Why Is the Con Scene Exploding?
Show Organizers, Experts Tackle Big Questions
(September 25, 2014 - Madison, WI)
The comic convention scene is exploding, both in number of shows and
attendance. Who are these hundreds of thousands of new attendees, and
what does it mean for show organizers, for exhibitors, and for the
audience for the products they sell?
The growth has been exponential, but that's come with a rapid change in the composition of attendees at some shows. There are a lot more "civilians," leading at least one con veteran to call going to a con "like going to the mall" for a lot of the people there. Exhibitors are finding the dynamic new environment a difficult one to navigate at times, and that the new audiences require new strategies to be successful.
There's now a full range of events, from smaller festivals to multi-city tours to new pop-up shows to longtime regionals to the mega-shows in New York and San Diego.
What's driving the growth, what kinds of people do the different strategies attract, and what does it mean for exhibitors and others who want to sell to these hundreds of thousands of new potential customers?
We'll try to find the answer at the ICv2 Conference at New York Comic Con in the panel on "The Con Explosion" with this great panel of show organizers and experts:
The growth has been exponential, but that's come with a rapid change in the composition of attendees at some shows. There are a lot more "civilians," leading at least one con veteran to call going to a con "like going to the mall" for a lot of the people there. Exhibitors are finding the dynamic new environment a difficult one to navigate at times, and that the new audiences require new strategies to be successful.
There's now a full range of events, from smaller festivals to multi-city tours to new pop-up shows to longtime regionals to the mega-shows in New York and San Diego.
What's driving the growth, what kinds of people do the different strategies attract, and what does it mean for exhibitors and others who want to sell to these hundreds of thousands of new potential customers?
We'll try to find the answer at the ICv2 Conference at New York Comic Con in the panel on "The Con Explosion" with this great panel of show organizers and experts:
- Christine Bohle, Sr. Category Marketing Manager, Eventbrite
- Patrick Bradley, EVP Digital Media & Entertainment, Wizard World, Inc.
- Shelton Drum, CEO, Heroes Convention
- Lance Fensterman, Senior Vice President ReedPOP
- Meg Lemke, Chair, Comics & Graphic Novel Committee at the Brooklyn Book Festival, and Contributing Editor at MUTHA Magazine
- Rob Salkowitz, author, writer of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture
- Moderated by Heidi MacDonald, comic editor and commentator from The Beat
The
ICv2 Conference: The New Comics Customer will take place at the Jacob
Javits Convention Center from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon,
October 8th.
For more information, including recently added speakers, click here.
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