@TheRealStanLee and @stevewoz team up to overcharge artists and comic creators with insane booth prices at Silicon Valley Comic Con!
— Paul Roman Martinez (@PRMartinez19XX) October 13, 2015
Well that’s the charge by artist Paul Roman Martinez, anyway.
@robsalk @ICV2 could bonanza be a bubble? Is the con market growing over saturated? I exhibit at 10-15 shows per year, it sure looks like it
— Paul Roman Martinez (@PRMartinez19XX) October 7, 2015
Paul Roman Martinez @PRMartinez19XX
@steamcrow Have you seen the prices for Silicon Valley Comic Con? #fakecomiccon
@Comixace @comicsbeat And the SVCC numbers are based on the application they sent out yesterday.
— Paul Roman Martinez (@PRMartinez19XX) October 13, 2015
@Comixace @comicsbeat I made it, heres an updated version with notes about the numbers pic.twitter.com/xLKryBzP1n
— Paul Roman Martinez (@PRMartinez19XX) October 13, 2015
Martinez – a very talented artist who is a Russ Manning Award nominee and the creator of the historical webcomic Adventures of the 19xx .
He’s also made the above handy graphic showing table costs for a variety of comic cons including next year’s Sillicon Alley Comic Con, which seem to be a bit out of line.
SVCC was announced earlier this year as a venture led by comics icon Stan Lee and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Stan will add his name to anything, and I’m not sure about Woz, but the show’s website bills it as something of a tech show as well. The event started out by acquiring the Big Wow Comic Fest, a successful San Jose show that’s been running a few years to establish a base for attendees and logistics. According to the website:
With Big Wow Comic Fest — the largest comic book show of its kind in the United States—now part of the Silicon Valley Comic Con family, SVCC will be the place to meet all of your favorite artists. Artists will be added right up until the show starts, so check back frequently!
Hm, ” largest comic book show of its kind” — does that mean shows that are held in March in San Jose, because it may be the largest show of THAT kind but SDCC, NYCC, ECCC Fan Expo and many more are way larger, as you can see from the chart Martinez made. So already the bullshit detectors are on overdrive here at Stately Beat Manor.
Martinez’s chart shows estimated costs and attendance for a bunch of prominent shows — he’s a veteran exhibitor — and there was much talk about booth costs over the weekend at NYCC. What’s of interest about the chart is that SDCC booths are more expensive than NYCC booths…yet costs at NYCC are so much higher because of all the fees, taxes and bribes one must pay at the Javits Center. The charges for the inaugural SVCC seem pretty high without know who is coming what they will see or much of anything really. Caveat emptor.
Quoted: “Stan will add his name to anything, and I’m not sure about Woz…”
Hahahaha! Oh, I just love that phrasing. So true about Stan! Love him, but yes, he does love to see/get his name wherever!
It’s not overcharging if there are exhibitors willing to pay the price for showing there. If you don’t think you can make a profit showing there, don’t go. It’s that simple.
“The Original Artist Friendly Convention!” (Big Wow)
Interesting… no “about us” link at the bottom of the Big Wow site, or even a corporate copyright notice.
When I hear “Woz” and “Festival”, I think of the disastrous “Us Festivals” he sponsored in the early 80s.
What was the cost of a booth at Big Wow last April?
With prices like that, they’ve essentially priced themselves out of the market.
Either they’ll update pricing, or have a ghost town for a convention floor.
I just received this email:
A few days ago we sent out an email regarding booth pricing that generated some confusion, which we would like to clarify. Within the Big Wow Pavilion, 10 x 10 booths for independent artists are priced at $750 for an inline booth, and $800 for a corner. In addition, Artist Alley Tables are available at $350 each. Steve Wyatt of Big Wow is managing this pavilion within SVCC. He can be reached directly at [email protected].
We also created 34 additional 10 x 10 booths outside of the Big Wow Pavilion for larger companies that were originally priced at $2,700. Due to the overwhelming demand by independent artists, and in an effort to accommodate everyone, we are lowering the cost of these 10 x 10’s from $2,700 to $1,500. We hope this will allow everyone who wishes to exhibit a chance to do that. We do have a limited supply and with the price change of this size booth we are limiting availability to one 10×10 per company.
We look forward to having you all a part of our show, and hope this clarification makes it easier to participate.
Best,
bethany porrazzo
senior sales executive
o: 617.848.8765 | m: 617.905.3993 | UK:+44-2085840056
2 Liberty Square, 8th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
Nth Degree
So I just got off the phone with Steve from Big Wow, how often do you get a call from a con organizer? He assured me that he was still very much involved and committed to the comic book side of things. In addition there are even cheaper prices for those who have exhibited at Big Wow in the past. Armed with this new information I think I’m going to do this con. Even though I have Wondercon the weekend before and Seattle the weekend after, I’m going to try! Big thanks to Steve for reaching out!
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