Quite a few people announced today or yesterday that one-day Saturday tickets at the San Diego Comic-con had sold out. It actually sold out on December 18th when we made the screen shot below:
We haven’t been publicizing the availability of single day tickets here, both to avoid ay kind of rush, and because of our own pool to see who comes closest to guessing when the show sells out entirely. As of today, Friday is looking to go very very soon.
Despite the increasingly crowded confines of the SD convention center for Comic-Con, a planned expansion is still up in the air, and there will be fewer conventions overall in SD in 2010, as the crap economy takes a toll. All of you San Diego scholars will want to read the whole article (and the bitchy comments), but the main takeaway is that nerd con is still not considered a top revenue source for the county:
San Diego, the forecast noted, continues to be a beneficiary of the strong medical and health care sectors, which this year will be the source of 16 conventions. Two of those, the Society for Neuroscience and the American Society of Anesthesiologists, are among the 25 largest medical meetings in the nation, according to the report.
“The attendee profile is also great for San Diego as these individuals typically have more disposable income, spend more money in the host city, travel with family or friends and extend their stay a few days to enjoy the sights the host city has to offer,” the forecast said.
Other conventions identified as top economic generators this year include the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the National Safety Council.
While the annual Comic-Con in July draws by far the largest attendance, with 126,000 attendees forecast for this year, it is not among those meetings generating the greatest economic impact.
“Internally, we have a pretty conservative calculation on direct attendee spending from Comic-Con because it’s a unique event and a little difficult to get our arms around,” said Mark Emch, the convention center’s vice president of finance. “Also, there is significant local attendance, and they’re not going to stay in hotels.”
Direct spending by those attending conventions refers to lodging, meal, shopping and transportation expenses, while the regional economic impact numbers encompass, among other things, wages associated with the 12,000 hospitality and other jobs that the convention center supports.
Okay now you may be asking yourself, how can a show where every hotel is booked solid for miles and miles, with room rates jacked up to twice their normal value with people crammed four to a room, produce so little revenue compared to 30,000 neurologists? The key is in the bit about “these individuals typically have more disposable income, spend more money in the host city, travel with family or friends and extend their stay a few days to enjoy the sights the host city has to offer.”
This part, we must grudgingly admit, is true. A neurologist or anesthesiologist is probably more likely to bring the husband and kids along for a few days. and hang out in Legoland afterwards. Comic-Con, by contrast, can be such an exhausting and expensive deal that everyone has to make a getaway as swiftly and cleanly as possible. No Legoland for us.
You can read the whole report here. And when you see it in black and white it really does all make sense. Those 36,000 neurologists are expected to spend $68 million, for an average expenditure of $1,888 or so. Top that, Peter Jackson!
As the VP, Public Affairs for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation I wanted to add a few more facts that may help explain why we under-report (for lack of a better frame) the value of Comic Con. This event has transformed in the last six years to become gigantic in terms of size, hotel room use, attendance, etc. We know that the 4 days of CCI are the highest occupancy days for the County of SD the entire year. Yet we only report that CCI uses 20,000 hotel room nights…anybody with a clue can see that is absurd. So why do we do that? Because that is the number of hotels we are able to “block” for specific use by attendees, exhibitors, etc. We absolutely know that tens of thousands of hotel rooms are being used by CCI attendees far and above the stated amounts but actually measuring those numbers requires face-to-face interviews, sampling, etc. that is an ambitious undertaking. Needless to say, while we would love more timely and accurate data, make NO MISTAKE, that San Diego, and the Convention Center understands the incredible economic as well as cultural value of this event to the region. We have been home to CCI for 19 years now so WE GET IT! That is why we are working overtime to address a range of concerns raised by attendees, exhibitors, etc. like parking, space, hotel rooms, etc. We are making great progress and believe we have begun to put in place changes that will add to the positive experience for those attending the event in the building. As to the drunks in the Gaslamp, that is out of our hands!
“Also, there is significant local attendance, and they’re not going to stay in hotels.” I live in San Diego and I know TONS of people that still get hotel rooms cause they want to be closer to the con for a few days. And I know TONS of out of towners that do go to Sea World, Lego Land and especially the zoo cause it’s so close to downtown. People should really get a clue before they start writing so they don’t sound like a moron like this person.