 dollar entrance ticket and a 30 dollar per night stay in a hostel.

So this con wouldn't make 45,000 for charity, who cares, even if it would only be 3,000 at least it would be 3,000 that wouldn't be there without that con. The con should be for the fans in the first place anyway and than all proceeds can go to charity, but i would love to see one of those earlier cons happen again as they did in the beginning. I only have footage of that and I love the feeling and atmosphere of those. Don't get me wrong, I loved this con, but it was definatly higher budget members only.

Oh and for PR, well Youtube is an exelent free place to start :)
 
You bring up some good points, leapme. There are a lot of issues besides just the price of the facility.

Guests are a big draw. Will people come from other countries just to see three or four people sit on a stage and talk? (Sorry, this is what it boils down to, in a sense.) Or, would they be more likely to come if there are other things to see - even if it drives up the ticket price a bit? I think you'll find people on both sides of the fence.

Room rental is such that if you rent a room for a few hours you may as well rent it for a day. A whole weekend isn't too bad if you choose the right place/time. (This goes back to traveling a distance. Would you be more likely to come for one or two events on a single day, or a whole weekend? Again, the answer will vary because different people have different priorities.)

There's really a cost/benefit factor in choosing a hotel. The LA area is expensive, but for a convention like this you're more likely to get those people that you want to come for free.

And I don't know if Brian mentioned this, but most conventions and corporate events work deals with the hotel. The more room nights booked in association with an event, the lower the facility charge. That's where a hotel makes their money. Even when you go four people to a room, when you stay at the hotel you're giving the convention two or three room nights they wouldn't have had if you stay at a hostel or cheaper place down the road. And you may end up paying the difference in taxi or car rental fares if you're from out of town. And if there are room parties at the hotel, the often go on until 1 or 2 in the morning. It's safer to stay at the con hotel. (You may not be drinking alcohol, but you'll be tired and on the road with others who HAVE been drinking.)

One thing about getting a convention off the ground is the budget. This is speculation (but based on years of experience), but just about any convention getting off the ground - especially a single event like this one - and has no guarantee of making their room nights. New conventions have to plan for the worst and hope for the best in terms of budget. I'm glad it worked out that they had money left over to send to the charity.

It probably could have just as easily gone the other way. Anyone remember the '94 convention? I was on the concom for that one. We were being very prudent with our money, but who could forecast the Northridge quake a month before the convention? FEMA decided that OUR hotel was the closest safe place for them to stay. The large function room we'd booked was damaged. We were fortunate that the Civic Center Auditorium wasn't booked, and that the hotel offered it to us at no extra charge in compensation. I live in Texas. What if a tornado hits our hotel a couple of weeks before the event? One year the hotel was packed with Hurricane Rita refugees. That was the weekend they'd practically evacuated Houston. We couldn't forecast that. Hey, it was a fun event and some of the refugees partied with us.

My point is that it's really better for an event like this to plan for dire stuff financially. They don't have the luxury of spreading their losses over several years. (I wasn't in on the planning for this event, so I am speculating, but since they had money left over at the end, I'll assume they didn't lose their shirts. For a first year/single event, that's good!)
 
It seems like, by the time you get through all the factors involved, you're going to have The Leap Back or something much like it. If you want it to be simple, you might be better off with the fan reunion idea that was discussed on another thread.
 
You bring up some good points, leapme. There are a lot of issues besides just the price of the facility.

Guests are a big draw. Will people come from other countries just to see three or four people sit on a stage and talk? (Sorry, this is what it boils down to, in a sense.) Or, would they be more likely to come if there are other things to see - even if it drives up the ticket price a bit? I think you'll find people on both sides of the fence.
Well on our forum people go where Scott is so yes for them it wouldn't be a problem :)

Room rental is such that if you rent a room for a few hours you may as well rent it for a day. A whole weekend isn't too bad if you choose the right place/time. (This goes back to traveling a distance. Would you be more likely to come for one or two events on a single day, or a whole weekend? Again, the answer will vary because different people have different priorities.)

Well I do have to say there were many people at the Leapcon that just came in sunday for Scott and Dean and didn't do friday or saturday, so I guess a single day or a weekend wouldn't be to bad of an idea. But three nope I wouldn't prefer that myself next time.

There's really a cost/benefit factor in choosing a hotel. The LA area is expensive, but for a convention like this you're more likely to get those people that you want to come for free.

And I don't know if Brian mentioned this, but most conventions and corporate events work deals with the hotel.

Yup saw that on the link you put up

The more room nights booked in association with an event, the lower the facility charge. That's where a hotel makes their money. Even when you go four people to a room, when you stay at the hotel you're giving the convention two or three room nights they wouldn't have had if you stay at a hostel or cheaper place down the road.
And you may end up paying the difference in taxi or car rental fares if you're from out of town. And if there are room parties at the hotel, the often go on until 1 or 2 in the morning. It's safer to stay at the con hotel. (You may not be drinking alcohol, but you'll be tired and on the road with others who HAVE been drinking.)

On the other hand one could hire some busses to bring people back to either hotel or hostel if one picked both so everyone could choose.
Pesonally I don't have a problem traveling per public transport and I doubt many foreigners have. I traveled by myself up to Forrest lawn memorial and back, so I have no problem with that at all either. At night though maybe it would be better to travel in groups, which I guess if many stay at the same place that wouldn't be a problem either.
But busses could be a good option, ask some busfare like 5 dollars per person and they can drink as much as they like and be driven home without high costs.


One thing about getting a convention off the ground is the budget. This is speculation (but based on years of experience), but just about any convention getting off the ground - especially a single event like this one - and has no guarantee of making their room nights. New conventions have to plan for the worst and hope for the best in terms of budget. I'm glad it worked out that they had money left over to send to the charity.

It probably could have just as easily gone the other way. Anyone remember the '94 convention? I was on the concom for that one. We were being very prudent with our money, but who could forecast the Northridge quake a month before the convention? FEMA decided that OUR hotel was the closest safe place for them to stay. The large function room we'd booked was damaged. We were fortunate that the Civic Center Auditorium wasn't booked, and that the hotel offered it to us at no extra charge in compensation. I live in Texas. What if a tornado hits our hotel a couple of weeks before the event? One year the hotel was packed with Hurricane Rita refugees. That was the weekend they'd practically evacuated Houston. We couldn't forecast that. Hey, it was a fun event and some of the refugees partied with us.

Well yes you need a back up budget just in case, but you can't really plan around a hurricane, tornado or tsunami now can you. Besides if you think about that too much no con would ever get off the ground, hell I probably wouldn't be stepping outside ever again cause there are some odds I might be hit by a bus or get killed in a traffic accident. Back up budget, good, other than that don't think about how desperatly you might need to have to use it :)
 
It seems like, by the time you get through all the factors involved, you're going to have The Leap Back or something much like it. If you want it to be simple, you might be better off with the fan reunion idea that was discussed on another thread.


Well a "fan reunion" wouldn't make me come over to the states and I doubt few foreign fans would attend such a meeting
 
Very early on, yes there were concerns that this convention might not pay for itself. But as soon as the Silver and Gold tickets went on sale and sold almost overnight, this was no longer a concern. Within just a few days, there was no longer any question over whether this convention would be solvent. Yet, the committee continued to run it with an extremely tight budget.

This is just one of the many things that frustrated Brian. When he saw that there were really not going to be any problems with the budget, he wanted to either lower ticket prices or add some nicer stuff for attendees to take home, or maybe beef up the audio-visual experience. All got declined.

So Leap Back ended up being extremely profitable for the charity because it was done on a budget intended for an event only 1/4 as successful as it was. In the end, the convention raised $41,000+. The original estimate was $10,000.


LOL after winning the music vid contest my grand price was a chistmas ornament to hang in the tree, glass, fragile glass, it would have never made it to the netherlands in my suitcase. A signed pic of Scott would have been nice instead, and probably wouldn't have costs more than the christmas ornament. On the other hand no one knows who won the art contest and what first price was of that, so I guess'I shouldn't be looking that gift horse in the mouth here.