TFCON Vancouver....?

[Darth Wave]

So what would it take to have a TFCON Vancouver?:confused::confused::confused:

- Is there a reason we don't have one on the west coast?
- Could members on here put this event together?

I mean we have the "The Naughty But Nice Sex Show" so why not a TFCON... it's a different type of toy show but hey... come on! ;);)

[Nightscrabbler]

Well, there's probably no harm in telling you that the idea has been floated. But of course, it would be very challenging and take a lot of resources and a lot of effort/initiative from the local transformers fans.

I'd like to see it happen, but there's some distance to go for an idea to become a proposal. Vancouver is a wonderful city.

[Mumps]

I wouldn't mind seeing a western canada con. Either Calgary or Edmonton. But could we get enough hype, and attendance, and of course quality (I have no idea the quality of TFCon, as I have never been there, I assume it's awesome, lol)?

Lets face it. Due to how the population is spread out across Canada, Toronto is the best place to have a con for... anything! There are generally more TF fans out there than there are here, just by assuming the same percentage of nerds exist there that do up here.

We have a handfull of people who fly/drive out to TFCon every year. And if we had one out here, maybe a handfull of people from Eastern Canada would fly/drive out here. Not the same attendance.

All of that said, I'd give my left foot for a TFCon in Western Canada!

[Darth Wave]

hmmm... TFCon in Western Canada!

yeah.. Shan you make a good point on resources but it's sad to see how we can muster up all the resources for the sex show but not TFCon. I guess we have more perverts then we do TF fans on the west coast.

[GMfan]

I was going to discuss this on episode 8 of Slag before I had to cancel it....Unfortunately I don't see this happening as most of the TFcon staff live in Ontario and a few in Quebec so organizing a show on the opposite end of the country just isn't feasible.

[Lysist]

I have always wanted to have just any kind of fan gathering. I don't care if it is a Denny's at two in the morning or The new convention center packed full. (Though the latter would be MUCH cooler.)

I think that as a community we are actually very isolated. We all have the same interest just with our own unique ways of collecting. We have the people. I think that we have a higher per capita ratio of transformers fans then Toronto. IMOP. I hope that we can start something. TFcon was tiny the first couple of times. Ours would be too. So what would it take? Space, sponors/venders, guests(if we can get anyone), activites. This should be possable. We just have to start small, work hard, and hope that it pans out. We also have to get orginized.

[Nerroth]

If a full-on con is too much to organise right now, maybe an idea could be to expand upon the TF presence at Anime Evolution?


(I was at the one held back in '04, but I have no idea how that event is nowadays...)

[Sureshot22]

lol well there is more people interested in sex overall then transformers. though alot of those that are transformers fans might never have sex :P lol i've seen some lol.

but anyhow. I'm sure if you all wanted to you could organize something and like was said it would start small. maybe very small but it would be a start and could grow from there.

talk to the people here that organized the one in toronto and find out how its all done or where to begin and go from there. like gmfan said, all the staff now are from ontario or quebec but im sure they wouldn't mind pointing you in the right direction to start one of your own.

doesn't hurt to ask.

[Nightscrabbler]

Hypothetically, just for the sake of discussion... if the TFcon staff were to try to do it, here's what I think it would be like:

Several months of research and work by local fan liaisons to prepare and deal with issues like the venue, dealers, marketing avenues. It would have to start fairly small in comparison to the present TFcon. Vancouver TF community would have to coordinate marketing efforts on the scene. Portion of our Toronto TFcon staff coordinates a trip there to run the event when the day arrived. Possibly a pre-event trip there to scout it. Somehow a part of these travel costs would need to be absorbed by a sponsor or the con itself if possible. It would then need to be a major effort by the local fans to use that same infrastructure to run the event the following year without the eastern staff present. However, it would also require a major commitment from the new western staff to learn those methods properly, because no one over here would want to be associated with the show out there if it was having major problems all because the techniques weren't really being followed.

But such a big project has the main obstacle that everyone here puts the convention together in their spare time and it would be extremely difficult to make time for it. So as GMfan said, not really possible.

What's more realistic is for a bunch of you Vancouverites to get together and try to work on it yourself. Rent a room for a day, not a hall-a gymnasium perhaps- and contact all the dealers/collectors you know to fill it up and then do some grassroots advertising to get the word out. You build from something small. If you could go back in time to TFcon 2002, you'd see it was cool, but nothing like the present TFcon. It won't happen overnight, but if there are a few of you who want to make it happen and are willing to make an effort, it's doable.

[Lysist]

What's more realistic is for a bunch of you Vancouverites to get together and try to work on it yourself. Rent a room for a day, not a hall-a gymnasium perhaps- and contact all the dealers/collectors you know to fill it up and then do some grassroots advertising to get the word out. You build from something small. If you could go back in time to TFcon 2002, you'd see it was cool, but nothing like the present TFcon. It won't happen overnight, but if there are a few of you who want to make it happen and are willing to make an effort, it's doable.

This is more inline with what I am hoping to see/do. I would be more then willing to help organize and promote something along these lines. I think that we have enough small dealers and enough independents that we could pull this off. We can advertise her and that c-list place. I am sure it can be done. It will take work and possibly some cash on the parts of the fans but it would be worth it. TFcon didn't have the advantages that we do now.

[pandaprime]

I am wondering if anyone knows of any convention or expo type events happening in the Vancouver, BC area that involves transformers? :confused:

any tips would be appreciated! :)

[miasboytoy]

the closet one is cybercon down in tacoma wash. we never have anythin here. maybe a toy show here and there but its all junk compared to any big convention like botcon or tfcon. cybercon was small but way better than any toy show that ive been to in the 604 area.

[C_Shewins]

Not that I know of......it is kinda suck here we dont' have such event. I wish we have one.

[TFtoys]

well, the Cons does need money support as well. Venders and sponsors are the major money source for the cons. Even though those local venders could breakeven the cost in the Cons, it does not bring much revenue in the daily basis. For instance, most of us would like to buy Deluxe in the big retailers like TRU.
Furthermore, I guess Toronto has more TF collector density and population.

But how does TFcons decide to start in Toronto?

[Badgertron]

Vancouver is host to many conventions, most notably Anime Evolution, which brought in almost 5000 people last year. There are hundreds of collectors here (I used to run a website cataloging them!) So I know there would be interest. Having some kind of event in Vancouver would also be tapping into all the collectors down in the Seattle area (Washington conventions pull even bigger numbers than Vancouver cons, so I know there's some crossover there!).

[Robimus]

I think the thing to do would be to organize your own convention. Up and moving TFCon out of Toronto doesn't seem like a solid idea, but having another TF convention could work.

[Endersrun]

If the pool of fandom isn't huge, perhaps you can join forces with an existing small convention like Scifi, Anime or Comics and have some Transformers related Q&A's with some voice actors. (Aren't there major voice talents that live in the Vancouver area? Aren't David Kaye and Gary Chalk from around there...?) Getting Local artists and talent will save you tons in terms of travel and hotels.

Teaming up could work to your benefit as you could learn from each other and share the cost and marketing (and there usually is crossover appeal.) Doesn't the TfCon share space with the Action Figure Expo? They both advertise heavily here.

[Nightscrabbler]

(Aren't there major voice talents that live in the Vancouver area? Aren't David Kaye and Gary Chalk from around there...?)

Yes, this is one major advantage that a Vancouver convention would have.

[brr-icy]

snip Doesn't the TfCon share space with the Action Figure Expo? They both advertise heavily here.

this year it did, but last year no

[Beechy]

Doesn't the TfCon share space with the Action Figure Expo? They both advertise heavily here.


That's because the staff of TFCon also runs the AFX.