RUMORS.. the shinking convention circut..!!

[Stuart Sayger]

Hey there gang... I just got back from Megacon in Orlando and had a great great time! I got to see a lot of old friends and chatted with a few creators that I really admitted! ( and even got a nice Dick Giordano drawing ta' boot!).. Such a great time.. I would hate if it were ever go to away... But such thoughts dominated conversation during the show.... not about Megacon, but other convention!

I heard a good number of heavy duty collectors chatting that they had heard that Wizard might discontinue their annual conventions in Los Angeles and Dallas after 2008 .. and maybe discontinue their show in Philly as well leaving only Wizard World Chicago to continue!

What makes this even more interesting that this talk comes shortly after Roger Price announced that he would no longer promote the MidOhioCon. Others have speculated as to the future of the Pittsburgh Comicon after 2008year resulting from pending legal matters involving it's promoter.

Right now this is a lot ( I MEAN A LOT ) OF S P E C U L A T I O N... But if it were to come to pass that would mean the loss of 5 major annual conventions all in one year... I have to wonder what kind of impact this could have on the hobby as a whole... For me it would be 5 fewer appearances in 2009. But I travel a lot. Many fans attend only one or two major conventions in a year. What happens to them...? I've always thought that the fantastic social atmosphere of the conventions is a great reason for the strength of this hobby. What opportunity to meet other fans and share your love of the hobby... Many great friendships have been made through the convention circut... How would the loss of the closest LARGE comic convention affect YOU and your collecting habits...? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on the matter.

One thing that I am reminded of concerning this matter is the comic callapse of '96... I remember reading a news piece back then. when so many comic book stores were going out of business, that asked about the impact of the closeing of so many comic shops... The news piece included results of a questionnaire that asked, "if your local comic shop were to go out of business, what would you do...?".. The multiple choice answers included.... "go to another shop", "order from a catalog/ web", "quit collecting", "other"..... Of those that answered 50-percent said they would stop collecting...

... Am I crazy to wonder what kind of effect the possible loss of these conventions could have on the hobby..?

[Brian Cronin]

I certainly don't think you are crazy to consider the impact of the possible loss of these conventions, Stuart, but at the same time, I also don't think we really know enough about the tangible impact of these conventions to quantify how much of an impact their loss would make.

I think it's an interesting topic, though. I think I'll write about it on Comics Should Be Good, and see what the readers there think.

-Brian

[Brian Cronin]

Here ya go!

It'll be interesting to see the responses.

-Brian

[Stuart Sayger]

... Ah..., and is is also interesting to note that as of 2008 the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon is only 2 days long, no longer 3....

the comics world is shrinking!

[Stuart Sayger]

Wait a minute... Someone just told me that Gencon filed for chapt. 11 bankruptcy... Is this true..?

What's going on.. is there a conspiracy against hobby conventions..?

[Sefina]

GenCon did indeed file for Chapter 11 however they are saying that as of right now, GenCon will still be running.

I am personally a volunteer for True Dungeon and hope that GenCon and True Dungeon will continue for years to come. :D

[KevinB]

Hey Stuart,

You know, I just got home from LA early Tuesday and I've been contemplating the state of conventions and convention season - a season which seems to go from January to December now.

I've been to two West Coast events this year so far (WonderCon and WWLA) and it really struck me how different in feeling the shows had. While I really enjoyed WonderCon, a show with great atmosphere and guests, one where I spent more than my average share of dough on original art... I really wasn't very busy at the booth. On the flip side, I was kind of struck by how small Wizard World LA was in comparison to previous years, but I was kind of going nuts at the booth swamped with work. In the last hour of the show I spent less than a $100 buying discounted books to read on the plane.

I thought last year was tough, but for over a year I've looked at this year's convention season with a sense of dread as there are just two many national and large regional shows grouped within a small period of time. Between April and July in my sphere there's potentially Toronto, New York, Pittsburgh, Calgary, Seattle, Detroit, San Jose, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago, Toronto again, and San Diego. From April 12 to late July I could potentially be at a convention every week. As it stands I'll probably be at 8 of the 12 over that 3.5 month period - one every two weeks theoretically, but in reality they will be clustered in groups.

I don't worry so much about the hardcore fans in each region showing up, I do think that each location has a core of fans who will go to just about every major comic event in their region, but the problem I see with the growth of any of these cons is in attracting people from outside of their area to take the gamble to come and check out the city - from the big collectors of original art and back issues, to the casual fans who want to visit a show to meet their favourite creators. There's also the difficulties involved in attracting people that have only a passing interest in comics to attend and getting the word out to them.

In almost all categories I see New York and San Diego and to a lesser extent Chicago as being the destination cons for all fans and collectors in that April-July period. The art collectors will point out the benefits of Seattle, San Jose and Charlotte. But at what point does the market become oversaturated? When the choices of where to go have to be made I wonder which shows get cut? I guess for me the first question is always "who will be there?"?

From August to November I just don't see that many problems. By August things lighten up considerably to one or maybe two major national or regional cons a month.

Kev

[Stuart Sayger]

One item that I must point out in this tread is that the 2008 souvenier book for wizard world LA did indeed list show dates for wizard world LA in 2009.

Personally I had a good show in LA.. but I did here a good number of fans and creators questioning the size and scope of the show.

Personally I wanted to see if I could present at every 3 day show in the USA during 2008.. ( no short order)... The Spring season really is clogged with conveintions. Just like buying realistate, there is only so many weekends in April, May, and June to have conventions... I've always wondered why there isn't a major 3 day show in October... and for this year NOTHING in August (surely that will change soon)

But I have to agree .. there are so many large shows these days that a creator simply must choose which shows to attend... Angel Medina told me that he can only do one show a month... that's it... I don't think that I could add more shows to my schedule period... after being in San Fran, Orlando, and LA in a 4 week span I'm beat... These kinds of thoughts might lead to a deluting of talent in terms of attending professionals at ALL conventions... Which never helps they shows, the fans, or the creators.

[Stuart Sayger]

Good news for all midwest comic fans.. the MidOhioCon is back! Under new ownership that MidOhioCon will continue in 2008 on October 4th-5th..

To find out more about the show click on the link below!
http://www.midohiocon.com/traditioncontinues.shtml

[GodzIllinois]

This is probably a little selfish of me, especially considering I live in Chicago, but I was always a little annoyed when Wizard added all those other conventions. I know it's more convenient for me to go to WizardWorld Chicago but I always felt that the over-saturation of Conventions would devalue each one individually and also spread everyone too thin. This has seem to prove true IMO as the past 3 Wizard World conventions seem to be getting worse and worse in terms of size and artist participation. Image wasn't even there last year!

So although rumors of the closing of all these conventions is sad and hopefully untrue, I can't help but think that we should have all seen this coming. Although if there wasn't a WizardWorld Chicago I'd probably have to shoot someone, but that'd also probably force me to finally go to the San Diego Comicon so oh well.

Life goes on. Economy sucks anyways so these conventions closing are the least of our problems.

[Number 1 Fan]

Stuart,
You mentioned somewhere in here about Texas. Are you still doing the Texas show this year? Since moving that is the closest show we can attend. I believe it's in November?

[Stuart Sayger]

.. I have every intention of attending wizard texas... I really like it. It's a great "goodbye" to the convention season.. ( since the mid ohio con has moved to earlier in the year ).. I'll see you there, Dee!

I think that I posted it somewhere else, but just incase... It is important to note that wizard has realeased a date for next years wizard world Los angeles... Peronally I like all of their shows and will likely attend them as long as i possibly can!