Comments on: Actually, the problem is that Comic-Con isn’t big Enough.

By: Torsten Adair

Torsten Adair — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:57:27 +0000

From the CCI:SD home page:
“MISSION STATEMENT: Comic-Con International is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.”

1) The Con is already expanding outside the convention center, utilizing the nearby hotels. Could a studio like Warner Brothers rent the sports arena for a day and offer panels to the general public, while still exhibiting at the Con?

2) CCI needs to promote more events for the general public throughout the year. This generates good will with the locals when something inconvenient happens. It fulfills their mission statement. It helps foster a creative community. (And if done right, San Diego turns into Angouleme or Erlangen…)

3) How soon before the Disney Wonder docks in San Diego and holds a parallel Disneyana convention at the same time? (LA will be the home port in 2011.) It sleeps 2400. Food is included with cruises. Just a short drive from the terminal to the convention center via Harbor Drive… Heck… start the Disneyana show in Los Angeles, cruise to San Diego, dock, enjoy the Con (full pases included in cost of cruise), then return to LA with two days at Disneyland. The Disney cruise also gets you VIP seating in Hall H or wherever Disney panels are held, Disneyana exclusives, and the Wonder offers special events in the evening, such as test footage of upcoming events, talks with animators and directors, special exhibits from the Disney archives… AND you don’t have to deal with the hotel reservation system.

By: heimp

heimp — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:26:42 +0000

I hope TCAF will be at the Sky Dome next year.

By: A quick little follow-up on Comic-Con… at Comics212

A quick little follow-up on Comic-Con… at Comics212 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:37:59 +0000

[...] into the stadium, into the giant parking lot that’s as big as half the convention centre? Here I Drew A Map. Imagine the best possible things happened! Wouldn’t that be great? Why not work towards the [...]

By: J. M. Rossi

J. M. Rossi — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:35:36 +0000

Nice point about the economics of scale of SDCC (which is huge in nerdworld terms) vs. the really truly giant trade shows.

I do think SDCC is awesome, enjoy the craziness and insanity every year I go, and certainly think it has grown exponentially from when I first journeyed there in the early 90s.

But as trade shows as a whole go, it ain’t all that impressive. I’ve ever been to E3, but I have been to CES several times (work-related). That show basically takes over all of downtown Vegas for the better part of week. I once spent about 30 minutes in one of the CES con halls trying to find an exit. That’s never happened to me at ComicCon.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:55:20 +0000

Why not just move Comic-Con to LA? E3 is held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

By: Craig Carlton

Craig Carlton — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:40:00 +0000

It would be great if they could expand Comic-Con, but it is currently impossible. This is not because they couldn’t potentially spill over in Petco park or surrounding locations. It is because Downtown San Diego can NOT accommodate travelers. There are simply too few hotel rooms in the area. With the current 150,000ish attendees all hotels in San Diego are fully booked within an hour of being available. There is also already insufficient parking in the downtown region with current capacity. And with the current economic conditions in San Diego there will not be a major expansion in those areas in the near future that would allow for a sizeable expansion of the Con.

By: Uncle Joe Mccarthy

Uncle Joe Mccarthy — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:08:59 +0000

chris,

where did you get the idea that san diego hates the con? it loves the con…it fought to keep the con.

and i have to disagree with ms mcdonald…barring a full blown depression, hollywood will not be scaling back its presence at the con anytime soon

overall, it is one of the least expensive junkets they have all year, and the buzz they gain out of the con is worth millions (unless they are promoting a shit project, like what happened with miller’s spirit)

and only 150k show up…because of the fire code

the year before they made a cutoff of tickets sold, they ended up turning away thousands

the con could easily sell 250k…easy

thing is…i wish ms mcdonald was right….if hollywood disappeared tomorrow, i would be overjoyed…because then i could go back to my con…the one i went to years before the twilight moms had ever heard of it…the con that i went to where you could sit in a small lecture room and hear gaiman talk without a mike and see him without a big screen on the wall

By: Scott Bieser

Scott Bieser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:12:36 +0000

O HAI! I CAN HAS BOOTH AT EXPANDED COMIC-CON? WAITING LIST SUX.

By: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » SDCC ‘09 | Comic-Con Notes

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:11:20 +0000

[...] Christopher Butcher counters an assertion that Comic-Con is too big by arguing that the real problem is that it isn’t big [...]

By: Nadine Lessio

Nadine Lessio — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:13:33 +0000

Agree. Also I appreciate the ‘fuck sports’ shaded map.

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » July 23, 2009: Not standing in line

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:56:45 +0000

[...] Christopher Butcher thinks the problem is that Comic-Con isn’t big enough, while Noah Berlatsky circles around the grudge match between Twilight fans and comics fans. [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:21:18 +0000

Yes. I want the equivalent to Comiket in North America.

By: Heidi M.

Heidi M. — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:08:33 +0000

Great post, Chris. But two points, just as FYIs: #1 — the show is maxed out at 125,000 because of the size of the convention center. The show would already be way bigger this year were it not for that.

#2, WB did rent out Petco park a couple of eyars ago for their 300/Blade Runner event. Not quite like the E3 party, though.

Otherwise, a welcome dose of perspective.