Should we put together a QL convention?

Should we put together a QL convention?

  • No, I'm not interested.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

tina_als_girl

PQL Security Staff
Jul 11, 2002
794
19
18
38
Missouri, USA
rjoyhelvie.carrd.co
It has been mentioned previously that we should think about creating our own Quantum Leap convention for a timeframe of 2004.

Well, today, Ruthie (bakfan_uk) and I were discussing this idea, and we came up with some good ideas for making it cheap to put together.

So, firstly, I want to know what everyone thinks about us planning a convention.
 
I'd love to go to a con... as long as it's somewhere in North America. No offense to those doing LeapCon 2003 but going to England is a wee bit out of my price range.

If someone hadn't suggested it... I was going to volunteer to organize one in Kentucky. (which is where I'm moving)

Ciao!
Aurora
 
we should probably write to D.Bellasario and see if there's a "bible" of sorts to organizing an official "Leaper" convention. He might even have information to send to us about it.

Plus, it would be great to send him the link to this site, to show him how strongly we feel about this!

Matt
 
Actually, it would definitely have to be in the US. That may be one of the reasons why there aren't many people going to the '03 con.

As for location, I guess we'd have to vote on it. I was going to suggest Kansas City or St. Louis. That way, it's in the middle of the country, so both East Coasters and West Coasters would have equal miles to travel.

I don't think there's a "bible" on organizing QL conventions, but I could be wrong. I figure that as long as it is non-profit, it would be legal for us to do it without official permission from Universal, etc.

Someone else might know more, though.

Joy
 
Non Profit?

I agree completely.

If Scott Bakula writes to his fans, find out when he's on summer hiatus from "Enterprise" and see if he'd agree to a visit. Sometimes stars wish to be paid, and always have their expenses taken care of Pro-bono. I know he's been to some in the past, so I'm guessing he's open to such a thang as we're proposing.

Matt
 
What about holding the convention in Chicago? It's a major transportation hub for the country, has tons of hotels and convention halls (several big ones, like the Wizard comic book organization, hold annual conventions here), plus there's also a ton to see and do if you want to take the time to explore the city and surrounding suburbs.

;-)
Stephanie
 
Hi! I'm brand new here, and got here by following Tina because she mentioned that you were discussing putting together a QL convention. (She knows me as QLBecky.) I attended several (LeapCons, IndyLeaps, EastLeaps and OrlandoLeap) in the mid-late 90's and always had a great time. I'd love to see another QL convention and maybe I could be of some help organizing. I've been involved in planning and running literary science fiction conventions since 1977, ranging in size from local cons of less than 100 members to being Assoc. Chairman of two Worldcons that had over 6,000 attendees each. But believe me, that does NOT mean I know it all!

Concerning the site, I posted the following on a different board, where it was really OT, so let me copy it here:


Well, Kansas City has had one Leap Convention in the past, so there might be a couple locals willing to work on another convention, and local experience is always a plus. St. Louis has ties with Scott and vice versa, so that's a plus there.

Chicago gives you a much greater chance at drawing a decent attendance, because you have a huge population base living nearby. And if you're planning anything more than an oversized slumber party, anything that will require a room or rooms larger than standard hotel sleeping rooms, then attendance really is a financial necessity. Unless you've got someone on the committee able to risk $10,000 or so. (I didn't pull that out of the void. I saw a small convention go under by $20,000 in Seattle in the late 70's. And when Westercon was in Hawaii two years ago, it was underwritten
entirely by a well-off couple who had won the lottery and were willing to spend the money)

However, hotels in downtown Chicago are extremely expensive. A suburb along the lines of Schaumberg -- something still on the main 'el' (fast transit) lines, with neighborhoods that aren't too shabby, would probably be a better choice. And if you're thinking that a significant percentage will be coming from out of town, convenience to O'Hare Airport is also important.


One more thing I should add about choosing a location. Look for a hotel that is the right size for your convention. If you can take up a significant percentage of the hotel's sleeping rooms, the facility will be sooo much nicer to you when it comes to the price of function space. Besides, a convention is a lot more fun when you're The Thing Happening in a smaller hotel rather than a lonely speck surrounded by a bunch of Legionnaires .

Becky
 
Tina, you said that you and Ruthie had come up with some ideas about keeping costs down. Are you going to discuss those here? Or are they under some other topic? I'm having a heck of a time navigating here.

Becky
 
You've brought up some good points Becky.

I think first we need to find out how many people would be willing to go to it (heance the poll) and then decide where would be the most cost effective.

Ciao!
Aurora
 
I was chatting to tina_als_girl and bakfan_uk about this matter yesterday also on MSN Messenger. I suggested to them that if the conference is held in the US, which makes sense, in order not to make the UK fans feel left other that they could some how organise some Live Video Link up several times throughout the conference. This idea could be expanded beyond the US and UK to Ireland, France, Poland, etc...

Leap On!

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