Rush, Janin, thanks for the comments. I did a small bit of research on the very 1st Sherlock Holmes convention 24-26 April 2015 in London (Bendedict Cumberbatch was there :):
1. WWW.SHERLOCKED.COM
DISCUSSION: The website they used to create there event: www.eventbrite.com. It is free if you are not charging anything for registration. And if you are, the fees are minmal. A worldwide event company
2. COST: 1-day $45.00, Weekend (2.5 day)-$68.00
DISCUSSION: I did a calculation using a $10.00 fee for a Chan event, with these results. One thing I learned from past conventions is you have to "Start" with a "target number" of paying participants, unless you have other sources for funding:
Guestimate Number of attendees: 100
Ticket Balance (after fees) $838.00 (Start up $'s to use in hosting the convention)
3. SPONSORS/PARTICIPANTS: http://www.sherlocked.com/index.php/about-us. This convention was sponsored by Massive Events, in association with Hartswood Films and Showmasters.
DISCUSSION: We could-should look for sponsors. Some ideas/interested parties I can think of off-hand are:
a. Left Coast Crime (http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/): These folks host an annual mystery convention (literary) in various locations between HI & TX (CA, NM, OR, etc). Check out their 2017 Convention in Waikiki, HI: Ghost of Honor is Earl Derr Biggers!!! I know they put on a play at their 2009 convention on Muai: The House without a Key.
b. Others might be: Old Town Music Hall, Segunda CA (show films); 20th Century Fox or TCM (front us some movies to sell?); Local Restaurants & Shops (Prizes for a drawing); Individuals (i.e. I can do a first day of issue commemorative cancellation for the event, with U.S. Postal Service)
OK, this is too long. I'll stop know. We need to set a time/venues to discuss further if we wish to go forward, yes?