Any Recent Update on Fancon?

[catchman 13]

Just wondering if it is still in the works for 2014. If so, I may be inclined to attend and if possible submit a topic for presentation. 

[york600 0]

There's CockpitFest-USA in Lancaster Tx,  August 29-31st,

 

Last time Fancon was held in conjuction with CockpitFest, it was a good show, doesn't appear Fancon is in collaboration this time

 

I remember a poll was taken earlier as to where the next Fancon was to be held. I was late on my submission of Dallas so it wasn't included on the list.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

AVSIM FANCONs are dead. The lack of attendance and support for them keep us from doing them anymore. We lost a tremendous amount of money on last year's event in Wichita, and I don't think AVSIM can afford to do that again. We just don't get the support for the hobby in the U.S. as the Europeans seem to get. And, we have only a limited number of commercial entities that are willing to sponsor the event through attendance and displays. So, unless there is a sugar daddy out there willing to support an even in a big way, we're pretty much done with FANCON's. Were we to have one, I would like us to go back to Dulles, Virgina. But, that isn't going to happen.

[catchman 13]

That's too bad, but I can understand why they aren't being held anymore. 

 

Out of curiosity, have you look at online events? Maybe something that is held through Google Hangouts? Would be neat to have something quarterly or annually that would provide best practices, theories, meet and greet, etc, to a wider audience. Sometimes I feel like site such as Avsim have an amazing amount of information that gets lost among the volumes of posts, etc. 

[n4gix 4,947]

I can easily understand why events in Europe are "better supported," since the travel costs and distance to travel are significantly less than here in the United States.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

I can easily understand why events in Europe are "better supported," since the travel costs and distance to travel are significantly less than here in the United States.

That, and public transportation is years ahead of ours (trains, etc.). But, I also think that the hobby is wider spread there too.

[n4gix 4,947]

That, and public transportation is years ahead of ours (trains, etc.). But, I also think that the hobby is wider spread there too.

I'm sure there's a higher density per sq/km than here in North America, but I'd be surprised if there aren't more flightsimmers here in Indiana than the total attendees at the last FanCon. There are four I know of here in Hammond, IN including myself, and at least twelve more around Indianapolis...

 

I suspect it's the better transportation infrastructure and lower travel distances that are the most significant factors. No matter the proximate cause though, it's a true shame since I really did enjoy those few brief days of cordial interaction with those who share a common passion! :Applause:  

[catchman 13]

Although tangential, this is probably a good time to confess my reason for inquiring. Apologies now for going off-course. 

 

I've been batting around the idea of promoting a community held copyright standard. In my opinion, something similar to the copyright used by Creative Commons for freeware, although it would allow derivative work.

 

I have multiple freeware packages on several sites. Since I don't see any money from that work, I am motivated to see others use them in new and creative ways. However, I still want to receive credit for my work, I just don't need complete control. If someone can recompile one of my sceneries or wants to update the parking on an afcad, I would like to encourage that behavior. 

 

IMO, this could help to prevent situations that have surfaced in the past, e.g., where on ai traffic team uses models or textures from another dev to complete a package for free redistribution. Additionally, different cultures have different understandings of copyright. Not that I'm defending their actions, but I happened to read an interesting article discussing Confucionism and Chinese policies toward copyright. At any rate, I think that the international market could respond positively to these community driven licenses since it provides a means for people to experiment with an existing scenery/aircraft/texture/etc. such that they can acquire the skills necessary to contribute to the hobby. If they're given a chance to modify or repackage their contribution, this gives people a chance to receive feedback and advice. The end result is growth.

[york600 0]

That's disappointing to hear FANCON's are done with.  It seemed like the attendance wasn't too bad, I think around 80 people. But yes the amount of vendors was low. Glad my two flying buddies and myself made it to the Wichita one. We had a great time. I even won a

PMDG 777 at the dinner that evening! The keynote by Robert Randazzo was fantastic. We met a lot of great simmers there, including a Southwest captain who sat with us at dinner. Now this guy had aviation in his blood! He even flew his Piper Aerostar to the event from dallas!

[Chase 303]

@york600, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.  There was a nice turn out, and it was also interesting how our online attendance for the awards banquet reached in the thousands.  However, it just wasn't enough to even come close to breaking even with the expense of the venue and logistics.

 

I love it when Tom says something is dead, because that secretly means the idea is still very much alive in his head.  We just need the support, interest, and something to ignite the powder keg!  :smile:

[bic 44]

The VATSIM'mers, which is a much narrower focus than FS, in the US seem to be able to get a group of ATCers to meetup and have flyins in quite a few regions and in some cases once a year.  The Northeast (NY/NJ/MA) VATSIM'mers seem to have quite a few events.