Although I'm sure it's in the back of all our minds, BUCK 2016 can be put to one side as far as this post is concerned. I'm just going to give my current feelings with regard to the four My Little Pony conventions that have been announced for the UK during this year. As usual, please remember that I have absolutely no official links with any of them, other than that I may attend one or more over the months. So...
UK PonyCon
If I only attend one pony convention in 2015, then it will probably be this one. We have an advantage in this community over others (furry, for example) in that all our cons are all-ages affairs – but UK PonyCon is the event where that means the most. Unlike the brony-centric cons, it's not a case of 90% 16-25-year-olds, and the wider spread appeals a lot. I also like the lower-key, more informal approach compared with the likes of BUCK – and, yes, the lower ticket prices!
GBBC
This may have pushed itself into second place in my possibles list. Being in Manchester city centre helps, as does the fact that guests have been announced who actually mean something: Glaze, for example. It's probably going to be the most expensive of the four: the £60 Standard ticket includes a Friday-night concert, but just being cheaper than BUCK (or ConFuzzled) isn't in itself good enough. I also have some concerns about GBBC being run effectively by one person, however sincere that one person may be.
BronyScot
If it weren't so damn far to Edinburgh, this would be in second place – but it is, so it isn't. Scores points for being run by a limited company, having handled itself very well last year and being willing to engage with its fellow con organisers. (They liaised with UK PonyCon to ensure no repeat of last year's clash of dates.) Ticket prices will probably be reasonable, but I've seen slightly too many potential attendees for comfort talk about how much of each evening they're going to spend drinking, and that doesn't attract me at all.
MLC
Unfortunately, this has to go at the bottom of the list, simply because there are still far too many uncertainties for it to go anywhere else. The guests announced so far largely consist of relatively low-profile YouTubers; there's nobody who a casual fan would have heard of. For £50, I think they need more than that. Southport is an okay host town, but it's not as good as an actual city and a little close to Manchester for comfort. Finally, there are still too many uncertainties about MLC's organisation and funding.
I really hope that, perhaps against the odds, they do manage to make a success of MLC. They've obviously got the ideas and the enthusiasm, but it does worry me that the money just isn't there. I'd love there to be another *good* pony convention - I'm just not convinced that a selection of Youtubers is going to be enough to get fans there. (No offence in any way intended to said guests, obviously, but we're not talking Aviators or Acousticbrony kind of levels here. It would be like Glastonbury announcing that *I* was going to be the headline act this year. ;) ) I don't really know what the answers are, because without the money it isn't possible to attract the kind of guests that the convention would need, and I don't really see where that level of funding can come from.
ReplyDeleteI really did like the sound of UK Ponycon from what you said about it last year and if I were going to choose any convention (not just pony ones) to go to, I think I'd love to go to that one in particular. I absolutely cannot make any plans or promises at this point, but I am vaguely thinking about it. Just that, this far ahead and with so much going on, I can't really do more than just say "I might be able to." And nerves and such would play a major role in that decision too. But it does sound just the kind of thing I'd like to see, at least once.
I'm still hoping they'll do an 80s theme though. Rainbow and her mullet would feel very at home and... umm... she's behind me, isn't she? ;)
Of course, old-gen Rainbow was a very different animal from G4 Rainbow! :P But yes, I agree with all of that. Though I didn't realise you were playing Glastonbury this year...
DeleteNaturally. Me and Da Funky Hooves will be playing some banging hiphop trance techno glitch grungy garage grime beats just like last year.
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