Reed Pop, the increasingly successful company behind some of the biggest comic and pop culture events in the world has just announced that they are cancelling the upcoming Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. They apparently are moving the date to a yet to be announced date in the summer. This has got to be a logistical nightmare for all parties involved but I think it’s the right move.
Since the lovely Coronavirus has had a small yet deadly outbreak in the Seattle area, I was wondering for the past 2 weeks if this was going to be a possibility. It started a couple of weeks back when some big name artists started dropping out and cancelling their appearances. Then the big guns like CGC, DC Comics, & Diamond Comics puked on and it just seemed destined to fail if they kept on with it.
I feel bad for all involved from the organizer in Reed Pop, to con goers, to all of the exhibitors and guests. It takes so much effort, time, money, and planning to commit to these large scale conventions, so to have to bail on something this large within days of it happening...that’s simply the pits.
They finally just released this statement and I believe will be issuing refunds shortly for those who can’t reschedule.
This has got me thinking long and hard about my upcoming convention schedule. Im set to book the following shows in the next week or two...
- Megacon (Orlando,Fl)
- East Coast Comic Con (Secaucus,NJ)
- Heroescon. (Charlotte,NC)
- Baltimore Comic Con (Baltimore, MD)
- New York Comic Con (NY,NY)
... and a few others that might be first times for me. I’m now goi g to be asking what their policy is like incase things get a bit hairy and either illness or panic/precaution takes control. I couldn’t stand to lose thousands with each con between van rental, booth costs, accommodations and the rest of the fun. I got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.
Even if conventions aren’t “officially” affected, could overall attendance be down this year if this shit sticks around?!? I’d imagine so. I’m the comic communities, word and a bit of worrisome concern is being repeatedly brought up regarding upcoming events. Hard not to imagine there won’t be some sort of drag on attendance in large group settings like comic conventions.
I know I come home after busting my dumper most of these events with full on con crud...the nasty cold one gets after handling dubious amounts of moist sweaty sock/bra moolah. Not much is grosser than a cosplayer buying a Pop from you and handing you a sopping wet bill that was caked to their angle or tit while waltzing around the con. Yum!!!
I’m curious if anyone here was slated to go and if so, how they are handling refunds. Maybe @dfinney and the hubby were planning on attending?
Either way, it’s sure to be an issue in this industry and others if this virus lingers for some time. What’s your thoughts folks? Unnecessary panic? Smart precaution? A bit of both?
A Healthy (for now) Blewitt
and btw, C2E2 was packed with people, all of whom were fully aware of the flu, and went anyway ( I'm referring to it as a "flu" because that is all it is...a FLU. If you're not susceptible to serious health problems from a flu, you ain't going to get any from this)
My next show is Mega Con, and unless someone from the CDC in a hazmat suit tackles me, I'm going in and selling comics.
As long as they don't cancel, I'll be there too. I won't be selling but I might be buying...
Really? What will Dorothy and Tin Man do without the Emerald City Comic Con?
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I was reading somewhere the other day that in Italy, where this virus is really wreaking havoc, that major sporting matches are being played in empty stadiums because crowds are not being allowed to attend.
Meanwhile in Australia we just have morons panic buying toilet paper.
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Yeah, I wonder if it’ll eventually happen here in the states if it keeps spiraling out of control. Kinda scary shit.
Wow. I’d seen lots of artists & individuals pulling out, so I guess this was almost inevitable. Even if a show is willing to go on, I think attendance will be very soft compared to previous years. I don’t blame anyone’s caution, but at the same time I think this will sadly be a “new normal” and a lot of these efforts are somewhat pointless.
That’s my problem going forward. If these shows go on, I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be some sort of negative effect on attendance. What to do...
I've been to Megacon every year (except one) since 1999. I haven't bought tickets or reserved a hotel room yet this year. I plan to go if they don't cancel but it's hard to imagine that if they are cancelling (or postponing) one show that it won't trickle on down the line. MegaCon is only a little over a month away. I'm doubtful coronavirus will be gone by then.
On the bright side, MegaCon isn't run by ReedPop. I learned to hate them after the last Star Wars Celebration in Orlando...
That’s a shame about hating Reed Pop. I’ll say that as an exhibitor, they are a pleasure to deal with. Unlike the crooks under the Wizard World shows.
I've never been an exhibitor so I don't have that perspective. And admittedly my convention-going experience has been somewhat limited (MegaCon every year for a couple of decades, 3 different Star Wars celebrations in Orlando, and a couple of much smaller conventions). What I can say is, out of all of those, the last Star Wars Celebration in Orlando (run by Reed Pop) was pretty miserable from a fan perspective and by far the worst convention I've been to.
The problem is how they run the panels. With MegaCon (and the two Star Wars Celebrations I attended previously), you get in line an hour or so before even the biggest panels and you usually don't have a problem getting in. With Star Wars Celebration (and my understanding is that it is with other Reed Pop run conventions also), you have to line-up, often the night before, to get a wrist-band, in order to line-up again nearer to the panel time to hopefully get a decent seat. They seem to think this is a good way of doing things but from a fan perspective, I can assure you it is not.
I've heard this complaint about other Reed Pop run shows so I don't think this was unique to Celebration Orlando. I don't think the issue was attendance which was ~70,000 for Celebration Orlando. MegaCon has about ~100,000. That was a few years ago so maybe things have changed. That experience was bad enough that I won't attend any convention that does things that way again (though I guess if panels isn't your thing you probably wouldn't care).
Oh, and I almost forgot. The first day I attended Celebration Orlando in 2017, I got there about an hour before the doors opened. It was after lunch before I got in the door. Why? (rhetorical). I mean, with MegaCon I pretty much walk right in (any wait is minimal at any rate). The next day I got there a few hours early so as not to miss half a day waiting to get in. Only because I had already bought tickets. It's like they just don't know how to manage crowds and that's not a good trait for a company in their line of business. Did I mention I hate Reed Pop? :)
It looks like the previous two Star Wars Celebrations in Orlando were also run by Reed Exhibitions but they did things differently then. And better.
I don't think I've been to a Wizard World show so I don't know how it compares.
Definitely a smart precaution. Been watching updates on this virus like a hawk with an 8 ball of coke shoved up his ass. I wouldn't be surprised if you see more of the bigger events reschedule for later on as well. And, they should. I'm very annoyed that so many people are taking this shit lightly and just going "It's just a flu bro", when it's definitely worse than the flu for many reasons.
I definitely agree with you there!
Yeah, I think more shows, and events overall will be rescheduled or outright cancelled.
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This is just par for the course in my 2020. We weren’t going to the con this year. We were supposed to be in Vegas. But we had to cancel the Vegas trip cause mom is in the hospital (cancer plus surgery) and then our dog had emergency back surgery.... now we have been sent home from work indefinitely because of the corona virus!
This year can 🖕🏻 right off.
Actually for me having the con moved to summer is awesome because maybe now we can go! 😂🤣😂
Oof. Rough start to the new decade. Huh? I hope mom and pup are slated for a full recovery. ❤️
Personally, I think it was the right thing for them to do. The virus can be spread by people carrying it but not yet showing symptoms, and that can be a big problem in groups of people. That's how the virus spread so quickly in South Korea.
I know that I wouldn't be going anywhere that there's a crowd of people right now.
Howdy sir blewitt! I didn't realize you travled so far for the conventions, I thought it was just NY for some reason. Yeah I think you have to be cautious, all big events are getting hammered already even at this early stage.
I think it's the right move I know it effects alot of people but is it really worth ones health over it.
There always seems to be a bit of vague -not quite accuracy- in the margins with Reedpop. Could be they are smart enough to keep it vague and in the margins, or it could just be things get fuzzy unintentionally.
Here's some things worth noting about Reed, they recently sold thier show in Australia, and from what I can gleam from people I know, it was a bit rushed. They were making bargains to fill exhibitor booths last minute at C2E2. eitherof those things happening in a vacumm would be meaningless...but you add those to this "postponement" over a FLU that is not the kind of illness likely to harm the demographics of a comic-con...and...I dunno...
We'll see what comes of this "postponement". They say it'll happen in the summer?! How tf are they going to pull that off, exactly? July is out because of the big show in CA. June is probably too soon to get it done, and August is pretty close to their show in NY. and btw, what dates are even open for that venue in the summer? probably not many.