Conventions

While contemplating yesterday's story about how the dinky, hated Javits Center is in danger of being razed, we got to wondering just what are the biggest convention centers in the U.S.? Finding this information isn't that easy Google-wise. However, we found the information buried in Wikipedia:

A few notes about this fall's New York Comic Con. ReedPOP has made official what everyone took for granted: the New York Anime Festival will officially fold into NYCC. Launched as a separate event just before the manga/anime implosion began, the event was soon co-located with NYCC while keeping a separate identity. This year, the programming and guests list—which are pretty extensive and popular among the fan community—will stay the same but the event itself will be part of NYCC.

Anyone who was at last year's San Diego on the comics side probably remembers Tr!ckster as a highlight -- founded by cartoonist/animator Scott Morse and his friends as a comics-centric place to hang out, it featured books for sale, parties, concerts and an awesome spot right across the railroad tracks from the convention center where people could watch the madness and sit on the grass while drinking a glass of rose. Well, the venue is new this year (rumor has it a nasty old Hollywood studio stole the old spot) but it looks to be just as awesome :

The creator of Fables and Fairest has started hinting that next March will see a new convention appear on the horizon, focusing on the characters and world of his fan-favourite series.

by Mike Scigliano

-- One of the biggest elements in the production of a comicon that attendees will never see is the show decorator. Once you are locked into doing your comicon you'll absolutely need to have one. And they aren't cheap either. Before we get to deep into this let me explain what a decorator does.

Comic-Con has just announced a change to their terms and conditions regarding badges that indicate things are getting more real.

A letter has gone out to those who sought a badge for this year's show...basically, very few have been returned, and those that were will be sold as one-days. And if you want to participate in the sale, make sure you have a Member ID—registration for that closes Friday. Hurry, children, hurry!

Lokis, Storm Dogs, Hepzibahs, Mark Millar, Publishers and Fans. Kapow Comic Convention 2012: what did we learn?

As Torsten pointed out this was National Comics Weekend. Here's some of what folks saw and wrote:

Torsten gave a fantastic review of things to do this weekend but I'll focus on two fun events for the Maine and Washington people, who desperately should enjoy themselves while the sun is still out!

Sweet Kirby Crackle! It's a busy weekend, with comics shows in: New York, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Pennsylvania [sic], South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Pennsylvania (again), and the United Kingdom! They're taking place at colleges, schools, convention centers, hotels, and community centers!

There's a point in every comicon production process where things get real. The utter insanity of what you have undertaken becomes concrete. Booking your first exhibitor is a great high. Each subsequent booking continues that awesome feeling of things going well. That is until you get your first email or phone call from an attendee. Once that happens there is NO going back. The cat's out of the bag so to speak. It's at that point that you come to the realization that what you've been working so hard on for the last few months is now out there for public consumption. It was a very surreal moment for Martha, Phil and I for sure.