SoCal Mermaid Convention ~ Kelpstock 2017

[Mermaid Clarity]

Coming back from my apparent hiatus to second Wesley's comment.

We were working on this. Kelpstock was my baby and I dedicated a lot of time to sort it out. We worked incredibly hard and I was willing to go very broke to make happen. The truth is that conventions and things in the capacity that I wanted to make it happen are EXPENSIVE and require a lot of legal work and responsibility that a lot of people did not want to shoulder (with good reason.) it got to the point where a professional party planner told me to stop for fear I'd put myself in a financial and legal position I might not be able to come back from. Still the enthusiasm everyone has is AMAZING and is a good indication that we know we'll have support in the future.

Honestly, the best thing any of you guys can do right now to make Kelpstock happen would be to brainstorm fundraising. Planning these things is like having two full time jobs, both of which don't pay.


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[Ashton]

^^Exactly . We priced it out and needed about $30,000+ to do it the way we wanted to. We wanted make it an amazing experience for everyone, and we wanted to do it the right way.

Our ideas were fun and realistic, it wasn't like we were trying to do something crazy. Everything costs more in Los Angeles, and especially in summer.


Next to the beach = $$$$$ . (hotel was had their own pool, but was across the street from a lagoon where a lot of the swim ideas were going to happen)
Insurance= $$$$$$ .
Summer time! = beach hotel busy season = $$$$$$
Having a dance= $$$
Having panels = $$ (not many, just a few to start off with, but that meant booking more event space)
Advertising= $$$



And by the way, EVEN thought I am in Texas, does not mean that I am not connected still to California and all my friends in it. In fact, I am here right now.
So if you could not make assumptions about my life, that would be great.

[malinghi]

I'm very impressed with the work that was put in to kelpstock, and I'm still optimistic about it down the road.

By the way, to put into perspective the challenges of putting this together without going broke, I was reading a news article about the ill fated Fyre Festival that you've all probably heard of by now, and the news story pointed out that most festivals lose money their first year, including Coachella. Hearing that one of the biggest and most successful annual events in the country lost money the first year was a sobering reality check.

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[Khaleesi Daenerys]

And by the way, EVEN thought I am in Texas, does not mean that I am not connected still to California and all my friends in it. In fact, I am here right now.
So if you could not make assumptions about my life, that would be great.

Who questioned you? That's not cool.

[AniaR]

It cost around 34-35,000$ to put on mermania. It's no easy task at all, people have ZERO idea. And that's just with everyone involved volunteering and no one being paid a cent. And that was in North Carolina lol

[Lorelei Edelweiss]

Mermaid Wesley, Selkish, and Ashton: Thank you for updating everyone. We were all very curious!

Khaleesi: When the thread went quiet, I dug around trying to find answers, so I was the one who speculated that if Ashton had moved to TX, it might be too hard for her to still help with a CA event. Ashton subsequently gave us an update indicating that she doesn't find that distance a problem, especially since she can visit CA.

Ashton: Sorry about that! I've updated my earlier post.

Everybody: A lot of events start small their first year and then grow annually and slowly so as not to break their bank at any point along the way. If you look back through event histories you often see an event that was first a two-hour gathering or dinner, then an afternoon event, then a full-day event, then a two-day event, then a two-day event with a hotel involved, etc etc etc.

Years ago I was involved in a special-interest online chatroom club that eventually met up in a small hotel room for a weekend. The next year one of us booked a hotel conference room too, so we could all gather with more space. Later years saw rental of the hotel ballroom and the addition of vendors. That event has over the years gotten bigger and bigger, changed venues, changed cities, updated the name, and currently starts on Thursday night and runs through Sunday, with dozens of vendors and hundreds of enthusiasts in attendance. So yup, gradual growth is safest.

With that in mind, if we could support this CA team with an initial small gathering that wouldn't cost them $ out of their own pockets -- many of us would need to be willing to do quite a drive to show our support -- then they could ponder safe growth from such a starting point. If anyone even has a backdoor pool and would be willing to host an afternoon/evening gathering this summer, that would be something. Hugs to all!

[Mermaid Clarity]

Lorelei: there have been talks about doing something smaller. And in general the mermaids local to SoCal do get together for meet ups in the summer (though there's been some drama regarding the pod that's slowed us down in that regard. Quelle suprise.) Making the jump from a bunch of fish hanging in a pool to an EVENT is the hard part and we're a LARGE pod even without out of town guests. Don't worry though. Without giving too much away... things are... being considered


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[Ashton]

We want Kelpstock to work, but we need to get a few things figured out first. It is not 100% dead- lets just call it "on hiatus" .

[Lorelei Edelweiss]

Thank you for the replies, Selkish and Ashton

[Ashton]

@ Lorelie: No prob

[Black.Pearl]

If Kelpstock is on hiatus, why not organize just like a meet at a beach. Nothing to fancy, who ever wants to go. There's a place in corona Del Mar that would be perfect. I personally would just love to meet other Merfolk and hang out at the beach.


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[Mermaid Clarity]

Black Pearl, smaller meet ups are usually handled via the pod Facebook group or the forum here. https://m.facebook.com/groups/271568969577492 there are definitely a couple already planned or being executed. I think a lot of us are just holding off until it warms up. If you're a cali mermaid, you should totally organize something!


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[Khaleesi Daenerys]

I'd be happy with even a small meetup nearby once in awhile. Pool or beach both are fine with me. I'm not on Facebook though so I can't see the meets on there.

[Mermaid Wesley]

I'd be happy with even a small meetup nearby once in awhile. Pool or beach both are fine with me. I'm not on Facebook though so I can't see the meets on there.

Ah theres your problem. I'll try to remember to post about meetups on here the next time we have one. I made a facebook specifically because most of the meetups are coordinated there. When its warmer, we usually have quite a few meetups.

[Merman Storm]

There is a mer-friendly pool near me that is heated all year.

[Ashton]

If you are looking for meet ups, I recommend looking on the facebook. That is the best place to find them. But make sure to do the OFFICIAL facebook group: The California Merfolk Pod https://www.facebook.com/groups/2715...492/?ref=br_rs

[Khaleesi Daenerys]

Ah theres your problem. I'll try to remember to post about meetups on here the next time we have one. I made a facebook specifically because most of the meetups are coordinated there. When its warmer, we usually have quite a few meetups.

Thank you Wesley

[Mermaid Clarity]

Lorelei, you've been added


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