We arrived in Queens yesterday after a delay in leaving Philly due the battery in my car dying, so we had to take Echo's car up.
When we arrived at Scott and Ryan's place in Queens we relaxed for a few and just when we were getting ready to leave for the Con at the Javits, Ryan got a call saying the show was turning people away, and not selling any new tickets. It seems the old problem many NYC shows have (Too small a venue, not enough pre-planning, too many people) cause the Fire marshall to shut the show to new people. I heard from a few pals who tired to get in and were turned away many people were angry, having bought tickets ahead of time (prepaying the whole weekend, pros included) only to be essentailly locked out because the crowd was too big. People were being issued refunds. So I don't know if we will even be able to make it in today.
Not a good first show for sure, but typical it seems for comics in so many way. Poor planning hurts the business in many ways. This type of thing doomed the Fred Greenberg shows, the last big show in NYC in the late 90's. How many fans or normals will be discouraged from trying a con in NYC after this?
:-(
I hopped a train into the the city from Long Island with my stepson in tow only to find out it was sold out. There was a lot pissed off parent buut we made the best of it and hit Times Square and Jim Hanley's Universe, where I think everyone who didn't get it went to. The place was packed. I was under the impression you were going to have a booth and was looking forward to checking it out. Oh Well, maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteThat goes to show ya people are craving these kinds of events.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the event coordinators will learn not the underestimate the power of comic book nerds.