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Conventional Matters
Aug. 5th, 2005 01:13 pmThe Munchkin Convention is this weekend, and once again, I'm not going. I used to go every year, but ever since the big Centennial Convention in 2000, I haven't attended any Oz conventions, and I'm not totally sure why not. I guess it's partially the cost. If I just went on Saturday, it would cost me $105. That includes meals, but even taking that into account, it's a lot more money than, say, the Monster-Mania Conventions that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje and I go to. I guess I didn't mind paying that much when there weren't a lot of other fun things I wanted to do throughout the year, and I didn't have bills to pay. It was the one time of year when I would spend a significant amount of money on something.
There's also the distance factor. When I used to attend the Munchkin Convention, it was held right outside Wilmington. After that, it was moved to Hershey. This year it's in Princeton, which isn't TOO far away, but is hardly as convenient for me. I mean, I've gone farther away for smaller events, but if it were as close as it used to be, I might just decide to go at the last minute.
One thing I liked about the Centennial Convention was that there were always several things happening at one time. The smaller conventions, on the other hand, usually only have one program at a time. This means that, if it's something that doesn't interest me, I can either sit through it anyway, or figure out some other way to kill the time. I'm only mildly interested in stuff involving the MGM movie, and not interested at all in collecting. There are a lot of people who come to the conventions just for those things, though. I don't mind their being catered to, but I wish there were some other organized activity for those of us who aren't interested in them. I guess that would mean the convention would cost even MORE money, though. Besides, I know some presenters at the Centennial Convention complained that not enough people attended their programs. There was one presenter who flew in from Russia, and only a few people attended his session, because most of the guests were attending other programs. There's also always an auction that lasts several hours, during which there's very little else to do. I've bought things at the auction before, but I'm usually only interested in a few items, and have little to no desire to sit through the rest.
Regardless of all this, I'm sure I'd still have fun at an Oz Convention. I keep telling myself, "I'll go next year." Then the next year rolls around, and I come up with more excuses. I'll probably go again someday, though. Maybe when I get a full-time job (like THAT will ever happen).
And, on an unrelated note, I'm worried that I'll run out of ear medicine before I'm supposed to stop taking it. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, though.
bethje and I go to. I guess I didn't mind paying that much when there weren't a lot of other fun things I wanted to do throughout the year, and I didn't have bills to pay. It was the one time of year when I would spend a significant amount of money on something.There's also the distance factor. When I used to attend the Munchkin Convention, it was held right outside Wilmington. After that, it was moved to Hershey. This year it's in Princeton, which isn't TOO far away, but is hardly as convenient for me. I mean, I've gone farther away for smaller events, but if it were as close as it used to be, I might just decide to go at the last minute.
One thing I liked about the Centennial Convention was that there were always several things happening at one time. The smaller conventions, on the other hand, usually only have one program at a time. This means that, if it's something that doesn't interest me, I can either sit through it anyway, or figure out some other way to kill the time. I'm only mildly interested in stuff involving the MGM movie, and not interested at all in collecting. There are a lot of people who come to the conventions just for those things, though. I don't mind their being catered to, but I wish there were some other organized activity for those of us who aren't interested in them. I guess that would mean the convention would cost even MORE money, though. Besides, I know some presenters at the Centennial Convention complained that not enough people attended their programs. There was one presenter who flew in from Russia, and only a few people attended his session, because most of the guests were attending other programs. There's also always an auction that lasts several hours, during which there's very little else to do. I've bought things at the auction before, but I'm usually only interested in a few items, and have little to no desire to sit through the rest.
Regardless of all this, I'm sure I'd still have fun at an Oz Convention. I keep telling myself, "I'll go next year." Then the next year rolls around, and I come up with more excuses. I'll probably go again someday, though. Maybe when I get a full-time job (like THAT will ever happen).
And, on an unrelated note, I'm worried that I'll run out of ear medicine before I'm supposed to stop taking it. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, though.
