NYcc sales report

[taro90]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I read the article. The con will still be at Javits. The "110 events at 25 venues all over the city" will be like super week. Where they have different types of events associated with the con throughout the city.

 

Also, Carbonaro has a new 2 day winter con in December. It's at the new Resort and Casino in Jamaica, Queens.

 

http://nywintercon.com/

 

 

[Sqeggs]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I thought they did something similar to that this year, a whole week of stuff leading up to and surrounding the con at different locations around the city. Maybe I imagined reading that. In any event, the main con would still be in one place I'd imagine, too much of a nightmare to spread it around.

 

Yeah. That was this year's "Super Week." That's not expanding NYCC to different venues.

[bronze johnny]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I thought they did something similar to that this year, a whole week of stuff leading up to and surrounding the con at different locations around the city. Maybe I imagined reading that. In any event, the main con would still be in one place I'd imagine, too much of a nightmare to spread it around.

 

I don't think they plan on going beyond the Javits for the con itself. What they can do is increase the number of days for the con and add to the events outside. NYC is one of the few cities in the world where mass transit makes it relatively easy to get around. It's only a matter of time before the full resources of the NYC are used to promote and enhance the NYCC. There's no other city that can come close to competing with that and that's not a put down on the other great cons. I'm not happy about this since the comic book aspect of this show will further decline. What's a comic con without comic book dealers?

[bronze johnny]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I thought they did something similar to that this year, a whole week of stuff leading up to and surrounding the con at different locations around the city. Maybe I imagined reading that. In any event, the main con would still be in one place I'd imagine, too much of a nightmare to spread it around.

 

Yeah. That was this year's "Super Week." That's not expanding NYCC to different venues.

 

Let me clarify - the con itself will stay put, but the promotion will only continue to increase. That sounds like an expansion to me. This year's con has gotten more media attention from the New York media than in prior years. Expect that to increase and don't be surprised if next year's promotion goes to 2 weeks.

[bronze johnny]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I read the article. The con will still be at Javits. The "110 events at 25 venues all over the city" will be like super week. Where they have different types of events associated with the con throughout the city.

 

Also, Carbonaro has a new 2 day winter con in December. It's at the new Resort and Casino in Jamaica, Queens.

 

http://nywintercon.com/

 

 

Great, I didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up (thumbs u

[Sqeggs]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I thought they did something similar to that this year, a whole week of stuff leading up to and surrounding the con at different locations around the city. Maybe I imagined reading that. In any event, the main con would still be in one place I'd imagine, too much of a nightmare to spread it around.

 

Yeah. That was this year's "Super Week." That's not expanding NYCC to different venues.

 

Let me clarify - the con itself will stay put, but the promotion will only continue to increase. That sounds like an expansion to me. This year's con has gotten more media attention from the New York media than in prior years. Expect that to increase and don't be surprised if next year's promotion goes to 2 weeks.

 

I think you misread the sentence you quoted. It was referring to what already happened this year, not to plans for the future. You may be right that these other non-con activities hold promise for coming years.

 

I'm skeptical, though. How many people attended this year's "110 events"? My guess is that few people did. Time will tell, I suppose.

[bronze johnny]

Rick,

 

I was at this year's NYCC and (unfortunately) never found your booth. Reading about your experience had me thinking about some of the key locations that were occupied by non-comic related sellers. Geico Insurance? Come on! The last place I need to see my insurance carrier is at a comic con. And I'm a big fan of the NYCC- it's evolved into the largest Con in the country if not the world (been to San Diego - one of the "Grand Slam Cons" but NY is moving to a higher plane in terms of sheer size). The NY Times Business Section had an article about how they plan to extend the NYC Comic Con to multiple locations. I have mixed feelings about this. Can you imagine Wal Mart, Sears, Wells Fargo, etc. having a presence at these Cons? Scary.

 

I'm looking forward to Carbonaro's show in March 2015.

 

Best,

 

John

 

Is this the article? %7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A5%22%7D&_r=0'>NYT article If so, I don't see a discussion of expanding to multiple locations.

 

"110 events at 25 venues all over the city"

 

I thought they did something similar to that this year, a whole week of stuff leading up to and surrounding the con at different locations around the city. Maybe I imagined reading that. In any event, the main con would still be in one place I'd imagine, too much of a nightmare to spread it around.

 

Yeah. That was this year's "Super Week." That's not expanding NYCC to different venues.

 

Let me clarify - the con itself will stay put, but the promotion will only continue to increase. That sounds like an expansion to me. This year's con has gotten more media attention from the New York media than in prior years. Expect that to increase and don't be surprised if next year's promotion goes to 2 weeks.

 

I think you misread the sentence you quoted. It was referring to what already happened this year, not to plans for the future. You may be right that these other non-con activities hold promise for coming years.

 

I'm skeptical, though. How many people attended this year's "110 events"? My guess is that few people did. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

- I personally dislike this focus on the "promotional." I get the impression that this con is an experiment for where these promoters want to go in the future for all their shows - some place beyond the traditional comic book focused convention. Can tell you that I didn't attend any of the 110 events.

 

- If fantastic dealers like Rick are unsuccessful in meeting their business goals for this year's con, what's going to inspire them to come back next year where they might be competing for space with Chase and Exxon Mobil and paying much higher prices for a booth in a sub-basement somewhere beneath an escalator?

[Marvel Zombie]

Rick,

 

Wow. What happened to you and Adam at NYCC sucks. How disrespectful to you both and to the show.

 

Here you've got 2 of the nicest, most decent guys in the comic industry -- with some of the best stuff on the market at almost any given time -- and they hide you in the boonies.

 

For a show of such magnitude, to IMO make a mistake of such magnitude, is outrageous.

 

It's stealing your money and your sales, and keeping fantastic books and two fantastic people away from center stage where they belong.

 

Makes me want to start my own NYCC and put you square in the middle of the show - heck, I'd put you and Adam and you booth on stage.

 

 

 

 

 

I have more or less lost interest in attending NYCC in the future knowing that people (like Gator) carrying some of the best comic books in the hobby are stashed away in the boonies, by an apparently ignorant or incompetent NYCC conference management. What a shame.

 

 

 

 

[Dark Knight]

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience Rick. I dunno why they can't put all the comic book dealers in one area. I would've asked for a refund or something because of the location. I hope you can get some sort of,compensation from the management team.

[blazingbob]

So we will miss your presence at a show because Gator wasn't in a prime location?

 

Wow, what if he wasn't setup at the show? Is that the promoters fault to?

 

I am frankly very impressed by the number of Gator groupie's that feel he had absolutely no responsibility in where he was placed in the show. That with the hundreds of vendors and the application he filled out Reed would know he and Adam have "great inventory" and should get premier booth locations.

 

 

 

 

 

[G.A.tor]

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience Rick. I dunno why they can't put all the comic book dealers in one area. I would've asked for a refund or something because of the location. I hope you can get some sort of,compensation from the management team.

we did...but they would have nothing of it... they basically said "sorry if you don't want to return next year, but my hands are tied, nothing I can do for you for this year" (paraphrasing)

[G.A.tor]

So we will miss your presence at a show because Gator wasn't in a prime location?

 

Wow, what if he wasn't setup at the show? Is that the promoters fault to?

 

I am frankly very impressed by the number of Gator groupie's that feel he had absolutely no responsibility in where he was placed in the show. That with the hundreds of vendors and the application he filled out Reed would know he and Adam have "great inventory" and should get premier booth locations.

 

 

 

 

 

adam/daniele handle all the NY CC arrangements... that said, the location we were told we had and that we paid for (we have the emails if anyone wants to see), was not what we got...so, in this case, it was 100% reed that screwed up/us (thumbs u

 

it is not like WW Chicago, where every booth I picked (via email, since that is the only way they do it), was always taken (even though available when I emailed), so that bad locale I got, was on me (you never saw a post about it), yet we still did a 6 fig show (even with what most considered to be less desirable placement).... same type inv there as NY (in fact, with adam's, selection was better!)

 

nope, this was an internal communication within Reed folks, that resulted in our poor (by everyone's assessment) location, and I attribute that to poor results

[Doc Joe]

I did what I could to post your wall books....

 

sorry you had no sales...

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4656281&fpart=548

 

 

your one hour sale reminds me of this...

 

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/12/banskey-prints-new-york-stall-fortune-bonhams

 

 

 

[Boba]

I'd love it if they had a comic dealers alley or section like the artists do.

[G.A.tor]

Let me say we have had a GREAT year of sales....well into the 7 figures...so, while I did lose almost 10k setting up at this show, you don't need to cry for me overall...

 

do I feel like we got the shaft at this show, with no current recourse from Reed, yep...it's pretty black and white imo....

 

if I don't set up next year, will it affect the show or anyone else...nope....

[blazingbob]

So Adam did $0 in sales also or just you? I did hear Adam did sell books at the show so was it the location or the inventory you brought? Prices?

 

Were you at the booth all day? That does influence what gets sold when it is a shared booth.

 

Signage? I've never seen Adam with a sign "Filter comics". Didn't see the New Force sign either.

 

I do know it was the first show Adam did this year so unless you knew him how exactly would certain collectors/buyers know him personally?

 

And if Reed put me in a different spot than what was confirmed as my booth location I would have requested a refund/discount towards next year show. Who in the show office were you working with on this?

 

Did you have the invoice paperwork with you when you were discussing where you wound up?

 

Did you buy anything at the show? Bad shows can be good if you can buy stuff. A truly bad show is one where Buys and Sales suck and I've experienced those. That is when I blame the promoter.

[Marvel Zombie]

So Adam did $0 in sales also or just you? I did hear Adam did sell books at the show so was it the location or the inventory you brought? Prices?

 

Were you at the booth all day? That does influence what gets sold when it is a shared booth.

 

Signage? I've never seen Adam with a sign "Filter comics". Didn't see the New Force sign either.

 

I do know it was the first show Adam did this year so unless you knew him how exactly would certain collectors/buyers know him personally?

 

And if Reed put me in a different spot than what was confirmed as my booth location I would have requested a refund/discount towards next year show. Who in the show office were you working with on this?

 

Did you have the invoice paperwork with you when you were discussing where you wound up?

 

Did you buy anything at the show? Bad shows can be good if you can buy stuff. A truly bad show is one where Buys and Sales suck and I've experienced those. That is when I blame the promoter.

 

 

NYCC-groupie ...

[Cat-Man_America]

So we will miss your presence at a show because Gator wasn't in a prime location?

 

Wow, what if he wasn't setup at the show? Is that the promoters fault to?

 

I am frankly very impressed by the number of Gator groupie's that feel he had absolutely no responsibility in where he was placed in the show. That with the hundreds of vendors and the application he filled out Reed would know he and Adam have "great inventory" and should get premier booth locations.

 

 

 

 

 

Bob, I certainly see your point, but G.A.tor isn't the first major dealer to consider pulling out because the show wasn't working well for them. And of course it will impact decisions made by customers who travel some distance with the expectation of conducting business with specific dealers. If the number of dealers setting up declines it will lessen the attraction of the show to collectors in general.

 

I love NY for the restaurants, hotel accommodations, nightlife, visiting Metropolis offices, etc., and NYCC in particular for the dealers room and events. As pros, my wife (author) and I (artist & actor) haven't had difficulty getting NYCC badges, so that isn't an issue, but Javitt's Center is a miserable venue, there are few nearby restaurants of note, and the cab situation is less than perfect.

 

It's just my opinion, but I think NYCC should be much more accommodating to comic dealers. After all it's still called a COMIC con even if comics aren't the driving force anymore.

 

While I'm happy with the level of media participation (movie industry, books, toys, games, etc.) and don't mind the cosplay culture, I'm not impressed with the idea of non-comics related businesses competing with comic dealers for prime booth spots. At least SDCC still manages to keep comic dealers pretty much centered in the same general area so you know where to look for them. My

[G.A.tor]

So Adam did $0 in sales also or just you? I did hear Adam did sell books at the show so was it the location or the inventory you brought? Prices?

 

Were you at the booth all day? That does influence what gets sold when it is a shared booth.

 

Signage? I've never seen Adam with a sign "Filter comics". Didn't see the New Force sign either.

 

I do know it was the first show Adam did this year so unless you knew him how exactly would certain collectors/buyers know him personally?

 

And if Reed put me in a different spot than what was confirmed as my booth location I would have requested a refund/discount towards next year show. Who in the show office were you working with on this?

 

Did you have the invoice paperwork with you when you were discussing where you wound up?

 

Did you buy anything at the show? Bad shows can be good if you can buy stuff. A truly bad show is one where Buys and Sales suck and I've experienced those. That is when I blame the promoter.

I made a couple of sales of adams books to customers that normally buy from me (one in fact, in lieu of me, because I could tell the customer wanted adam's book more, but he did offer to buy from me in place)... Adam only did a couple of dealer sales, I believe...no consumer sales outside of the couple I did for him...so, he is in same boat as me...

 

you couldn't see any signs because the booths next to us had 30 ft high displays...they violated the skyline restrictions, but truthfully, I have only started using signs in the last few shows, has NEVER impacted my sales...so didn't use that as any excuse

 

I was at my booth all day,every day, except for brief moments of walking around...pretty much just one pass a day (all I got to see bob was once a day, was sorely lacking in that dept )

 

because it was Reed's error, they did offer some discounting for next year, if we choose to set up , and did confirm we would absolutely get our location, etc... the jury is out on that for now... but nothing as far as this year in hindsight...

 

and didn't really get to buy anything of consequence...didn't see the type of material I deal in, at any prices I could buy and resell in the brief moments I went about (although,we did buy a book from you bob, just to support you!)

 

 

[Tri-Color Brian]

On the west coast, Terry O'Neil has created a small winter 1-day con just for comics dealers and buyers (Southern CA comic con). I enjoy going to it because I don't have to look at all the non-comics related garbage, and I don't have to plow through a million people dressed in costumes. Maybe Carbonaro's show will be the same, but for the east coast. I think this is progress.