Full Story of Why Ro-Con 3 had to Move

May 25th, 2017
Panelists, Vendors, Performers, and Friends,

We are about 8 weeks away from Ro-Con 3! Michael and I have been prepping for another great year of bringing you all things geek and wonderful!

However, with many good plans...well....read on.

If you were to receive this e-mail only days ago, the overall message would be different, however we will continue to remain exceptionally honest in what has occurred over the last 2-3 weeks in the paragraphs below. I also apologize for the length of this message, however I don't necessarily believe that "short and sweet" is fair to anyone, especially to my own daughter, who is the inspiration for this convention as well as the mascot, the Koalid.

Michael's employer, whom we will call "Shana" for the sake of the story, kept her hands in a variety of different pots, as many enterprising businesspersons may be wont to do. One of those pots was "Innovate Hartford", a wonderful space in Hartford that would allow us to really spread our wings and run a fantastic convention. Upon Michael's initial start with the company, she thought it would be a great opportunity for both Ro-Con and Innovate Hartford and we began the planning of Ro-Con 3 with enthusiasm.

After several months, Michael's professional relationship with Shana became increasingly difficult, as her priorities switched from the mini-company that Michael was working for to her other bigger projects, one of them being Innovate Hartford. Michael's employment with Shana's mini-company ended and in the process of completing the separation, Shana determined that their "agreement" to host Ro-Con in Hartford was "office chat" and nothing more, and since "things have changed" at Innovate Hartford, that Ro-Con would be required to have a different space in that building, hire private security for the event (a requirement that was later relaxed), and pay an exorbitant amount of money for a space we were told would be more cost efficient for us (especially because we'd be putting a lot of our own money into it, which for obvious reasons is not something we have a lot of at this time). Shana believes our convention may damage her new furniture in the new space. Perhaps our group of friends, panelists, vendors, and performers would be too messy. I believe that she felt that we weren't a good "fit" for what she planned for that building. I'm not sure what that means, frankly, and still find it bothersome.

With all of these things happening, we decided this past Monday to cancel Ro-Con. And while Michael tried to convince me otherwise, the startup for his new endeavor may take a while to generate income, and we just frankly couldn't afford to start from square one all over again with only 8 weeks to spare. He tried to convince me to take the space in Hartford because it was still a great venue despite the hardship that Shana has put the convention through. My own personal belief was that if Shana chose to change her mind on a whim about allowing us the original space we had reserved, the ability to trust her moving forward was very slim. I don't like the way she does business, and this convention is not just about all things geek and wonderful, but also about family. If you are reading this message now, we consider you as family and are proud to do so! I asked Michael to decline the offer that was given to us by Innovate Hartford's liaison, Chris, who was exceptionally professional. Shana's deception and inconsistency left a bad taste in our mouths and I feel a clean break is best for all.

HOWEVER, THERE IS GOOD NEWS! We have located a new venue in Norwich, CT; Foundry 66. They are very excited to work with us and the price for the venue is reasonable and within our budget.

So if you've read this far, this good news will also be slightly different news.

Instead of a 3-day geek themed weekend, we will be doing a one-day event on July 22 (Saturday) from 10am-?. We will still love to have panels, gaming, vendors, and a birthday party to celebrate the Koalid's 3rd birthday in the evening!!!!

We hope you will join us and while we know it's a change in venue which also means a change in location (Norwich, CT vs. Hartford, CT) we hope that you will celebrate how geeks persevere in the face of adversity!

I personally had given up and was trying to find the words to send to you all to let you know that we would not have a Ro-Con 3, however thanks to Michael's hard work, we have a new plan and we cannot wait to run this new event with you! In the meantime, we are actively seeking a new venue for Ro-Con 4, happening in 2018.

Vendors: We would love to have you join us on July 22 for the one day event! However, we are also offering you the option of a refund, or we can roll over your vendor fees to next year for Ro-Con 4.

Panelists: We would love to have you on board for a full day of panels! Please let us know if you're still interested in attending.

Friends: No matter who you are, we wish to see you at Ro-Con 3. It will be a relaxi-con.....but with cake!....and maybe cookies. Please bring your friends, your family, and anyone who wants to have a good time playing games, discussing geeky things, and just hanging out with like-minded people.

With that said, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Feel free to e-mail Michael at michael@ro-con.org and let us know your thoughts.

Thank you for reading all of this, and thank you for believing in Ro-Con. We hope to see you in July!!

Love & Hugs,


Amy Whitehouse