Written by: Chris Delloiacono
Pictures by: Patti Maillaro
The comic industry survives on a juggernaut of hype. Whether its title launches, crossover madness, film tie-ins, or the current mega-show, the hype never seems to let up. New York City area comic fans are offered a variety of meaningless shows that feature high priced admission, cramped aisles, and poor facilities. Yet there is no singular event that’s truly worthy of attending. Prior to 2006, a comic fan in New York or New Jersey would have to travel to either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to find a major comic event.
The New York Comic-Con was supposed to change all of that. Housed in the state of the art Jacob Javits Convention Center comfort and convenience were expected. Comic fans wouldn’t have to endure the cramped Penn Hotel, or worse the concourse of Madison Square Garden where the air was fetid with the stink of elephant feces from the recently departed Ringling Brothers Circus.
The hype machine for Comic-Con was out for more than seven months since the show’s initial announcement on June 8, 2005. The show was advertised in dozens of comics, numerous trade publications, all over the Internet, and there were even radio spots in the New York area. This was going to be huge!
Wasn’t it?
The putrid stench of unmitigated failure in planning was evident upon my arrival at the show on Saturday afternoon. My hope was to arrive after the majority of the crowds, so Patti, my girlfriend and photographer, and I arrived around 2pm to find more than 500 people queued up waiting to enter the human sardine can that was the Comic-Con. The New York City Fire Department had just closed off further access to the show. Nobody, but nobody was getting in.
Refunds and an apology were being given out. That’s very nice, but it really doesn’t make up for atrocious planning. One Comic-Con employee told me, “We didn’t expect the show to be this big.”
I must wonder how you can advertise to such an extent and not expect a substantial turnout in a city of 8 million people.
Another thing that should have blown holes in their expectations of a small show is that Marvel and DC made an appearance at the event. Most of the Big Two’s convention budget is wasted trailing around behind Wizard’s series of conventions. They rarely drag their corporate logos across town for any other shows, so their presence meant the publishers were expecting big things.
Floor space was the clearest failure by the show. The same staffer mentioned that, “We only had 33,000 square feet of space.” Considering that the Javits Center boasts 814,400 total square feet of exhibition space, that’s probably the biggest underestimation since George Custer decided to ambush a small group of Indians in Montana.
These photographs from the concourse above the exhibit space should give a small idea of what convention goers faced down in the pit of Hades.
This next image speaks volumes. Empty registration queues are what happens to exhibitors that plan poorly.
My personal loss attending the con only amounted to $20.50 for train tickets and an additional $4 for parking at my local station. Less than $25 is not a big deal to me. Plus I got to spend a day in New York City, which was capped off with second row tickets (which cost $20) to see Rent. My girlfriend won the right to purchase these inexpensive tickets in a lottery outside of the Nederlander Theatre. My day actually was better for the fact that I didn’t have to drop $25 to enter this poorly managed sham event. $50 could have purchased two tickets to the Comic-Con. Instead, we were treated to one of Broadway’s best for $10 less.
Yes, you read that right. It was $25 to attend an event that they apparently didn’t think was going to be very big. Three friends actually bailed out of going with us–luck was on their side, huh–when they saw the king’s ransom being charged to attend.
It’s really a topic for another time, but who wants to dump $50 in the garbage so they can walk into the door of a comic book show with their girlfriend? All you get is a bag of stuff you don’t want, over cramped aisles, and hard to reach guests.
One convention goer told me, “I took a quick walk around”¦then I left.” He shook his hands in disgust, “I had to get out of there. It just wasn’t worth it.”
That’s customer satisfaction!
A refund and an apology is what Comic-Con employees were offering anyone that couldn’t get in today. That’s all well and good, but what about the myriad other expenses people faced?
This picture is of a local parking lot and that price is correct. Talk about throwing money away. While you could find rates for about half that if you were willing to walk a few blocks, that’s insanity. Not to mention, the tolls faced by commuters crossing New York’s bridges or tunnels. How about all of the gas that burned up due to poor planning? The countless hours spent in traffic?
No apology can make up for a pathetic managerial job. Thank Reed Exhibitions for that one, folks. They’re the ones that wasted a lot of potential custome’s money today. I’m sure they could care less, though. They already got their paycheck.
From the Reed website: Reed Exhibitions excels in creating high profile, highly targeted business and consumer exhibitions to establish and maintain business relations, and generate new business.
High profile yes, but little else promised seemed to come to fruition. Clearly Reed isn’t very good at what they do, are they? I’ll find someone else the next time I plan an event.
The convention organizers claim to be very sorry for all of the inconvenience they have sown this year and hope you’ll all come back next year as evidenced by this note.
They’re probably thrilled that their convention was such a hot ticket and impossible to get into. It’s the same game that toy makers foist on the masses by making Tickle Me Elmo, Furby, or the XBOX impossible to own.
I for one think these guys should take their show and put it on in some other state. Maybe they could handle Wyoming and its population of 500,000 people.
I won’t be attending next yea’s version of Comic-Con unless the entry fee is lowered considerably, and floor space is allocated with an ounce of forethought. I just won’t subject myself to that again.
I’ll save my time, effort, and expenses for the Pittsburgh Comicon, which I’ve attended and enjoyed the past two years. There you can walk unencumbered up and down every single aisle, shop with comfort, walk in and out with no problem, and–gasp–actually talk to the creators with a modicum of comfort.
The other area option is the Philadelphia installment from Wizard Entertainment. Four years of experience tells me that show has had better guests, more dealers, and a well laid out floor plan.
I’m sure we’ll hear a song and dance from the Comic-Con about how it was a work in progress and that they’ll do better next year. Isn’t it great that they brought in the world class talents of Reed Exhibitions? Imagine how things would have gone if they weren’t involved?
On a final note, Patti and I traveled to New York’s two biggest comic shops, Jim Hanley’s Universe and Midtown Comics (the Times Square branch) after the con at the Con. Both shops were overflowing with customers. It was quite something to see masses of customers at a comic book store. I waited in line for a moment at Midtown and traded quips with some happy consumers.
One gentleman said, “At least it’s been a consistent day,” after deciding it wasn’t worth waiting in line some more.
Another uttered a phrase that I haven’t heard since the middle of the 1990s, “The comic shop’s full.” I don’t know if that line’s actually funny or just sad.
In any event, the New York Comic-Con turned out to be like many comics from the 1990s: A pretty variant cover on the outside and an inside packed with disappointment.
Oh well, at least I saw Rent.
I’d be interested in writing a follow up to this piece. Send me your experiences, either positive or negative, regarding the New York Comic-Con. I’d love to continue the discussion.
