Watching a Convention die

[Wenchie]

I went to a convention this past weekend... small convention that has gotten smaller over the years. The people running it are stuck in their ways and don't want to change... they don't want me ideas because they think that fandom should stay the way it was 30 years ago, which means that they're pushing everything "new" away because they don't think it belongs. That includes new people who might be interested in taking over running the convention, and there are only so many times people will get pushed away before they leave completely.

Which leads us to now... a convention with declining membership, almost no programming, too high of a cost, guests that most people don't recognize... and people in charge who will never leave.

I thought they were killing the con just because they were too stubborn to turn it over to anyone, but I heard this weekend (from sources I somewhat trust) that they're killing it on purpose.

This makes me incredibly sad.

[Crossbow]

I've been fighting the exact same thing at my traditional con for the last 12 years. They'e finally learning that if they don't change, they're dead.
It's a sad story, but if they want to kill it and there's no way to get the "old guard" out of power, then there's nothing you can do to stop it.