CCI and San Diego renewed their vows

30 JUNE 2017

Remember when you were little and your parents would let you unwrap one gift on Christmas Eve to hold you till morning? We got an early Con gift today: San Diego Comic-Con is staying in San Diego through 2021.

No, we didn't get the convention center expansion of our dreams promised to us, but the 3-year deal does involve local hotels providing those sweet, sweet discounts. And mayor Kevin Faulconer is still angling for that expansion, noting, "These three additional years are going to go by real quickly. Our convention center must be expanded if we want to keep Comic-Con and other major events in our city."

Those of you who remember when the contract was extended to 2018 - which then sounded so far in the future - know how true that is. 2021 may sound like The Future, but we'll be there before you know it. Though god knows what those badge sales will be like.

Give a little thanks to CCI, the San Diego Tourism Authority and Mayor Faulconer today. They preserved our best Comic-Con future for a few more years.

Comic nerds and Comic-Con

26 JUNE 2016

Heidi MacDonald is in Publishers Weekly, talking about how San Diego Comic-Con is "evolving." Unlike other articles that ponder is Comic-Con still about comic books? or the ever-popular headline Hollywood glitters at Comic-Con, her article actually shares some changes you can expect to see in the comics section this year.


For those of you who just set foot on Planet Con for the first time, the show used to look quite different. It really was a comics convention, with aisles of back issues and artists signing their work and comic book nerds frantically pawing through boxes to find their Silver Age dream. Today that aspect is still there - but it's much smaller, as if some nefarious studio head pointed a shrink ray at it and said, "We'll be taking over from here." That's why when you step onto the Exhibit Hall floor, you'll find the biggest crowds swarming through the middle section carnival of movie-themed exclusives and trailers and merchandise, and then over toward the right, more spacious aisles of comic publishers. Where depressingly, you can often see some top artists and writers sitting behind their tables looking bemused as attendees pass them by.

Full disclosure: I didn't witness the glory days that were seriously comic-centric. By my arrival in 2002, Hollywood already had its celluloid claws firmly in the convention center. It wasn't as dominant as today, though. I remember my then-girlfriend being stunned in 2003 that Angelina Jolie was there to promote Tomb Raider. (Now it's more surprising when a major star doesn't show up.) And the attendees weighted more heavily on the comic book nerd end of the scale - they looked different, they bought different things, they went to different panels. I could have an excellent discussion in any bar about Love and Rockets or Action Girl Comics.

That is no longer the case. I don't begrudge you new fans. (Well, sometimes I do, like the Google employees who scoffed at Grant Morrison's panel last year because they were impatient for the Pixar panel to start. SDCC etiquette: if you sit through a panel you don't like to get a good seat in the panel you do, at least be respectful.) However, it is disquieting when smaller pubs pack up and leave SDCC because they just can't afford to come anymore. True, we comic nerds are soaking up their great work at Cons like Emerald City but I fear a day when SDCC is all big publishing houses displaying the same books I can see at Barnes and Noble.

Enough of my melancholic ramblings. Here's what the article said:

• DC will roll out its usual bombast and glory, and this year that will include a Wonder Woman temple of worship and a whole lot of promotion for Young Animal, the Gerard Way-headed new imprint. The Suicide Squad cast will show up too. Wait, does that mean DC comics and DC movies will commingle? Yes: "This year's DC booth will showcase the integration of the studio DC Entertainment, its publishing division." 

• Top Shelf won't be in its normal spot; it was acquired by IDW and will be part of their booth. They promise "amazing things" so don't skip it. And yes, John Lewis will be back at the Con for those of you still inspired by last year's Bloody Sunday reenactment.

• Drawn & Quarterly calls exhibiting at San Diego "incredibly taxing" and points out that the marketing benefits aren't what they used to be; that sending 1 author can make more sense than setting up an entire staffed booth.

• NBM is gone, saying "It's too hard to stand out" and that their literary graphic novels aren't what attendees are looking for. In contrast, their YA sister company Papercutz will be afoot - and they'll offer both the 1st volume of Jessica Abel's new SF series and a free 96-page anthology. But they've scaled back too, saying "We'll just have our major books there this year."

Just a few tidbits, but enough to convey that yes, the comics aisles have become the shrinking polar ice cap of the Con. Which isn't terribly surprising, given how many people - artists and writers who earn their daily living via comics - tell me that other Cons are far more profitable for them. (And often more emotionally gratifying, as they connect with a higher number of passionate comic readers there.)


One thing I like about CCI: they are committed to comic book culture. I think some people blame them for SDCC's Hollywood invasion when in fact they're just trying to accommodate fan interests and balance their economic survival with their cultural mission. Their focus on comic art galleries, a possible museum and other comic channels shows that San Diego Comic-Con still values comics. But the influence of fan spending and attention still has a direct impact on who shows up each year.

William Shatner headlined 4 Cons this weekend

5 SEPTEMBER 2016



How did you spend Labor Day weekend? Pick one:

•  DragonCon
• Salt Lake Comic Con
• Baltimore Comic Con
• FaxExpo Canada
• The Star Trek event in New York
• PAX West
• San Francisco Comic Con
• Floating in your pool with a beer before you close it up for fall

If you picked the last one, you're a lazy slacker compared to William Shatner, who tweeted that he was featured at 4 of the above this weekend. How did he manage it? I have no idea - the fact that he's in his eighties makes it even more incredible - but we do know that the demand for Con talent is on the rise.

This article from Forbes examines the multiplication of events and how celebrities - even YouTube and cosplay celebrities - are compensated and the ensuing rise in ticket prices. The driving cause of this madness: us. Our insatiable thirst for these events means money to be made. Is it going to peak? Will people burn out on going to Cons, and will the oft-predicted financial crisis around 2018 have any impact on our ability to keep spending on this madness? Or is Con life becoming a quasi-permanent part of our culture like sports?

I'm not sure, but I do know that we all have an embarrassment of riches to choose from when it comes to conventions. San Diego Comic-Con may still be the pick of the litter, but there are enough consolation prizes to make sure everyone has somewhere to go. You just have to appreciate your options.

D23, SDCC or both in 2017?

30 MARCH 2016



I think this will impact only a few of you but here it is: D23 and San Diego Comic-Con will be almost on top of each other in 2017. 

D23, Disney's epic convention, will be held 14-16 July, while SDCC is expected to be 19-23 July. This doesn't have to be a bad thing if you've got the vacation time and spending money to do both - and the physical endurance - but some fans may feel forced to choose between the two, if the 2017 badge sale doesn't choose for them.

Are you going to subscribe to SDCC On Demand?

14 MARCH 2016

You may remember back when CCI announced a partnership with Lionsgate to bring you subscription content - essentially, the joy of SDCC consumed right from your most comfortable sofa. No standing in line, no heartrending badge sale, no exorbitant hotel bills. That's been the dream, anyway.


Today we got a closer look at what the reality might be. Like....

• Roundtable discussion shows.
• The Kings of Con show, inspired by real Con life.
• A weekly movie talk in partnership with Collider. 
• A reality show about geek fashion company Her Universe that follows contestants in the SDCC fashion show.
• A pop culture news show and late night talk show produced by G4 star Kevin Pereira.
• An all-female pop culture panel.
• A science entertainment program starring illusionist Jason Latimer "who explores breakthrough technologies capable of achieving his seemingly impossible feats of magic with real science."
• Programs on comics, science, gaming and interviews.

So no - it may not be the literal Con experience delivered to your living room, but it sounds like it will offer the feel and flavor of Comic-Con. That's the hope, anyway. More details - like cost - will help people know what to expect and how to feel about it, no doubt.

The history & future of Cons

3 MARCH 2016

You may be irritated by the "Look how important Comic Cons have become & all the odd folks who go to them" articles that run with increasing frequency. But this one in the Wall Street Journal is worth reading, not only for its exploration of your "groupie passions" but for a few factoids and historical gems like:

• ShowClix tallied 519 fan events in 2015, up from 469 in 2014. Wizard World went from 8 events in 2013 to 24 last year.

• Comic-book writer Len Wein claims to have coined the term "Comicon" in 1964 when he was 16. "It was just an offhand phrase - it's not that hard to come up with." Wait, does CCI know this? This could change everything in the CCI vs. Salt Lake Comic lawsuit.

• William Shatner was invited to about 100 events this year and will attend 31 of them. Remember that he's 84.

• An Illinois Con called "DashCon" tailored for Tumblr users tanked so miserably that they had to beg for emergency donations and the Night Vale cast canceled their appearance.

• Anyone who's seen attendees weep over meeting celebrities knows this: certain fandoms "can carry an emotional weight." Cassandra Peterson (aka "Elvira") had a dozen different people cry at one Con when they met her, because they watched her show with a now-deceased loved one. Also interesting for anyone who knows the history of Vampira vs. Elvira: Peterson makes her primary income from licensing and merchandising.

And predictably, people foresee the fall of the Comic Con empire. My prediction: more like a gradual cooling. The article suggests that these intense, all-consuming events are so popular because they're the antidote to Internet life; I think there's something to that, a kind of physical veracity that may become more and more prized as daily life - and eventually humanity? - becomes more virtual. But I think Con popularity is driven by other factors as well and that's why events like QuiltCon and ParanoiaCon are created.

WSJ blames "an obsessiveness bred by the Internet." And certainly it's true that you have to be a little obsessive to get into Cons like San Diego - but I'm guessing obsessiveness bred the Internet as much as it bred us.


 

The good convention center expansion is still in play

25 FEBRUARY 2016

Kind of, it is. Rabbi Laurie Coskey, the chairwoman of the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors, says the Board "will continue to support a contiguous expansion that will provide the greatest financial and economic value for the city of San Diego."

That last part isn't just her opinion; an elaborate study reached that conclusion.

The Chargers feel differently, of course. Fresh from their rejection by the NFL to build a stadium in LA, they in turn have rejected the idea of a Mission Valley facility in San Diego and are back to requesting a multi-facility convention center expansion downtown. Not that they emphasize that part of it. Instead we're hearing the usual talk about how the facility would be "a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum."


Well! What nerd could argue with that? All of us, actually, once you get to the part about the convention center "expansion" not actually being attached to our convention center. First-timers: divvying up your SDCC days between different sites may not sound like a huge deal. We already do that somewhat, with panels at the library, the Horton Theatre, the Hilton Bayfront, etc. However, the difference between an annex down the street and an actual increase in floor space is an important factor when it comes to potentially increasing the number of attendees permitted at SDCC.


Expect to see a ballot measure for the November election. In a world where we decide presidential primaries with a coin toss, this issue will apparently stagger on and on for eternity like a bureaucratic zombie. Stay tuned.

Waterfront SDCC expansion trumps off-site

1 SEPTEMBER 2015

Remember about 6 months back when we found out there would be a $90,000 study to analyze the pros and cons of various San Diego Convention Center expansion plans? The results are in and they are a complete non-surprise: an expanded center "needs to be on the waterfront." You don't say.

If you haven't been following this years-long saga, it boils down to this: the convention center is too small for San Diego Comic-Con and other conventions, so an expansion plan has been bandied about. Two chief debates have dominated the discourse:

1) whether to actually expand the existing center (the contiguous approach) or to embrace a "campus" approach with additional space built at other locations

2) how to finance the effort

Interested parties include real estate developers, the San Diego Chargers, local hotels, a tenacious attorney named Cory Briggs, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, the California Coastal Commission and others. It's all quite the lesson in how exhausting municipal politics can get. Everyone's pushing their own agenda, with arguments over hotel taxes and water views and the spoils of tourism.

So to break down the latest developments:

• The study is "unequivocal in its conclusion that an enlarged center on the current bayfront site easily trumps a campus-like facility several blocks to the northeast when it comes to the dividends the city will reap." Easily trumps is a great phrase.

• The mayor said the report "is persuasive enough that he plans to begin work anew on a bayfront expansion project, with a goal of putting on the ballot a hotel tax increase to finance it as early as next year." Yep, we're sticking with the hotel tax plan. The current litigation over the former hotel tax financing plan "may well be resolved within the next six months."

• The indefatigable Cory Briggs, who is behind said litigation, has a different take. He "promises continued legal challenges as long as the city attempts to develop the waterfront with added convention facilities." And he predicted smugly (well, the article doesn't say that but I'm interpreting) that his current lawsuits "could take as long as five years to resolve." He then added villainously (more interpretation), "There's no way they can get a two-thirds vote in this town." How very Gotham City of you, Cory Briggs.

• The campus approach would deliver $61.2 million more in conventioneer spending but the waterfront expansion would deliver 2.5 times that; the city would make back the $428 million cost of the campus approach in 7 years, but would only take 3 years to make back the $410 million cost of the waterfront expansion.

Here's what I took out of all of this: 1) I'm really glad I disappointed my parents by not going to law school because oh my god tedious and 2) I'll probably be too arthritic/deceased/off-planet to go to San Diego Comic-Con by the time this all gets resolved. Maybe this will impact our actual SDCC lives someday but that day won't come any time soon.

So much for those tantalizing proposals of a rooftop park and footbridge. Oh well, we still have the Salt Lake Comic Con lawsuit to keep us entertained. At least that court battle is staying feisty and moving at a somewhat reasonable pace.

Now everyone's trademarking everything

28 JULY 2015



 
 
You clearly didn't get enough trademark legalese served up to you over the weekend regarding San Diego Comic-Con vs Salt Lake Comic Con - so here's more.

Bleeding Cool reports that various other Cons are trying to trademark their names, specifically Boston Comic Con, Rhode Island Comic Con and Kansas Comic Con. (Nary a hyphen to be found, you'll note.) And that Grand Rapids Comic Con actually quit trying for a trademark after being rebuffed by the trademark office with a complicated statement that began, "In the case of Comic-Con, applicant has merely added geographically descriptive wording to a registered trademark. Adding a term to a registered mark generally does not obviate the similarity between the compared marks..."

Et cetera.

I skipped on over to Salt Lake's exhaustive page about the whole subject and found some interesting claims. Such as:

- "Comic Con" has been a "common expression since 1964," years before San Diego Comic-Con was born. Really? I'm sure they have sources for this, but that's definitely news to me. That means the characters on Mad Men could have gone to Comic Con.

- Wait, yes, they even have a newspaper illustration that says "Attend the 1967 Houston Comic-Con June 16-18!!" This is real. SDCC is not the Lucy fossil of comic conventions.

- Just to drive that home: "San Diego wasn't the first comic con. According to the history books, comic cons originated in New York and the United Kingdom at least 6 years before the first San Diego event."


Salt Lake also dug in by posting Alexa scores and some weirdness about SDCC adding 500,000 Facebook fans from Mexico City. And they included one of my favorite articles about SDCC, which goes beyond panting over celebrities and addresses the actual Con itself.

My point being: it's worth visiting their page and looking through all their historical documentation. Even if you're growing bored with this lawsuit, it's generally interesting stuff. Again, I would love to point people to SDCC's "side" of this for the sake of fairness - but there's nowhere to point.

Which is kind of what makes this all so fascinating. You have two major players committed to battle. One old, one new; one bull-headed and silent, one tireless and expressive. Neither shows any sign of wavering. It's like an old Norse legend or lost George RR Martin manuscript come to life - but in a really tedious way. Who's going to win? How will this affect other Cons? What actually happens in SDCC's most secret High Cabal meetings?

We'll probably never know that last. But this legal grudge match has to end decisively at some point or another. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into another convention center expansion and linger unresolved for years.

NASA Interview: Nerds, Science, Spock & SDCC

30 JUNE 2015

                                                                     Courtesy of NASA


If you're like me, you stood in your backyard when you were little (or last night) and looked into the stars and yearned to travel the universe. We're nerds; we're the passionate explorers of the mind and the cosmos, and much of our love of science fiction, weird TV shows and metaphysical mysteries stems from that essential hunger to experience the unknown.

Which makes us all incredibly lucky to live in an age of fascinating scientific achievement. And for those of us going to San Diego Comic-Con next week, we're even luckier in that the Con is going to serve up some enthralling science panels, courtesy of NASA. Some content will relate to The Martian, the new stranded-on-Mars film coming in October; other content will discuss Mars and Europa voyages, new tech, and the link between science fiction and real scientific initiatives.

And I got especially lucky in getting Bert Ulrich of NASA to answer a few questions on what we can expect at Comic-Con and from a future of space exploration. 


Let me start with this. NASA has had an increasing role at SDCC, which attendees love. People stood in line for hours for NASA's panel last year - to a certain nerd sector, you guys are rock stars. We also know you're not at the Con to sell us something. So why has NASA been showing up at SDCC, South by Southwest and other Cons? A desire to bring science to life for the average person? Obviously there's a trend of people without advanced scientific degrees being keenly interested in learning about space exploration, AI, nanotechnology, etc.

 

The tech and computer age is exciting for NASA.  NASA has attained its own “nerdoriety” so to speak, so our place in today’s tech culture is really fitting. Our social media numbers are soaring (over 10 million followers on Twitter alone) and we participate on average in over 100 space, science and technology documentaries a year. The public is smarter, savvier and simply more curious.

 

Motion picture studios also have developed an interest in space exploration as well - not only with films like Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian (which all have NASA themes) but also Avengers, Men in Black 3, Tomorrowland and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. We're thrilled to have some serious real estate in pop culture these days.

NASA has a panel this year about turning science fiction into science fact. The description has an exciting sentence: "Throughout its history, NASA has been inspired by science fiction and conversely has influenced it." Which science fiction does NASA consider the most inspiring? And which "fantasy" technologies and capabilities will people see become reality in the next 50 years? (Oh, and thanks for having a "special greeting from the International Space Station and a heartfelt tribute to Leonard Nimoy.”)

Science fiction has inspired NASA big time. A considerable number of astronauts, scientists and engineers happily admit that certain TV shows and films in their youth like 2001, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. led them to pursue careers in space exploration.In fact, you often hear that Nichelle Nichols was a role model for astronauts and employees in general - so much in fact, that she helped NASA recruit astronauts at the beginning of the shuttle program.  

 

And of course, then there's the phenomenon known as Mr. Spock. Leonard’s Nimoy’s recent passing was not only a tragic loss for his family but also for the world.  Adam Nimoy, Leonard’s son, will talk about how his father was inspired by space exploration, as well as his new documentary “For the Love of Spock.” 

 

The synergy between science fiction and NASA is exciting, constantly evolving and inspirational.  

 

Another panel is Building the Holodeck. Jason Cruzan, director, Advanced Exploration Systems Division at NASA will be on hand to discuss "how recent developments like the Oculus Rift headsets enable the holodecks of today;" the panel also promises to "show some of the exciting virtual experiences under development." Can you give us any further detail? What can you tell us about the next big leap in virtual - how far away are we from seamlessly immersive VR? Will virtual be the closest to thing to space exploration that most currently living people will experience?

I think the fantasy technologies fuel interest and spark excitement and curiosity and vice versa.  I know Jason Crusan who is a leader in advanced technologies for NASA is planning to discuss some of the new exciting projects he is working on.

 

 

Another panel has NASA talking about our upcoming voyages to Mars, including in the context of The Martian. What can you tell us about these voyages? Will we get any information on ideas for a Europa voyage?  What about NExXS <Nexus for Exoplanet System Science> - will there be any mention of that or the hunt for exoplanets and alien life?  

 

We have planetary scientists on two panels who will talk about subjects ranging from Europa to Mars to exoplanets and the search for new worlds.  

 

NASA’s Jim Green and NASA JPL’s Kevin Hand will discuss NASA’s journey to other planets, including the upcoming Pluto fly-by on July 14th by the Pluto New Horizons spacecraft. NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn will talk about subjects ranging from exoplanets to the James Webb Telescope.

 

A lot of the discussion will also be framed around the incredible collaboration we are embarking right now with Ridley Scott. His film adaption of Andy Weir’s The Martian is chock full of NASA and we've been very heartily and heavily involved in the production from the beginning. So on our Mars panel, we have Andy Weir, the author, Aditya Sood, the executive producer, and NASA scientist Jim Green who consulted on the film and who will show special visuals related to Mark Watney’s adventure on Mars. (Watney is the main character of the film played by Matt Damon.) And Victor Glover who became an astronaut this year and who may some day be on a mission to Mars will discuss his own path from test pilot to astronaut to future explorer. 

 

It's 2030. What voyages and breakthroughs will NASA be talking about at Comic-Con? 

 

Similarly to Ridley Scott’s film, NASA is embarking on its own journey to Mars, developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s. Todd May - the manager of NASA’s Space Launch System Program - will talk about “NASA’s new great ship” to send humans farther than ever before on a rocket of science fiction proportions. It’s such a thrilling time to be at NASA!

 

Thank you, Bert, for being so generous with your time!

 

 

So there it is: if you're a space nerd, NASA is going to electrify your Comic-Con. A Spock tribute. The Martian. Special rockets. Mars and Europa voyages. Fly-bys! It's all happening in our lifetime and it's just going to get more incredible.

 

See you at the NASA panels - and maybe at Asteroid Comic-Con 10 years from now.

The SDCC Daily

4 JUNE 2015

So who snagged a ticket to Funko Fun Days today? It sold out fast, despite a hike in the ticket price. Luckily we have other things to look forward to.


Like we might possibly find out the title of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at SDCC.

And we can buy tickets for Chris Hardwick's live Nerdist podcasts on Friday. The actual shows take place Friday, 10 July and Saturday, 11 July.  First-timers, this is traditionally a very popular event at the Con so don't drag your feet on buying tickets if you think you might want to go.

Mission Impossible released a bunch of posters featuring the slogan GO ROGUE. Unfortunately it's not an X-Men crossover; the plot is instead this - Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

Cast members are still being added to Fear The Walking Dead, which makes me wonder how much footage we'll get at the Con.

The Disney machine seems to be working overtime this week, announcing an animated 2017 series based on Tangled and an upcoming live action movie based on the "Night on Bald Mountain" part of Fantasia. Now we have a teaser for "The Good Dinosaur." Scientific accuracy aside, this movie is picking up a lot of buzz and will pull major crowds if it's at Comic-Con.

Nerdist laser tag will be back at the Con - but "totally different."

The Yu-Gi-Oh! movie will have its own panel, featuring Kazuki Takahashi who will also do a rare autograph signing.

In the category of Star Wars toys that really need to be at Comic-Con: life-sized R2-D2 refrigerators that deliver your drinks to you. Maybe they can use them at panels to carry microphones to attendees.


Is anyone else preoccupied with SDCC 2016? We get so many long-range announcements these days that it's hard not to anticipate future Con panels. I'm already thinking about Suicide Squad, Neuromancer, Aquaman, Skull Island, the Sex Criminals and The Wicked & Divine TV shows, etc.  And now we have news that Leonard Nimoy's son is doing a documentary about his career. The future looks tantalizing - here's hoping we all score in Pre-registration this autumn.

SDCC will have more virtual reality on tap

11 FEBRUARY 2015

Remember last year when 3 or 4 different studios brought virtual reality exhibits to SDCC - and then they were almost impossible to get into? Well, you can expect more of the same this summer, though hopefully they'll be more accessible.

I feel like this is one of the moments we'll all recall decades from now when we're old (at least, old but feeling young through the miracles of Radical Life Extension.) Then, when virtual reality is as part of the daily fabric of our existence as the Internet is now, we'll fondly recall those days when we took our first trembling steps into VR at Comic-Con.

Anyhow. Here's the story. Legend3D, which is a 3D conversion and VFX studio, has launched a Virtual Reality division. (How cool would that look on your business card?)  And they're partnering with major Hollywood studios, ad agencies and stores to create "immersive VR experiences in both 2D and 3D formats."  One of those stores - a leading retail brand which I pray is not something boring like the Gap - has give them a contract to provide a 360-degree stereoscope VR experience. Movie studios will be utilizing their magic as well.

Now, here's where it gets SDCCish.  Legend3D will be making "cinematic VR content" for "key marketing initiatives, from tentpole releases to installations at San Diego Comic-Con." While it's not entirely a surprise that we will see more VR at the Con, the fact that retailers, studios and agencies are jumping into the mix shows that VR is no longer an alien futuristic technology but something accessible and popular. And given that companies typically bring their A game to the Con, we should see some dazzling VR scenarios - if not this summer, then definitely next.

The monstrous growth of American Comic-Cons

13 JUNE 2014




Happy Friday the 13th. Are you claustrophobic? Then you may experience mild panic upon reading this article talking about the relentless growth of Comic-Cons across the country, which seems to be accelerating at an uncontrollable rate. This proves that it's not only SDCC experiencing rising demand; we just got there first. Consider these numbers.

• Denver Comic-Con launched in 2012 and saw a 120% increase to 61K attendees by 2013
• Emerald City went from 20K attendees in 2010 to 70K in 2014
• Phoenix jumped from 55K last year to 78K this year

It's never going to stop. Everyone wants to go to Comic-Con. They don't even know what it is or what happens there, but they know they want to go. There just aren't venues large enough to meet all of the demand in all of the cities. Something has to give - and while ReedPop's expanded direction for NYCC might be an answer, it isn't one that will satisfy everyone.The follow-up article discusses ways to create a smoother Con experience (mostly in NY) but the basic problem of supply and demand will continue to grow.

The article also noted something we attendees don't often consider; what the growth means for vendors. If you spend $$$ and major PR capital at the Con, only to be buried by 8000 other announcements and vendors - is it worth it? Possibly other companies will follow Image's example and create their own expo, saving their major announcements for that while still having an SDCC presence.

I kind of want to pontificate on why there's such an insatiable need for Cons. It's not just nerdism going mainstream. It's not just the media stories that show all of the fun and none of the tedium. I feel like this is a statement on the hunger people feel for community and connection, especially those who don't do major music festivals, religious retreats or huge sports events. At the Batman panel I attended last weekend, some participants got up at the microphone and actually wept as they explained the role a television show played in their lives - and while the Con may not stir all attendees at that emotional depth, it does seem to fill a unique and powerful need.

No doubt by 2025 we'll have Space Colony Comic-Con, and we'll all be complaining about how the organizers need to terraform Mars faster, and how the passenger flight sale failed to connect to some people's payment circuits. Or maybe the Con experience as we know it now will implode into something currently inconceivable. At least we seem to be on our way to learning from San Diego's lessons and creating better solutions.