Next Year In St. Louis!

[Ian Moulding]

This may be a bit premature, but I was thinking about funding for next year's cookout.

As I understand things, right now the Kolters are carrying the main financial responsibilty for a gathering of three dozen people. Donations, guests bringing food, and the fact that people pay for their own hotel rooms, probably go a long way to reducing that burden, but it's a bit ad hoc. These are a few fundraising possibilities I could think of:

Art Auctions
Those of you who can bear to part with your artistic babies may want to put together a CG cookout auction site, with links from your homesites.

Year-Round Pool
The travel donation pool worked well. Depending on the costs involved in keeping a Paypal account, a general costs donation pool - Open year-round - might help with the expenses.

Organlegging
Many CGers are young, and I know of at least one who is in good physical shape and doesn't drink or do drugs. Depending on the results of Ryan's taser-play and fireworks displays, selling organs on the gray market could be a significant source of revenue for the cookout.

These are just a few quick ideas. I like the thought of taking some of the weight off the Kolters, but the logistics of these ideas need to be worked out. It may be that the ad hoc system works best.

Any thoughts?

[Skylark King]

Organletting is a superb idea! I've got a scalpel. Who'll volunteer?

The auction is brilliant and I see no reason NOT to set up a year round general pool.

The reason I couldn't make it this year is lack of advance planning on my part. So if I start planning now I should be good. Count me in, guys

[Jim North]

Unfortunately, there's no possible way I can make it to the next one, not with this short of a notice.

[MixedMyth]

Organlegging

This has my endorsement.

[Robin Pierce]

Mine too!... as long as it's not my organs.

[Mo]

Unfortunately, there's no possible way I can make it to the next one, not with this short of a notice.

[Phact0rri]

for me it really matters where I am next year.

[Dr Legostar]

i plan on being there.

[Tynan]

I'm there and booking it now actually.

As I fear for this year...I'll put all funds raised in the days of the expo towards it...aswell as half my pay that week. :p

[Garneta]

Unfortunately, there's no possible way I can make it to the next one, not with this short of a notice.

Aw man...I guess I'll be going alone.

[Dr Legostar]

Unfortunately, there's no possible way I can make it to the next one, not with this short of a notice.

Aw man...I guess I'll be going alone.

don't worry, kat, I'll fill in for jim.. and then some.

[Rkolter]

Just fyi:

Cookout 2007 will be a big undertaking and Beth and I will be preparing for it starting after our move in August 2006. We will need assistance along the way for a lot of projects including the ones listed here.

[Faub]

Ladydarke and I will DEFINITELY be there.

[Skylark King]

Just fyi:

Cookout 2007 will be a big undertaking and Beth and I will be preparing for it starting after our move in August 2006. We will need assistance along the way for a lot of projects including the ones listed here.

Sign me up for helping, then. Wish I could make this year but I'll make up for it by helping make next year's a success. Whatever you need, just ask.

[Corgan_dane]

Preface the following with the fact that I haven't really thought this through.

It's a shame we can't combine the cookout somehow with an actual webcomic convention in St. Louis. I mean, it's centralized in the country pretty much, has a major airport, and ample places to have a convention.

I'm not suggesting we try to peg the cookout onto an already established comic convention or anything, but we could start our own.

They did it in the UK, why can't we?

[Laemkral]

Preface the following with the fact that I haven't really thought this through.

It's a shame we can't combine the cookout somehow with an actual webcomic convention in St. Louis. I mean, it's centralized in the country pretty much, has a major airport, and ample places to have a convention.

I'm not suggesting we try to peg the cookout onto an already established comic convention or anything, but we could start our own.

They did it in the UK, why can't we?

This is a good idea. We all love conventions. We all love getting together. What better reason to get together than a convention? What better convention to go to than the Comic Genesis one!!! Whatever money gets made off of it can go towards financing the next year's one and helping the Kolters. Ideally it should eventually become a self supporting thing and the majority of the financial burden gets taken off the Kolters.

Granted, it'd take time and effort, but so does the cookout so if we're gonna plan big let's just go all out.

[Corgan_dane]

In my head, the convention would be for any webcomicker, Comicgen-related or not. The cookout would happen in conjunction, but mainly be for us comicgen folks.

Damn, I miss being able to just say spacers.

[Rkolter]

I was hoping someone else would bring up the Convention idea before I did.

Beth and I have been thinking along those lines. Maybe get some local dealers in, maybe get some media attention.

It'd mean charging admission though, since renting an actual convention type area requires more cash than we can reasonably expect to raise.

[Ian Moulding]

I was hoping someone else would bring up the Convention idea before I did.

There are a lot of good points to the idea: The cookout is growing so fast it will probably need a planning committee next year, and there are other groups (Webcomic hosts, small press publishers) that could get involved in the con.

About the only bad point is that it would mean charging admission. But most small cons aren't all that expensive. If 30-40 CGers show up next year, and maybe 10 people sign up for access to the dealer room and media room, that's 40-50 people paying admission. Here in Calgary I've been involved with a couple of small conventions: They charge $20-$35 for memberships, which is very reasonable.

Here's some thoughts:
$30 membership fee, general public
$20 membership, webcomic artists (People with a currently updating webcomic)

Media room: Basically this means we scrounge a room, a TV and VCR/DVD player, and a couple of people bring their movie collections so we can set up a room where people watch free movies and buy overpriced snacks. Buy the snacks at Costco, sell them at convenience store prices. Not much of a markup, but it helps cover costs. For your comfort and convenience, THERE WILL BE NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINKS AT THE CONVENTION.

Dealer room: Another room, this one with tables, so people can sell stuff. Dealer rooms require a business license, so we'd have to charge dealers a fee to cover that. I'd suggest letting CGers (And other webcartoonisists) in at cost/minimum commission, but that depends on how many outside people we can attract to the convention and how many dealers are willing to pay for access to those people.

[Faub]

Brian Hurtt is a comic artist for DC who lives in Saint Louis. There's the Mid-Missouri Comic Collective and the comic community in Kansas City that we could contact. Splashpage Comics no longer has a store front, but makes all its money going to conventions. However, we would probably be too small for that. I know a guy in Washington Missouri who has setup a convention or two and is working with the anime club in Saint Louis to setup an anime convention.

I can ask around.