>No question - the one and only Star-con in Denver we ever attended...about
>1988 or so:
>
P & S,
Since I've been living in the Denver area, I've heard nothing but bad things about the Starcon costume contest. We have several guild members that absolutely refuse to attend another Starcon. I've been to 4 Starcon's and entered twice. While not ideal conditions, they're comparable to what I had while living in TX. The guild has started to use Starcon as a recruiting source. We host a club table and costume display at each con. We only gleamed one new member so far, but we seem to be well received and people like seeing the costumes on display. We also made connections with local media costumers, who are unhappy with the Starcon system. The guild refrains from commenting on things publicly as we would be seen as the elitist costumers who want everything their way. We do however try to urge non-guild members to express their concerns to the staff.
I will comment on your experiences, then address the Starcon rules later.
>1. Rules: Division system (sort of) was used, but Masters were not
>eligible for ANY awards - "Being a Master is award enough" was the excuse
>given.
>
They no longer have skill divisions, but Master is a category of it's own, defined as those having placed in three Starcons.
>2. Celebrity judges - DRUNK celebrity judges - with a strict number total
>award system of first, second, third in each category, categories were
>pre-defined. The pre-defined wasn't such a huge problem, as this was a
>media con, so 99% of the costumes fell into one of them. And applause
>meter for Best in Show, from the category winners. (BIS was Harry Mudd -
>with slave girls - who actually did look like the actor.)
>
I've never actually seen the judges, they're not introduced, but I'm sure they use the celebs. At the con last April, none of the judges showed up and they picked people out of the audience to judge (they did make a few good decisions). Last September (99), BIS went to the "Orion Slave Traders". A couple in their ren-faire outfits (I saw them there), and several girls in bikinis. I think they gave out about 9 memberships just for that entry. I have never seen the applause meter used at Starcon. I was used alot in TX, especially at Creation Cons.
>3. The Masquerade Director from Hell. A kindergarten teacher, not
>remotely a costumer, who treated all the entrants like her students. "Get
>in line, single file, be quiet. BE QUIET!! The next person that talks
>gets fined a dollar!!" We ignored her. Also, "There is an X in the middle
>of the stage. You must go to the X. If you don't go to the X I will come
>out and move you to the X!" And she did. Never mind what choreography you
>had.
>
Yes, the MD can be a B****. Haven't seen anything that bad yet. They also do not require that you stand on the "X". Don't think I've heard about it. They have brought children back out and placed them in the center of the stage after they left too quickly to see the costume.
>4. Telling us they could play tapes, then bitching that they had to go
>look for a boom box when we showed up with one.
>
They now have a large sound set up. They can play tapes and CDs. They don't always work as I experienced last April, but they do have the ability. Not much lighting except up and down, but with no tech, I barely trust them to get the sound right let alone lights.
>5. Putting the masquerade on BEFORE the play, as the "opening
>entertainment" for the play, with all the scenery, furniture, etc. on stage
>for the play already - expecting us to work around it.
The Play is now the intro to the costume contest. Although it makes the wait in the green room really long. You also miss the play, unless they hook-up a TV. The plays that I have seen have been extremely funny.
>6. The MC from hell. Making crass comments about the costumes (thinking
>to be funny) while the contestants were on stage, ad-libbing whatever came
>into his empty little head instead of reading the script, etc.
Kevin hasn't changed a bit. As unprofessional today as he was in 1988. Last con, a child klingon was heckled from the audience and ran from the stage.
The biggest problem with Starcon is the stage. One entrance stage right. The stage is lined with drapes on all sides. There is no stage past the curtain, so when you exit you have to go through the drape and immediately down the rickety stairs in near darkness. I remember once, a group left the stage in masks. They all went through the curtain as a group and one of them missed the stairs and walked off the stage, nearly took the drape down with them.
Following are the Starcon rules from this past April. I don't know if they changed in September or not. I've also interjected my comments in brackets.
Bruno
Starcon Costume Contest rules.
There is a limit of 75 entries.
1. All costumes must be original. If you bought or rented your costume as one unit (i.e. a Batman costume as opposed to purchasing your tights here, your cape there, and yor leotard somewhere else and customizing it to fit your character) points cannot be given for anything except presentation. [I'm sure this one has been broken. They also don't take into account if you paid someone to make your entire recreation costume for you. The seamstress gets no credit.]
2. All winning costumes must be retired. They may be scavenged for parts, but refurbished doesn't constitute a new costume. [Definately been broken. I.E. Mulder & Scully in suits Best Media one con, same Mulder & Scully in suits w/trenchcoats placed in Media next con. Robot guy BIS one con, Robot guy with more pieces and different color Best Media next con]
3. Dramatic presentations, speeches, and skits must be kept to 30 seconds without prior permission. In fact a good rule of thumb would be to figure on 30 seconds per person on stage at the same time (although we would like to keep the upper limit to 3 minutes). There are exceptions to every rule, don't assume yours won't be allowed-ask-we are on your side.
A. If you wish to use a cassette tape with your presentation, you must make sure we know about it when you register and we would like to take possession of it then. The tape must be cued. (This means when you put the tape into the cassette player it will start immediately).
B. You must let us know if you are going to use any props and/or special effects. Figure if you can't carry it on stage with you; it probably won't be allowed. If there is any question about what can and can't be done you need to ask about it before the convention. We wouldn't want you to invest in equipment you can't use.
4. We strongly urge you to have a costume that is somewhat comfortable to wear. [etc, pretty standard]
5. No Nudity! [etc, etc, pretty standard]
6. There will be a winner and runner up selected from each category, and BIS. The categories for this convention's costume contest are:
A. Media/Science Fiction - costumes inspired by TV, movies, live or animated.
B. Fantasy/Literary - costumes inspired by Scifi/fantasy book or character (also Original characters)
C. Masters - for costumers having placed in three Starcons [I'm sure this one's been broken]
D. Juniors - for young costumers between 12-16 years of age [doesn't matter parent or jr made]
E. Children - for young costumers 12 and under [doesn't matter parent or child made]
All categories are subject to cancellation if there are less than 4 contestants and will be combined with the next best suitable category. There are some costumes that are qualified for more then one category. Effort will be made to put them in the most appropriate category. [I've seen them run Fantasy w/3 entries. I've also seen them group Media/SF & Fantasy into one category and break out Star Trek into it's own category. There were like 32 Star Trek entries at that con.]
End Starcon Costume Contest Rules