Wizard World Philadelphia 2009
Closing notes & a Look Forward
Closing notes & a Look Forward
Work and other matters had been keeping me busy and feeling drained, so I let Wizard World take care of itself aside from buying tickets. So it was that I didn't know until we were heading in on Saturday and met up with another guy headed in for the show - a comics fan and aspiring artist for whom this was to be the first comics convention - that there was something else going on this weekend.
I'd noted almost as soon as we stepped on the convention floor -- not long after seeing the McCain clearance signs -- that neither Marvel nor DC had official booth/table space on the convention floor. Even in the leanest times they've had at least an area with a few tables for fans to meet up with some of the creators and to pick up free buttons, mini-posters and fliers for current and upcoming events, and to take a look through black and white rough copies of upcoming issues of various series they're hoping to interest people in. This year, while several people working on series for each company were there, they at most had some table space back in Artist's Alley. Neither banners, signs nor displays dedicated to the Big Two were apparent up front.
At first, I was willing to attribute it solely to the tight economy and more careful rationing of resources, and that definitely played a role. However, what I didn't know (I don't tend to hang out on comics fan and news sites, and especially steer clear of most online comics discussion sites. It rarely goes well for long.) was that this same weekend the Heroes Convention -- a fan-driven comics con in Charlotte, NC, which was established in 1982 -- was also going on this weekend.
Learning this, the side-comments made by the pros at Friday's Spider-man panel made sense. Apparently it had been decided at higher levels that essentially any and all exclusive announcements (at least Friday and Saturday) were to be made at the Heroes event, not at Wizard World Philly.
Honestly, with the speed information gets around the globe once it has been released, I don't really begrudge the delay/momentary withholding. I understand that there's a great deal of fan loyalty to the Heroes event -- including that from pros who were con-attending fans before they broke into the business -- and that there's much more good will to be gained by giving the attention there than there is to be lost in any perceived snub of what is essentially McCon. Wizard never learned the lesson that retaining a local flavor and identity for a convention is ultimately very important. People are more likely to have more of a sense of loyalty to a locally-owned restaurant with its own, regional identity than they will a McDonald's that's essentially the same experience if one walks into one in Florida, Illinois, Washington or Texas. I know that they started to learn and act on this late last year/early this year -- it's reflected in how they've been referring to our event as Wizard World Philly instead of Wizard World East -- but so far it's being taken as little more than a token nod from their marketing people.
I haven't bothered to reach out and discover how this happened - the planning for these events, just in terms of securing a location - has to happen well in advance, so which event officially had the date locked first isn't clear. This year's program book for Wizard World Philly closes with a reminder to "save the date" next year - June 11-13 - for the 2010 event. Still, it's probably most likely that Heroes had it first and Wizard made the (terribly naive) miscalculation of presuming that events in Philadelphia and Charlotte were far enough apart as to have little to no effect on each other. Actually, typing that out makes it stand as even more blatantly asinine than I'd initially thought. So, the move was either one of utter arrogance or a case of someone making a spectacular blunder. It's the level of mistake that only a well-oiled company grown large enough for the person making those decisions to be someone who knows little to nothing about the event itself.
Anyway, back to this weekend, I checked Heroes Convention's site on Saturday night and looked at the details. The floor plan revealed that Marvel hadn't booked official booth/table space on the floor there, either, though DC did. However, on the Marvel front, it was obvious where the attention was going. Not only were essentially all exclusive information releases being made there (someone visiting comics info site Newsarama wouldn't even know any other convention aside from Heroes was going on this weekend) but Heroes was where Marvel had the writer/architect of their current and last year's Big Event (Secret Invasion/Dark Reign = Brian Bendis), but also the man behind the resurrection of Bucky Barnes and the death and imminent resurrection of Steve Rogers (Ed Brubaker), and one of their hottest up-and-comers, Matt Fraction.
The importance of conventions was clearer in the pre-Internet age. The incentives for fans to attend a con were clearly, depending on the fan, some mix of the following:
- Meeting pros.
- Meeting fellow fans.
- Being able to see and buy comics, toys, etc. not immediately available in their area, and moreover to find bargains.
- Getting advance information on upcoming stories and events.
- Having access to various exclusives - special comics, toys, etc. - that have been produced for the convention.
- Aspiring pros having their work reviewed.
The comics, toys, etc., though, are easily available online, generally at as good or a better price, though much depends upon one's haggling skills and whether or not these happen to be things one even knows exist before finding them on a table at a convention. Also, if one's looking for items of small interest (and, therefore, market price) one could find a conceptual treasure trove of comics selling for 25 or even 10 cents each at a convention -- items almost no one would bother to list for sale online.
The exclusive convention items remain, though how attractive they are will vary from person to person, of course, and then there's the case of whether or not they'll end up being over-produced and end up popping up elsewhere.
Of course, exclusives can also be in the form of events, ranging from the costume contests that were so prominent at Wizard this year, to regional gaming events and some competitions run by various vendors and companies, such as a multi-stage comics grading contest Comics Grading Company was running.
I do want to note that Wizard did make the check-in process much smoother this year, so someone's been making an effort.
In the end, we're hoping that Wizard is able to rebound and make a good, solid stand in Philadelphia. It's a good location in many ways, and - of course - it's extremely convenient for the likes of Eric and I. The fear is that as they move to try to secure a location in the New York area (they have a convention planned there for October - apparently something else they've bought their way into) and engage in a fight to re-establish the Chicago comics convention (see a post from back in February) that Philadelphia may be seen as something to drop, hoping that that'll only make the New York (and maybe Chicago) conventions more of a destination for us. I do have some concerns that there are elements seemingly intrinsic to Philadelphia that may be getting in the way. The city is notoriously aggressive in wanting a piece of every business transaction that's even discussed inside the city limits, and I know there have been concerns regarding how strict the union regulations are within the convention center. I don't know, but I suspect that in many other cities, especially as one moves Southward, these matters are likely to be less common.
You may find it difficult to believe, but writing the above may have been more tedious and soporific than reading it. It's time for me to shut this down and get a few other things done before I have to get some sleep. Monday morning's rushing this way.
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