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02-26-2006, 12:05 PM
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#1 |
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NYCC: GREG TOPALIAN ON SATURDAY'S SHOW
 So – what happened to cause the shutdown of the New York Comic-Con floor, anyway? The simple answer, of course, is more people showed up than Reed Exhibitions were expecting. Many more people. Many, many more people... An (unofficial) estimated 20,000 showed up at the Jacob Javits Center on Saturday looking to get into the show. The problem with that number was twofold – the show hall could only hold 10,000 people, and according to their best estimates, Reed was hoping for a 20,000 turnout for the entire weekend. To get a view from the inside of the convention, Newsarama spoke with New York Comic-Con Director Greg Topalian Sunday morning, prior to the show’s opening. “Literally, there was just a demand and a walk-up crowd that we had just never anticipated,” Topalian said when asked about the big picture of what happened on Saturday. “We’ve were hearing stories all day from people in the building, saying that they’ve never seen anything like this, just in terms of sheer volume. The man who runs the Javits center literally pulled me aside and said that in twenty years of running this building, he’d never seen a crowd of this magnitude, especially considering how little space we were occupying. “But with that, we recognized early on that there were just going to be too many people in the building, and the State Troopers came to us and told us that we were going to have a safety issue, since only 10,000 people were allowed on the show floor at once. What we then tried to do immediately was for those people who had not bought tickets, let them know and be honest with them that they were not getting in. We went all the way through the line and said that if they did not have tickets and hadn’t pre-registered, it was highly unlikely that they were going to get in. It was really just a safety concern in terms of sheer numbers of people.” As a result, thousands were turned away from the show, and thousands more found that just to get on the floor, they’d be standing in line for hours. “The worst problem for us is that there were 400-500 people who had pre-bought tickets and had pre-registered for the show who were also getting stuck with being hours and hours away from getting on to the show floor,” Topalian said. “We reached a point early in the afternoon where the State Troopers told us we had reached the maximum capacity on the show floor, and with thousands of people lined up, no one else could enter the floor until people start exiting. That’s a nice problem to have in a sense in that many of the exhibitors were thrilled in saying that they’ve never been so busy, but it’s not something that you want for that quantity of fans. “What we did for those fans is that we were very honest with them, and tried to communicate with them, and told them that if they wanted a refund, we’d give them their money back, or if they wanted to come back tomorrow, we’d give them a priority bracelet and make sure they get in to the show today.” If guests or potential guests are angry about how things happened on Saturday, Topalian painted a target on his chest. “I tried to apologize to as many people as possible yesterday – I’m not running from the errors,” Topalian said. “It was more people than we ever expected, but at the same time, we should have expected more. It’s my fault. To have people pre-register and travel to the show and then not get in is unacceptable. I know the people who were turned away feel that way, and they should feel that way. There’s no way of talking around that, and I’m not going to put the blame on anything else. I don’t ever expect them to forgive me, I don’t ever expect them to be real New York Comic-Con fans, but I just feel that we have to try and do everything we can to make them feel better.” Topalian echoed the sentiments of virtually all Reed employees at the show in that the comics community in the greater New York area responded so enthusiastically to the show, and that the show was able to get off the ground so quickly for it’s first year, “But it’s just at such a high level that we ended up disappointing people, and that’s horrible. We feel terrible about that.” According to Topalian, Reed will be refunding tickets for those who bought tickets online and were unable to get into the show, and tentative plans call for those who were pre-registered but locked out to be guests of next year’s New York Comic-Con “To prove to them that we have worked out bugs,” Topalian said. “I’ve also been out on the show floor this morning talking to some of our exhibitors who are graciously talking about putting together a great package of comics and books that were available at the show that I will be mailing out to these people.” As for Sunday? Topalian said that he’s not expecting a repeat performance of Saturday, although he is wary. “We’ve taken a lot of different measures to try and manage it better today,” he said. “By yesterday afternoon, we put up a notice on our website that there would be no tickets for sale on Sunday. The idea of that being that we don’t want to turn people away and waste their time, and we want to make sure, as a priority, that anyone who is coming to this show, and who has pre-registered would definitely be able to get in. So we’re queuing things in a little bit of a different way today, to ensure that anyone who pre-registered does get in.” The notice on the website, of course, didn’t reach all potential Sunday guests, so there was a line forming of fans looking to buy tickets forming as early as 8:00am outside the Javits Center. Topalian said that those people were being told that, while the Comic-Con would try their best to accommodate them, there is no guarantee that they would be able to get into the show today. As for the floor itself, and whether or not Topalian is anticipating another lockdown of the hall? “Sunday’s usually a slower day for shows anyway. We’re always going to be concerned about it, but our Saturday registration in advance was much higher than Sunday anyway, so that will help, as will the fact that we’re essentially eliminating any new registrations today, we think we have it much, much better under control. So – we’re concerned, and keeping a very, very close eye on it, and have almost tripled our security force today, but at the same time, we think it will run much more smoothly.” And though Topalian’s main goal for Sunday is to make it through the day without a Saturday-style crisis, he already is thinking of next year, and its main difference from this year: “A lot more space. “We cannot run this show again in this size space.” Though, Topalian said, in order to get a larger space, the dates for the 2007 New York Comic-Con will undoubtedly be moved from the listed dates of February 23-25, 2007. “Some of it is just sheer demand – this is a very difficult building to get dates to get space in, but beyond that, you can only really put a show in as much space as you can sell,” Topalian explained. “Also, with it being a first year show, traditionally first year shows are very difficult to get off the ground. So, it’s one, hard to sell the space, which we did pretty well - this is already one of the three or four largest shows in the country; and two – typically, it’s hard to drive attendance. Part of our expectations around attendance were based in looking at other shows around the country, and that this was our first time out. We had looked at it as maybe 20,000 for the entire weekend would be great. We’d all be thrilled if we saw that, and we were projecting for that, but we ended up having 20,000 in the building yesterday alone, which is not an equation which had ever crossed our minds. “But yeah, next year, whether it means moving dates, there’s no way we can run it in the same size space.” More NYCC Coverage: Saturday Friday Newsarama's New York Comic-Con 2006 coverage is brought to you by Marvel Enterprise's & Lions Gate Home Entertainment's ULTIMATE AVENGERS: THE MOVIE, available on DVD and UMD right now |
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02-26-2006, 12:22 PM
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#2 |
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never underestimate new yorkers and their love for comic books...
oh, a special F.U. to Dark Horse for not announcing that you needed a ticket to get an auto from Frank Miller... and giving away the tickets the day before the actual event. F.U. DARK HORSE!!!!!! |
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02-26-2006, 12:26 PM
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#3 | |
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Re: NYCC: GREG TOPALIAN ON SATURDAY'S SHOW
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Best... news... I have heard all day! Woot!  |
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02-26-2006, 12:37 PM
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#4 |
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This guy should get fired. He did a really poor job of planning, running, and organizating this whole event. He not only caused terrible annoyance to many fans but cost the industry a lot of money this weekend. I will never bother to go to a comic convention again is how bad my experience was yesterday.
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02-26-2006, 12:37 PM
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#5 |
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MegaCon is Feb. 16 - 18 next year. Watch that you don't jump on their date again.
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02-26-2006, 12:41 PM
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#6 |
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Bull*hit!
Why the hell wasnt there a line for those who prepaid like every other convention i have been too. Hell even people who had VIP tickets got stuck in line. its not that hard, this line is for VIP, This line is for Pre paid and the long ass line out the door is for buying tickets that day. What a cluster**ck of a convention, i am sticking to WWPhilly. |
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02-26-2006, 12:44 PM
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#7 |
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Good thing I didnt go...
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02-26-2006, 12:45 PM
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#8 | |
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I'm just hoping that they pick a different month and stick with it. Leave February to WonderCon and MegaCon.  |
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02-26-2006, 12:47 PM
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#9 |
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meh. I got in. I had fun.
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02-26-2006, 12:48 PM
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#10 | |
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If you did go, you would have gotten a chance to see the people who worked there curse in front of mothers and small children cause it was such a cluster**ck. |
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02-26-2006, 12:48 PM
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#11 |
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For a New York convention, a later, warmer date would be helpful (particularly if people are going to get stuck waiting in line outside again).
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02-26-2006, 12:53 PM
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#12 |
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There hasn't been a convention this large in NYC in over 10 years and the organizors were surprised at the turnout??
Come on!!! Earlier in the week when I looked at the floorplan posted at the convention website and saw how small the squarefootage was I knew it was going to be a disaster. No overflow, like at WizardWorld and not even a place to sit down. If you wanted to get something to eat, it meant you had to leave the floor to go to the convention foodcourt and you were out of luck if you wanted to get back in. I've been to Boat Shows, Car Shows, etc. over the years at the Javits and none of them were the train-wreck that this was on Saturday! The organizors should be ashamed of themselves in how this has turned out!!!! From now on I'll drive the extra distance and head to Philadelphia. At least the people at Wizard have got their act together! |
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02-26-2006, 12:53 PM
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#13 |
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Though Im glad I didnt attend this years NYCC, I would imagine next years con will get the bugs out...
Last edited by Rod1Million : 02-26-2006 at 12:57 PM. |
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02-26-2006, 01:00 PM
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#14 |
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Completely Disgusted
I went to the con on Friday, had a decent time and was looking forward to returning on Saturday. It was incredibly disorganized on Friday and crowded, but as the article says, had any of us known what was in store, we would enjoyed it for what it was worth and never returned. I had purchased one of what was supposedly two hundred VIP passes, for a $100, that was supposed to get me extra stuff and meant I did not have to wait in any lines. NO ONE that worked for the convention had any idea what the VIP pass was, who I had priority over, what events I had special seating at, whether I did or didn't have to wait in any lines, or what I was supposed to get with the pass. I stood in the show store line to get the mini-bust and wanted a t-shirt, I was told I had to buy the t-shirt. So be it. Standing there packing my bag, a guy a couple of people behind me had a VIP pass, gets helped by someone else and gets the t-shirt for free. While I was frustrated, it was $20 and if it was the worst thing that happened to me, I'd have a good weekend.
Saturday was unimaginably worse. The staff was rude, unknowledgeable and the security and State Troopers were downright a**holes. I realize they were frustrated, but come on, I wasn't paid to be there. I was paying them to be there and to have a good time. I will not be going back next year, the year after, or ten years from now. I would much rather attend ten cons trying to see as many artists and exhibitors as they had on hand only because at smaller conventions, there aren't these kinds of lines or frustrations. I've been to the San Diego con twice and both years were heaven compared to this event. While I can sympathize that Reed Exhibitions had no idea the turnout would be like this, I woudl think a company that did NOTHING but run conventions and exhibition shows like this would have a big ol' red binder called CONTINGENCY PLAN sitting on their freakin' shelves so they know what to do in a situation like this. I talked to multiple staffers and no one offered to refund even a portion of my money. I finally left completely disgusted at 4 PM. I guess I paid $25 an hour for the four hours I spent on the convention floor on Friday. I don't consider myself a bitter person (although I can only imagine how I sound right now) and understand there are some real world situations that are beyond everyone's control, but were I in charge, at about 8:35 AM that morning, I would have pulled aside my entire staff and told them to do whatever it took to make the customer happy. That did not seem the priority to anyone who worked for the convention. I'll be interested to see if any legal action comes of this. 10,000 folks in line would be a nice sized class action and I imagine at least one or two folks had to be lawyers. I've learned my lesson: do not attend the New York Comic-Con. I'll be passing it along to any and everyone contemplating attending one in the future. |
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02-26-2006, 01:02 PM
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#15 | |
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THE HORROR! |
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02-26-2006, 01:06 PM
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#16 |
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Yikes... that sounds like a scary time for all.
Hopefully next year all of the bugs will be worked out and a better month picked (like say around May or June?!?!). |
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02-26-2006, 01:11 PM
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#17 |
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Wait, so did they or did they not give refunds? I'm hearing conflicting reports
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02-26-2006, 01:15 PM
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#18 |
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I didn't go myself so I don't know the details -- but I think you guys who paid for 3-day VIP tickets should get a lawyer for a class action against the organizers and threaten to sue for a refund.
A strongly-worded letter from a reputable attorney might get your cash back. Just a suggestion. |
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02-26-2006, 01:15 PM
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#19 | |
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You obviously have never went to that one either. That's just as disorganized. Of course they don't get that number of people in one day, but they're as disorganized as Reed. |
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02-26-2006, 01:16 PM
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#20 |
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They were definately not prepared for such a big showing, but at least they are trying to make up for their mistakes.
They also better book the entire Javits Center early. |
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02-26-2006, 01:19 PM
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#21 |
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Look I know alot of you had a bad time and the organization sucked, but dont pull this boycott sh*t. We need a convention in NYC for the good of the industry. So if you can, suck it up and come back next year. Things will improve and it can be the second biggest con in the country. If everyone doesn't come back then we comics take a hit.
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02-26-2006, 01:22 PM
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#22 |
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A class action law suit?
BWAHAHAAHAHA |
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02-26-2006, 01:27 PM
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#23 |
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There was poor communication all around- they should all have those annoying nextel phones. And I was one of the saps who actually read the sign that no backpacks or bags were allowed on the floor- I guess if you ignored it that was okay. If everyone did that it would have made it easier to move around. And I could never figure out how to get to the top floor...
Look, I know the lines sucked, but you had to improvise. I pre-registered, then went to two panels, and I was able to get on the floor after about 20 minutes. Then I stayed there until I didn't want to be on the floor anymore. If you were an attendee, how could you not know it would take forever to get back in? Anyone who didn't get there early can't be too critical- if they should have "known they were in New York," so should have everyone else. My biggest disappointment was that the panels really didn't reveal too much- and that would be one of the reasons to better separate it from other cons. There can only be so much news. I'll be there next year- you know they'll double the space. |
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02-26-2006, 01:28 PM
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#24 | ||
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So would either of you guys go to the NYC Comic Con if it was a different Weekend? |
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02-26-2006, 01:48 PM
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#25 |
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A couple of questions:
1. Could someone from the con tell us how we can get refunds? I asked repeatedly and was told nothing. 2. Why did the buses that were promised to pick people up at Penn Center never arrive? At least 100 people, many of which were kids, were stranded at Madison Square Garden. 3. Exactly why should I spend my time and money attending a show run by these people next year? |
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