We're slowly (sometimes too slowly) making it for OctopodiCon. We've passed the first three financial hurdles - by the hairs of our chinny-chin-chins - and have but 2 more to go.
Next up is creating a series of exciting videos about OctopodiCon in order to do a Kickstarter. Yesterday, I took over 300 photos and nearly an hour of video footage. There's enough material there with the photos from past Teas to make a fairly comprehensive collection of Kickstarter videos.
Now, all we have to do is find someone who can put them together with music into a series of 6 short (60 - 120 second) videos and a couple fo photo montages. Our Bursar and I talked about this and decided we could, would, and should pay someone to do this for us since no one on the ConCom can do it. We'd pay a percentage of the money raised - if the Kickstarter is successful, they get that percentage. If the Kickstarter fails, no one gets anything.
This isn't our only avenue of seeking funds, just the most likely to bring it in fast enough to meet the last 2 financial deadlines.
Everything else is on schedule - the classes, makeshops, entertainment, vendors, everything is ticking along just as it ought to and going very well. We have the Teas scheduled through the library to lead up to OctopodiCon.
The money for this latest financial deadline was provided with some strings attached - we have to raise the next financial deadline's funds by July 1st or we cancel the event. That will leave me with just $9,000.00 in cancelation fees, tight but doable since I will be allowed to repay it over the next 5 years.
I don't want to disappoint all the people counting on this convention. It's got a huge amount of community interest and a lot of dedicated people working to pull it together.
So, we're doing the Kickstarter, we put a "donation" buttin on the front page of the website, we got leads for several people who may sponsor one part or another of the convention, and maybe even provide us with another zero or low interest loan to help make it happen.
We are pushing people to enroll ($35 for the weekend from now until June 1st - if the reponse is large enough, we may exend that to July 1st, when the price goes up to $45 for the weekend), and pushing for hotel reservations - if we get 488 room nights reserved, the venue will give us a $10,000 discount, if we reach 980 room nights, we get another $10,000 discount, and if we get over 1472 room night reserved (which we can do because we have 2 hotels involved), then we get the venue discounted to zero dollars. It's possible we will reach that number of room nights - that's 700 people staying 2 nights and some staying 3 or 4 nights. Since we are expecting 2,500 people, we might hit that goal. Plus, with 2,500 attendees, at $35 a person (our lowest price, since at-the-door is $50), we make $87,000 dollars - enough to pay for this convention and have a decent start on next year's convention, where we can do so much more - the monthly Teas could be wow instead of really good.
Investing in OctopodiCon is a great idea because our goal is to get kids and adults fascinated with science, with making things, inventing things, learning new things - and they get to do this with real scientists, real artists, real authors, real historians from universities around the area - Texas A&M, Rice, OU, OSU, UCO, OCU, Rose State, and others, as well as respected artists like Brad Foster, Bev Hale, and more. And they get to shop....and have Tea...and make things...and show off their costuming, not just what they make and bring to the convention, but things they can make and wear at the convention...and they can compete for cash prizes as well as prestige prizes.
We're steaming up the future - investigating old science with modern eyes and techniques. Who knows what e'll inspire or where they will go because of OctopodiCon. Look at the inspiration Star Trek was to scientists. We don't expect to be quite as inspirational as that, but even inspiring a few scientists, of fostering interest in some things.
When we were manning a table at the Free Comic Book Day, we talked with several kids who loved tinkering, making robots and weird engines and things, and OctopodiCon has a couple of contests that lit their eyes up. They were already planning their devices to enter.
We can't let those kids down.
So, I'm pushing nad nagging my ConCom to get out here and sell ads and sell enrollments and sell hotel rooms because all of this will help us pay for the convention - and the Kickstarter, that's going to (please!) help with the front money to get this project kick-started and goin on its own.
If any of y'all know anyone who wants to buy an ad in our program guide, or to place an ad on our website or have a sponsor listing on the web site, or to hang ad banners in the conventon center, or to buy space in our registration packets or to place on our Sponsors table in order to support an event that will fostor a love of science through an immersive 3 day steampunk event and monthly Teas, please share that information with us - I promise we will send them our demographic information and marketing research and will promote them to not just those who attend our convention, but also their friends, and to those who wanted to attend our convention but couldn't.