Attending Anime Festival Orlando has me wondering about the future of fan conventions and the economics of convention venues. AFOs venue, the Wyndham Orlando Resort, has never been well-designed for fan conventions. Fan conventions need a mix of large spaces and many small spaces, with easy access between them. Multiple events are always active, and attendees will surge between them throughout the day *and* have somewhere to just hang out to socialize and wait for upcoming events. Plus, most fan conventions pull a sizable crowd from outside the hotel -- locals and near-locals who drive to the event for a single day or even just a few hours -- which means you need lots of parking. The Wyndham, typical of most hotels in the area, doesnt really meet these needs. The Wyndham does have a few somewhat-large spaces and a few small spaces, but the hallways are cramped and twisty and poorly laid out. There are no real concourse areas to just hang out (unless you go outside and brave the summer heat). Parking is a real problem. Admittedly, the Wyndham is renovating and expanding, but the future maps posted suggest the new Wyndham will be even less suited to fan conventions, apparently planning to use its convention center primarily for more sedate events limited to hotel guests. At the opposite end of the venue spectrum, we have the Orange County Convention Center, the site of MegaCon. The Convention Center has lots of REALLY BIG rooms and a few small rooms, lots of concourse areas, and ample parking. It also comes with a hefty rental fee, which immediately causes problems for fan conventions. MegaCon is inevitably less a convention and more a commercial expo -- less charitably, a huge garage sale. Fan conventions seem to fall between these extremes, but probably cant offer enough reliable revenue to justify new venues. Local hotels, such as the Wyndham, seem to be investing money in the smaller direction, possibly targeting business and professional gatherings. With a shrinking supply of venues, will fan conventions try adapting to the new conditions, changing their format to a more insular, more exclusive, more expensive experience for hotel guests only? Will they continue squeezing themselves into incompatible spaces? Or will they start fading away from the local scene? Are hotels in other cities / regions more suited to fan conventions?
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 14:56:40 +0000
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