Measure your strength for intentions – report from the Confiction 2019 pop culture festival

Before the Confiction festival, the organizers were confident, leading the promotion. The whole of Krakow was flooded with posters and billboards, and from the voices in the media it seemed that we would be dealing with the largest event of this type in the region. But how did it actually turn out?

 

We have plenty of space

Confiction was organized at the EXPO Kraków Trade Fair and Congress Center, exactly where the Cracow Game Days event took place a month earlier. For those who want to know the details of the location, please refer to the report from those fairs. In short, I will only say that it is a modern and well-equipped facility, and most importantly – access by public transport should not be a problem for anyone. However, compared to Game Days, the area was significantly increased, because while the game event was held in one hall, almost the entire center was reserved for the pop culture festival. So there were two large halls and a number of smaller and larger lecture rooms at your disposal. The organizers expected about five thousand participants and even with such assumptions, there would be enough space for everyone.

Ghost Convention

In fact, however, it was much looser. The organizers said that during the three days Confiction was visited by about two thousand participants, but to be honest, I don’t really believe in these numbers. Most of the time, especially on the last day, the convention resembled a ghost town. Individuals approached the exhibitors’ stands, and the lectures were usually gathered by a few interested people. Even at the meetings with James Cosmo, known from the Game of Thrones (who was promoted in advertising materials as the main guest of the festival), a maximum of twenty participants appeared, although a huge conference room was prepared. What’s more, there were even no people willing to take photos and autographs with the actors. During a special roster for fans James Cosmo and Chris Rankin (Percy Weasley from Harry Potter) were sitting alone, looking rather bored. Apparently, few people decided to buy a pass (like Warsaw Comic Con, souvenir photos and autographs were paid additionally), which was actually quite sad when you think about the invited guests, who probably focused on interacting with the fans. There was also a bizarre situation regarding the competition for the best cosplay. It was organized on a fairly loose basis, so anyone, without prior registration, could take part. All participants at the entrance received a token that they could give to the person with the best outfit. The cosplayer or the cosplayer with the most chips won. Sounds simple, right? The problem, however, was that with such a low attendance, finding anyone in disguise was quite a feat.

So the question remains: what went wrong with the promotion? I think there are several reasons for this. Although Krakow was filled with advertisements, the promotion started only about three months before the convention. What’s more, it did not start with giving details, but with pop culture news and curiosities. In other words, an attempt was made to start by building an audience base, but such activities would have made sense if they had been carried out a year before the event, when the developers did not know what the program would look like yet. The guests were announced a month earlier, which gave little time to build the hype. Confiction also definitely lacked its own identity. It was not decided to reach specific audiences, creating a very general program, based on broadly understood pop culture. Effect – only three hundred people selected the option “I will participate” in the event on Facebook.

 

There is something to do

Since we are already behind the complaining, we can move on to the positives. I must admit that if someone has already decided to visit Confiction, it was probably not a waste of time. Although there were not many specialized lectures and panels, and the majority of topics were tailored to the Sunday audience, most of the points were conducted at least well. The selection of guests also deserves recognition. Apart from James Cosmo, Chris Rankin and Joshua Long (screenwriter 1983 ), there were also recognized Polish authors. Among others, there were Jakub Ćwiek, Rafał Szłapa, Unka Odya, Piotr Domalewski and Aleksandra Zielińska. The cast of the upcoming film Legions attracted the most attention , taking part in a panel devoted to the production.

 

The exhibitors did not disappoint either. In the shopping zone, stands of Uroboros, Ultimate Comics, Azog Shop and Yatta were waiting for the participants. A number of other attractions were also prepared. Willing people could go to a separate area of ​​board games and RPG games. There was also something to look for with an amazing display of handcrafted models from the Star Wars universe  and beautifully made models of Pokémon. On the other hand, thanks to the Dawne Computers and Games Foundation, it was possible to go back in time and play the greatest classics from devices such as NES, SNES, Gamecube and Atari 2600. In turn, if you wanted to relax, it was a good idea to go to the Manggha museum, where workshops related to Japanese culture.

In fact, I only have reservations about the organization of the halls. While one was stuffed with the above-mentioned attractions, the other had a lot of unused space. There is a small dining area, a large screen and deckchairs for evening sessions, and a games zone without electricity. Additional elements could definitely be put there.

 

But what next?

From my account, an image of Confiction emerges as a quite successful convention that can correct its mistakes in subsequent editions. However, there is a serious problem. Normally, we could expect the organizers to draw conclusions and improve the event, but already during the first edition, they took to the deep water instead of simply starting by marking their presence in the region. Personally, I have doubts as to whether they were even reimbursed for the costs of the organization, and thus whether the second edition will take place at all. Even if so, it will certainly be more difficult to attract equally interesting visitors and encourage exhibitors to rent the space. Since almost no one was standing for paid photos, and the goods did not leave the shelves, the assumed revenues were rather not achieved. Confiction could therefore count as a regression in terms of content. It is certain