In talking with Brian Wiser of Done The Impossible he informed me that at all the Cons he attends, only about 10% of the Browncoats he encounters are aware that CSTS ( and DTI) even exists. I've only attended 2 small local Cons, most there were not aware either. Do you all find that this is the case as well? What can we do about this?

In Australia, we find that many recognise the event but not when it's referred to by the acronym of CSTS. When we mention it's name in full (Can't Stop the Serenity) then they go "Ahhhh!". So that's something we're learning to change when we promote the event.

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Global Steering Committee Chair (2010-2015)
Global Team: Comms Lead (2009)
Local Event Organiser/Crew: Melbourne (2007, 2009-2017), Vancouver (2006)
New Melbourne Browncoats Inc - newmelbournebrowncoats.com

I've found that too. A lot more people have heard of Can't Stop The Serenity than know it as CSTS. Although I use CSTS Vancouver as our official name, I always use the full title when advertising or contacting sponsors.

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CSTS Vancouver 2015 will be held Saturday, June 20th from Noon to 6:00 pm at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. Donations will go to Equality Now (75%) and Avalon Women's Centre (25%).

We do the same as Vancouver. Refer to things in group as CSTS and in all published advertizing as Can't Stop the Serenity. If I use CSTS in FB event post, I do try to use the full name in the first sentence.

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Shepherd Book once said to me, If you can't do something smart, do something right. ~ Jayne Cobb

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Moon and I were pretty amazed when we attended one of our local cons a couple of weeks ago that there were a LOT of people that said they'd never heard of these screenings, and we've been doing sold-out or very near sold-out shows the past 8 years! Many of these folks also didn't seem to know anything about the local Browncoat groups or have any fan interaction online, so it seems we're missing a key NON-virtual audience.

I'd suggest trying to get into convention program books for advertising and making more of an effort to flyer/advertise in local media and/or shops.

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"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye... and then it's just fun."

It used to be the case locally, but not anymore. If people aren't aware of it now, chances are they are new to the fandom as a whole.

And online, I find that all the forums that I frequent have numerous postings about shindigs and CSTS screenings, so that about 90% of the people that visit a given site have heard of and even attended CSTS events.

The best example is the Fireflyprops.net forum. When I first began posting there, CSTS was not well known. Now that site is filled with costumers and propmakers that regularly contribute materials and costumes to local events the world over. Some newcomers to that site join with the intention of getting feedback specific to CSTS events they'll be attending. Especially if they go in costume.

In my past experience, people I talked to tended to recognize the names Equality Now first and Can't Stop the Serenity second. Now, they're more synonymous.