Lol I remember a similar argumentative thread to this one from last year, basically asking where Fanime is "spending all that money"
1) If you truly enjoy the convention: Who Cares?
2) Lots of Overhead
A) Convention Center (How much do you think it costs to rent the majority share of the downtown of close to a week)
B) Radios (Need communications for the staff)
C) Myriad of other technical equipment
D) Security
E) Medical Services On Site (stupid drunks every year)
F) Union Support (Convention center is a Union House that adds costs)
G) Guests
i] Appearance fees
ii] Hotel Rooms
iii] Per Diem
iv] Entertainment (yes even guests have to be entertained)
H) Office Supplies
I) Storage (Just cause the con only lasts a week doesn't mean there isn't stuff that has to be stored the rest of the year)
J) Marketing (Fliers, posters, banners, bags)
K) Staff Thank Yous (Not paying them got to provide a little gravitas)
L) Meeting Space (Have to plan the event somewhere)
M) Prizes (Attendees love giveaways)
N) Decorations (Signage, Banners similar to Marketing but not)
O) Damage Insurance (Think about the damage a group of primarily 14-24's can do...)
P) Permits And Other Mandated Fees
Q) CMR (Like them or not they are a cost)
R) Lawyers (At their size they've got to keep someone on retainer)
Fanime is truly "By Fans For Fans" as they don't have the heavy sponsorship that most of the major other cons do.
The Pros - They live by their own rules and don't have to bow to what the sponsors want. Easiest way to tell, have you seen a major Viz, Funimation etc. in the Dealers' Hall. Panels are largely organized and run by fans which again means more variety than x corporation pump up the block blusters.
The Bad - Don't bring in all those corporate bucks that can be used to do some pretty extraordinary things
The Ugly - Either way it's a hard knock life to put on a convention of this size. I started attending back in '04 when they first moved to San Jose. Back then they didn't even use the full convention center. In just 10 years they now use the whole center, the Civic, South Hall, Fairmont, Marriott, Hilton. The convention is busting at the seams and the only way it will grow much further is to move to someplace like Moscone (Also a logistical nightmare)
As a final point. Fanime seems (at least to me) on a fairly conservative budget, and I think that is due back to where it started, college students meeting up at FootHill. As others have mentioned they don't play the game of premium tickets or charging for events.
Corporations are a structure, not necessarily good or evil for or against profit. I don't think they would have had such a major turn around in registration from a truly for profit entity, because it looked like they invested a hell of a lot in just one year for the infrastructure improvements.
1) If you truly enjoy the convention: Who Cares?
2) Lots of Overhead
A) Convention Center (How much do you think it costs to rent the majority share of the downtown of close to a week)
B) Radios (Need communications for the staff)
C) Myriad of other technical equipment
D) Security
E) Medical Services On Site (stupid drunks every year)
F) Union Support (Convention center is a Union House that adds costs)
G) Guests
i] Appearance fees
ii] Hotel Rooms
iii] Per Diem
iv] Entertainment (yes even guests have to be entertained)
H) Office Supplies
I) Storage (Just cause the con only lasts a week doesn't mean there isn't stuff that has to be stored the rest of the year)
J) Marketing (Fliers, posters, banners, bags)
K) Staff Thank Yous (Not paying them got to provide a little gravitas)
L) Meeting Space (Have to plan the event somewhere)
M) Prizes (Attendees love giveaways)
N) Decorations (Signage, Banners similar to Marketing but not)
O) Damage Insurance (Think about the damage a group of primarily 14-24's can do...)
P) Permits And Other Mandated Fees
Q) CMR (Like them or not they are a cost)
R) Lawyers (At their size they've got to keep someone on retainer)
Fanime is truly "By Fans For Fans" as they don't have the heavy sponsorship that most of the major other cons do.
The Pros - They live by their own rules and don't have to bow to what the sponsors want. Easiest way to tell, have you seen a major Viz, Funimation etc. in the Dealers' Hall. Panels are largely organized and run by fans which again means more variety than x corporation pump up the block blusters.
The Bad - Don't bring in all those corporate bucks that can be used to do some pretty extraordinary things
The Ugly - Either way it's a hard knock life to put on a convention of this size. I started attending back in '04 when they first moved to San Jose. Back then they didn't even use the full convention center. In just 10 years they now use the whole center, the Civic, South Hall, Fairmont, Marriott, Hilton. The convention is busting at the seams and the only way it will grow much further is to move to someplace like Moscone (Also a logistical nightmare)
As a final point. Fanime seems (at least to me) on a fairly conservative budget, and I think that is due back to where it started, college students meeting up at FootHill. As others have mentioned they don't play the game of premium tickets or charging for events.
Corporations are a structure, not necessarily good or evil for or against profit. I don't think they would have had such a major turn around in registration from a truly for profit entity, because it looked like they invested a hell of a lot in just one year for the infrastructure improvements.