EFNW Convention: The Crebering DLC Packages


With a new move that's causing backlash over the methods on paying for convention costs, the upcoming Everfree Northwest MLP convention has decided to mix things up by adding what some are referring to as "Convention DLC" - by charging patrons for single exclusive events, should they decide to pay extra for them. These costs are on top of what most con-goers pay for, and of course, are voluntary.

The concept of paying for a higher-priced badge, in order to have access to exclusive events/items at conventions is nothing new. Ever since the first Brony conventions back in 2011, there has been a practice where most conventions sell unlimited regular passes, and limited higher-priced passes in exchange for more things that regular patrons would not have access to, such as exclusive dinners with the VA's, head-of-the-line privileges, convention exclusive merchandise, and so on. The general idea is that, the more expensive the badge, the more access one receives - though they are a one-time payment made in advance, prior to the convention starting.

We have learned that most of the convention funds are made in the last few days prior to the con, and during the convention itself; starting off the con weekend having made about 40%~60% of their sales - with the rest being sold at the door. Therefore, given the venue's demands for partial payment up front before the convention even starts, the following actions made by EFNW to cover the normal operating costs don't seem to make a lot of sense from a con-goer's perspective, they make perfect sense from the convention's standpoint (seeing as their goal is not to be in the red) - and is the source of the backlash we've been hearing about.

So Everfree Northwest decided to shake things up a bit by not only having such expensive badges, but by having most of them pay extra for some "exclusive" events that, some of which but not all, are normally free. It should be noted, that the last Brony convention to pull a stunt such as this was Las Pegasus Unicon. And we all remember what happened with that particular convention.


Going for a very hefty price of $2,500 USD, the "Tree of Friendship" badge gets one pretty much everything, including a comped room and, more importantly, the "Tickets Included for First Access to purchase exclusive event tickets."

Everyone else gets to stand in a line to pay for tickets for each individual paywall event, with higher sponsors getting head-of-the-line privileges. That is something new, and based on the reactions so far, not being received very well.

IMPORTANT: We do not know at the present time if these extra proceeds go to EFNW as income, charity, or even as profit. Based on whom the events are catered around, we are making the assumption that they are income for balancing the convention's budget - that is, paying off the VA's, the venue, etc; which is normal behavior for a convention. What's disturbing is how they're going about it.

With insider knowledge gleaned from someone who knows just how much conventions cost, and the actions required to balance the budget; paying off the venue, the Guests of Honor's agents, etc. - it is then understandable why they would do this, for running conventions are expensive and most are lucky to break even in most cases. Other conventions have stopped operating entirely due to the rising costs (we are told this is mostly due to agent's charging higher appearance fees for the Guests of Honor) whilst con attendance plateaus or even dips in comparison with the previous years.

Still, offering it in the form of DLC is probably not the best way to do it, should these conventions continue. As the saying goes, you cannot squeeze blood out of a stone. That, or the agents managing the special guests should start charging fees based on what they're worth, rather than constantly inflating the price as years go on, forcing the conventions to raise their prices in turn by adopting more outlandish ways of doing so, thereby alienating some of their customers in the process. As far as our experiences are, and that of others', no other convention even dares to tread this far.

Note that the events listed on the schedules with the golden ticket icon are the ones where most patrons have to pay extra, on top of their badge, to get into. And these tickets are only good for the event one purchases them for, so to get into the other ones, one must purchase yet another ticket. At last we understand why people are calling this "Convention DLC"

Friday's Schedule:


>CMC Reunion Dinner - $250
Time: 17:30-19:30
Enjoy a VIP Dinner with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their super parents! Featuring Maddy Peters, Claire and Ian Corlett, Michelle, Monique, and Michael Creber, and Gabriel Brown (a.k.a. Black Gryph0n) $250 per person.
 
>Just Desserts VIP Social - $100
Time: 20:00-22:00
Kick back and relax with our VIP guests while you enjoy some amazing Sugarcube Corner treats. $100 per person

Already in one night, one would have to shell out an extra $350 just to attend these exclusive events, on top of what patrons have already paid for. Yikes! And the way they have it set up, you don't get the dessert along with the dinner unless you pay up that extra $100 for the privilege.

Saturday's Schedule:


>Lunch with Fluttershy and Friends
Time: 10:30-12:30
Come join the Voice Actors behind Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, Big Mac, Shining Armor, and two amazingly talented book authors and show writers for lunch! Featuring Andrea Libman, Peter New, Andrew Francis, G. M. Berrow, and M. A. Larson. $250 per person

Grand Total So Far (GTSF): $600

>Class Act
Time: 14:00-16:00
Join two seasoned voice actors as they host an unforgettable voice acting lesson on site at the convention. Space is very limited and the cost is incredibly low for a 2 hour group session. Don't miss out! Featuring Brian Drummond and Trevor Devall $75 per person

GTSF: $675

>High Society Banquet
Time: 17:30-19:30
Dust off your jacket and adjust your tiara, because the elite are ready to eat! Actually, don't let that glitz and glamour fool you. These ponies just want to share a special evening with you. Join Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Babs Seed, and Filthy Rich for a meal fit for a princess. Space is limited, so get your tickets while they last! Featuring Chantal Strand, Shannon Chan-Kent, Brynna and Brian Drummond. $250 per person

GTSF: $925

>Kelamis Comedy Showcase
Time: 21:45-22:45
Standup Comedy featuring pony convention newcomer and the voice behind such outlandish MLP characters as Fashion Plate and Big Daddy McColt, come hear the hilarious offerings of the comedian and voice actor, Peter Kelamis! (Clean comedy, but 16 and older recommended) $25 per person

GTSF: $950 

In two nights alone, if one were to go to all these paid events, he could easily find himself $950 down the hole. But we aren't done yet.

Sunday's Schedule:

 
 >AT HOME Concert
Time: 14:30-16:00
AT HOME: an acoustic concert with Michelle Creber, Gabriel Brown, Monique & Michael Creber, and Andrea Libman. Join us for an unplugged performance of originals and covers in an intimate setting with great singing, beautiful harmonies, outstanding piano playing, plenty of audience interaction, and guaranteed laughs! $40 per person

GTSF: $990 

So there you have it. At a whopping $990 for all of these paid events, not including the original con badge price, the price for the hotel room, merchandise costs, and food/drink/alcohol. At this rate, people would likely spend less on a full week long trip to Disneyland. 



A recurring theme that has not escaped our attention is the omnipresence of the Crebers and BlackGryph0n. While this isn't the first time mother and manager Monique Creber had decided to practically sell her child and boytoy together for profit - charging Skype users $100 for a 30 minute talking session with Michelle and BlackGryph0n -  we would not be surprised if we found out she was one of the people who had some form of influence in determining how things are ran.

Oh...
Oh boy.

 
 


Depending on how EFNW goes, there might be a lot more pushback against this sort of action. On the one hand, managing a convention's budget is very expensive, with a lot of costs needing to be paid off prior to the con even starting; to the venue, to the agents, etc. Having said that, a con goer's experience is going to be severely hampered when they find later on down the road that half the stuff they used to enjoy for the price of a regular badge before is now hidden behind an extra paywall, should this practice continue. So it's a bit of a muddy gray area.

What do you think? Are there better solutions other than "Con DLC" that conventions can employ to combat the rising cost of running one, yet slowly falling con attendance overall? From what we understand, most convention heads can't or won't even talk about this sort of thing because from a financial and legal standpoint, they can't. But they can see what the reaction coming from their customers are and react accordingly. In any case, we wish that everyone going there has a good time during EFNW.

Comments (70)

  1. Not really seeing the problem... majority of those events listed are exclusive events with VAs and the like - which typically do cost a lot more. Now if they were charging admission fees for panels and stuff, then it'd be ridiculous.

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    1. It's more that they're charging extra on top of the Sponsor badges. Basically those Sponsor badges now don't do jack shit, other than maybe getting you to the head of the line to buy even more extra shit.

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    2. They are charging fees for panels.

      The issue here lies in its context. The con is a business, businesses can do what they want to, but the amount of money-grubbing going on here is too extreme when looking at its counterparts. You would never see Bronycon or BABScon or whatever con get away with this. The only con that pulled this in such a big way last time (and failed spectacularly btw) is NYC Ponycon.

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    3. Rarifag, if we're gonna compare this to Ponycon NYC their dinner had ALL the guests at the con and included a meet and greet later where even if you didn't get to eat dinner with the guests you wanted you could still talk to them and have them sign things. And the price for this was $150 per person. Still high, but if you're a signature collector it could be considered a good deal.

      Also wouldn't consider the con overall as a failure, but that's a matter of opinion. Either way this con makes Ponycon NYC look like a bargain in comparison.

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    4. EQLA 2015 had these add-on DLC events too

      but then no one went to EQLA so how would they know

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    5. ^ I did, though the only thing like that I remember them doing was the Evening with Discord event with John de Lancie. I didn't really think anything of it, though, since I was planning on going to the Club LUNA event(which the Evening with Discord event was going to coincide with) instead.

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    6. Stuff like this isn't exactly uncommon at conventions, however the scale and scope of EFNW's BS is what's killing shiz.

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  2. It was just as bad last year. The money-grubbing was really gross, $200+ tickets for separate events. IMO it's all because of how butthurt EFNW got when Babs showed up, and they've been engaging in their own one-sided penis-measuring contest ever since. Didn't work either, from what I hear, and they ended up with debt and no increase in attendance. I know a bunch of people who aren't showing up this year because of this attitude that a convention should revolve around only those obsessive people with enough money and desire to brown-nose to support shitty extortionately priced events, just so EFNW can brag about their guest list. I'll be surprised if their numbers go up this year (though I wouldn't put it past Everfree to just lie about it - they just seem to have a really shitty attitude).

    If you've got the choice of treating your attendees like shit, or having one less guest, have one less guest, idiots.

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  3. The only convention I've been to that had DLC was a comic convention last August down here in Houston. They charged a measly $20 to attend the main Star Trek: Voyager panel. I can only guess why they did it but it wouldn't surprise me if it was done to help mitigate demand.

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  4. I think the content of said 'DLC' should matter here. The concert thing for 40$? Sure, whatever that's fine to be a DLC I guess if it's people I won't see at the concert the con has (we get it gabe, you like to sing. so do i. just please stop finding an excuse to sing at all times)

    "CMC reunion dinner" though ???? Yes, let me pay 250$ to eat dinner with 3 teenagers, their parents, and then some brony musician who acts more immature than the teenagers. What's the dinner gonna be, some fancy spaghetti? Honestly if I want to eat dinner with 3 teens, 6 middle aged people I kinda know, some weird 20 year old, and however many strangers, I'll just start going to my family's thanksgiving. That shits free.

    However, people who pay for more expensive badges should very much be allowed to go to those things. If they want a compromise, give people free golden tickets (# depending on which badge you pay for probably.) or at the very least give a decent sized discount.


    Side note why are michelle and gabe a packaged deal. they aren't even related. sometimes they sing together i guess? does gabe not have his own family anymore? did the crebers abduct them. them being a packaged deal is like when in TV shows, some guy dates the decent girl while his friend is stuck with the comically bad looking girl bc they're best friends and they need to double date.

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    1. "Side note why are michelle and gabe a packaged deal."

      https://twitter.com/BunnycakeEFNW/status/728428631622475776

      Because Monique.

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  5. In the NFL, this is called a "personal seat license." For Dallas, you shell out around $30,000 for a PSL...which gives you the right to purchase season tickets. If there are any left by the time they get around to you.

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  7. Looking at their schedule, aside from a couple of panels, your best bet to catch the show staff is to pay for the exclusive-but-awkward eating session with them or paying for the privilege to sperge out in front of them in the autograph sessions.

    GG EFNW, no re.

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  8. Damn. Well, I hope that other Brony conventions don't start doing this thing, especially yours, since your convention has been pretty quality so far without having to resort to this kind of crap that EFNW is pulling.

    I was going to go EFNW, but after some other factors, and this taking the cake on top of it - I've no regrets not going now. I don't want to have half a decent con experience hiding behind a metaphorical paywall.

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    1. The only 'extra' things we do are tied to our top two limited ticket tiers. The VIP cocktail hour which is included in the Premium tier- which features an open bar and all our guests- and the trip to Fogo do Chao for the Celestial Sponsors. Panels like the Paper Ponies class do have a materials fee, but you get to take the thing you make home with you and that goes to them to cover their costs; the con doesn't touch that.

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  9. HOnestly I care not for the DLC being I don't go to the con for the panels (especially EFNW).

    The issue I have with EFNW is they only cater to the kids and not have any PG13 or greater content, like Fallout Panels (which were a great success last year). They don't have any mature events that cater to the adults which are the majority of their ticket holders. And if they do they certainly are not up front about it like at Babs.

    A con that does not cater to its target audience does not have much of a future.

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    1. "only cater to the kids and not have any PG13 or greater content"

      "Show for little girls."

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    2. I'd argue they're not great at catering to kids/families when they charge so much to get into stuff. How expensive would this be for a parent?

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    3. Erm, this isn't Hasbro-con we're dealing with cons made by neckbeards.

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  10. My issue isn't the events being sold separately on top of a standard pass, though included the higher tiers, it's the price-tag. I just do not know how they are justifying a simple dinner with VA's present and multiple events like this to boot. A single mixer, or dinner, with all the guests present would of made a lot more logistical sense and not feel so money grabby.

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    1. I think the reason they charge so much is because there are multiple VA's/special guests at each meal, and each one wants a cut of the money, which can add up. When I inquired as to how the VIP meal events work, I was told that the VA's/special guests switch tables so that there's always a VA/SG at each table, which wouldn't be possible for one large VIP meal event (mathematically it would have to continue for hours to equate to the same time you would receive with the other VA's/SG's in the more intimate meals).

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  11. Huh.... Well, guess this is just one more reason as to why I shouldn't feel bad about not being able to attend EFNW.

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  12. WTH with Blackgryphon to a CMC diner?
    I mean, if there are so many fans of him that want to see him so bad why isn't there a dinner just with him?

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    1. Even /they/ are smart enough to see that would be too much milking. But Michelle and Gabe are a package deal. kek

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  13. Michelle and Blackgryphon come as a package.

    I wonder who's behind this idea.

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    1. Is Monique a Manager or a Monarch? That's the question...

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    2. She's a manager, which isnt the same as an agent, the agent calls the shots and makes the demands. It's up to the convention chairs/board to say no to the demands of the agent. Unfortunately most con chairs are to scared to lose the guest that they cave into everything the agent demands of the convention. The thing is, these agents/guest want that money and are willing to negotiate, they just need to brass to say no, fuck off.

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  14. I like to doubt they need the extra money to stay out of the red... feel like someone finally realized bronies will pay out their asses for stuff that isn't worth it.

    "Ripped in half CCG card? It has Tara Strongs signature on it?! $800!!"

    I could honestly care less. I'm literally not buying anything other than food at the con. If they want to collect coin from the gullible brony, then at least they know how to get their money... good on them. Maybe I should do it; I need the funds.

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  15. Don't forget, there was another event on Sunday which is no longer on the sched.

    Arn'cha Gonna Stay Fer CMC Brunch?
    Time: 10:00-12:00
    Don't rush out so soon! Catch one last chance to meet the CMC before they return to their crusading and grab some brunch to make sure you've got the energy for the adventure ahead. Join the CMC and their super parents for an awesome meal, sure to make lasting memories for a lifetime. Featuring Maddy Peters, Claire and Ian Corlett, Michelle, Monique, and Michael Creber, and Gabriel Brown (a.k.a. Black Gryph0n)
    $200 per person

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  16. Gabe sure figured out one hell of a way to make money, riding on the coattails and success of little girl and a cartoon show.

    Is this "making it" now? Is this really a career he can have any sense of pride when it's not about him, his talent, or his accomplishments, but rather his connection with a fandom and show staff?

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  17. These are VIP exclusives with celebrities. They're not just people you "get to ask to hang out with on Denny's". Most people are just whining because "I want it for free!". I don't see the issue.

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  18. They're charging more for stuff that requires them to pay more, but instead of charging people who don't care, they charge the people who do more? I don't see the issue...

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  19. As the comment above says, originally there were 2 events with "the CMC" that contained the following group:
    Maddie Peters (Scootaloo)
    Claire Corlett (Sweetie Belle) and her dad Ian
    Michelle Creber (Applebloom) and her parents Monique and Michael
    ...and BlackGryph0n.

    Okay, the kid who is old enough came alone, and the kids who aren't brought their parents. That all makes sense.

    But what is BlackGryph0n in this? He's not a CMC, and he's not their parent, but yet he's awkwardly attached to both of these events, which together cost a whopping $450 PER PERSON to attend.

    Why? Because he's living with the Crebers, and the stage mom extraordinaire Monique is his manager, too.

    The most important part of this whole thing is the Twitter admission from the EFNW co-chair that Michelle Creber and BlackGryph0n are these days a "package deal", that Monique won't allow one to attend without the other attending as well, so you have to choose Creber+BG or neither.

    In other words, BlackGryph0n's presence at these VIP events isn't because he's a popular Brony musician, it's because he's managed by the same shrill harpy that controls Michelle's booking, and she really wants to rack up her share of the appearance-fee revenue by tacking him onto every convention and event.

    Never before in Brony history has there ever been such an obvious and pathetic example of "who you know" trumping "what you do for the fandom". There are plenty of other amazing musicians and artists who contribute to the fandom as much as BG did, but you're not paying $450 a head to sit down with them, because they didn't have someone who wields (an honestly strange amount of) power supporting them.

    Gabe Brown has learned NOTHING from the backlash against his $100-per-half-hour Skype call controversy late last year. He's still got enough people who tell him what he wants to hear that he doesn't much care that his rise to the "top" of pony has been by stepping on the heads of every fan he says he could've done all this without.

    Time and time again, this fandom has shown that it really doesn't care for its own members strutting around like the cock of the walk, charging out the ass to speak to (or eat with) them, and exploiting their fanbase for profit.

    How long until this guy finally gets the message?

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    1. He's a family friend. Ofcourse they're going to bring him in with them. You should expect that as you would when bringing your friends to your own panel, regardless if they're part of what the panel is all about.

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    2. BG is owned 100% by the Crebers at this point. They paid for his citizenship, he lives with them, and Monique is his 'manager'. The moment he steps off the reservation he's out on his ass.

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    3. Look, I dont like Gabe or Monique, Michelle is a sweetheart and I think is just a victim of circumstance here, but with that being said, Monique may be a shrill but I think a lot of people forget she is a MANAGER, not the agent. When a con wants Michelle at their convention they don't contact Monique, they contact the agent of Michelle, and that agent makes ridiculous demands like, "Gabe is part of the package" or "we want a 90/10 cut of autograph's and events", Monique has to (and willingly does) go along with it because she's the manager, not the agent.

      It's not like these actors are getting these gigs on their own, they have an agent who got them the spot on MLP and who gets them their spots at conventions, and chair knows how it is, they just dont have the balls to cut them down on their demands cause they are a bunch of bronies who want the VAs at their con and not ACTUAL business people who negotiate.

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    4. So who's their manager? Hmmm...let's take a look on the contracts... Oh, wait, you'll never believe this, it's Monique on the countersign line for NMC Artist Management.

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    5. Shit, meant to say agent not manager.

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    6. NMC isn't a talent agency ...

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  20. At this point, for the lack of better terms, Monique is her daughter's pimp. Every time I hear something about her selling off her daughter to the highest bidder with BlackGryph0n it just feels slimy and disgusting. It's so fucked up.

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    1. This woman has taken 'stage mom' to dizzying and disgusting new heights. Or depths.

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  21. It wouldn't surprise me if Monique mandated this as part of the contract to get Gabe and Michelle at the convention.

    For those that remark with "I don't see the issue" should note that a majority of funds to get the venue and guests is made before the convention even starts (this is including upper level badges). If I'm understanding it correctly all this 'DLC' one gets is at the convention itself and where that money will end up is going to be a mystery. If the convention is banking upon it to survive then it's likely to kill that convention (see the hint on LPU).

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    1. >It wouldn't surprise me if Monique mandated this as part of the contract

      Except Monique doesn't write the contracts

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  22. Part in part why EFNW might be trying to get a bit more cash out of its attendees, which by the way not a single individual who is part of the convention profits from it, is to move to a better venue. They were at the Hilton longer than they should of been and never been able to work out an arrangement with the Marriott to make use of their space the same weekend. The Double Tree isn't even an ideal move on the con's part as, while it is a larger hotel with more rooms available, its actual space to hold a convention is not that much better than the Hilton.

    There have been some talks to move out to Bellevue, but no one really wants to. No, what is ideal is to move the convention downtown to the convention center, and rent out what little space they would need for a con their size, obvious not the whole place. Believe it or not, this costs a lot more than getting space in a hotel as you can usually work out a deal there the con guarantees a minimum amount of room will be booked for that weekend. This usually comes with some handy discounts on the cost of using the boardrooms and ballrooms, though is a double edge sword as if that guarantee is not met the con itself is billed.

    I repeat, no one working, outside third party contractors, as staff for EFNW, nor the parent company Pegasi, profits from the convention. All of the money they raise either goes back into the con itself, or to a charity. While that might on the surface may appear as greedy and opportunistic is in fact methodology to help raise addition funds to only make the convention bigger and better from year to year. Besides, if there were offering something people did not want, they wouldn't be purchasing the higher level badges and tickets to paid events. It's only for having been working with MLP show and comic staff for years now that paying to have dinner with them has zero appeal, well not at these prices.

    I miss the days were you could just randomly bump into Peter New at the hotel bar and strike up a conversation, but as this fandom and conventions grow so does the distance between the staff and the fans themselves. Unless, that is, you work with them at cons and stuff like that.

    -An ex EFNW staffer

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  23. 2 THOUSAND (500) bucks, for a con? Wow. Do you get free food, drink, and merchendise for that? Do you get to ride actual Sparkle's actual plot for that? Because if it's just to be present at the spaghetti fests that is most 'events' as they call them, NO CON is worth a ticket that expensive. Or is the US dollar not worth the paper it's printed on nowadays and I missed the market crash that happened?

    What the fuck people, this is how you make sure your convention dies. Instead of trying to make a fun gettogether for fans, you try to make profit off of it by charging entry fees that are just... stupid. I can't think of any word that better describes these kind of pricing.

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  24. 2 THOUSAND (500) bucks, for a con? Wow. Do you get free food, drink, and merchendise for that? Do you get to ride actual Sparkle's actual plot for that? Because if it's just to be present at the spaghetti fests that is most 'events' as they call them, NO CON is worth a ticket that expensive. Or is the US dollar not worth the paper it's printed on nowadays and I missed the market crash that happened?

    What the fuck people, this is how you make sure your convention dies. Instead of trying to make a fun gettogether for fans, you try to make profit off of it by charging entry fees that are just... stupid. I can't think of any word that better describes these kind of pricing.

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    1. That's not the problem. A lot of conventions have high priced but limited tickets, and that's always been so since the whole thing started. Usually buying such things gets you more access to events that others would be barred from.

      In EFNW's case, unless you're one of the people who bought the $2,500 ticket, all you pay for is the privilege to stand at the front of the line to buy the rest of the tickets. That, I believe, is insanity.

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    2. The > $600 badges came with hotel rooms included.

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  25. EFN aside, what would you guys do with 2500$
    Me myself? I'm gonna get that sweet GTX 1080.

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  26. I managed to go to BUCK for like, £250, and that included hotel costs. That's like a tenth of what EFNW wants, and that included having access to all of the events there.

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  27. IF you pay the 2,500 the tickets to those gold ticket events are included. Just wanted to point out that y'all can't read in that point.

    I don't necessarily think this set up is the best idea, but I think everyone is already paid. This isn't going to LPU, but it may be the last Everfree if it doesn't pan out *shrug*

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    1. But in the end it's still not worth it if you add the numbers up. The Diamond Sapling badge for $1,000 + the $990 tickets (assuming you go to all) is still only $1,990 in the end. The Tree of Friendship one being $2,500 but having all the tickets saves no one money. If anything, you're still paying for more in the long run.

      In any case, other conventions manage to get along just fine with only having an exclusive paywall dinner. Not by going this far to sap money out of their customers, for they're just going to drive them away. I should know, I'm one of them who was going to go but decided against it for various reasons, and this being the nail on the coffin.

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    2. You are not including the free second badge that comes with all the perks you get with the Tree of Friendship, minus the hotel room cost. So it is actually $1,980 for the two sets of tickets for the special events.

      Maybe you need to go back to school and take some math courses.

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  28. Why is Gabriel Brown at the CMC panel? Is he the mysterious fifth CMC member that hasn't been shown yet?

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  29. This really does show how little MLP fans know about the convention scene outside this fandom. It is not unusual for a con to have the simple every day price for attendance and access to show floor, vendor hall and your typical panels while having special packages that comes with limited addition swag and access to special events along with autograph vouchers and front of line privilege.

    You can complain about the price-tag and how you wish you could afford these higher tier deals, but at the end of the day EFNW is providing what some people obviously want and are willing to pay for. It is a little ridiculous to label a non-profit as being greedy, not when all of their revenue goes into expanding and improving the con itself the following year. All they are doing is seeing how much they can squeeze from the whales, those bronies that have a lot more disposable income than your average.

    Yes, I know, this tier system creates an exclusionary and elitists vibe, but not everyone would be able to attend some of these events anyway. Even if built into your normal ticket price, there would be a limited amount of seating. Knowing that, why not reserve them for those that can pay top dollar?

    What, is this classism? Are you special little snowflakes going to cry and make a fuss because you're poor and this isn't fair? Well tough, life isn't fair. If you want to be able to afford more expensive things then get a job that pays more money, that is how the world works.

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    1. Did you even read the article and the other comments people left behind? It's not about the higher tier badges, it's about the exclusive events being extra on top of all of those. Even buying the $1,000 badge only gets you front of the line privileges to buy the tickets, not even for a discount, but for full price.

      You're absolutely right when you said, "All they are doing is seeing how much they can squeeze from the whales, those bronies that have a lot more disposable income than your average."

      That's not right, nor is it necessary. No other convention has to go this far to pull themselves out of the black, or red. If this problem isn't nipped in the bud, others will start thinking it's acceptable behavior, and should these conventions continue, it will only get worse.

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    2. Well it is a double edged sword. Some of us would like to see the bigwig conventions fall and it revert back to conventions that weren't all run by the same people.

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    3. That $1000 covers 4 nights at the hotel, which is pushing close to $600 value. The question really is, is all the rest you get at that tier worth $400? For me the answer is no, thus I stuck with the normal badge and booked a room myself.

      I will say this, even when I first saw EFNW doing this it was hard to not compare it to what LPU did back in the day. Hell, it was LPU having such a bizarre tier structure at such high prices that raised so many red flags with myself and others.

      If anything, EFNW will take all the feedback they are getting along with the actual results of how many tickets sold for the special events and adjust as necessary. Obviously the higher tier badges sold well, so that probably isn't going away, however if ticket sells for special events are a bust then they will have to rethink their approach. However, if these events sell well they are probably going to continue using these methods.

      No matter people's opinion, it is going to come down to what works and what helps bring in revenue for the con to expand. It might be a non-profit, but it is still a business and must think and operate as a business.

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    4. The goal of a business is to stay in business. Expansion is not mandatory.

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  30. P U R P L E T R A N N Y !

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  31. When Black Gryph0n and Monique Creber bankrupt these cons they attend due to their lucrative and unbelievable demands, I wonder if the con heads are going to realize:

    "Huh, maybe we should have grown a pair and not caved to these selfish egotistical assholes (especially Black Gryph0n).

    I want to see people at EFNW, Bronycon, and whatever other con Black Gryph0n and Monique financially hijack, raise as much hell as they can and make it known their shady-ass "business" practices aren't welcome.

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    1. "financially hijack"? It's up to the individual con to decide if the contractual terms are worth it. Just because negotiations are open doesn't mean either party can't walk away at any time.

      As an aside, EFNW is either paying a hefty premium for these additional charge events or they're splitting the take (most likely 50/50) with the Guests. Depending on where they're holding the meals and desert, it wouldn't surprise me that they're not making much, if any, on the "DLC". All this negative PR for not a lot of benefit.

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    2. The meal itself is catered and $100 a plate. The meals have 2-3 courses, just like the JDL and Nicole Oliver meals last year. This isn't some dinky ass Denny's or some meal you can get in the hotel restaurant. The food unique to each event, with every meal being entirely different, no duplicates. The meals are prepared by an experienced chief, using fresh/local ingredients.

      Since the food is not something the hotel usually serves and because the ingredients are fresh, this is the reason tickets will not be sold at the con. The chef has to have time to order and receive the quantity of fresh ingredients needed for each meal. This is food you'd find at a fancy ass wedding, not fucking Denny's.

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