A NYCC 07 FRIDAY REPORT

[MattBrady]

For the New York Comic Con’s first day, things moved very smoothly. The show floor opened to pros, press and trade guests at 10:00 am, with general guests allowed in at 4:00 pm, and by all accounts, things moved smoothly. While there was a line, it actually moved this year, and no one was inconvenienced for very long.

We spoke with Reed Exhibitions’ Greg Topalian for more about the show’s first day.

Newsarama: Quick time check – it’s about 7:00 pm on Friday, so far, how do you think the day has gone?

Greg Topalian: It’s still not over, so there are things still left to execute, but in general, I think the crowds were very good. The trade portion is continuing to be a strong element of the overall show – I saw meetings taking place with buyers from Barnes & Noble, Borders and libraries places like that, which is exactly why we do it.

The Friday consumer crowds were very, very strong. Our lines were initially very long, but it only took a half an hour to get all the people waiting into the hall, and the hall clearly could accommodate it, which was great. Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to ramp things up so we can speed things up for tomorrow, and we can get people in there even faster so, hopefully there’s less people waiting in line.

NRAMA: Speaking of the line to get in, when did that line start to form?

GT: About seven in the morning.

NRAMA: Even though they couldn’t get in until 4pm?

GT: Right.

We were trying to accommodate them – get them their badges if they didn’t have them, and make sure they were all set up. After all, there really wasn’t much value sitting in a line for that many hours.

So – I hope the thing that gets out there is that yes, we had a very long line, but when it was all said and done, it only took them half an hour to get through it. We’re just looking for ways to speed that up for tomorrow, which will be a busier day.

The majority of our customers tomorrow have badges already, so registration won’t be very busy. We’re still going to have to line them up, but we just have to speed them up so they can get in quicker. In that regard, we cleared the entrance to the hall a bit during the day today, and took away some of the stuff that was around there, like the photo-op place and other stuff that was forcing people to dodge and weave as they tried to get into the hall. All in all, it was running pretty well.

NRAMA: Ticket-wise, you did still have tickets today?

GT: We did have tickets that we sold today, but we’re being very cautious. When the line was as long as it was, we held ticket sales for half an hour until we got that line in. We didn’t think the numbers were dangerous, but we felt it was important to say that we wanted everyone with a badge in there – I wanted to see them all walk in before I sold another ticket.

It’s the same story tomorrow, but I’m beginning to think it will be very, very unlikely that we will have tickets for sale tomorrow. So I continue to urge people who want to come down this weekend to come down on Sunday, not Saturday.

We’re updating our website on hour throughout the day to let people know the situation with Sunday tickets, so if anyone has questions, take a look at the website to see what the situation looks like, but availability for Saturday is looking really unlikely.

[nickmaynard]

wish i was there!

[jmcl89]

I think anyone who is going early tomorrow should be prepared to wait outside for a while (even if they already have a ticket) and dress accordingly. It was pretty cold outside when the wind was blowing. Other than that, they seemed to have things under control.

[PawelGoj]

So far the staff has done an excellent job in organizing everything. The only negative is that that there is only one entrance to Artist's Alley which will prove to be a problem on Saturday unless they open up some other way to get in. I did not see one though...so beware. You might be waiting a while to see your artists. Also that room was very crowded and it was only Friday. Also no AC...I think.

The exibitors floor was very spacious and there should be plenty of room for people to walk around and check out the plethora of manga, comic, and game related content.

You also have to arrive early for any panels and events. Unlike last year these are filling up fast this time around.

I am fairly pleased so far...no bad reporting from this...uhhh...reporter. Though there is still that Saturday...

The show is not perfect but it sure is getting there. It will be awesome in 2 years.

[Uncle Jawa]

My wife and her friend and I went yesterday. We had a great experience, my best con yet

[mpartyka]

I have one major complaint about Friday. That long-as-all-get-out line that I stood in for over an hour? It was for the main floor show...NOT for the discussion panels that I really wanted to see...which had NO lines whatsoever. So I basically stood outside in the cold for an hour for nothing. And then, when I left the main show to go to the panel discussions, I was twice almost sent back to the end of the line by security guards who couldn't seem to grasp that I wanted to go "right over there, where there is NO line!!!"

The second day I knew what to do -- I avoided the huge line and went straight into the panels area. No muss, no fuss. But BOY am I still bugged that I had to spend all that time in the cold, worrying that I was going to miss the WWHulk panel!