Today’s posts on World SF News include a con report from Utopiales by Aliette de Bodard. The con appears to have an interesting membership structure. There’s a dirt cheap one-day membership that appears to be an equivalent of Exhibits Only, a more expensive one that is “professionals only” membership of the entire event, and a “VIP pass” that looks like a way of making money out of rich fans who want to go to exclusive parties to meet their favorite authors. I note also that the convention gets a big subsidy from the city of Nantes.
Utopiales is often held over the same weekend as World Fantasy so I have never gone. It is, however, easy to get to by train. As I probably won’t be going to World Fantasy next year I may look into it, though I’m still waiting on the dates of next year’s Gaylaxicon, which will also be in October.
Hi Cheryl,
Glad you’re read the report! Not sure how big the subsidy is (I’m told it’s been smaller this year than in the past, but apparently the city is still pretty generous). Nantes is about 2 hours from Paris, so it’s very easy to get to.
Just to correct the membership structure (and it’s entirely my fault, I forgot to say it in the report): the “professionals only” membership is free. It’s the equivalent of a press card: you get entry for the entire con. The only thing you pay is the meals and the drinks.
But yeah, the VIP pass sure is expensive. (and not quite sure why it is so expensive, to be honest, as someone pointed out to me that the dirt-cheap membership actually allowed you to go in and out as you wish, thereby nullifying the only advantage I could see for taking a VIP pass over the day pass. OK, there’s a few cocktail parties, but still, it seems somewhat overrated).
Aliette
Aliette:
Thanks for the clarification. I can see why you would find the VIP pass overrated, but there are a number of fans who go to World Fantasy every year who are, I suspect, just the sort of people it is aimed at.
Something else worth remembering is that if you have come to the convention from a long way away, and have several nights worth of hotel bills to pay for, a Worldcon-level membership fee doesn’t seem that expensive.
How much is the VIP pass?
It’s 135 euros, 200 euros and 250 euros, depending on whether you want 2, 3 or 4 days . It still seems expensive to me–but I can see the point about hotel bills. Truth is, it does look like the kind of pass that is more tempting when you’re going for the whole con (and, as you say, when you come from quite far away). Also, I’m not a big alcohol drinker, which means my drinks come pretty cheap compared to the people it’s aimed at, I suspect.
I’d have hesitated if the prices had remained at that level–but by the time I signed up somewhat in haste, they had climbed up pretty steeply (the 2-day pass had gone up to 185 euros, which was way more than what we ended up paying in food and drinks per person).
I once had a plane ticket to Utopiales but I couldn’t go because our childcare arrangements fell through. Just reading the name of the convention gives me an intense feeling of longing. I almost went, but didn’t quite. David went that year. It was a great con.
Hi Cheryl,
It’s interesting that you mention the word membership for such an event; it works more like a public festival, like Imaginales, rather than what I know of conventions in the English-speaking word. The aim really is to broaden the SF audience as much as possible by getting the local public to come to the event without really knowing what it’s about – so there really isn’t a true notion of membership (or even registration) 🙂
As far as I understand, the VIP pass was initially intended for semi-professionals and professionals who hadn’t been invited to the festival but who didn’t want to bother with organizing their stay and be able to conduct business as usual. I don’t much see the point of it today though.
It is a great con, lots of fun (and the city is really nice too).
Lionel:
I guess I used the word “membership” because it is what the English-speaking world is used to. The word “ticket” generally provokes screams of outrage from Fandom. There’s a very common view that you don’t go to a convention to be entertained, you go to participate. But that’s not the way it really works for almost any convention; even one as small as BristolCon had people who only went to see and listen. And it also perpetuates the idea that one has to belong to a private club in order to read SF: ghetto mentality.
Personally I love the idea of reaching out to as broad an audience as possible. What I’m looking for, however, is some way to do that while still providing a useful convention experience for the attendees.