Why no Motown Con? [[like Comic Con or Beatle Fest?)

[Jimi LaLumia]

with all these conventions [[Comic Con for all the Comic book/fantasy fans,etc) and the BeatleFest events which started in the 70's, why not a 3 Day weekend Motown Con , where fans can swap records/cds/memorabilia, have a non stop Motown Disco to dance in, watch old tv footage and films, hear lectures, panel discussions, have Motown artists show up to speak or perform..etc...We deserve it!..MOTOWN CON!!!..what do we have to do to make this happen? I want in!

[Kamasu_Jr]

There has been only one Motown fan convention that I know of. Maybe others know of more. But the one most of us remember took place in 1990 or 1991 in Detroit and Esther Edwards was still living and some of the money raised went towards establishing the Motown museum. It was an interesting and fun weekend with some fans ripping off Ian Levine's record sleeves, a record sale, concerts, autograph sessions, etc. Boyfromcrosstown came from England, but we didn't know him then. A Motown Con sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't know how to organize one.

[Motown Eddie]

I agree; a Motown Convention for fans would be a great idea. I'm sure with the ongoing interest in Motown, a convention would be the next logical step.

[reese]

There has been only one Motown fan convention that I know of. Maybe others know of more. But the one most of us remember took place in 1990 or 1991 in Detroit and Esther Edwards was still living and some of the money raised went towards establishing the Motown museum. It was an interesting and fun weekend with some fans ripping off Ian Levine's record sleeves, a record sale, concerts, autograph sessions, etc. Boyfromcrosstown came from England, but we didn't know him then. A Motown Con sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't know how to organize one.

It was a lot of fun. Many of the Motorcity artists were there. And the best part for me was finally being able to see T.C.B. and G.I.T., as well as GOIN' BACK TO INDIANA and the 1963 Apollo show. I met some fans there that I'm still in contact with.

[Kamasu_Jr]

It was a lot of fun. Many of the Motorcity artists were there. And the best part for me was finally being able to see T.C.B. and G.I.T., as well as GOIN' BACK TO INDIANA and the 1963 Apollo show. I met some fans there that I'm still in contact with.

Yeah, some of the Motowners were cool especially Claudette Robinson, Bobby Rodgers, Rosilind and Annette. Some of the fans were funny too. Did they ever find that Supremes fan who supposedly disappeared or moved back to the Middle East?

[reese]

Yeah, some of the Motowners were cool especially Claudette Robinson, Bobby Rodgers, Rosilind and Annette. Some of the fans were funny too. Did they ever find that Supremes fan who supposedly disappeared or moved back to the Middle East?

I vaguely recall hearing about such a person in one of the Yahoo groups. I think he might have returned to the US.

[jobeterob]

Someone needs to agree to be the "go to" guy on this and start the ball rolling for Las Vegas, New York or San Francisco and pick a date.

Maybe we could see Motown the Musical as well or some such event.

[Kamasu_Jr]

someone needs to agree to be the "go to" guy on this and start the ball rolling for las vegas, new york or san francisco and pick a date.

Maybe we could see motown the musical as well or some such event.
detroit or new york would be logical places. No to frisco or vegas. They have nothing to with motown.

[marv2]

with all these conventions [[Comic Con for all the Comic book/fantasy fans,etc) and the BeatleFest events which started in the 70's, why not a 3 Day weekend Motown Con , where fans can swap records/cds/memorabilia, have a non stop Motown Disco to dance in, watch old tv footage and films, hear lectures, panel discussions, have Motown artists show up to speak or perform..etc...We deserve it!..MOTOWN CON!!!..what do we have to do to make this happen? I want in!

Good question. We did have several events like the one you described in Detroit back in the late 80's and early 90's around the time of Ian Levine's Motor City productions releases.

[marv2]

There has been only one Motown fan convention that I know of. Maybe others know of more. But the one most of us remember took place in 1990 or 1991 in Detroit and Esther Edwards was still living and some of the money raised went towards establishing the Motown museum. It was an interesting and fun weekend with some fans ripping off Ian Levine's record sleeves, a record sale, concerts, autograph sessions, etc. Boyfromcrosstown came from England, but we didn't know him then. A Motown Con sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't know how to organize one.

Yeah I was there. They were in 1989 and 1990. My Mom introduced me to Marv Johnson back at time as I recall.

[marv2]

detroit or new york would be logical places. No to frisco or vegas. They have nothing to with motown.

It needs to be in Detroit since many of the lesser known living Motown artists are there and the bigger names can afford to fly in to participate. New York would not work as well.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Who is going to organize such a convention? Wouldn't one of the first things to do would be to find a location in Detroit? Then secure some of the artists? Then decide on pricing. Too much work. Too much responsibility.

[Jimi LaLumia]

sorry, but it would/should be held in NYC...
BeatleFest was a NYC held event, no one demanded that it be held in LIVERPOOL!..
as Berry Gordy would say, "Don't Be Ridiculous!"..

[Doug-Morgan]

If someone were serious about staging an event like this in Detroit, the people to contact would be the executive committee of ConFusion, the Detroit area science fiction convention put on by the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association. http://stilyagi.org/ These folks have been putting on large scale conventions for years.

For a number of years, Dora and I were part of the Northwest Science Fiction Society's group that ran NorWesCon, a 2500 plus member convention that will have it's 37th one in April of next year. They're BIG operations, and any major city worth it's salt will have a group who knows how to run an operation like this.

[blkfrost]

detroit or new york would be logical places. No to frisco or vegas. They have nothing to with motown.

Well, maybe is should be in Detroit. May help the economy since Detroit is filing for bankruptcy. New York would allow the opportunity to see "Motown, The Musical". Vegas would be a fun place, even though it had nothing to do with Motown, except that many of its biggest artist played there. San Francisco is a beautiful city for conferences... some of the best food and wine in the country, great views and wonderful people... like me! It could even be in LA, since it was home to the later years of Motown.

[smark21]

If something like this is going to happen, it will be up to an enterprising fan, or group of fans, to put it together. To book the space and plan events. Supremes fans used to have fan conventions, though they fell by the wayside in the last 10 years, for a variety of reasons. A year or two ago, some members of a Yahoo group persuaded Norwin Simmons, who had planned Supremes conventions in the past, to do another. He booked a hotel meeting room and catering and then said fans must put up an advance to secure the booking. But none of the fans who had urged Norwin to plan this came through with money and the convention was cancelled. Truth be told, Norwin booked a somewhat run down hotel in Washington DC in August [[worst time of the year to be there what with the humidity) and his on line flyers to promote the event were shoddy and full of misspellings and typos—they were more worthy of a telephone pole to promote a yard sale, then a national meet up of fans. And he was rather arrogant, defensive and haughty whenever fans asked him questions about the event. So while he did some work and was let down by those who urged him to do this in the first place, he had himself to blame for the poor way he promoted and sold the event. So if some Motown fans get together to hold a fan fest, be professional and polite; and make sure you have a core of people who are willing to financially commit to get it off the ground.

[marybrewster]

I can't even imagine being in a room filled with SDFers. No screen name to hide behind?

In all seriousness though; I think the MotownCon idea is brilliant. It is certainly something I would consider, depending on what "stars" were able to come.

[marybrewster]

If something like this is going to happen, it will be up to an enterprising fan, or group of fans, to put it together. To book the space and plan events. Supremes fans used to have fan conventions, though they fell by the wayside in the last 10 years, for a variety of reasons. A year or two ago, some members of a Yahoo group persuaded Norwin Simmons, who had planned Supremes conventions in the past, to do another. He booked a hotel meeting room and catering and then said fans must put up an advance to secure the booking. But none of the fans who had urged Norwin to plan this came through with money and the convention was cancelled. Truth be told, Norwin booked a somewhat run down hotel in Washington DC in August [[worst time of the year to be there what with the humidity) and his on line flyers to promote the event were shoddy and full of misspellings and typos—they were more worthy of a telephone pole to promote a yard sale, then a national meet up of fans. And he was rather arrogant, defensive and haughty whenever fans asked him questions about the event. So while he did some work and was let down by those who urged him to do this in the first place, he had himself to blame for the poor way he promoted and sold the event. So if some Motown fans get together to hold a fan fest, be professional and polite; and make sure you have a core of people who are willing to financially commit to get it off the ground.

I recall looking into the Supremes Convention that was supposed to take place a few years back. If I remember correctly, the price was outrageous; I remember looking up reviews for the hotel/restaurant where is was to be held and the place sounded like a DUMP.

[Jimi LaLumia]

I was very involved in helping Mark Lapidos with the early, super successful Beatle Fests in the early 70's in NYC.. I'd be more than happy to help with something like this, based in NYC where thousands of tourists from around the world would FLOCK to it...