Ever heard of the
Seattle Freeze?
Let me tell you, it's a drag, and it really exists.
For the last several years, I've been interested in organizing a guitar convention.
I dislike guitar "shows" because it's all about the sell. Dealers and collector who want to sell overpriced stuff.
For almost 30 years, I've attended Sci-Fi/Fantasy conventions. Completely different that Star-Trek or Comic Cons... "Consumer" conventions, we call those. And I don't like those either, because of the profit-driven mentality.
This weekend was a rather large convention that ran from Thursday till Sunday.. non-stop. Discussion panels, workshops, various events, etc. We don't close down and go home at night.
I invited about 150 local guitar players I know from around the area, and put the word out on a few forums about the idea, and suggested that local people come down for a couple hours and see how different this "format" of convention is vs. the typical guitar show. "I need feedback" I told them, about how well it would translate into the guitar-world. Throw out the Sci-Fi aspect entirely, and replace it with "guitar"
Not a single person came to give their input. In fact, the only positive response I got from forum postings were not from local people.
Seattle sucks.