Fan Expo Dallas -- March 31-April 2, 2017 1 1

[spideyfan68]

Kevin I know that you are only on the peripheral for celebrity appearances but is there a way to let fans know (social media, PA announcement etc.) when a guest(s) are  leaving early? Hard to schedule various things if you don't know the schdule has changed. Having hindsight I would have made a beeline to these folks table as soon as the doors opened.

Again hats off to you and the staff for the comic creators you brought and how the creator signings were handled. You all did a great  job.

[jadams]

I will say this, and it's no indictment on the show at all.

It's annoying when local professional creators bail early or doesn't show at all one of the days.  There are creators out there that would cherish a spot behind a professional table, and I've always thought it was disrespectful to the show and to the attendees.

And before anyone says they may have had an emergency, save it.  There are a handful of these creators that do it every single show.  It's not an isolated incident.

 

Edited April 3, 2017 by jadams

[ADAMANTIUM]

I guess I'll chime in and give my 

It was Awesome and can become AWESOMER ha that's what I love

Especially the comic grading, facilitators, and comic artists A+ 

Two aisles for tatoo's freaked my brother out but to each his own  Anyway the comic portion was handled professionally enough, I know certain celebs have commitments, but I feel bad for some who got turned away form sigs/photo-ops. I enjoyed it though. I made some ignorant purchases. I dropped off the main comics that I wanted signed with yellow label Friday. Come Saturday and Sunday, I didn't realize that I had enough cash for 2 more sigs on 2 other minor books that I could have gotten. Mike Zeck on a SW 8 that I have raw, and Arthor Adams on an Xmen Annual 14 raw as well; could of had both signed with a yellow label. Oh well, but instead I bought a light saber  (why?) and a Iron Man Helmet that does some stuff  (whY? again) I fell a little like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person but I had fun  

[spideyfan68]

Here are some sketches I was lucky enough to get this weekend

[Likwid6]

I just want to thank everyone on this thread and across the boards wholesale.  All the advice here, whether specific (how to window-bag a comic for SS) or general (get sigs/commissions/remarques done early, make your minor purchases on the last day at potential heavy discounts) worked out great for me.  My best friend flew down from Baltimore and I had a blast navigating the con like a pro & even walking him through his first CGC submission!

FanExpo Dallas was my first major con, first out of town con, and first con where I went all three days.   (I don't count the sh*tshow that was 2016 Alamo City on Saturday, navigating my wife & kids through an overpacked cramped area).  After being stationed overseas for 7 of the past 8 years, THIS was the experience I always imagined a con should be.  THANK YOU to everyone who made it possible.

Highlights:

• Cynthia from CGC customer service who was super helpful on the phone prior to the con, answered all my questions about membership, and guided me through setting up a premium account.  (I seriously cannot say enough good things about her!)
• Great staff at the CGC booth during the con.  At times it got pretty packed & hectic but they were constantly churning at a good clip while maintaining a positive attitude.
• Meeting Sam Delarosa, chatting and finding out we go to the same gym in San Antonio.  In fact, I think I've played a game of pickup basketball against one of my fave Spidey artists without knowing it!  He did an awesome remarque of a lesser book to most but one that has significant meaning to me (Maximum Clonage: Alpha)
• Waiting in line for 45 minutes for Tom King's signature, only to get to the front of the line and have a great brief conversation with him.  Super personable guy who now has solidified my appreciation for both his work and demeanor to his fans.
• Finally meeting Stan Lee & getting a picture with him!  (even if it only lasted for ~12 seconds before we were hurriedly rushed off)
• Attending awesome panels and realizing just how much of a character Greg Capullo is during a Q&A (seriously, the guy is going through the crowd like Jerry Springer).  Also, Jim Lee snapchat'ing a fan's question speaking to the recently slumping Marvel sales.

Lowlights:

• Dealing with Excelsior & the entire process of getting a book signed by Stan.  During this time my friend & I had two experiences that make me seriously question their ability to keep positive control on high dollar books.  I don't know the board rules on shedding light on a facilitator/partner like Excelsior so I'll just leave it at that.
• Waiting 50 minutes for Adam Kubert, only to have our line moved by his handlers & merged behind another line of people who had been waiting a lot shorter than we were.  Then waiting another 90 minutes for him to finally show (an hour+ late) and watching as he did not interact with the fans during signing but rather chatted with his handlers while shuttling off books.  Disappointed.
• Guys who would come to the CGC booth with a signed book & no witness demanding they get SS.  I watched a couple guys get downright rude when told they couldn't get their yellow label because they didn't pay attention/research in advance/listen to the CGC facilitator at their paid "experience" to follow them to the booth immediately afterwards.  

Overall, wayyy more positive than negatives and I can't think that I would have enjoyed the show & gotten as much accomplished without your guys help.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Likwid6

[mysterio]

9 hours ago, Likwid6 said:

I just want to thank everyone on this thread and across the boards wholesale.  All the advice here, whether specific (how to window-bag a comic for SS) or general (get sigs/commissions/remarques done early, make your minor purchases on the last day at potential heavy discounts) worked out great for me.  My best friend flew down from Baltimore and I had a blast navigating the con like a pro & even walking him through his first CGC submission!

FanExpo Dallas was my first major con, first out of town con, and first con where I went all three days.   (I don't count the sh*tshow that was 2016 Alamo City on Saturday, navigating my wife & kids through an overpacked cramped area).  After being stationed overseas for 7 of the past 8 years, THIS was the experience I always imagined a con should be.  THANK YOU to everyone who made it possible.

Highlights:

• Cynthia from CGC customer service who was super helpful on the phone prior to the con, answered all my questions about membership, and guided me through setting up a premium account.  (I seriously cannot say enough good things about her!)
• Great staff at the CGC booth during the con.  At times it got pretty packed & hectic but they were constantly churning at a good clip while maintaining a positive attitude.
• Meeting Sam Delarosa, chatting and finding out we go to the same gym in San Antonio.  In fact, I think I've played a game of pickup basketball against one of my fave Spidey artists without knowing it!  He did an awesome remarque of a lesser book to most but one that has significant meaning to me (Maximum Clonage: Alpha)
• Waiting in line for 45 minutes for Tom King's signature, only to get to the front of the line and have a great brief conversation with him.  Super personable guy who now has solidified my appreciation for both his work and demeanor to his fans.
• Finally meeting Stan Lee & getting a picture with him!  (even if it only lasted for ~12 seconds before we were hurriedly rushed off)
• Attending awesome panels and realizing just how much of a character Greg Capullo is during a Q&A (seriously, the guy is going through the crowd like Jerry Springer).  Also, Jim Lee snapchat'ing a fan's question speaking to the recently slumping Marvel sales.

Lowlights:

• Dealing with Excelsior & the entire process of getting a book signed by Stan.  During this time my friend & I had two experiences that make me seriously question their ability to keep positive control on high dollar books.  I don't know the board rules on shedding light on a facilitator/partner like Excelsior so I'll just leave it at that.
• Waiting 50 minutes for Adam Kubert, only to have our line moved by his handlers & merged behind another line of people who had been waiting a lot shorter than we were.  Then waiting another 90 minutes for him to finally show (an hour+ late) and watching as he did not interact with the fans during signing but rather chatted with his handlers while shuttling off books.  Disappointed.
• Guys who would come to the CGC booth with a signed book & no witness demanding they get SS.  I watched a couple guys get downright rude when told they couldn't get their yellow label because they didn't pay attention/research in advance/listen to the CGC facilitator at their paid "experience" to follow them to the booth immediately afterwards.  

Overall, wayyy more positive than negatives and I can't think that I would have enjoyed the show & gotten as much accomplished without your guys help.

 Glad you had such a good time! That is exactly the sort of knowledge that these boards can bring, glad you found it!

And yes, 2016 Alamo City was a bit of a fiasco in terms of organization. Wasn't great from the vendor side either...

Edited April 4, 2017 by mysterio

[TheCollector2016]

North Texas newspaper comments on some of the various problems...

http://ntdaily.com/the-dose-dallas-fan-expo-2017-was-an-enjoyable-mess/

[jadams]

17 minutes ago, TheCollector2016 said:

North Texas newspaper comments on some of the various problems...

http://ntdaily.com/the-dose-dallas-fan-expo-2017-was-an-enjoyable-mess/

That article seems like it clearly has an agenda against Fan Expo.  

 

[mysterio]

23 minutes ago, jadams said:

 

42 minutes ago, TheCollector2016 said:

North Texas newspaper comments on some of the various problems...

http://ntdaily.com/the-dose-dallas-fan-expo-2017-was-an-enjoyable-mess/

That article seems like it clearly has an agenda against Fan Expo.  

 

Seemed like that to me too. A bit anti-vendor as well.

Edited April 4, 2017 by mysterio

[ADAMANTIUM]

I tell you what, the last time I priced an Iron Man Helmet that does stuff (lame (kinda) purchase to begin with at a con) like light up and makes sounds was on Amazon. It was cheap for Amazon Prime but quite expensive otherwise. idk I'm just talking to talk. I told the vendor at the con the price I remembered and he was like those places are always overpriced. I bought one with tax like I said earlier $129, but that was my fault compared to prices NOW on ebay etc. I found other vendors to be quite willing to haggle, as I made other purchases, even on Friday within the first hour of the show 2-3pm. Idon't have any regrets and considering the bad press of "some" being refunded photo-ops in the article, allwhoweren'table to get their photo's had the option of full refund. Would I have ever thought a Comic-Con is a bit of a gamble? NO----but now I do and understand it. I'm a little bit more level headed of course compared to those tweets, cause I was able to get my Norman Reedus Boondock Saints Trio photo  Had I missed out it would have hit me like a ton of 

Mark Hamill was a bit pricey, you got to admit. I've always heard, "spend money at a con that you could never do elsewhere". That statement is bad for comics other than those rare finds that are few and far... It's a learning experience, I just hope people don't get turned off comics and such because of it, idk those tweets are worse than that article's pov

[Kevin Boyd]

I think this year, Fan Expo Dallas graduated from being a good regional show to a big national show. Sometimes that means growing pains, and if you aren't used to dealing with big national show level crowds you get annoyed and people were annoyed on Saturday. This was an eye-opening experience for many, to me it felt like being at our flagship event.

Honestly, there are reasons why SDCC is my least favorite event (and NYCC comes close) and it's not the fault of the event - it's how busy show floors get and it's hard to get around in and the demand for items far outweighs the supply so things can get stupid. On the other hand, they are huge can't miss events if you care about certain things so you have to strategize.

On the organizational side you can plan and plan and anticipate, but some of the flight delays were epic and out of everyone's hands, so you have to go with what you can do, so try to work around it. On the comics side Greg Capullo got hit with  all sorts of delays that made him miss most of Saturday and required pushing his VIP event to late in the day and his public signing with Scott got delayed until 7 and ran for an hour after close. Jim Lee, on the other hand, hit every mark perfectly and chose to go longer with his end of show panel. Lessons learned on Saturday meant for a better experience on Sunday.

I don't think it's fair to pass the buck, we'll work harder to ensure that things work better next year, but I spent a lot of time talking to people and while no one likes lines, spirits were pretty high. People were having fun. The comic guests had nothing but good things to say about the experience. I saw a lot of great sketches, saw a lot of comic books and graphic novels getting signed.

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Kevin Boyd

[ADAMANTIUM]

Agreed and well said, the only thing that may eventually happen is they'll cap the tickets for attendence. Which would bite the big one.  to me anyway

I've seen it on shows the big bang theory comes to mind, where theirgathering 'round to get comic con tickets and it sells out and their bummed

I've seen that play out too, tickets go on sale and the site crashes and it's a big ordeal, it happened a little bit with photo-ops this year and last year. 

These things seem to be an enigma or paradox and I don't blame anyone for it and try to appreciate it for what it is 

ha anybody going to see the new Stephen King "IT" movie will testify the horror 

Edited April 4, 2017 by ADAMANTIUM

[RattyLa]

Wanted to say I enjoyed the show even with the crowd on Saturday. Was wondering is there more room on the convention floor for expansion or is that max size? 

Any other location in the DFW area have a bigger convention floor size for continued growth?

[Kevin Boyd]

From what I understand there isn't another facility, but I'm sure the event managers have some ideas for better utilizing the space on April 6-8. 2018.

[RattyLa]

What about using exhibit hall E (104,000 sq feet) and hall F (200,000 sq feet)? 

Where those unavailable? Seems like renting one of both spaces would free up a ton of space.

[Kevin Boyd]

That's kind of what I meant. They didn't anticipate needing that space this year, and Hall D was used for ticketing and staging. 

[TheCollector2016]

50 minutes ago, Kevin Boyd said:

I think this year, Fan Expo Dallas graduated from being a good regional show to a big national show. Sometimes that means growing pains, and if you aren't used to dealing with big national show level crowds you get annoyed and people were annoyed on Saturday. This was an eye-opening experience for many, to me it felt like being at our flagship event.

Honestly, there are reasons why SDCC is my least favorite event (and NYCC comes close) and it's not the fault of the event - it's how busy show floors get and it's hard to get around in and the demand for items far outweighs the supply so things can get stupid. On the other hand, they are huge can't miss events if you care about certain things so you have to strategize.

On the organizational side you can plan and plan and anticipate, but some of the flight delays were epic and out of everyone's hands, so you have to go with what you can do, so try to work around it. On the comics side Greg Capullo got hit with  all sorts of delays that made him miss most of Saturday and required pushing his VIP event to late in the day and his public signing with Scott got delayed until 7 and ran for an hour after close. Jim Lee, on the other hand, hit every mark perfectly and chose to go longer with his end of show panel. Lessons learned on Saturday meant for a better experience on Sunday.

I don't think it's fair to pass the buck, we'll work harder to ensure that things work better next year, but I spent a lot of time talking to people and while no one likes lines, spirits were pretty high. People were having fun. The comic guests had nothing but good things to say about the experience. I saw a lot of great sketches, saw a lot of comic books and graphic novels getting signed.

 

It's nice to recognize this, Kevin...and I think it would be helpful if the Fan Expo Dallas social media accounts recognized that there were issues too....so far it seems like they're pretending everything went perfectly, asking for feedback to be emailed, or remaining silent.

Something like 1. Apologizing for overselling the event (I feel like we're not gonna get this one), and/or 2. Recognizing there were issues with crowding, organization, vendor/exhibitor placement, etc.  3. Promising to better use the space next time - I think it's clear more halls need to be used, and some only for autographs/photo ops.

All this would go a long way with people. The frustration is real and palpable out there.


 

[kevhtx]

I really felt bad for the CGC team. They looked so freaking tired. Lines were long and I'm sure people werent always cheerful with them. They were understaffed (Im sure because of WonderCon). A couple thoughts...

1. Is it possible for those of us with accounts to simply submit comics instead of having to pay for them when we submit on site? I felt like that would have helped a little. Having to spend the extra time with account holders to charge their cards or take their money seems like time that could be shifted to after the con since accounts are on file.

2. At some of the experiences or signings, while we are waiting in line, can staff hand out CGC forms for us to start filling out? Many of us are experienced at it. For the Jim Lee experience, we waited an hour or so before it started and I would have been happy to fill mine out ahead of time to have it ready. 

Just trying to think of ways to speed things up. Even though everyone was working their tails off, no one was rude or mean. Professionals all around. Hats off to the team there. Hopefully next year, a few more can be added to help out. Dallas has a ton of people wanting graded comics.

[kevhtx]

I believe that place is plenty large enough. Like Kevin said, just needs to be utilized. Its bigger than you think. 

I dont know how feasible this is, but at Texas Rangers Fan Fest, they have LCD, TV screens that display scheduling changes and important autograph times/locations. This is a much bigger event so harder to implement, but seems like if there is a way to let people know of changes, it would reduce the amount of people trekking to the celeb area to find out when so-so is signing or showing up when a celeb is late or delayed. I think a lot of the traffic was people trying to get info or see if someone was there so they could see them.

Ive also still not seen a good implementation of an app at a con, not even ECCC. They just aren't utilized well yet. Maybe its still too early. iBeacon technology is something to start to look into. Low emitting blue-tooth to transmit information to peoples devices. Geofencing as well.

 

[thehumantorch]

17 minutes ago, kevhtx said:

I believe that place is plenty large enough. Like Kevin said, just needs to be utilized. Its bigger than you think. 

I dont know how feasible this is, but at Texas Rangers Fan Fest, they have LCD, TV screens that display scheduling changes and important autograph times/locations. This is a much bigger event so harder to implement, but seems like if there is a way to let people know of changes, it would reduce the amount of people trekking to the celeb area to find out when so-so is signing or showing up when a celeb is late or delayed. I think a lot of the traffic was people trying to get info or see if someone was there so they could see them.

Ive also still not seen a good implementation of an app at a con, not even ECCC. They just aren't utilized well yet. Maybe its still too early. iBeacon technology is something to start to look into. Low emitting blue-tooth to transmit information to peoples devices. Geofencing as well.

 

I do like this.  Kinda like the screens at the airport displaying arrival and departure times.  Could be a great way to get information about upcoming events, schedule changes, panels that aren't full or are full, short lineups for pro guests, etc