Avalon Expo 4 back by demand
Annual sci-fi convention returns with 50 vendors, ‘happy faces’
Cosplayers Sheldon Mercer as Dr Strange and Steve Dicks as Black Mage from Final Fantasy Avalon Expo 4 was back this year, shaking off events that left last year’s expo a flop Organizer Jeff Power said he’s making amends for last year
At the fourth annual Avalon Expo on Saturday at the Remax Centre in St. John’s, sci-fi fans young and old perused the many vendors and cosplayers posed for photos.
It was hard to tell last year’s event “collapsed spectacularly” – that’s how organizer Jeff Power described it as he spoke of lessons learned and efforts to move forward.
“This year it was very important to do as much as possible myself as part of making up for last year,” he said, noting the event this weekend was also ‘pay what you can’ — another effort to make amends.
In August 2017, Power booked some big names, such as “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” star René Auberjonois and “Doctor Who” actor Colin Baker. Power also moved the event to the bigger and costlier venue at Mile One.
The event flopped.
It didn’t draw near the numbers expected, Power couldn’t pay the high-profile attendees — Auberjonois tweeted Power hadn’t paid him nor his hotel bill — and on top of it all, Power went missing.
A missing person’s report was filed but all the while Power had fled to his family’s cabin after having a breakdown over the failed event.
Candid speaking
On Saturday, Power spoke candidly about what went wrong and how he hopes to make things right with this year’s event.
He said he’s gradually paying back the money owed from last year, is now running the event as a not-for-profit corporation. Instead of relying on estimates of large crowds, he budgeted only what he knew could be achieved.
The lessons learned, his apologies to people involved in last year’s event, and his efforts to make amends seemed to have paid off.
Several vendors noted the sci-fi community is forgiving and Power said the event was “going great.”
About 50 vendors showed up altogether — a couple of them from out of province.
Vendors ranged from artists and an author to hobbyists, the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries, Canadian Forces, Costco, food vendors and more.
Leigha Chiasson-locke, regional librarian for St. John’s, said the public libraries have been attending plenty of events this year to promote the various collections they have, including nearly 300 different board games which will be available for patrons to sign out beginning sometime in September.
“This is a great venue because there’s so many avid readers here and people interested in a lot of the DVDS and things that we have, so it’s a great opportunity to connect with people and to get some new patrons,” said Chiasson-locke.
Power said this year’s Avalon Expo was not just about making up for last year – he said it was important to plan it because so many people were looking forward to it.
“We did a poll after last year and the overwhelming response was, ‘Do this again’,” he said, and at the weekend-long convention on Saturday he said with a smile, “it seems like there’s a good crowd.”
When asked why he loves the event and spends money out of his own pocket to make it happen (Power said it’s never earned a profit), he answered, “It’s all the happy faces – that’s primarily it.”
“It will likely happen again next year. I haven’t looked at numbers or anything but it seems people obviously want this to continue because they’re here, including some people who said they wouldn’t come,” he laughed.
This is a great venue because there’s so many avid readers here and people interested in a lot of the DVDS and things that we have, so it’s a great opportunity to connect with people and to get some new patrons.
Leigha Chiasson-locke, regional librarian for St. John’s