☆ THE CASE FOR THE COSPLAY GUEST ☆ (A look at issues faced by conventions, cosplayers, and how being mutually aware can bring out the best in both.) (NOTE: If you are having trouble reading this on Facebook, please check out the same article on my website at pharaohmone/#!about1/cubi ) As pop culture becomes increasingly main stream, more and more attendees pour into their local fandom festivals. These events range from heart-warming gatherings of shared interest to star-attracting behemoths that take up entire convention centers, hotels, and in some cases, a citys downtown. The performance art known as Cosplay, a portmanteau of costume play, has also become increasingly popular among attendees. Where once the art form might have been considered a series of tricks of the trade passed from one fan to another through panels, the art of cosplay is steadily growing to be as appreciated and widespread as Halloweens traditions. That said, the blurring of lines between performance art and tradition sometimes makes it difficult for event coordinators and performance artists to justify allocating portions of a conventions budget towards cosplay-themed events and official support for the hobby. This article serves to explain the importance of financial support of cosplay by conventions, while also attempting, where appropriate, to contrast various financial allocations on a badge-by-badge budgetary breakdown. With better mutual understanding, conventions and their supporters can properly support cosplay while being careful not to overextend themselves so as to be a detriment to the hobby. I. BASIC BUDGET ALLOCATION & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ISSUES FACING CONVENTIONS Conventions are costly endeavors. While every events situation is unique, many conventions typically contract with a hotel as their event space. Typically, such a deal involves allocating a better price based on a guaranteed number of rooms being sold in a block. This room rate is advertised through the convention, and helps fill up the hotels empty rooms on what would otherwise be an off-season weekend. This also allows the hotel to prove that it can meet the needs of large-scale events, allowing that hotel to attract further event business. Room rates can be affected by a deposit made by the convention in order to secure the deal, and such a deposit is likely required when the hotel is not in dire need of the business(where they might otherwise use the space for another paying customer on the proposed date.) On top of paying off any remaining event space bills at the conclusion of the convention, other expenses include registration services, advertising, appearance fees for guests and bands, and other necessaries. Pre-registration monies collected prior to the convention help pay off expenses as they arise, which underscores the importance of pre-registering for a convention. The importance of these funds explains the need for conventions to offer reduced prices up-front, because the financial hit is outweighed by the immediacy of cash in hand. Conventions also acquire cash in hand by means of selling advertising and vendors space. The bulk of deposits and up-front costs might very well be paid by the sum of deposits made by returning vendors alone, with further bills being covered by pre-registration. With all of these competing costs, budgets can be tight. When a fan-favorite voice actor or famous band is invited to a convention as a guest, several costs can be incurred at once. Guests may require an appearance fee to make up for lost time. A voice actor could be working on a given weekend, or a band might be performing somewhere else. Guests may require travel expenses to be covered if they dont desperately need the promotion outlet. Guest accommodations, including per diem and private hotel rooms, are often a deal breaker. Some guests are willing to share hotel space with other guests, saving a tremendous amount on costs. That said, some bands require an individual room for each member, with additional space required for management and related staff. The convention must also ready rooms for its on-call staff, which may be limited severely by budget. Competing needs often leave little resources for a staff sometimes comprised wholly of volunteers, some who reside outside the area and are commuting into a city exclusively for the event. For that reason, cramped crash space shared among volunteers and staff is a common way to slim down the required amount of rooms. With these and other expenses incurred as soon as a guest is confirmed, a convention is justified in doing a cost-benefit analysis. If we invite this guest, how many attendees are going to buy a badge as a result? What kind of programming can this guest offer? What has been the turn-out for this guest at other conventions? Does this guest require additional equipment rentals? Do they require paid accommodations for their staff or other traveling companions? While fan programming might seem affordable in contrast, it also competes with existing industry commitments. It also suffers from the issue of programming redundancy, as there are often more fan programming requests than a convention can schedule time for. An event coordinator might have only so much breathing room given agreements between convention management and guests to have certain events during times that are most accommodating to a guests schedule. With a multitude of fan panel requests, redundancy and scheduling conflicts between convention-supported and third-party panelists create additional conundrums. Does the event coordinator accept a panel submission for two of the same kind of event? What if a third-party panelist wants to put on the same sort of programming as a convention-supported panelist? Essentially, every dollar at a convention is important. Every block of programming is complex and political. Where does Cosplay fit into all these concerns? II. THE COSTUME CONTEST: COMMUNITY & RETURN OF INVESTMENT While conventions may not be mindful of supporting their local costuming scene, they typically do so by virtue of tradition. While every convention is unique, many conventions build their schedule from the same skeleton. Guests of the conventions attend autograph signings and host question and answer panels. Musical guests do the same while also performing on stage. Massive dealers rooms allow for shopping during regularly scheduled hours each day of the convention. Certain live games and costume contests fill in the last large portions of programming, while industry and third-party panels supplement the remaining schedule. Conventions typically pepper their schedule with costume-related content, offering a cosplay contest or masquerade to give fans a way to strut their stuff while knocking out a healthy chunk of their programming needs. An affordable costume contest can be one of the best allocations of programming time at a convention. Unlike guest programming, a costume contest uses existing resources and current attendees in order to maximize community outreach. It can rightly be said to convention management that when they host a costume contest, attendees come to the convention to pay YOU to put on YOUR programming. If a convention already has a stage for primary/main events, then no additional expense is incurred by the convention. If the convention already has rented sound equipment, then that equipment and the staff that oversees it can be put to work during the costume contest. Careful trophy budgeting typically does not exceed two hundred dollars. In return for the use of existing resources and minimal investment, the convention and its attendees are awarded with a memorable addition to the events schedule. While the costume contest on its face seems like a wonderful way to create something from existing resources(something costuming attendees do quite well), it is also fraught with various pit traps that make convention staff shore it to the side. A poorly managed costume contest can run for hours if the registration, line-up, and judging process has not been properly stream lined. Awkward presentation and ineffective hosting can create a parade of horrors that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of participants and attendees. Limited trophy resources can cause very polarizing decisions between judges, creating negative post-contest discussion among attendees. In addition, there are many hidden costs in costume contests that make the budget conscious want to marginalize the event entirely. III. WHY CONVENTIONS FRET THE COST OF COSPLAY GUESTS Cosplay guests are invited by conventions for a number of reasons, whether the convention is trying to solidify commitments to the community or just competing to offer the best and most diverse line-up of industry figures possible. Cosplay, however, is not a uniform industry, and therefore the return of investment made by a convention differs on an artist by artist basis. As a category, cosplayers-as-artists may not represent the majority of given conventions attendees. Someone wearing a costume at a convention may have purchased a badge and worn their outfit merely for the joy of the event, regardless of its guest list. The impact of inviting a particular cosplay guest may vary depending on that artists experience, national influence, and a number of other factors. That said, the importance of the cosplay guest relies wholly on their performance and what they add to your programming. Any artist can make a lasting impact on the convention without having a national following, when given the chance. Cosplayers, when invited as industry guests, might expect the same accommodations as any other industry guest. Paid travel and hotel seem, on its face, appropriate for someone setting aside time to travel to an event and assist in putting on the programming. That said, a cosplay guest might not anticipate the concerns of convention management at first, those likely being: Is the performance/impact of this cosplay guest worth compensating them with a hotel room/vendors space/additional badges? Can I find a different artist who will travel to the convention without the need for a hotel room/vendors space/additional badges? An itemized invoice for a prospective cosplay guest who expects what they consider to be reasonable compensation might look like the following: *1 Hotel Room. *1 Vendors/Artists sales space. *2-4 Attendees Badges *(Optional travel costs.) However, convention management looking to cut costs might face the same itemized list and see the costs: *1 Hotel Room. (Thursday through Sunday at $100 - $200 a night.) *1 Vendors/Artists sales space. (Space that might otherwise be sold for $100 to $600 or more.) *2-4 Attendees Badges (Badges that might be sold for $30 to $100) *(Optional travel costs.) (Anywhere ranging from $100 to $1000) Suddenly, the conventions aspirations to support the community have become a bill of nearly a thousand or more dollars. And what of the average attendee? Consider the purchased attendance badge as a vote of the conventions support. If the attendees badge were priced at forty dollars, and the needs of a cosplayer equated for one thousand, four hundred dollars, it may be difficult to justify thirty-five or more attendees fronting a full-expense paid trip for a professional artist if they do not understand the significant impact a cosplay guest can make on their convention. IV. WHAT THE IDEAL COSPLAY GUEST WILL BRING TO THE TABLE Cosplay is a performance art. The art form involves intense amounts of time, skill, and resources poured into fabrication, but traditionally this costume is then worn by the person who makes it. The detail comes from love of the character or love of the art form. That said, the cosplay guest is a sub-sect of these performance artists who might need additional skills in order to justify themselves as worthy of a conventions already-stretched budget. What a convention might fear most is that they invest hundreds or more into a performance artist who isnt a traditional industry guest, and thus wont have the traditional draw of industry guests. If a convention invites a known actor, musician, or comic artist, that person likely already has a following who will purchase the conventions attendance badge in order to gain access to someone they would not otherwise get a chance to meet and greet. That said, the cosplay guest has the opportunity, drive, and responsibility to do quite a lot for their community as a representative when in the cosplay guest role. The art of public speaking is the distinguishing factor between the cosplayer and the cosplay guest. Skill in public speaking changes a convention staffs post event conversation from Why did we pay for this artists vacation? to Why didnt we invite this person to our convention sooner? A convention is all about getting together various resources to put on a wide variety of themed programming. Many conventions strive to have diverse, but equally meaningful, programming occurring at the same time. The ideal cosplay guest supplements that programming by passing on their art form through panels, answering questions to help engage the community. The cosplay guest is then stepping out of their role as artist, moving on to a mix of instructor and community leader. Many attendees have not tapped into the art form, and might otherwise find it inaccessible without someone engaging and accessible. Here are a list of questions a cosplayer can ask themselves as they work with a convention to provide a better experience for attendees: What kind of panels can I perform in order to help provide the best possible schedule for the convention? Am I allocating enough time in support of the convention over scheduling personal events, like photo shoots? Am I maintaining a professional demeanor at the event, rather than treating my time at the convention like a vacation? Am I interacting with attendees in a light that best reflects why the convention chose to invite me as a guest, along side these actors/musicians/industry professionals? What can I do to help shoulder the cost of an already stretched budget? (Can I room with other guests? Can I provide for my own local accommodations? Can I help with travel expenses?) Is the outfit I plan to wear best suited for the type of programming I will be assisting the convention with? (Can I move in this while I host? Can I sit in this while I judge? Do I have enough time to put this on?) Is there an established set of rules for the costume contest? What insight can I offer as someone who has competed before? The very role of cosplay guest also provides an end-game for a certain sub-sect of attendees, particularly those who want to come to a convention and pay to put on its programming. Without the cosplay guest, there may be no reason for certain professional artists to so feverishly attend and support local conventions. That said, the zenith of cosplay guest status is not a replacement for a healthy and successful life, and cosplay still is not a professional art form that replaces traditional occupations (although there are those few who have successfully made a living from cosplay alone.) With that in mind, cosplayers must not engage in an advertising cold war between each other, as their national following does not directly indicate their ability to perform under the varying pressures presented at a convention, be it scheduling or budgetary concerns. V. CONCLUSION. The right cosplay guest is an invaluable addition to programming and a bridge between convention and community. While providing accommodations alone does not give the convention infinite ownership over an artist, it does break the ice so that the convention and cosplay guest might engage in discussions that might better the overall experience of a given event. By working together, rather than merely arranging compensation and gambling on the actual progression of the weekend, a cosplay guest and convention might create experience for individual attendees that can last a life-time. That said, cosplay guests are entirely worth what budget that can be allocated to them, but must be willing to work with conventions and understand the unique problems of putting together events of the caliber and scale we as fans have come to expect. (Thank you for your interest! I have been cosplaying, performing panels, hosting and judging contests, as well as organizing at conventions for over ten years. I hope to share my insights to provide for better attendee experiences. For questions, concerns, and further discussion, please leave me a comment or message me directly!)
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:01:33 +0000
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