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New York Times article on NYCC.
« on: October 12, 2014, 03:45:23 PM »
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The New York Times, Thursday, October 9, 2014

AT NEW YORK COMIC CON, GROWING PAINS COME WITH THE CROWDS

By GREGORY SCHMIDT, The New York Times

The organizer of New York Comic Con says it has found a way to pack more people into an already packed show.

The event, which celebrates the crossroads of comic books and pop culture, draws such huge crowds that the 151,000 tickets sold out in hours this year, leaving many fans clamoring for a way to immerse themselves in their favorite tales of science-fiction and fantasy.  But even as the convention expands, it faces criticism that it has lost its focus.

Ticket sales for conventions like New York Comic Con totaled about $600 million in the United States last year, according to a study by Eventbrite, an online ticketing and events service.  Revenue from ticket sales for the New York convention increased 40% this year over 2013, and ReedPop, the convention’s organizer, says it wants it to grow even more.

The problem is that attendance, which was 133,000 last year, has reached the capacity of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where the convention opened on Thursday and will run through Sunday.  But as the number of conventions and attendance have surged in recent years, in part because of the popularity of the annual Comic-Con International in San Diego, money can be made by adding events at other sites.

So this year, ReedPop broadened the scope of New York Comic Con, adding a weeklong series of events, called Super Week.  “The investment is well north of a million dollars to get this going,” Lance Fensterman, the global vice president of ReedPop, said of Super Week.  “We were not shy about launching this thing.  It’s 110 events in 25 venues all over the city.”

But Mr. Fensterman acknowledged that any return on the investment might not appear for a few years.

“We are not worried about how it will pay off this year, but in five or 10 years,” he said, adding that he hoped it would become as well known as other New York events like Fashion Week and Advertising Week.  “We want this to be an anchor in the fall.”

Some critics complain that the expansion ambitions of such conventions take the focus away from comic books, but industry specialists say the strategy could pay off for the organizers and for businesses that rely on tourism.  The city reported in 2011 that the economic impact of the convention was $50 million, a number that ReedPop says grew to $70 million last year.

“They are looking at this as a category they think they can grow,” said Milton Griepp, the founder of ICv2, a website that tracks the industry.  “New York is the media capital of the world, and Reed is a good show operator that has been able to build on that.”

ReedPop has plenty of experience managing pop culture conventions.  It runs the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California, the U.F.C. (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Fan Expo in Las Vegas and several video game conventions.  It has global ambitions as well. ReedPop announced this week that it would sponsor a comic book convention in Paris next year.  It already has shows in Australia and India.

“They help us with better vendors for setting up the infrastructure,” said Jatin Varma, the founder of Comic Con India and ReedPop’s partner there.  “They are experts; they know how to move people to these events.”

ReedPop is focusing its experience on New York.  But the logistics of the cramped, crowded city pose a challenge to the ambitions for more space.

In San Diego, Comic-Con International spills into the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter, taking over restaurants, bars, parking lots and even Petco Park and the USS Midway aircraft carrier.

But the Javits Center, on the Far West Side of Manhattan, offers limited transportation options, making it difficult for the thousands who attend the convention to get in and out, though a long-awaited subway line extension to feed the convention center is scheduled to open next year.  And the neighborhood is overwhelmed with construction.

To overcome transportation obstacles, ReedPop worked with Chevrolet and Uber to offer free rides to Super Week events.  Several New York restaurants will park food trucks near the convention center to offer more choices.

But a bigger challenge may come from comic book fans themselves, who complain that the inclusion of movies, television and video games has pulled attention away from comic books and their creators.  Some artists say they do not make enough money at conventions to cover their costs.

In an effort to address those complaints, ReedPop started a smaller convention this summer called Special Edition: NYC, to focus solely on comic books.

But the diversity of comic book conventions is a reflection of the audience, Mr. Griepp said.  “It’s a natural part of expansion:  You want to appeal to all parts of fandom,” he said.

Others in the comic book industry agreed, saying the growth brought new fans.  “The convention scene has exploded and expanded out in so many directions, but at the end of the day, it comes back to the comic book,” said Gerry Gladston, chief marketing officer at Midtown Comics, which has been a partner of New York Comic Con since the event’s inception in 2006.  “We provide the content for anything that happens at conventions like this.”

Comic book fans have been taking the growth in stride.

When tickets for New York Comic Con went on sale in August, Travis Ortiz wanted to make sure he would get one.  So he waited with friends on the sidewalk outside Midtown Comics in Times Square for 28 hours to ensure he would be first in line for a ticket.

“With all the hype, I knew it was going to be insane and hard to get tickets,” said Mr. Ortiz, 25, a Police Academy recruit in New York.  So he endured the muggy summer weather while nursing a cold and missing two days of police training.

“I just wish there were more tickets available,” he said.  “Everybody should be able to go.”

Copyright © 2014 The New York Times Company


(N.Y. Times/Fred R. Conrad)  Comic Con opened Thursday at the  Jacob  K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.


(N.Y. Times/Fred R. Conrad)  Comic book fans, some dressed as their favorite characters, bought out the 151,000 convention tickets in just hours.


(N.Y. Times/Fred R. Conrad)  Dhareza Maramis and Jessica Lee took the subway on their way to New York Comic Con on Thursday.
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