Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo C2E2 + April16-18, 2010 + McCormick Place

[skypinkblu]

I think for some of us who have to make travel plans...buyers...it's in a tough area. While Rosemont doesn't have the shopping *I'd* like, it's easy to get to, and it's in a safe area with hotels and the airport right there.

 

I thought about attending this one, but by the time I paid for transportation, hotels (which are even MORE expensive downtown), etc, it was just not cost effective,so I bought a nice book on the board instead ...ummm..make that 2;)

 

Seriously, I know most people going are not going be female, but even men get tired at these things and if you are thinking of SHOPPERs, you want to make the experiance confortable, otherwise you are only going to get local commuters.

 

If my husband could have made it, I might have gone just to see friends and the museum, but the timing was difficult, end of tax season.

 

[BeachBum]

While I agree it was a great convention and McCormik place is awesome, speaking as a local the location was awful. The commute with traffic is terrible and the parking fee was outrageous. There is NOTHING around the hotel itself. Everything required a cab ride. I like Rosemont a whole lot better. Sorry.

 

I agree that driving in traffic sucks big time, but the one time $19 parking fee is about right for downtown Chicago (and cheap in relation to some garages). I agree with all your other points, too. I love the Rosemont show because it's a 7 minute drive for me

 

The one saving grace was the free shuttle buses. They were located on level 2 and had 3 routes (I think) back to different Hotel locations in the city. All you had to do was jump on. Some of drivers actually were nice enough to wait for me while I would run up drop off stuff in my hotel room. I went back and forth throughout the day.

[Pirate]

this show sucked for retailers, i will not be back, everyone talks about how much elbow room there was, thats because no one was there! Parking awful, load out the worst in the history of shows. If i had choice between doing the show again and a root canal i choose the better of the two. the root canal. Reed expo person said they released a monster on chicago i agree it was godzilla and the retailers were tokyo.

 

$400 copy of Walking Dead in NM doesn't help either

[comiccitytn]

sold 2 copies for that price

[User 01001010]

I didn't have a bad time at all. Quite enjoyed it. Was irritated that as a pro, I didn't get in early on saturday as I had talked to some publishers on friday about dropping off proposals and I would have rather done that BEFORE everyone else was let in. But I got what I wanted into the hands that I wanted to get them into but I did loose a lot of valuable face time with them once the floodgates were opened. That is my one big gripe.

[User 01001010]

sold 2 copies for that price

 

 

[capt_comics]

sold 2 copies for that price

 

 

 

 

[G.A.tor]

crud, I sold my 2 extra copies of Walking Dead 1 years ago for $1.94 each (35% off retail)

[Buck Biggins]

My experience as a retailer is below.

 

LOAD OUT

This had to be the worst experience for me. At 5:00 I got our van quickly. I had a feeling the load out was going to be a pain. I was wrong. It was a nightmare. I’m pretty sure some people were not allowed to enter the facility for load out until several hours after the event was over. It was rough.

 

FLOOR LAYOUT

I was not a fan of the layout or maybe it was the lack of attendance. Our area was a ghost town most of the time. Several times 4 minutes would pass and not one person would be walking by the booth. You can’t make sales if you don’t have shoppers. I did a third of the sales of Wizard World Chicago.

 

EXPENSIVE

Between the hotel costs, parking costs and the booth rates this show was too expensive. $157 for parking alone. Fans attending C2E2 had to drop $57 just to get into the facility. Which is $27 for parking and $30 for a single day pass.

 

A few personal comments.

BAD

$14 a drink at the Hyatt is ridiculous.

No close hotel to the facility. Even the Hyatt is a walk.

No restaurants within walking distance besides a McDonalds. If I had to eat McDonalds for a third day in a row I’ll would have killed someone.

McCormick is an island onto itself. High price parking with no where to eat unless you hop a cab.

DC and Marvel should have been more center in the floor layout. Having everything on one side I think hurt the retailers.

 

 

Good

The hall looked great!

Plenty of guests!

 

 

In the end...I miss hanging out at the Hyatt in Rosemount after the show.

 

[capt_comics]

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em

 

 

 

[Buck Biggins]

While I agree it was a great convention and McCormik place is awesome, speaking as a local the location was awful. The commute with traffic is terrible and the parking fee was outrageous. There is NOTHING around the hotel itself. Everything required a cab ride. I like Rosemont a whole lot better. Sorry.

 

I feel the same after this weekend.

[Buck Biggins]

 

The facility was gorgeous, but even for the one "connected" hotel, it was a 7-15 minute walk at least. When you're hauling books, and falling apart, that's WAAAAYY too long a walk... While Rosemont has its' issues, you have 4 hotels across a street from the place, and there's enough bars and steak restaurants to keep folks happy. Ok, it keeps me happy at least... Plus it's very close to O'Hare, so most out-of-towners have a simple commute to/from the airport.

 

Joel

 

My thoughts as well.

[TheWatcher]

Reed may want to think about moving C2E2 to the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center. It's easier to get to from O'Hare, parking is free, there's shopping malls everywhere (including Woodfield Mall), and there are every type of restaurant and bar within a short drive of the convention center. It's a no-brainer, really

[TheWatcher]

My experience as a retailer is below.

 

LOAD OUT

This had to be the worst experience for me. At 5:00 I got our van quickly. I had a feeling the load out was going to be a pain. I was wrong. It was a nightmare. I’m pretty sure some people were not allowed to enter the facility for load out until several hours after the event was over. It was rough

 

Jeff & Steve of Hotflips didn't pull up to the booth until 8:30, and they went to get the vans at 5:30

 

[TheWatcher]

While I agree it was a great convention and McCormik place is awesome, speaking as a local the location was awful. The commute with traffic is terrible and the parking fee was outrageous. There is NOTHING around the hotel itself. Everything required a cab ride. I like Rosemont a whole lot better. Sorry.

 

I agree that driving in traffic sucks big time, but the one time $19 parking fee is about right for downtown Chicago (and cheap in relation to some garages). I agree with all your other points, too. I love the Rosemont show because it's a 7 minute drive for me

 

The one saving grace was the free shuttle buses. They were located on level 2 and had 3 routes (I think) back to different Hotel locations in the city. All you had to do was jump on. Some of drivers actually were nice enough to wait for me while I would run up drop off stuff in my hotel room. I went back and forth throughout the day.

 

I didn't know they had shuttles. That is very helpful, indeed. Now if they only had shuttles from O'Hare to McCormick Place

[comiccitytn]

i got to load out at 10:30. waitd in line for over 4 hours

[Buck Biggins]

i got to load out at 10:30. waitd in line for over 4 hours

 

 

[Transplant]

sold 2 copies for that price

Pretty sure I bought one. If the other was from that 1-70 run, it wasn't a NM.

[BeachBum]

While I agree it was a great convention and McCormik place is awesome, speaking as a local the location was awful. The commute with traffic is terrible and the parking fee was outrageous. There is NOTHING around the hotel itself. Everything required a cab ride. I like Rosemont a whole lot better. Sorry.

 

I agree that driving in traffic sucks big time, but the one time $19 parking fee is about right for downtown Chicago (and cheap in relation to some garages). I agree with all your other points, too. I love the Rosemont show because it's a 7 minute drive for me

 

The one saving grace was the free shuttle buses. They were located on level 2 and had 3 routes (I think) back to different Hotel locations in the city. All you had to do was jump on. Some of drivers actually were nice enough to wait for me while I would run up drop off stuff in my hotel room. I went back and forth throughout the day.

 

I didn't know they had shuttles. That is very helpful, indeed. Now if they only had shuttles from O'Hare to McCormick Place

 

Go Airport Express was running the shuttles from McCormick place to the airport. They even had shuttles outside the door of the convention hall. I grabbed my bags from the Coat check and jumped into the shuttle to the airport on Sunday. $25

[TheWatcher]

While I agree it was a great convention and McCormik place is awesome, speaking as a local the location was awful. The commute with traffic is terrible and the parking fee was outrageous. There is NOTHING around the hotel itself. Everything required a cab ride. I like Rosemont a whole lot better. Sorry.

 

I agree that driving in traffic sucks big time, but the one time $19 parking fee is about right for downtown Chicago (and cheap in relation to some garages). I agree with all your other points, too. I love the Rosemont show because it's a 7 minute drive for me

 

The one saving grace was the free shuttle buses. They were located on level 2 and had 3 routes (I think) back to different Hotel locations in the city. All you had to do was jump on. Some of drivers actually were nice enough to wait for me while I would run up drop off stuff in my hotel room. I went back and forth throughout the day.

 

I didn't know they had shuttles. That is very helpful, indeed. Now if they only had shuttles from O'Hare to McCormick Place

 

That's way cheaper than a cab right from MP to O'Hare

Go Airport Express was running the shuttles from McCormick place to the airport. They even had shuttles outside the door of the convention hall. I grabbed my bags from the Coat check and jumped into the shuttle to the airport on Sunday. $25