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According to reports from ReedPOP’s Lance Fensterman, this year’s edition of C2E2 drew 63,000 people, up from the 53,000 reported last year.

It’s a nice big number and vindication for a show that got off to what might charitably be called a slow start in its early days, with wide aisles and vast empty spots. It’s a testament to both ReedPOP’s organizing abilities and the vast popularity of comic con culture now.

As for the latter though, ICv2 has a fascinating report on how attendees are changing

One of the most common questions at the Graham Crackers booth in Salt Lake City came when looking at the prices marked on a comic (e.g., “25”): “Is that cents or dollars?”  Customers who can’t tell the price of a comic within two orders of magnitude are going to need different handling than a hard core fan who comes to a convention with his want list, and the per capita consumption levels are going to be substantially lower.

Perhaps the best summation of the changing dynamics at shows was provided by longtime convention exhibitor Bob Chapman of Graphitti Designs, who has been exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con (and other shows) for over 30 years and was also set up at C2E2.  “We’ve finally got those people we’ve been saying we wanted for all these years,” he said of the broadening audience.  “Now we have to figure out what to do with them.


That quote from Bob Chapman should go into the Hall of Fame.
Photo Via C2e2 Twitter feed

6 COMMENTS

  1. I mean, no offence to either Con. I just always heard that C2E2 was the 3rd biggest Convention in North America (behind San Diego and New York…and maybe Toronto)

  2. C2E2 isn’t close to #3, but it is growing.

    There are a few anime cons, PAX, Fan Expo Canada, Salt Lake, Denver… with equal or greater attendance.

    WonderCon might have been surpassed. I can’t find recent figures.

    Dragon*Con counts unique visitors, and had 57K last year.
    (Crazy numbers for what is essentially a hotel SF con on steroids.)

    I attended C2E2. While there were crowds, it was easy to navigate the aisles all three days. Artist Alley was a bit tight, but those aisles are usually narrower. Aisles were extra wide for most of the show floor. The food court, which took up 1/4 of Hall A (1/3 of the show floor) did help to pull people off the aisles.

    I think Calgary and ReedPOP calculate it by attendee-days. A three-day pass = 3 attendees. I’m not certain, but I expect exhibitors prefer that calculus, especially for big shows where a 3-day pass is more likely to wander by the booth than a 1-day pass.

    I believe the 97K figure. After the TNG reunion, numbers have skyrocketed.
    It’s basically a con held at a fairground. There’s lots of space to expand.

    Oh, and go read this:
    http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_guest_editorial_bart_beaty_on_calgary_comic_expo_regional_conventions_an/

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