http://visualweasel.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] visualweasel.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] calimac 2011-07-21 02:13 pm (UTC)

A question and a comment

David, did Corey give a paper of his own, or did he do no more than organize a group of others to do so? If he did give a paper, what was the subject, and how was it?

The comment — apart from echoing you, David, that even a lot of the "oldtimers" are introverts (though I am not one of these; nor would I yet call myself an oldtimer :) — is to suggest that one reason some first-timers don't come back is that some of them — an increasing number, I believe, though this is just an impression, not backed by any hard evidence — are graduate students looking for an opportunity to present a paper, and not necessarily looking for a new social group to belong to. If they can give a paper on a topic they enjoy at a fun event, so much the better, but the main objective is to fatten their vitae. Thus you find a number of *local* first-timers who come to Mythcon but for whom traveling to other cities in subsequent years is a bit more investment than they care to (or are able to) make. I know that at Mythcon 41 in Dallas we had quite a few of these. One or two are totally won over and do return, but many do not, or cannot.

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