What kind of events do you list?
Why don't you have a listing for Convention X?
Do you know of any events in my area?
How do you find out about all these events?
Have you considered adding a search capability?
Pretty much all kinds. :-)
The listings are generally Science Fiction (literature as well as movies and television), Fantasy, Horror and Gaming. There are also listings for Anime, Comic Books and other Collectibles and still more than that. There's even listings for a few Linux conferences with celebrity guests.
The single most common reason a convention isn't listed is that I've never heard of it before. I try to be thorough, but occasionally a new event will get overlooked. In that case, please go to the Feedback page and use the "add a convention" link to let me know about the event.
Another reason a convention might not be listed is a lack of contact information. In addition to this web site, Fanboy's Convention List is distributed through a variety of clubs' newsletters. As a result, some readers may not have access to e-mail. In order to make the list useful to as wide an audience as possible, postal contact information is required in order for an event to be listed.
One final reason an event might not be listed is if the event's web site is written in a language other than English. Using various online tools, I can usually work out the pertinert information if a site is written in French, Spanish, German, or most other European languages. Unfortunately, I haven't located tools yet that will create a useful translation from Japanese, and so I know I've missed listing several anime events.
Well, that is the general idea behind this list. :-)
To find events in your area, please go to the Events by Area page and check the link for your general vicinity.
And if you do find out about an event that I don't have listed, please go to the Feedback page and use the "add a convention" link to let me know about the event.
One source of information about upcoming events is previous years' convention web sites. I spend a few hours every month visiting the web sites from previous events to check for updated information.
Another way I frequently hear about events is from potential attendees, the organizers, or even the occasional celebrity. Once the information has been verified, it gets added to the list and if the submitter has given me their first and last names (sorry, no pseudonymns), they get added to the contributors list on the site's main page.
I've considered it, and it's a tough call.
On the one hand, I do see where a search would be useful for looking up shows where specific guests would be appearing. In fact, that seems to be the number one reason why people ask for it.
On the other hand, adding a dynamic search capability would require rewriting the code that's used to maintain the site. With a smaller amount of effort, I can add an index of all the guests and where they're appearing. This same rewrite could also let me group conventions according to their focus.