Convention models & accessibility
Aug. 13th, 2008 03:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mirrorshardSomething the Bicon accommodation flap (which I don't propose to comment on here) brought to mind is the constellation of assumptions involved and decisions made.
A couple of examples to establish the field, first - all of these are long weekends (Thursday or Friday to Sunday or Monday). The costs are the lowest prebooking prices I can recall or get hold of.
Bicon: university campus. Single rooms with the opportunity for self-catering, £100 or £175 for ensuite.
LRP main event: Scout campsite. Camping with catering vans, shower blocks, and the opportunity for all the self-catering you can do without burning anything down, £60.
Eastercon: Mid-range hotel. Single, double, and twin rooms, all en-suite, no self-catering. £40 a night (based on sharing a twin/double room) for three nights, plus £50 convention membership, makes £170.
Basically, all of these have things about them that are deal-breakers for some people, and organisers always have to choose between them. Well, in principle - in practice they often default to one or another model that they're used to and comfortable with.
In the campus model, it's the combination of small tatty student rooms, possible lack of en-suite bathrooms, and tiny shared kitchens. On the other hand, you've got small-group community and cheapness. This model works well for a relatively young & healthy community, who generally know each other already; less well for older people and positively hostile to families.
Camping is a deal-breaker for a great many people, though I love it. It's something you need to have a fair amount of practice at, and prepare for in advance, and it works better if you do it as a family or an organised group. It can be positively hostile to the disabled, and sometimes to those with food issues.
Hotels are my favourite overall, and it's possible to drive the cost down further. The conference facilities are not always up to what a university can give you, but that varies a lot between hotels. They're generally better at comfort, commodiousness, and responsiveness to needs than university campuses are, but they can also be quite a bit worse in terms of allergens and pathogens. On the other hand, you're limited food-wise to the hotel restaurants (which are generally sub-standard and over-priced unless it's a very, very good hotel, in which case they're just over-priced) or whatever's within any distance you're comfortable staying away from the con for.
I've doubtless left out some factors, so all comments and contributions welcome.
A couple of examples to establish the field, first - all of these are long weekends (Thursday or Friday to Sunday or Monday). The costs are the lowest prebooking prices I can recall or get hold of.
Bicon: university campus. Single rooms with the opportunity for self-catering, £100 or £175 for ensuite.
LRP main event: Scout campsite. Camping with catering vans, shower blocks, and the opportunity for all the self-catering you can do without burning anything down, £60.
Eastercon: Mid-range hotel. Single, double, and twin rooms, all en-suite, no self-catering. £40 a night (based on sharing a twin/double room) for three nights, plus £50 convention membership, makes £170.
Basically, all of these have things about them that are deal-breakers for some people, and organisers always have to choose between them. Well, in principle - in practice they often default to one or another model that they're used to and comfortable with.
In the campus model, it's the combination of small tatty student rooms, possible lack of en-suite bathrooms, and tiny shared kitchens. On the other hand, you've got small-group community and cheapness. This model works well for a relatively young & healthy community, who generally know each other already; less well for older people and positively hostile to families.
Camping is a deal-breaker for a great many people, though I love it. It's something you need to have a fair amount of practice at, and prepare for in advance, and it works better if you do it as a family or an organised group. It can be positively hostile to the disabled, and sometimes to those with food issues.
Hotels are my favourite overall, and it's possible to drive the cost down further. The conference facilities are not always up to what a university can give you, but that varies a lot between hotels. They're generally better at comfort, commodiousness, and responsiveness to needs than university campuses are, but they can also be quite a bit worse in terms of allergens and pathogens. On the other hand, you're limited food-wise to the hotel restaurants (which are generally sub-standard and over-priced unless it's a very, very good hotel, in which case they're just over-priced) or whatever's within any distance you're comfortable staying away from the con for.
I've doubtless left out some factors, so all comments and contributions welcome.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-13 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-13 03:44 pm (UTC)That's clearly a gap in the market! Static caravans are wonderful budget accommodation and I could see something like that working.
I do remember playing at the Eastbourne folk festival more than once and staying in a static caravan there, but the venue was a long walk or even a drive away, which is no good for this. :-(
And having a lockable door (rather than being in a 'dorm' type environment) is a hard need for lots of people in terms of safety and security of their belongings.
Hmmm that is a very good point. Obviously the caravans themselves are lockable, but they're not as secure as a solid building, and people would be reliant on finding another 3-5 people to share their caravan whom they absolutely trusted.
The only other idea I can think of is hotels which have conference facilities and also a caravan park attached, thus at least giving people the choice of caravanning or hotelling. Are there any of those? Or is that breaking the business/leisure genre divide so much that a hotel with a caravan park will just by definition not have conference facilities?