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Comic Book conventions in 2021 - who's going?

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  • Comic Book conventions in 2021 - who's going?

    From a purely professional angle I'm curious to know how many forum members are planning on attending any comic/pop culture conventions later this year.

    I'm seeing that HeroesCon in North Carolina has announced that they're anticipating a June date for their show (which feels unrealistically optimistic) and ReedPop has scheduled both Emerald City Comic Con and C2E2 for December.

    Having tabled at both ECCC and C2E2 in the past I was sent a questionnaire about the likelihood of my setting up at a ReedPop show this year and my feeling was that even if there's a heavy rollout of a vaccine by the end of summer I wasn't quite comfortable sitting in a large room filled with thousands of people for 2-3 days straight until 2022. However I don't want to miss out on an entire year of conventions if it seems that folks are anxious to attend.
    Now everyone can have a complete KRULL lifestyle.

  • #2
    Big Apple Comic Con in NYC is slated for May at this point. I don't see that happening unless the vaccination programs really ramp up, which they might.

    Should I be able to get vaccinated by then, I'd probably go. But I wouldn't be there exhibiting, I'd just be walking around and shopping, so I'd obviously be able to leave if I didn't like the scene. It's a bit different from the exhibiter/artist alley side of things.
    Rock! Shock! Pop!

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    • #3
      I'm not sure if the local one is on for this year. If it is (usually in the fall), I would probably go assuming the vaccine has been widely distributed by then. I would be okay with spending an hour or two walking around. I would probably think twice about being a vendor though, spending 2 or 3 days at a table seems a little risky.
      I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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      • #4
        I'm staff at a local anime con that happens over Memorial Day Weekend and while they're still theoretically going ahead with the convention (and opening up room reservations at the con hotel) I can't imagine that it's actually going to be held. My guess is that most conventions through the summer are waiting for state restrictions on mass gatherings to be extended to the point where they can point to that as a reason to cancel their reservation with the convention center, hotel, and so forth.

        While I'd probably be at HeroesCon for at least a day during a normal year, there's no way I'd be there this year. I'm pretty sure June is too soon for things to open back up in NC and that as soon as they're able to the event will be cancelled.

        I'll be curious to see if DragonCon attempts to go ahead with the convention this year in Atlanta. They were up to around 90k attendees last I checked. I can't imagine being in those sorts of crowds until at least 2022 at this rate.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by FnordChan View Post
          My guess is that most conventions through the summer are waiting for state restrictions on mass gatherings to be extended to the point where they can point to that as a reason to cancel their reservation with the convention center, hotel, and so forth.
          The Small Press Expo/SPX in Bethesda put out a release that was pretty candid about the nature of the contracts they have with their hotel and convention center partners and the penalties that would come about if they themselves canceled the show rather than waiting for the city or county to do so. They had reserved their normal location in advance for both 2020 and 2021 and they also didn't want to potentially lose out on future dates if they decided to back out of those dates.

          "As with other large-scale in person events, SPX books its facilities many years in advance. That means we had established contractual obligations for 2020 and 2021 well before anyone was aware of all the challenges the last year would bring.

          Based on those pre-existing contracts, SPX cannot unilaterally and preemptively cancel our 2021 event. If we were to do so, we would be obligated to pay a significant penalty to the hotel that would jeopardize any future for the show.

          As it was in 2020, SPX 2021 is in the hands of the Montgomery County government: the County Executive, the County Council and the Department of Health. Last year, MontCo came to the entirely prudent decision that events like SPX could not safely take place."
          Now everyone can have a complete KRULL lifestyle.

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          • #6
            Last I heard Coast Con,the annual con in Biloxi MS,isn't happening this year. Hearing it might not happen again. The last few years the attendence is going way way down. And they raised the price for a weekend pass from 30 bucks for 3 days to 55 for 3 days. And there is only so many times you can go meet Mitch Byrd and Steven Butler. I got pretty much every issue of Cat and Mouse autographed by them.

            Appears the Hattiesberg and Jackson cons aren't happening this year. Both of them get bigger each year. I guess when they come back in 2022 I might go. My lady has been wanting to hit up a con since she went 6 years ago.

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            • #7
              On 5/22 there's an outdoor comic convention in Brooklyn. Free admission, 50 vendors. I'm gonna go check it out.

              I also noticed that Monster Mania in NJ is doing an outdoor convention this summer as well.

              Outdoor might be a safer alternative until things are back under control again as far as covid goes.
              Rock! Shock! Pop!

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              • #8
                Appears like the Jackson and Hattiesberg cons are happenign this year. INdoors and entry prices went up.

                Betting Coast Con has died. The crowd was shrinking each year. And not having it last year and this year might be the end of it.

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                • #9
                  Fan Expo has taken over Wizard World.

                  https://bleedingcool.com/comics/wiza...s-conventions/
                  Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                  • #10
                    For anyone in the NYC area....

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                    Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                    • #11
                      How did the Queens Comic Show go?
                      "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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                      • #12
                        It was packed! Attendance was down at the last two but this one was really busy right from the start and right up until half an hour before we packed it all in. A really fun show. There's a very cool community growing out of these local shows which makes it a lot of fun.
                        Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Ian Jane View Post
                          It was packed! Attendance was down at the last two but this one was really busy right from the start and right up until half an hour before we packed it all in. A really fun show. There's a very cool community growing out of these local shows which makes it a lot of fun.
                          That's great to hear! I think people are tired of the larger pop culture-styled cons where the focus on comics gets lost in the mix. More of these little comic shows seem to be popping up all over.
                          "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Scott View Post

                            That's great to hear! I think people are tired of the larger pop culture-styled cons where the focus on comics gets lost in the mix. More of these little comic shows seem to be popping up all over.
                            I agree completely. This was 100% comics, and it's free to get in. Also it's at a licensed venue, so people wind up hanging out, having beers and socializing in addition to digging through boxes. When it's warmer, depending on what venue it's at, sometimes they setup a grill outback and get burgers and hot dogs going too.
                            Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                            • #15
                              Yeah, we have a couple conventions each year that are strictly comics and they are always packed. Dealers come from other cities like Columbia and Charleston. I've scored tons of cool stuff.

                              In a related note, Galactic Comics, just a few blocks from me, moved to a larger building and they are apparently the second largest comic store in the nation after Mile High.
                              I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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