I also remember when the cons were just a bunch of folk getting together with some writers, producers, actors, anyone who could just 'drop in' and discuss things. The scramble for the buck nothwithstanding, I honestly hate these conventions where the actors stand on stage like performing animals. They do that almost every day just to make a living, for heaven's sake! I'm pretty sure that quite a few of them would like to just get down there and talk to the people who admire their work in the show.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of very obsessed fans out there who drop a few points of IQ when faced with the object of their desire and in those cases 'intelligent conversation or discussion' probably wouldn't actually happen. A lot of giggling, drooling and goggling would be more like it! For a lot of them, just talking to these people isn't what they want..... probably they don't actually even know what they DO want. Just to get the attention of the person I suppose.
I guess this is why I reacted the way I did when everyone hastened to point out to me that Ron Halder had been at the con and I had missed out somehow by not being there. I didn't....I preferred to be in Egypt. I loved the character of Cronus and still do, but he isn't real and I know nothing about Ron Halder, who I am sure is a nice guy and undoubtedly a good actor, but I wouldn't have missed Egypt to see a few hours of good ole Ron! Not for anything on this planet! In any case, it's very doubtful I would have got to have any kind of meaningful conversation with the man, the atmosphere of that kind of con is not conducive to it.
My point is I suppose that the cons have turned from those intimate little getogethers into a sort of behemoth and are attracting the attention of the big companies like MGM, who are shady and cynical enough to believe that NO ONE (including Bryan and Allen & Co) do anything without an eye on the big buck. They wouldn't think for one minute that these organisers just want to put something on to show some appreciation. They don't operate in an environment like that.
Bryan wants to cut it down before MGM decide that they're making money and demand their cut of the action and I think he's right. I DO know that Bryan only makes enough out of the cons to cover overheads, I also know he has a 'day job' at the Cadbury factory near Birmingham. He also has small children and the cons take up a lot of person time. If not all of it. He and his wife bring the children, but it can hardly be construed as an appropriate sort of atmosphere to bring up kiddies. So I don't blame him at all. He's done a fine job.
