What do you look for in a good convention?

[ericc123]

Yeah I too live in Pittsburgh and I must say that the Pittsburgh Comic Con could be better. On the other hand when you compare it to other Pittsburgh shows like the Three Rivers Comic Cons it seems amazing. All in all every year when I go to the Pittsburgh show I just end up buying from the same three dealers year after year after year.

 

Eric

[thanos_oftitan]

They really need to move the show to the new convention center that is Pittsburgh and get the heck out of Monroville.

[harveyfan323]

I actually don't like all of those half-naked spokesmodels at the show....somehow they are too distracting. I'm scarred for life with the memory of that Vampirella model at Wizard World a couple of years ago...she was so unbelievable that I can't erase her heavenly visage from my mind....it is a painful memory in a way. Seriously, I want it to be about the comics...if I want to see half naked women, I'll go to the beach or a strip club.

 

Besides that, I like hot writers/artists who will do panels and speak about their work. I don't care about autographs or talking with them personally. And of course a lot of top notch dealers who have more than just modern books and 50 cent boxes filled with [!@#%^&^].

 

Also, make sure that the panel rooms are large enough to accomodate the most popular guests. It is a joke at Wizard World when you can't get in to see a popular guest on a panel because they didn't put them in a large enough room.

 

[Bugaboo-migration]

Free parking.

 

Free parking.........and those bendable straws

 

If you had free parking and those cool bendable straws, I'd pisss on a sparkplug to come to your show.

[Kevin Boyd]

Very interesting guys, not being from Pittsburgh I don't really know the terrain. But I can tell you what I do like about it:

 

- We really like Michael and Renee George - not only are they very nice people, but you can tell that Michael is a fan too.

- Lots of parking.

- You get help from convention staff at the loading dock.Forklifts!

- They raise a lot of money for the Make-a-Wish foundation at their charity auctions, but also some of the artists contribute - like Perez and Terry Moore who sketch for a donation.

- The guests seem very happy and are accessible. No long line-ups. You know exactly where they are going to be sitting and they are usually in a good mood.

- Great program book.

- A guest cancels or has travel problems - information is posted front and center.

- Not a huge dealer room, but a great many of them are people that we know and everyone trusts. I've picked up some great deals there - its second only to the fall Motor City con for time spent hunting thru the bins - and I rarely buy back issues.

- Dealers are usually in a good mood.

- Wresters and celebs are there, but they are off to the side. Ditto for the porn models.

- You get coffee in the morning, a cheeseburger for lunch and pop in the afternoon.

- Hotel and convention are in the same building.

- Bar and the convention are in the same building.

- Lots of restaurants nearby (good selection).

 

In general, compared to a lot of the shows that we go to, we fell that the Pittsburgh show is less about hype and more about community. When you are on the road so often, that's definitely a big selling point and stands out in your mind.

 

We would like to instill the same sense of community in Toronto, instead of barking at our dealers we want to work with them, instead of isolating our guests for brief autograph sessions, we want to give them a spot of their own and let them decide how much time they want to stay there.

 

I can see the Monroeville commuting thing being a problem. I don't know anything about Pittsburgh's public transportation system - is there a means to get there without driving? I guess they chose that location for some reason - maybe because it is close to where they shot Dawn of the Dead? Not sure.

 

Kev

[musicmeta]

I look for a lot of dealers/sellers selling a lot Bronze and Silver age comics. I like to see nothing but people selling comics as far as the eye can see.

Like drbanner stated, If my back and feet hurt at the end of the day then it's probably been a good day.

 

[ninanina]

Free parking.

 

Free parking.........and those bendable straws

 

If you had free parking and those cool bendable straws, I'd pisss on a sparkplug to come to your show.

 

I know this is only going to encourage you but,

 

Have you given any thought to bringing your own straws and arriving on a scooter?

[ninanina]

All I would like are comics I need at LESS than guide. They don't have to be high grade or CGC'd. Just some VF's or thereabouts at less than guide. Seems that's pretty tough to get at a convention right now.

 

As far as seeing half-naked spokesmodels in costume, I don't have a problem with that.

[Ares]

How about a costume show with prizes or a Miss Comicon Pageant?

[AlexH]

How about a costume show with prizes or a Miss Comicon Pageant?

 

Well, I believe they are having a charity auction. But I don't think that a costume show would be all that viable. That seems more of an "anime" type thing. If people want to come dressed up, they'll come dressed up.

 

As for the Miss Comicon Pageant, I really doubt that would get a lot of nice looking women involved. I also don't think this would fit into the type of thing Kevin is trying to get involved with. I agree that it would be nice to see some skin, but that is just the perv in me talking.

[mitol]

I agree that it would be nice to see some skin, but that is just the perv in me talking.

 

OK Kev, show some skin for Alex.

[Kevin Boyd]

Anytime!

 

Actually, I'm pushing for a friday night costume contest... it's a week after halloween so people will have them handy. Only Friday though.

 

As for half-naked spokesmodels... I don't have any lined up... but I'm not against them either.

 

Kev

 

 

 

[AlexH]

Anytime!

 

 

 

[blazingbob]

Here's what Dealers need for a good convention.

 

1). We would love for the promoter to make money but when he sells too many dealers booths based on a fantasy based attendance number we all lose money. When dealers loose money at shows they tell other dealers, end result the show has the stigma of being a crappy show. There are a number of crappy selling shows and quite frankly I'm a little disturbed you guys are using Pittsburgh as the model. Pittsburgh is a marginal show for selling.

 

2). Buyers with money. 30,000 attendees through the door to see your guests is very nice for "your guests". Wrestling fans very rarely buy comic books so again I'm very happy that the promoter is making money on the entry fee so I can see Cactus Jack or whoever the wrestling flavor of the month is.

 

3). This is not meant to insult. Since this is a Canadian show there is a currency exchange rate. Our prices will be in dollars. We, the dealer community are not responsible for your governments exchange rate and how it impacts the cost of the book. We are not going to smile when you ask us to compensate for that exchange rate.

 

4). How well we do at the show determines if we come back. Customs fees for me are $675, hotels are $109 a night, the tables $500-600. Just setting up I am $1500 in the hole. Many of us will be driving 8 hours and going through customs probably stopping and eating at McDonalds. Factor that in if we appear exhausted or sometimes irritable.

 

5). The best shows are the ones with a buzz in the room. I can sense a great show just from the "feel". San Diego has had some very exciting shows and also has some very dead ones. The same goes for Chicago. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Pittsburgh and New York.

 

6). A promoter has to have the support of the local comic shops. I have seen more shows fail because Promoters think they are doing Comic shops a favor by running a convention. How about giving the comic shop owners a break on the table to setup? Why would a comic shop owner want to jeopardize his client base by exposing his clients to other dealers?

 

 

 

 

[Foolkiller]

Bob's post is pretty realistic and very informative on the dealer side of the table... there's always the question of cost involved, and as the comments here have noted, if there isn't a good selection of dealers, comic collectors are less likely to come...

 

Complaints about NY? I thought the MSG and National have been good shows for dealers? I know big apple has seen a downturn (although the location was better last time, the show itself seemed much slower), but I was always under the impression those were pretty decent shows. I knew the knock on anything in Philly was, nobody spends money (which is basically true, at least not big dollars), but I thought those two shows had done well...

 

By the way, National is over Thanksgiving weekend? I hate this idea... I'll most likely be hanging out with my family and old friends and doing early christmas shopping... comics spending sort of goes on the back burner... I gotta question the timing of this show.

[Kevin Boyd]

Thanks Bob... awesome points. Let me respond asap!

 

1). We would love for the promoter to make money but when he sells too many dealers booths based on a fantasy based attendance number we all lose money. When dealers loose money at shows they tell other dealers, end result the show has the stigma of being a crappy show. There are a number of crappy selling shows and quite frankly I'm a little disturbed you guys are using Pittsburgh as the model. Pittsburgh is a marginal show for selling.

 

That's why we are promoting our show as a comic show - not as a sci-fi, an anime or a fantasy or gaming convention.

 

> Sorry I misinterpreted... we have range estimates of what we feel attendance will be. And we've tried to go with what we feel our minimum attendance will be. Those estimates are based on attendance for our one-day shows, attendance at similar events in the city, and community response.

 

I mentioned in another thread why we like Pittsburgh, and sales wasn't one of them, so I agree. I think Paradise does ok at that show, but what we liked at that show was the sense that the guests and dealers were taken care of. We don't want to be absentee landlords, saying here is your space go to it! Sales are another matter - we certainly aren't basing our promotional methods on that show. And we are trying to make sure that we connect with the comic buyers and fans in Toronto, I have no idea about what steps the Pittsburgh people do to connect with the fans in Pittsburgh. So when I say we are modelling it after Pittsburgh I mean on an organizational level.

 

2). Buyers with money. 30,000 attendees through the door to see your guests is very nice for "your guests". Wrestling fans very rarely buy comic books so again I'm very happy that the promoter is making money on the entry fee so I can see Cactus Jack or whoever the wrestling flavor of the month is.

 

We've gone with comics only guests to make sure we connect with the right fan-base, and this is our main beef with the summer show - although we do very well sales-wise there - star trek guests are not pulling in comic book fans and collectors. Our external advertising has been CBG, Wizard, CGC... hitting the road and talking to collectors to tell them about our show. Talking to dealers and getting their input.

 

Putting on a good comic show has been our first and foremost priority. Of course we would make tons of cash at the door if we had someone from the WWE coming, but we know that isn't going to translate into sales for comics dealers or activity for our guests and panels.

 

And that's also why we've tried to invite and involve artists who are more than just current producers. Silver age guests are tougher to get, but we've got a good number of Bronze Age superstars coming. Guys that were producing material in the 1970's thru to the guy whose first book comes out next week. A lot of our panels and discussion groups will be about old comics and others about collecting comics, we want that to translate into people go back to the bins.

 

3). This is not meant to insult. Since this is a Canadian show there is a currency exchange rate. Our prices will be in dollars. We, the dealer community are not responsible for your governments exchange rate and how it impacts the cost of the book. We are not going to smile when you ask us to compensate for that exchange rate.

 

None taken, and this is a major concern that we will be addressing when selling the show on radio, disclaimers will be added to the website, program books and on. At least with Toronto shows our buyers have had some previous experience with US dealers and the prices being in US dollars, and with e-bay and internet sales most of our informed buyers are going to be aware of that.

 

Our buyers market has been telling us that they want more US dealers with quality books, and we make sure to tell them if they do come that, just like with Harley Yee, those prices are going to be in US dollars and not to expect a sticker price of $1 to = $1 Canadian but whatever the current exchange rate is.

 

We will do our best to make sure that the general public is made aware of this as well.

 

4). How well we do at the show determines if we come back. Customs fees for me are $675, hotels are $109 a night, the tables $500-600. Just setting up I am $1500 in the hole. Many of us will be driving 8 hours and going through customs probably stopping and eating at McDonalds. Factor that in if we appear exhausted or sometimes irritable.

 

I wish I could get rid of the border completely. Talk about free trade.

 

5). The best shows are the ones with a buzz in the room. I can sense a great show just from the "feel". San Diego has had some very exciting shows and also has some very dead ones. The same goes for Chicago. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Pittsburgh and New York.

 

I could definitely feel a buzz in San Diego, but maybe that was because it was my first one. I know what you mean though. All I can tell so far is that everyone we've talked to about the show has been very positive and we will be continuing to spread the word across the city over the next few weeks. People are excited. I want that to translate into a successful show for everyone.

 

6). A promoter has to have the support of the local comic shops. I have seen more shows fail because Promoters think they are doing Comic shops a favor by running a convention. How about giving the comic shop owners a break on the table to setup? Why would a comic shop owner want to jeopardize his client base by exposing his clients to other dealers?

 

Paradise is a comic shop, and we have a great community of shops here in town, where we refer customers to other stores and vice versa for items that the other may not have in stock. Paradise has strong ties with almost all of the local shops in Toronto - many we've dealt with over our previous single day conventions. I can tell you that they are really excited about our show and have been pushing our flyers to their customers faster than we can get the printed. That's been a real plus for us and there is a real air of cameraderie. They were the first people we went to for input, and the first people who said to us it was time to go big.

 

Thanks again Bob. Your comments were very helpful. I hope the Pittsburgh thing isn't too disturbing!

 

Kev

 

 

 

[comicwiz]

2). Buyers with money. 30,000 attendees through the door to see your guests is very nice for "your guests". Wrestling fans very rarely buy comic books so again I'm very happy that the promoter is making money on the entry fee so I can see Cactus Jack or whoever the wrestling flavor of the month is.

 

Excuse me for being curt, but this is a ridiculous statement to make, by any tradeshow standards. I've been involved with tradeshow organizing for a number of years, for industries ranging from computer software to insurance. All tradeshows and events have their own ways of aggregating the demographics of its visitors, and passing that data to the exhibitors/dealer. Understanding of course, that the onus is put on the exhibitor/dealer to qualify those leads, both at the show and through post-show follow-up.

 

I have yet to see a restriction on tradeshow visitors who don't posses a certain level of purchasing power. Tire-kickers will always be a part of any show.

 

A few years back, I was involved with a huge IT tradeshow in Florida. The event organizers were using data from various published sources who happened also to be heavily involved with sponsorship for the event. Their subscribers were surveyed at some point -- likely incented to participate in a contest or prize giveaway. The information gathered by the surveys were put into a large database that the coordinators used to add to the information of its tradeshow registrants. What this allowed was a profiling match, and information transfer by way of a bar code on the badge that could easily be scanned a person walking through an exhibitors booth. An exhibitor had the option of using a handheld scanner to scan all its booth attendees. Meaning, if someone walked into the booth and requested information or a quote for product or service, rather than fiddling around with pens and paper, the persons badge would be scanned and all his/her information would pop-up on the computer screen. Part of this information included things like position, whether the person was a purchasor or key decision maker and yearly salary.

 

An interesting thing happend to one of our young sales people at that show. Enamored with the prospective buyers profile and purchasing power, he eagerly worked at selling a guy a $250,000 enterprise software solution. His overzealousness had badly clouded his judgement as the order had already reached the level of sending a P.O. when they discovered the person our company was actually speaking to was a caretaker. This is not an urban myth, but a rather embarrassing situation that helps reinforce the point that the onus still rests on the exhibitor/dealer to properly qualify its leads, and make proper use of any information collected about its prospective buyers and visitors; a responsibility which has always rested with the exhibitor/dealer and not the tradeshow and event coordinators.

[justiceleaguer]

Personally, when i attend a convention the more dealers the better. I go to a con with money in hand, so the bigger variety of books available to buy, the more i leave with. The august con was good, but it always seems that the comic book portion of the weekend event makes up only a small fraction of the actual con. My advice would be to try and make it a huge showplace for the things that we as a community actually covet...comics. Not swords or movies, or hoards of star trek memorabilia. A large variety of comics is what we desire.

 

P.S. Lots of boobies are good too.

[THE_BEYONDER]

[AlexH]

 

I don't think I could have said it better.