The other day we quoted Brian Heater‘s entry on the Big Apple Con. Brian said as he entered, he was asked, “If Big Apple Con added a nettikasinot (Finnish for online casino), would you stay and gamble?”

However, Allan Rosenberg, who does a really fine job bringing some of he best guests to Big Apple shows, wrote to correct this:

The question Brian was asked was “If we run a show in a casino would you stay and gamble?” A very different question. We have no intention of ever promoting gambling ourselves but are trying to gather information on the type of customer we might have if we do promote a show in a casino outside of NYC.

So there you go, a small but important detail.

That said, this doesn’t seem to disprove Todd Allen’s speculation that this could be paving the way for the Chicago Wizard show to move to a facility in a nearby casino. In fact…it might just confirm it.

1 COMMENT

  1. Diamond held their 2008 Retailer Summit in a Las Vegas casino.

    According to the San Diego Tribune article regarding the expansion of the SD convention center, two of the most booked convention centers in the country are the Mandalay Bay CC and the Sands Expo CC, both larger than San Diego, and both located in Las Vegas casinos. The Las Vegas CC, which technically isn’t located in Las Vegas, and which is connected to the nearby Hilton, is also listed.

    Given that many people continue to discuss moving CCI to Las Vegas, given the ease of travelling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, given the many affordable airline tickets and hotel rooms, given that every hotel on the Strip has convention space in a variety of acreage, given that many hotels are connected to the Las Vegas monorail, given the many family-friendly options, given the glamour…

    Well, Wizard would be stupid (yes, I know…) not to consider planning a convention in Las Vegas.

  2. The casino in Rosemont is a long ways of. In fact, there still isn’t any date when (and more likely if) they will break ground due to a lot of shady dealings with a previous attempt at getting a casino built there. (These shady dealings were all done by the late Donald Stevens, the same Stevens who the convention center is named.)

    I’d be surprised if WizardWorld Chicago (or whatever they’re calling it now) is still around by the time the Rosemont casino is open.

  3. Wait ’til they get a load of the notorious cheapness of Con goers. I feel sorry for any waitstaff having to deal with them. (Ask a waitress at a COn sometime about it and get ready for an earful.)

  4. The best Con I ever attended was in 2000, “The All time Classic New York Comic Book Convention”June 9-11 in either White Plains or Yonkers New York. I forget which.
    There was a great guest line up and very little fan attendance.
    The Con was empty.

    New York City fans may travel to San Diego for a good con but on their home turf they won;t travel outside of Manhattan in large numbers.

    I’m sure that the Con promoters lost a great deal of money on this Con

  5. Unfortunately, if Todd is right (and I bet he is), casino gamblers headed to Rosemont/Chicago for a casino-based con will be sorely disappointed. Casinos here are nothing like Vegas or Atlantic City. They’re small, water-based and offer little beyond slots and scant table games, although live poker finally has been catching on.

    On the other hand, I’d love to attend a con at the Bellagio, Paris, Venetian or Wynn properties in Vegas.