Friends of Comic Cons

All Other Conventions (aka Friendly Neighborhood) => Other Comic Cons and Conventions => Topic started by: hikanteki on November 26, 2022, 08:36:29 PM

Title: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: hikanteki on November 26, 2022, 08:36:29 PM
Dates Confirmed. Thanksgiving weekend again. From Event Map:

(https://i.imgur.com/ujKQ42b.jpg)
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 29, 2022, 07:35:39 AM
My brief review of Fan Expo SF: I liked it for what it was, a first time effort in SF. Compared to SiliCon in San Jose, I like Fan Expo more.

The badge pickup was slightly inconvenient where you had to enter one side of the Moscone Center, get your badge, then activate your badge online, then go back outside and re-enter through another entrance. But that was a minor issue. The bigger issue is that they did not give out lanyards. You had to pay for one. We opted to just keep ours in our pockets.

The exhibit hall was a good size, with a surprisingly large artist’s alley. This is the section I tend to like the most at conventions, and I appreciated that there were quite a few artists in attendance, from the familiar (like Jim Lee & Arthur Adams) to the unknown.  I ended up buying several prints and comic books here. There was a good variety of different exhibitors, though surprisingly not a lot of comic book specific ones.

I did not spend much time upstairs where the celebrities + photo ops were, but from what I saw, there was a good variety of celebs on hand, from the cast of Smallville to Clerks to a bunch of voice actors from various anime. There was a gaming section with the usual rogue’s gallery of board games, card games, and video games.

There wasn’t too much in the way of cosplay. What I did see, nothing really stood out as impressively inventive or unique. Surprisingly I saw only one Star Wars cosplay all day.

There was a surprising variety of food available within the con, from crepes to açaí bowls. But there is also a food court right across the street in the Metreon, so there’s no lacking in available grub. The website noted no outside food allowed, but we had no issue bringing in coffee from outside or having snacks in our backpacks (they did not check our bags, unlike SiliCon.)

Would I go again next year? Yeah, almost certainly. The Bay Area is in dire need of a good comic con, especially with the direction SiliCon is heading. My biggest issue is the date. One artist I was talking to was griping about it being Thanksgiving weekend, and I had to agree. He also mentioned the severe lack of advertising. I’ll be honest: I wouldn’t have known about this con if not for FoCC, so I had to agree with him there.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: alyssa on November 29, 2022, 08:41:02 AM
@accelerate (https://www.friendsofcc.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=4314)
thanks for the mini review!
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: Transmute Jun on November 30, 2022, 08:18:32 AM
That's an interesting review, @accelerate (https://www.friendsofcc.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=4314) . I agree that Silicon is headed in a direction that is not interesting to me. For the first time since SVCC began, my husband and I are not planning to purchase VIP badges for Silicon (next year). It does sound like this con was a better fit for us.

The lanyards thing may have been lack of a sponsor. But I agree that they should have had basic (string or cord) lanyards for everyone.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: hikanteki on August 09, 2023, 09:48:38 PM
1. Ewan McGregor announced.

2. Hotels are up and the Mariott Marquis is once again $139/night.
https://fanexpohq.com/fanexposanfrancisco/travel-hotels/
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: hikanteki on October 15, 2023, 07:04:22 PM
Mark Hamill announced.
4 Hobbits announced.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 08, 2023, 06:47:34 PM
Just bought badges for Saturday. I briefly thought about getting the bundle that includes lanyard, bag, t-shirt and pin, but the bag/shirt design is... not good.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: MandoSaves on November 10, 2023, 10:41:05 AM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Mark Hamill announced.
4 Hobbits announced.

This just might be worth the price of admission for me. *starts searching for flights to SF
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 10, 2023, 11:52:13 AM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
This just might be worth the price of admission for me. *starts searching for flights to SF

If you want anything signed by Mark Hamill, be prepared to shell out A LOT of dough

Code: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
AUTOGRAPHS

STANDARD: $399.99 – (8"x10" photo)

PREMIUM: $499.99 – (includes comic books (raw or graded), books, magazines, scripts, newspaper, non-sport cards, DVDs, video games, 11”x14”/11”x17” photos, mini posters, 16”x20” photos, Funko Pop, action figure, signs)

BULKY: $699.99 – (includes large 3D items, clothing, full size movie posters, and props)

PHOTO OPS

$399.99 for up to two (2) fans

$450.00 for up to four (4) fans
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: NCDS on November 10, 2023, 02:12:13 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
If you want anything signed by Mark Hamill, be prepared to shell out A LOT of dough

Code: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
AUTOGRAPHS

STANDARD: $399.99 – (8"x10" photo)

PREMIUM: $499.99 – (includes comic books (raw or graded), books, magazines, scripts, newspaper, non-sport cards, DVDs, video games, 11”x14”/11”x17” photos, mini posters, 16”x20” photos, Funko Pop, action figure, signs)

BULKY: $699.99 – (includes large 3D items, clothing, full size movie posters, and props)

PHOTO OPS

$399.99 for up to two (2) fans

$450.00 for up to four (4) fans


Wow his prices have doubled since got it, and I thought it was too high back then
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: puppy on November 10, 2023, 05:02:57 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Wow his prices have doubled since got it, and I thought it was too high back then

OMG. Makes me so glad I got his autograph before the final trilogy. It was $125, and he let us take photos for free (they told us no photos while in line, but he was the one who offered, so the line attendant couldn't refuse).

____

Oh, oh, oh, and I forgot to add....I sent a copy of the photo of us with him in the hopes that he would sign that, too. They didn't respond and I forgot about it. Two years later, when the first of the final trilogy came out, they sent me those same photos back unsigned, but in the packet were a bunch of old signed photos from the original trilogy. That was so cool. His agency must have been sitting on those. Anyway, made me love him even more.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: puppy on November 10, 2023, 05:07:34 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
This just might be worth the price of admission for me. *starts searching for flights to SF

When I was a kid, I was a Luke Skywalker fan. As an adult, I fell in love with the way he treats his fans. He's like Taylor Swift; he knows how to work it. I'm a Hamill fan now.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 10, 2023, 05:24:00 PM
I'm actually curious now. What celebrity charges the most for autographs / photo-ops?
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: Transmute Jun on November 11, 2023, 04:44:55 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
I'm actually curious now. What celebrity charges the most for autographs / photo-ops?

I thought it was Shatner, but I could be wrong.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: sefton42 on November 11, 2023, 07:46:01 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
I thought it was Shatner, but I could be wrong.


Not even close.  Shatner’s prices have gone up, but they’re $120/photo, $100 auto.  Hamill’s are the highest at conventions.  The last convention he did was NYCC 2017 and he was $250 photo/$300 auto, and that was the most expensive I’d seen at the time.  To compare his current prices to other big names, Ewan at the same con is $250 for a photo, $300 at most for an auto, and Chris Evans and Tom Hiddleston at NYCC were $260 for a photo or auto.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: Transmute Jun on November 12, 2023, 10:13:52 AM
Looks like Sefton is more well-versed on this than I. Can you tell that I never purchase autographs/photo ops?  ;)
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: sefton42 on November 12, 2023, 10:30:49 AM
I may be flying across the country Thanksgiving weekend to go to this con b/c they got Hamill.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 26, 2023, 06:27:16 PM
I was at Fan Expo SF yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by how it's grown since last year. Whereas last year it was mostly just the main hall for vendors and artists, this year they separated it out so the artists took up most of the second floor. So overall there were more vendors and more artists. There were only a few that I recognize from SDCC, with the vast majority being new to me. I will say though, you could've renamed Artist's Alley to Cat Alley and be just as accurate.

I wasn't at Fan Expo for the celebs, so I really can't speak to that. I do know that the highest tier celebs -- Mark Hamill, Ewan McGregor, the Hobbits -- all had their own rooms, so you couldn't just walk by and get a quick glance at them. The voice actors had regular autograph booths like you see at SDCC and other cons. Only a few had really long lines like Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) and Ashley Eckstein (Ashoka). As for artists, I was kinda surprised there weren't bigger crowds for Mark Silvestri, who was probably the biggest comic book artist there (last year, Jim Lee was here, and he had a decent gathering).

There was a healthy cosplay scene. In fact, relative to SDCC, the cosplayers probably had a bigger presence here than SDCC. A few cosplayers had their own booths. Also, the Star Wars presence was pretty big. There was a whole section in the main exhibit hall dedicated to Star Wars related groups and vendors -- 501st, build your own lightsaber, a droid building society, etc. Strangely, there was a disproportionately large number of vendors specializing in dice.

I only attended one panel -- NASA's talking about their new Artemis rover -- and it would've been more interesting had their mics worked properly. I couldn't hear half of what was said. And they only had a small 50" TV to show videos, and it was pretty low so you couldn't see it from the back. There was an open hall on the 3rd floor where I briefly heard Sonequa Martin-Green and Mary McDonell talk.

Overall, I was satisfied with Fan Expo SF. The one thing you should never do with these smaller cons is compare it to SDCC, but I will compare it to the defunct Silicon Valley Comic-Con (I refuse to call it "SiliCon"), and I'll say that Fan Expo closely matches what SVCC was at its (brief) height. So in that regard, it scratches my itch for a Bay Area con. If there was two things I felt was sorely lacking, it was an authors / books presence, and lack of comic book vendors. There was only one author with a booth that I noticed, and there were maybe 2-3 comic-book vendors. There really needs to be more of those than other types of booths. Heck, Verizon and some tea company had booths.

I'll almost definitely go again next year.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: accelerate on November 26, 2023, 11:24:02 PM
They've already set the dates for next year's Fan Expo SF: Friday November 29th, 2024 -> Sunday December 1st, 2024, which falls on Thanksgiving weekend again.

Not super thrilled that they always use this weekend for Fan Expo, but it is what it is.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: Transmute Jun on November 28, 2023, 06:21:40 AM
Thanks for the review! I had briefly thought about going, but that weekend is always so busy for me that I decided not to truck my butt into the city. Sounds like I didn't miss much (especially since I'm not a big Star Wars or LOTR person).

I do miss SVCC... I agree that the re-vamped SiliCon has not been as good (although I do give them credit for being one of the first cons to return back in 2021).
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: NCDS on November 29, 2023, 12:28:48 PM
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
They've already set the dates for next year's Fan Expo SF: Friday November 29th, 2024 -> Sunday December 1st, 2024, which falls on Thanksgiving weekend again.

Not super thrilled that they always use this weekend for Fan Expo, but it is what it is.

Ours may only be slightly better with it falling on July 4th weekend every year.   They increased it to 4 days so it's on the actual 4th this year.

I can handle July 4th though, it's more that it's so close to SDCC that wears me out.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: sefton42 on November 29, 2023, 02:23:43 PM
B/c of Hamill, I flew out and did the con for a day and a half.  A friend of mine from LA flew up and joined me.  I enjoyed my time there, but without Hamill appearing at a con for the first time in 6 years, it’s definitely not a con to fly across the country for, especially when Fan Expo puts on so many.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: hikanteki on December 02, 2023, 05:06:26 PM
We went to Fan Expo SF and had a great time. As you may recall, last year my partner won a pair of VIP tickets for this year for winning the cumulative trivia contest, so we got to go in style!  8) The reports are saying there were 35,000 attendees, which sounds about right.

The biggest strength of this con, by far, was the guests/panels. Fan Expo usually has a good line up for their cons but this weekend we got both Mark Hamill and Ewan McGregor. These alone (or even one of them) would have made the con worth going to. They also had panels for nearly all of the guests I was interested in; the only exception was Gina Schock of the Go-Gos who was announced last minute and she had a booth with merch but no panel.

Three of the panels (Mark Hamill, Ewan McGregor, the Four Hobbits) had paid options where they let paid people in first and then GA. None of them filled up with paid attendees and I don't think any of them even reached 100% capacity with free attendees (although Mark Hamill and the 4 Hobbits looked close). We paid for Mark Hamill since we didn't want to take the chance of missing him and paid for the Four Hobbits because wanted a good seat for that one. Both of these turned out to be well worth it. Mark Hamill came on a bit late but stayed for an hour and a half and was very entertaining. The 4 Hobbits was set up with a TV-line Intro and a game show, which was very entertaining and lasted about 1:15. We didn't pay for Ewan McGregor which also turned out to be a good decision, because the moderator for that one was boring and the entire panel lasted 36 minutes including about 10-15 minutes of filler at the end (going over audience trivia answers).

We also attended panels for Adrienne Barbeau, Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin (Lost), Mary McDonnell/Sonequa Martin Green, Henry Winkler, Danielle Panabaker/Carlos Valdes, Billy Boyd, and Tem Morrison/Daniel Logan. All of them were top notch except for sadly the Lost one which was kind of boring. The favorite was Billy Boyd, he was extremely entertaining and had great chemistry with the moderator (who, coincidentally, was also the moderator for the boring Lost panel.)

We attended a couple of non-celebrity panels; the best one was a My Neighbor Totoro 35th Anniversary panel which featured Hirokatsu Kihara, former Chief Production Officer of Studio Ghibli in the 80s. He brought a suitcase full of original My Neighbor Totoro artwork and prints and displayed them for us. Another interesting panel was a screening of Skye Hoshi: Anime Girl, which was a live-action indie film and very entertaining. It was nice to see an anime presence here, given that I don't really attend anime cons anymore...Fanime is off my list, and SacAnime has not really delivered the past few times. Plus, the My Neighbor Totoro panel was something that those two conventions never would have been able to get.

Aside from Hamill & 4 Hobbits, none of the panels we attended were anywhere near full. The only one I noticed that was full was Peter Cullen, who was not in the main room but we walked by it and saw it was a packed room. But it still didn't look like they were denying entry as people were standing against the walls.

The weak point was unfortunately the exhibit hall. The artists were moved to the 2nd floor which was a good move for Artist Alley, but what was left in the exhibit hall was tbh pretty sad. More generic trinkets and Pops than anything else...at least last year's vendors had more character despite there being probably about the same amount of non-artist vendors. The one booth that did stick out to us as interesting was one that had etched wooden round display plates including some interesting landscapes from Star Wars scenes.

The Artist Alley, on the other hand, was an improvement from last year and moving it to the 2nd floor lobby really improved the overall hustle and bustle of the con.

The VIP badges (and the swag bags that came long with it) were nice but didn't offer us too many other benefits. If we didn't pay for the Mark Hamill panel, we would have gotten priority General Admission entrance after all the paid attendees had been let in. However they didn't extend the same VIP benefits for Ewan McGregor - there was just one GA line (although the panel really wasn't hard to get into.) There was a VIP lounge which was a bunch of tables set up in the middle of the first floor foyer surrounded by curtains, and an additional help desk. They cleared the room between all panels but they let VIP stay in (unless the next one was a paid panel), although this benefit was not super necessary either since none of those filled up. VIP might have been more useful for autographs/photo-ops but we don't do those.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable con. I agree with Accelerate that a good comparison is SVCC/SiliCon at its peak. It didn't have everything but it did succeed at getting some very interesting guests. Speaking of, I wonder if FanExpo's coming up had anything to do with SiliCon's demise. There were elements of SVCC here i.e. a NASA booth and Panel, and I saw Bill Watters going in and out of the main panel backstage on more than one occasion.

But I do want to mention - aside from the exhibit hall, the one other area that I felt had room for improvement is something that I can't quite put my finger on...it seemed very generic. It was nice that we got all the guests and it was a very well-oiled machine but it felt like there was no local/independent character. SVCC, WonderCon, Salt Lake, Rose City...even ReedPop era Emerald City all have more character than this one did. If Informa is the one that succeeds in SF (and I believe they are the best positioned to) then I will not knock them but I do hope they find some way to distingush this one among the dozen other FanExpos.
Title: Re: FanExpo San Francisco 2023: November 24-26
Post by: sefton42 on December 02, 2023, 05:39:47 PM
1) VIP was useful for photos/autos with the bigger guests.  Don’t want to know how long I would have been in line for Hamill without it.  It was also nice to go to the VIP lounge to eat lunch since all of the tables around the food court were taken.
2). That was my third Fan Expo of the year.  They are pretty generic.  They tend to recycle the same guests.  SF was different b/c of Hamill, Ewan, and some of the other Star Wars guests, like Teneura and Tudyk.  But Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Vivien Lyra Blair, Danielle Panabaker, the four hobbits — these were all fan expo regulars.  Unless they get a guest specific to SF (like Anthony Mackie did Fan Expo New Orleans one year b/c that’s where he’s from), you’re not going to be getting anything specific to the area.  And they’re going to have a hard time next year finding someone with the same draw as Hamill.