Blackpool Videos posted on You-Tube

[MaxNY]

I have never been, so I snooped You-Tube to see what this convention looks like. Just posted about an hour ago, mostly in french, Search You-Tube Blackpool 2015 Magic, under Yann Sicamois. It looked cold. Pass.

[Richard Kaufman]

The convention is a madhouse of sorts, but lots of fun. Unfortunately the guy who runs the convention is a total nut--a real nasty piece of work.

And you've got to see the town of Blackpool in order to understand what an utter pisshole it is. Drunken woman wandering the streets at night, boarded up empty stores all over the place. It's bleak and cold, often pissing rain.

[Yann SICAMOIS]

Yeah, sorry about the strong language (a.k.a. French).

[Q. Kumber]

I enjoyed watching the videos. Thanks for making and posting them.

For most people Rob Zabrecky was the highlight of the weekend.

[AJM]

Did you attend this year Quentin?

[Q. Kumber]

Yes, I did. For me it is the social event of the year.

[Ian Kendall]

To be fair, there's been a bit of regeneration in the town centre recently. Yes, it's still far from comfortable, but it's not as bad as it was ten or twenty years ago.

The accommodation, however, is much the same...

[Richard Kaufman]

Are the streets still filled with drunks at night?

[Q. Kumber]

No doubt were some in an area where there are a few nightclubs. In the area of The Winter Gardens and The Ruskin, I didn't see or hear any.

[Richard Kaufman]

Usually I see half-dressed girls wandering drunkenly down the streets.

[Brad Henderson]

you say that like it's a bad thing.

[Richard Kaufman]

In Blackpool it's definitely a bad thing.

Sometimes they have a few teeth left.

[IanLand]

Richard's description of Blackpool as a bleak and cold pisshole is very unfair. During the summer it is a bleak and sometimes warm pisshole.

[Q. Kumber]

The Blackpool Convention is somewhat of an enigma. It is held in an old tired seaside town (though as Ian has pointed out the town council is working on regeneration, two examples being the massive new shopping complex up by the train station, and the area in front of The Winter Gardens). The hotel accommodation is below international standards, even in the better hotels. There are no high end restaurants that I know of. It's held in winter when the weather is usually pretty cold and windy. There is practically no advertising and the acts are usually only announced a couple of months before the event.

Yet it attracts appx three times more attendees than any other annual convention held anywhere in the world.

Next year's convention will feature the McBride Magic Mystery School. Yay!

[Richard Kaufman]

The big reason the Blackpool convention attracts so many people is because of it's very low registration price, and the dirt cheap hotel rooms.

Plus, it's pretty cheap to get to for most people by train.

I can't think of another major convention that costs so little to attend.

[Q. Kumber]

The big reason the Blackpool convention attracts so many people is because of it's very low registration price, and the dirt cheap hotel rooms.

Plus, it's pretty cheap to get to for most people by train.

I can't think of another major convention that costs so little to attend.

If you were just dealing with people who live in the UK, I would agree, but I'd say at least one third and possibly more are from abroad and many travel a considerable distance.

[Richard Kaufman]

I'll repeat the first two most important parts:

The big reason the Blackpool convention attracts so many people is because of it's very low registration price, and the dirt cheap hotel rooms.

[Tom Moore]

Actually i'd argue that one of the main reasons it's so big is because it's so big. Much as i don't like the convention itself i know if i go there i can meet more people in a single weekend than i would see at all the other conventions i visit throughout the year. Speaking to other people about what they like about the event you'll quickly notice that #1 is meeting friends/socialising, #2 is seeing acts of the scale / calibre you just don't see anywhere else in this part of the world, #3 is the dealers hall. I'm struggling to think of anyone who has ever said they go /because/ of the convention itself or the location.

[Richard Kaufman]

Yes, but it had to get so big for a reason, and that reason is because it costs so little to go.

[mrgoat]

The hotel accommodation is below international standards,

if by international you mean 'animal', then I agree.

[Richard Kaufman]

Yes, I would not house farm animals in a room that had plywood walls and a wire hanger sticking out of the top of the TV for an antenna. A room which is above a stinky restaurant.

[Larry Horowitz]

Tom,

I would venture that the three reasons you gave are actually what a convention is. So by definition people are going for the convention.

[Tom Moore]

Larry

Yes and no - these are all things that happen inspite of the convention rather than because of it. Again if you speak to attendees you'll quickly find that everyone hates the lecture hall setup and lecture format, everyone hates the state of the location it's held in, everyone grumbles about the close-up show format, everyone hates the hotels, everyone comments on the wildly differing standards in the shows and competitions, everyone grumbles about the terrible comedians booked as support acts & everyone is confused by the bizarre goody-bag-gifts. All the key bits of "convention" are the bits no-one seems to like.

Since 3000 people attend yet the cafe/breakout area only accommodates 200 people maximum, the lecture hall 650 and the dealers hall a similar number there is clearly a majority of people who are making their own entertainment outside the venue and structure of the convention itself. As i said before i have an odd love-hate relationship with the convention and the more people i speak to the more it seems like i'm not in a minority. There simply isn't any other convention that comes close to it in terms of scale or sociability.

[Richard Kaufman]

Yup. People go because it's cheap.