AniaR
10-04-2017, 06:35 PM
Hey folks, as you've all seen by now Mermania is on Hiatus. After seeing lots of rumors flying around and drama I wanted to take a few moments to set a few things clear for everyone.
First of all, I am thankful for all your support for the past 2 mermania events. We pulled off a lot- didn't we? And many hands helped. I am so glad everyone enjoyed themselves so much!
As you know, I did the majority of the prep work prior to mermania with some help from Daphne. Around December, I was joined by Venessa (who had taken time off earlier to deal with her home flooding) and Veronica, and my partner Sean. We were the main people running the show once it got started. Dan is the owner of Mermania, but you may have noticed he wasn't seen as much this year. This was because he had recently added a new member from his family and has to travel to China to get her, and mermania was her FIRST weekend with her family!
After Mermania, we ran a feedback survey to get an idea of what could be improved upon, and I took this very seriously. So much so that I took several event planning courses on those topics and created a proposal for 2018's event. Things were running smoothly. I reached out to some potential special guests, was contacted by several sponsors, and media, and you'll remember I set everything up for our volunteering program (which was like planning a con in itself).
At this point, we were waiting for Dan to secure dates with the GAC, and our preferred hotel venue. These are not things Venessa and Sean and I are legally allowed to do. Especially Sean and I as we are in another country. They must be done by the person who owns the LLC.
Now remember, none of us are paid, this is all volunteer. But as a registered LLC we have to be compliant with all laws, insurance requirements, and contract standards.
After months of no reply from the event owner, Venessa and I made it clear that we wouldn't be able to go forward without some kind of commitment. Neither of us has the capital to front (though I did try, the tricky thing is again me being international, and the currency difference for me) We are a bigger con now, and special guests need to be compensated, and deposits need to be paid. Venessa and I started to get stressed because we honestly need at LEAST 8 months but preferably a year to have enough time to get a 2018 event planned and with more and more silence, the amount of time we would have got smaller and smaller.
To be clear, neither Venessa or I or anyone else who worked on mermania 2017 have heard anything from the owner since April. Not a "I'm sorry I'm busy and this isn't priority" not a "Im not sure I want to do this again" and not a "I'm dealing with something more important right now". And even the communication we got following Mermania, was very very sparse.
Dan doesn't owe anyone a convention, just like us staff don't owe anyone a year's worth of our lives for free. But the thing was, Venessa and I and Sean were all ready to tackle it again provided we took a more proactive approach to volunteering and recruited more help. I do want people to remember as well that just because one group of friends put on an event - doesn't mean they are responsible for the entire community's access to events.
So I need to make this part very clear, mermania is NOT on hiatus because of LACK OF FUNDS. There are many amazing sponsors who I know would have no issue fronting money so we could get things off the ground. It is because legally, we cannot go forward with the currently established convention. I personally, cannot host a convention legally and liability wise remotely from another country (there are all KINDS of issues with taxes and border control), and Venessa has a family, her own business, and honestly neither of us signed up to start over from scratch and take the financial/legal risk- you know? it's a tremendous amount to ask of someone.
I'd also like to address a rumor that Mermania turned down a sponsorship. This is not true, and the person who wanted to sponsor went on record over and over again saying this, and for those interested I created a video showing the behind the scenes of our website/emailing system to prove to people that no one was denied. We wouldn't turn away free money https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f9f/1/16/1f61b.png:p
So where does that leave us? Well first of all, I'd like to encourage ANYONE who wants to run a meetup or a convention to go ahead and do so. No, you are not stepping on toes, no I do not see you as competition. I would sincerely be relieved to have someone else pick up the mantle please.
I do want to caution eager folks though of a few lessons we learned the hard way:
-Our convention cost aprox 40k. We tried to make that covered with sponsorship and ticket sales, but due to some lack of communication that we were unaware of, we went over budget. NO ONE was paid anything. So consider if we were to put on a third mermania, not only would it cost more as a base cost simply to accommodate our needs, but it will also cost more because special guests would expect to be paid and compensated. And yes, while he didn't advertise it, if you had a "free" room, chances were Sean paid it. The hotel did not provide us with much in that regard.
-liabilities and insurance apply! A chunk of the cost must go to those and the required legal documentation (my lawyer allowed us to alter existing documentation she created for waivers etc but that was still a cost fronted by me. yup, just the forms you sign cost money to make!)
-Taxes apply. Everything has to be accounted for, and filed, and has to be filed under something or someone! (in this case, the LLC)
-Lots and lots of hidden fees. Did you know we were charged for every single chair we rented? For rooms in our block that went unused? a portion of ticket prices and vendor tables had to go to the venues? Some vendors snuck second tables without our permission and venues charged us a FULL vendor price twice for those people! If an event ran over (such as the diversity panel did) we got charged extra for using those rooms. (i'm going to show a graph down below so people have an idea)
So by all means, if you are up to the task you have my blessing. I don't exactly want to give up on Mermania either, I feel like we were getting it so close to self sustaining! But I will encourage anyone else to step up and gladly lend resources when I can. There's no issue there. I will gladly come as a participant so I can actually see my friends https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f57/1/16/1f609.png;)
Finally, I'd really just like to ask for your understanding and compassion. Venessa and I got a lot of hate thrown at us, and this wasn't even our choice. We had no say in the matter. had things gone through as planned, we'd all be getting together in May. we are just as disappointed as you all are. A lot of people reach out to "help" but again, please remember neither of us is able/interested in simply "starting our own con".
We poured so much love, energy, sacrifice, and work into Mermania. Some of the comments I've seen have been so hurtful. Things saying we didn't really work hard, people saying we don't deserve to be paid anyway, total dismissal of how much lack of support we endured, and honestly, ignoring of all the behaviour we had to endure all year to put this event on for you. For many of you this is the ONLY time in the year you get to see each other and other merfolk. Well, it is the same for us. I waited all year to see my friends... and how many of you did I get to actually talk with? Not many https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/fcb/1/16/1f641.png:( usually just to say "sorry I am dealing with an emergency!"
Thank-you for reading so far. I am hopeful that there will be another con in the future. Whether someone buys the LLC and starts up Mermania again, or someone starts a new one. You are not limited to mermania! There are events being planned all over the globe, get out and connect with some other mers and have fun!
PS I attached a "at the start of con" expenses pie chart. It's very general and doesnt include hidden fees, but it's just an idea for you.
https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f6c/1/16/2764.png<3
42234
First of all, I am thankful for all your support for the past 2 mermania events. We pulled off a lot- didn't we? And many hands helped. I am so glad everyone enjoyed themselves so much!
As you know, I did the majority of the prep work prior to mermania with some help from Daphne. Around December, I was joined by Venessa (who had taken time off earlier to deal with her home flooding) and Veronica, and my partner Sean. We were the main people running the show once it got started. Dan is the owner of Mermania, but you may have noticed he wasn't seen as much this year. This was because he had recently added a new member from his family and has to travel to China to get her, and mermania was her FIRST weekend with her family!
After Mermania, we ran a feedback survey to get an idea of what could be improved upon, and I took this very seriously. So much so that I took several event planning courses on those topics and created a proposal for 2018's event. Things were running smoothly. I reached out to some potential special guests, was contacted by several sponsors, and media, and you'll remember I set everything up for our volunteering program (which was like planning a con in itself).
At this point, we were waiting for Dan to secure dates with the GAC, and our preferred hotel venue. These are not things Venessa and Sean and I are legally allowed to do. Especially Sean and I as we are in another country. They must be done by the person who owns the LLC.
Now remember, none of us are paid, this is all volunteer. But as a registered LLC we have to be compliant with all laws, insurance requirements, and contract standards.
After months of no reply from the event owner, Venessa and I made it clear that we wouldn't be able to go forward without some kind of commitment. Neither of us has the capital to front (though I did try, the tricky thing is again me being international, and the currency difference for me) We are a bigger con now, and special guests need to be compensated, and deposits need to be paid. Venessa and I started to get stressed because we honestly need at LEAST 8 months but preferably a year to have enough time to get a 2018 event planned and with more and more silence, the amount of time we would have got smaller and smaller.
To be clear, neither Venessa or I or anyone else who worked on mermania 2017 have heard anything from the owner since April. Not a "I'm sorry I'm busy and this isn't priority" not a "Im not sure I want to do this again" and not a "I'm dealing with something more important right now". And even the communication we got following Mermania, was very very sparse.
Dan doesn't owe anyone a convention, just like us staff don't owe anyone a year's worth of our lives for free. But the thing was, Venessa and I and Sean were all ready to tackle it again provided we took a more proactive approach to volunteering and recruited more help. I do want people to remember as well that just because one group of friends put on an event - doesn't mean they are responsible for the entire community's access to events.
So I need to make this part very clear, mermania is NOT on hiatus because of LACK OF FUNDS. There are many amazing sponsors who I know would have no issue fronting money so we could get things off the ground. It is because legally, we cannot go forward with the currently established convention. I personally, cannot host a convention legally and liability wise remotely from another country (there are all KINDS of issues with taxes and border control), and Venessa has a family, her own business, and honestly neither of us signed up to start over from scratch and take the financial/legal risk- you know? it's a tremendous amount to ask of someone.
I'd also like to address a rumor that Mermania turned down a sponsorship. This is not true, and the person who wanted to sponsor went on record over and over again saying this, and for those interested I created a video showing the behind the scenes of our website/emailing system to prove to people that no one was denied. We wouldn't turn away free money https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f9f/1/16/1f61b.png:p
So where does that leave us? Well first of all, I'd like to encourage ANYONE who wants to run a meetup or a convention to go ahead and do so. No, you are not stepping on toes, no I do not see you as competition. I would sincerely be relieved to have someone else pick up the mantle please.
I do want to caution eager folks though of a few lessons we learned the hard way:
-Our convention cost aprox 40k. We tried to make that covered with sponsorship and ticket sales, but due to some lack of communication that we were unaware of, we went over budget. NO ONE was paid anything. So consider if we were to put on a third mermania, not only would it cost more as a base cost simply to accommodate our needs, but it will also cost more because special guests would expect to be paid and compensated. And yes, while he didn't advertise it, if you had a "free" room, chances were Sean paid it. The hotel did not provide us with much in that regard.
-liabilities and insurance apply! A chunk of the cost must go to those and the required legal documentation (my lawyer allowed us to alter existing documentation she created for waivers etc but that was still a cost fronted by me. yup, just the forms you sign cost money to make!)
-Taxes apply. Everything has to be accounted for, and filed, and has to be filed under something or someone! (in this case, the LLC)
-Lots and lots of hidden fees. Did you know we were charged for every single chair we rented? For rooms in our block that went unused? a portion of ticket prices and vendor tables had to go to the venues? Some vendors snuck second tables without our permission and venues charged us a FULL vendor price twice for those people! If an event ran over (such as the diversity panel did) we got charged extra for using those rooms. (i'm going to show a graph down below so people have an idea)
So by all means, if you are up to the task you have my blessing. I don't exactly want to give up on Mermania either, I feel like we were getting it so close to self sustaining! But I will encourage anyone else to step up and gladly lend resources when I can. There's no issue there. I will gladly come as a participant so I can actually see my friends https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f57/1/16/1f609.png;)
Finally, I'd really just like to ask for your understanding and compassion. Venessa and I got a lot of hate thrown at us, and this wasn't even our choice. We had no say in the matter. had things gone through as planned, we'd all be getting together in May. we are just as disappointed as you all are. A lot of people reach out to "help" but again, please remember neither of us is able/interested in simply "starting our own con".
We poured so much love, energy, sacrifice, and work into Mermania. Some of the comments I've seen have been so hurtful. Things saying we didn't really work hard, people saying we don't deserve to be paid anyway, total dismissal of how much lack of support we endured, and honestly, ignoring of all the behaviour we had to endure all year to put this event on for you. For many of you this is the ONLY time in the year you get to see each other and other merfolk. Well, it is the same for us. I waited all year to see my friends... and how many of you did I get to actually talk with? Not many https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/fcb/1/16/1f641.png:( usually just to say "sorry I am dealing with an emergency!"
Thank-you for reading so far. I am hopeful that there will be another con in the future. Whether someone buys the LLC and starts up Mermania again, or someone starts a new one. You are not limited to mermania! There are events being planned all over the globe, get out and connect with some other mers and have fun!
PS I attached a "at the start of con" expenses pie chart. It's very general and doesnt include hidden fees, but it's just an idea for you.
https://static-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f6c/1/16/2764.png<3
42234