Mineapalooza organiser says everything’s fine

mineapalooza

 

MINEAPALOOZA CANCELLED – SEE HERE

Mineapalooza, the Sydney Minecraft convention, is now one month away. There’s been some concern about the lack of detail on the website and the fact the venue still doesn’t list Mineapalooza as an upcoming event. So this morning, I had a chat with James B. Gosse, the man behind the event.

Right up-front Gosse is adamant that everything is fine and Mineapalooza is going ahead. In regards to the venue, he says: “We have signed a commitment letter. We are committed.” There’s a strong line-up of events including panels with SethBling – who is huge in the Minecraft community – and who has confirmed he is going.

Gosse admited there have been some teething problems getting Mineapalooza up and running. He attributed those largely to the fact his organisation hasn’t run an event before and so was on a steep learning curve. He feels that learning will pay off as his aim is to build a sustainable annual event. Gosse also said that he’d tried to copy Mojang’s approach to convention organisation, but that, “When they do something everyone thinks its mysterious and cool; when we do it, it raises questions.”

He went on to say bluntly: ““Look this isn’t a scam. We don’t even get the money until the event is on.”

All that said, it’s understandable that people might remain concerned when handing over a significant sum of money to a company that doesn’t put an address on its website. The Sydney Exhibition Centre has re-stated this morning that they don’t have an agreement with Mineapalooza yet and that as soon as they do they’ll add Mineapalooza to their list of upcoming events. While there’s no reason to think anything will go wrong with Mineapalooza the safest course of action is to watch that Exhibition Centre list.

4 thoughts on “Mineapalooza organiser says everything’s fine

  • Pingback: Mineapalooza 2014: Sydney's Minecraft festival might be huge - Geek In Sydney

  • May 24, 2014 at 5:54 pm
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    I have been watching the Mineapalooza website with interest, having a pre-teen son with several friends who would love to go to a Minecraft-themed convention here in Sydney. I have also been involved in organising some small-scale events myself in the past (not Minecraft based).

    To say the organisers are on a steep learning curve is very kind to them. What on earth made them think they could organise a convention on the other side of the world with no previous experience? Why have they only put out a request for sponsorship within the last few weeks? (Do they really think they can fund the whole event through ticket sales alone?) Why are they offering volunteer roles to the people who have already paid for tickets?

    Just as you did, I called the Sydney Exhibition Centre myself, twice, and both times I was told that the Mineapalooza people have not put down a deposit for the event. I’m afraid that in my book, this is far too disorganised.

    Plus, if it really is going to be the event they want it to be, wouldn’t the Minecraft forums be buzzing with news and excitement about who is going and what might be happening? All I see is one thread from 201

    Reply
  • May 24, 2014 at 6:18 pm
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    I have been watching the Mineapalooza website with interest, having a pre-teen son with several friends who would love to go to a Minecraft-themed convention here in Sydney. I have also been involved in organising some small-scale events myself in the past (not Minecraft based).

    To say the organisers are on a steep learning curve is very kind to them. What on earth made them think they could organise a convention on the other side of the world with no previous experience? Why have they only put out a request for sponsorship within the last few weeks? (Do they really think they can fund the whole event through ticket sales alone?) Why are they offering volunteer roles to the people who have already paid for tickets?

    Just as you did, I called the Sydney Exhibition Centre myself, twice, and both times I was told that the Mineapalooza people have not put down a deposit for the event. I’m afraid that in my book, this is far too disorganised.

    Plus, if it really is going to be the event they want it to be, wouldn’t the Minecraft forums be buzzing with news and excitement about who is going and what might be happening? Unless something has changed very recently, all I have found is two threads, both started in Dec 2013, when the organisers tried to get Aussies involved. Unsurprisingly, with lack of anything definite (e.g. a sponsor or a venue) they were rebuffed by Aussie minecraft players querying whether this is a scam. After that, they didn’t bother to follow up.
    http://www.minecraft.net.au/forums/showthread.php?1437-Organizing-Mineapalooza-2014-in-Sydeny-Looking-for-input
    http://mcau.org/forum/threads/358-Updates-to-Mineapalooza-2014-in-Sydney-this-June!

    I’ve seen their website, their FB and Twitter account, the website of the parent company and a video with James Gosse waffling on about what they *might* do and who they *might* partner with. Nothing inspires me with confidence. The only part that looks good is the list of panels in the schedule but even these are just ideas – no names attached to each panel as you would have at a literary festival or arts festival for example. Anyone could have come up with an idea of panels in a couple of hours brainstorming. Getting real people to actually do them for you is the key.

    In summary, they may be perfectly genuine but I can’t believe they are really going to pull this one off.

    (Apologies for my first incomplete comment but I was distracted by my 2 year old and submitted before I had finished writing.)

    Reply
    • May 24, 2014 at 6:26 pm
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      All good points. You are right that disorganisation is a weak excuse when they are taking people’s money. I remain hopeful that they can pull this off because Australia having something like this could be would be great – but you get the sense that heroic efforts are going to be needed from here.

      Reply

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