Well, I think two things are at play here. One, Dragoneer is not big on delegating. Second, I think FAU ran on a shoestring. As someone who has put on events, there needs to be seed money. You'll be paying hotel deposits, caterers, printing, getting swag done and so on. Even for a small con, that can be tens of thousands of dollars. Usually, not so bad, because just as you've started spending, registrations start coming in. BUT, if you start spending money, registrations dry up, and you've already spent a bunch of money, then you're in trouble. It was at least partly that in PA, and I'm guessing it's the case here. With no guarantee of a 2021 con, it's hard to justify hanging on to people's money. That means you're broke, unless you had a bankroll to start with. Even Anthrocon, big as it is was in no hurry to cancel, and discouraged cash refunds.
When we lose the right to be different, we lose the ability to be free
Well, I think two things are at play here. One, Dragoneer is not big on delegating. Second, I think FAU ran on a shoestring. As someone who has put on events, there needs to be seed money. You'll be paying hotel deposits, caterers, printing, getting swag done and so on. Even for a small con, that can be tens of thousands of dollars. Usually, not so bad, because just as you've started spending, registrations start coming in. BUT, if you start spending money, registrations dry up, and you've already spent a bunch of money, then you're in trouble. It was at least partly that in PA, and I'm guessing it's the case here. With no guarantee of a 2021 con, it's hard to justify hanging on to people's money. That means you're broke, unless you had a bankroll to start with. Even Anthrocon, big as it is was in no hurry to cancel, and discouraged cash refunds.
When we lose the right to be different, we lose the ability to be free