Author Topic: Discussion re: CCI FB comments (from CCI Posts and Announcements Forum)  (Read 21208 times)

Offline Trev

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There has been a gradual increase in pricing each year for some time (since 2006?).  What this increase is for, I am unsure of.  Probably just the increasing cost of running the show/inflation/etc, but I could be wrong.

The reason for the big jump in pricing for the 4-day with preview passes is CCI was hearing that a number of people were buying full passes only to attend for one panel with no intention of using the pass for the reminder of the show.   When CCI announced ticket prices for 2012, they specifically said that they were increasing the price of the 4-day with preview to discourage that type of behavior to allow more people to attend all 4 days who really want to see the whole show and not just one panel.

It went well beyond CoL, especially in last couple of years. My first year 4 day with preview was $75, the next year it was $95, then I bought a 4 day + preview on-site for $105 and when they went to the public they were like $125 or so, then last year it spiked to $175. So 2.3x over 4 years.

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An interesting aspect of this is attendee price went up but vendor booth prices have remained the same. I know a local comic book store owner who told me this. He's thought on this was to help filter out people and keep dedicated geeks coming who are willing to pay the higher admission. Also to cover operating expenses and keep the vendors happy by not raising the booth prices. Just something to think about.

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Offline Chris

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It went well beyond CoL, especially in last couple of years. My first year 4 day with preview was $75, the next year it was $95, then I bought a 4 day + preview on-site for $105 and when they went to the public they were like $125 or so, then last year it spiked to $175. So 2.3x over 4 years.

According to CCI, the $175 spike is because of the whole "people buying a 4-day pass for one panel" thing.

Offline Trev

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According to CCI, the $175 spike is because of the whole "people buying a 4-day pass for one panel" thing.

I thought that was the reason to stop discounting 4 day over 4 individual days. Or do you mean something different?

Offline Chris

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I thought that was the reason to stop discounting 4 day over 4 individual days. Or do you mean something different?

That too.  You and I are talking about the same thing.  :)  The "one panel" thing is the reason why they stopped the 4 day discount and why they had the $175 spike.  They had mentioned both in the same 2012 ticket prices annoucement. 

Offline Chris Hagish

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If it was really just to stop people from buying for one panel they could still allow discounts for long time attendees.  Heck maybe that is why they mentioned RFIDs in the badges.  It would be a great way to see who was coming to and enjoying all that CCI has to offer us.  Little tally marker for the number of times you traveled passed door check locations, used to help see active members.

As for the increases there was a major debate back on the FB page at one point. It boiled down to someone outright claiming CCI was exploiting their NPO status and paying themselves and all their workers outrageous wages. At this point someone with insider knowledge shot back quoting the averaged pay being something around 30-40K a year.  Once that did not work other random things were blamed for the cost increase as it did not match the standard COL.

As i see it CCI has had a number of things to pay out for and places to send the money made by SDCC. The most basic is CCI itself, IE the year around staffing needed to pull this off, web hosting, Database control companies like Epic and whoever is doing the CCI IDs/emails. All things convention center, this is to include the convention center (and build fees/permits), Staffing for the event (Sercurity, Techs, temp staff, Fire marshals and any other bodies i am forgetting), Contracts related to just SDCC (shuttle service, TP, Ace Parking, and all the small things like catering ect).  I am sure i am missing many things but that is the general idea.  Now on top of that we would have all money funded towards CCIs other projects like Wondercon, APE con, and the CCI-IFF).

The funniest thing about all this talk and some of the loud moaning that could be heard on FB site, is that no one EVER makes this much of a fuss if any other business changes prices.  Nor do you see the public caught up in the firestorm of blame and accusation over improper use of money (against other NPOs). As it was said earlier people dejected over not being able to get badges are randomly lashing out trying to place blame on anyone and anything other then dumb luck and themselves.  On a sidenote slightly related did any of yall know Disneyland is going to increase its cost for yearly tickets by nearly 150$?
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Offline Trev

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If it was really just to stop people from buying for one panel they could still allow discounts for long time attendees.  Heck maybe that is why they mentioned RFIDs in the badges.  It would be a great way to see who was coming to and enjoying all that CCI has to offer us.  Little tally marker for the number of times you traveled passed door check locations, used to help see active members.

As for the increases there was a major debate back on the FB page at one point. It boiled down to someone outright claiming CCI was exploiting their NPO status and paying themselves and all their workers outrageous wages. At this point someone with insider knowledge shot back quoting the averaged pay being something around 30-40K a year.  Once that did not work other random things were blamed for the cost increase as it did not match the standard COL.

As i see it CCI has had a number of things to pay out for and places to send the money made by SDCC. The most basic is CCI itself, IE the year around staffing needed to pull this off, web hosting, Database control companies like Epic and whoever is doing the CCI IDs/emails. All things convention center, this is to include the convention center (and build fees/permits), Staffing for the event (Sercurity, Techs, temp staff, Fire marshals and any other bodies i am forgetting), Contracts related to just SDCC (shuttle service, TP, Ace Parking, and all the small things like catering ect).  I am sure i am missing many things but that is the general idea.  Now on top of that we would have all money funded towards CCIs other projects like Wondercon, APE con, and the CCI-IFF).

The funniest thing about all this talk and some of the loud moaning that could be heard on FB site, is that no one EVER makes this much of a fuss if any other business changes prices.  Nor do you see the public caught up in the firestorm of blame and accusation over improper use of money (against other NPOs). As it was said earlier people dejected over not being able to get badges are randomly lashing out trying to place blame on anyone and anything other then dumb luck and themselves.  On a sidenote slightly related did any of yall know Disneyland is going to increase its cost for yearly tickets by nearly 150$?

Are they doing RFID this year? My company's annual conference uses that and it is AWESOME. As an attendee they could tell me every session I went to, get me presentations, speaker surveys etc. As a speaker I got to see how many people in each session, where they were from, etc.

RFID will be HUGE to helping them refine panels, decide what there should be more or less of, who to invite back, etc.

This is awesome news.

Offline Trev

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also I think we can tell from the annual report that the salaries are definitely not out of whack, especially for southern california.

Offline Daniel H

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also I think we can tell from the annual report that the salaries are definitely not out of whack, especially for southern california.

I have a friend that has been working for CCI for many many years...they are not paid that much, lol!
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Offline Chris Hagish

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Remember the quote i gaven was suppose to be a generalization of all CCI employees...from the top down so i would expect it to be higher then the normal people we might know, while being much less then say a board member or other higher up.
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Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: Discussion re: CCI FB comments (from CCI Posts and Announcements Forum)
« Reply #100 on: June 24, 2012, 05:08:57 PM »
A number of good points have been raised regarding the costs CCI faces to operate. Issues like Member IDs, increased customer service, etc. also increase costs. The increased costs of badges are likely a reflection of this.

FWIW, CCI is VERY cheap. When you break it down to a per day basis, it's minimal. Compare the per day cost to the price of a hotel room and airfare and you'll see that badge prices are just a drop in the bucket of your overall cost to attend.

The Gossamer

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Re: Discussion re: CCI FB comments (from CCI Posts and Announcements Forum)
« Reply #101 on: June 25, 2012, 07:11:02 AM »
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A number of good points have been raised regarding the costs CCI faces to operate. Issues like Member IDs, increased customer service, etc. also increase costs. The increased costs of badges are likely a reflection of this.

FWIW, CCI is VERY cheap. When you break it down to a per day basis, it's minimal. Compare the per day cost to the price of a hotel room and airfare and you'll see that badge prices are just a drop in the bucket of your overall cost to attend.
I agree Transmute. For 4 days and nearly all access to many panels/events it is reasonable. A 2 hr. concert ticket near the front can cost way more then this event not to mention some major sporting events. Going to Disneyland for just a day drains my wallet.
  I would not be surprised to see a major ticket price increase. I for one would still buy a badge in an instant even if it would double in price.