Whichness of the Why

A poll on al­ternative methods of limiting atten­dance at Worldcon, specifically MidAmeriCon, in reaction to the rising Alarm and Despondency at the increase in convention sizes in the 1970s.

It was distributed by Bill Fesselmeyer via the mails to a large number of veteran congoers, distributed at the 1974 MileHiCon 6 in Denver and Windycon I in Chicago, and finally run through various APAs of which Bill was a member.

The options were:

1. Setting an absolute maximum attendance.
2. Selling no at-the-door memberships.
3. A very high at-the-door rate com­bined with a rapidly escalating membership fee.
4. Eliminating programming appealing to those only marginally interested in the rest of the convention.
5. No limiting at all — doing nothing.

The results, partly published in the lettercol in MidAmeriCon’s PR 2 and (supposedly) in full in a second issue of Whichness, directed MAC’s policies to sharply escalate membership fees culminating in at-the-door rates of an unheard of $50; to eliminate any programming on special interest areas of comics, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and the Society for Creative Anachronism; and to cut down the movie schedule.

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Publication

1974

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