The primary appeal of Comic-Con is NOT the location. If you moved everything about the con to Fargo, North Dakota, the only thing different would be the temperature. Sweaty nerds in unwashed costumes wouldn’t smell as foul. Also, San Diego gets plenty hot if you’re walking around. Wouldn’t it be nice if San Diego had covered walkways and monorail service? Oh right, that’s Vegas.

“Name us one other American city with perfect weather…”

San Diego is does NOT have perfect weather. It’s hot and sticky.

“…a giant convention center right on the oceanside…”

Vegas has a GINORMOUS convention center that can actually meet the ever growing needs of Comic-Con. We have rooms that dwarf Hall H. The SDCC is at its limit. It can never get much bigger without an incredibly major renovation.

“…7000 hotel rooms within actual walking distance of the convention center…”

Wrong. Most people outside the gaslamp take the con shuttle or the trolley or car in from chula vista or coronado. Vegas has way more rooms in a smaller area.

“…150 cute, trendy and tasty restaurants from every world cuisine within walking distance…”

Vegas has more. Try getting a table at around 5 or 6 pm on a con day. There’s a 2 hour wait. And aside from Dick’s Last Resort, they’re all expensive.

“…And a mall…”

Vegas has 2 incredible malls right on the Strip, plus world class shopping all over the place.

“… And a Ralphs.”

Vegas has plenty of grocery stores. Locals need to eat too. We don’t have nearly as many bums lurking around though.

“You can hold comic book conventions anywhere else in the world you want to — and they do — but none of them will ever have all the factors that combine to make San Diego the most desirable location for the kind of show it has become.”

That statement has no basis in fact. It’s a poorly supported opinion.

“…Now Vegas, as everyone has pointed out, Vegas is stronger than dirt and bigger than anything, bigger than anything you can imagine. The convention would be swallowed up whole instead of taking over the town. ”

Are you saying that Vegas’ culture would overshadow the con culture? You are mistaken, and clearly you have never lived in Vegas. Vegas absorbs the culture of any major event it hosts. Come to Vegas for CES and you’ll see what I mean.

“…PLUS, Hollywood execs wouldn’t be able to just “buzz down” to the con. Granted, Vegas is only a four hour drive from LA, but it’s still considered a longer trip than San Diego is.”

You defeated your own argument there. When last I checked, 4 hours is not longer than 5 or 6. And when last I checked, the traffic going into San Diego sucks. Studio execs love to come to Vegas. It’s VEGAS.

“…DOUBLE PLUS: Hollywood already holds a convention to trot out their new movies and stars in Las Vegas every year — it’s called ShoWest. They don’t need another one.”

Wrong again. ShoWest is for the industry. Fans don’t go to ShoWest. I’m truly amazed by your utter lack of knowledge on this whole subject.

Though it’s true that this IS a non-issue until the contract CCI has with SDCC runs out in 2011, the organizers of CCI, in order to do their due diligence as caretakers of this nothing-short-of-glorious convention and uphold their responsibility to bring the attendees a quality experience in years to come, should… nay - MUST, begin to look at the logisitics of holding this in Las Vegas.

The primary appeal of Comic-Con is NOT the location. If you moved everything about the con to Fargo, North Dakota, the only thing different would be the temperature. Sweaty nerds in unwashed costumes wouldn’t smell as foul. Also, San Diego gets plenty hot if you’re walking around. Wouldn’t it be nice if San Diego had covered walkways and monorail service? Oh right, that’s Vegas.

“Name us one other American city with perfect weather…”

San Diego is does NOT have perfect weather. It’s hot and sticky.

“…a giant convention center right on the oceanside…”

Vegas has a GINORMOUS convention center that can actually meet the ever growing needs of Comic-Con. We have rooms that dwarf Hall H. The SDCC is at its limit. It can never get much bigger without an incredibly major renovation.

“…7000 hotel rooms within actual walking distance of the convention center…”

Wrong. Most people outside the gaslamp take the con shuttle or the trolley or car in from chula vista or coronado. Vegas has way more rooms in a smaller area.

“…150 cute, trendy and tasty restaurants from every world cuisine within walking distance…”

Vegas has more. Try getting a table at around 5 or 6 pm on a con day. There’s a 2 hour wait. And aside from Dick’s Last Resort, they’re all expensive.

“…And a mall…”

Vegas has 2 incredible malls right on the Strip, plus world class shopping all over the place.

“… And a Ralphs.”

Vegas has plenty of grocery stores. Locals need to eat too. We don’t have nearly as many bums lurking around though.

“You can hold comic book conventions anywhere else in the world you want to — and they do — but none of them will ever have all the factors that combine to make San Diego the most desirable location for the kind of show it has become.”

That statement has no basis in fact. It’s a poorly supported opinion.

“…Now Vegas, as everyone has pointed out, Vegas is stronger than dirt and bigger than anything, bigger than anything you can imagine. The convention would be swallowed up whole instead of taking over the town. ”

Are you saying that Vegas’ culture would overshadow the con culture? You are mistaken, and clearly you have never lived in Vegas. Vegas absorbs the culture of any major event it hosts. Come to Vegas for CES and you’ll see what I mean.

“…PLUS, Hollywood execs wouldn’t be able to just “buzz down” to the con. Granted, Vegas is only a four hour drive from LA, but it’s still considered a longer trip than San Diego is.”

You defeated your own argument there. When last I checked, 4 hours is not longer than 5 or 6. And when last I checked, the traffic going into San Diego sucks. Studio execs love to come to Vegas. It’s VEGAS.

“…DOUBLE PLUS: Hollywood already holds a convention to trot out their new movies and stars in Las Vegas every year — it’s called ShoWest. They don’t need another one.”

Wrong again. ShoWest is for the industry. Fans don’t go to ShoWest. I’m truly amazed by your utter lack of knowledge on this whole subject.

Though it’s true that this IS a non-issue until the contract CCI has with SDCC runs out in 2011, the organizers of CCI, in order to do their due diligence as caretakers of this nothing-short-of-glorious convention and uphold their responsibility to bring the attendees a quality experience in years to come, should… nay - MUST, begin to look at the logisitics of holding this in Las Vegas.

And, for those of you that want to move to Las Vegas, consider this: all of Comic-Con’s exec board members, i.e., the people that have put together SDCCI since it began, are all San Diego natives. I’m not sure how they would feel about having to haul it up to Las Vegas for what began as their “hometown” convention. And, of course, these are the people making the decisions on whether or not SDCCI should move…

Lastly, contrary to popular belief, the point of SDCCI ISN’T to make money– it’s a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about comics and pop culture as a whole…

San Diego is probably the biggest comic convention in the world … BUT … will it remain that way? Everything has a life cycle. Who can say for certain that Hollywood will still have a love affair with the comic industry in five, ten, twenty years? What if “geek culture” is “so yesterday” in a few years, and internet start-ups begin catering a different niche?

San Diego Con has 100,00+ attendees … but how would things change if the attendance went down to a mere 75,000 - 90,000? Changing locations would be a wasted effort.

And, no … don’t say it’ll never happen …

Although actually I think CCI should move to Vegas so we can properly bet on the Eisners.

I think Vegas and even Anaheim/LA might be on the table right now if the convention were expected to continue to grow at the rate it has since 2000. But since it can’t grow much more, if at all, I don’t think it’s an issue. They might go *back* on the table if the city becomes hostile, which is always a possibility as they seem to undervalue the con, or if the industry changes drastically, which it might.

I’m not sure that anyone yet even understands the last great influx of people enough to make any decisions or predictions about the future. We are a really bad and unrepresentative sample, after all. It’s all those people in the big line that are going to drive the car.

There’s all sorts of macro issues, too. The kind of movies and TV shows that have a specific interest in doing something with CCI could cycle out in 36 months if tastes were to change in a certain, even slight way. These kinds of changes happen all the time. Many small alternative publishers and cartoonists have already put their focus elsewhere. A revitalized Wizard convention schedule could have an effect on the size and commitment from Marvel. Changes in the retail market are having a definite effect on retailers. And so on.

The exciting thing is that attendance is near its limit, so plans can be made according to a kind of expected baseline experience, which we should all get better at negotiating over the next couple of years.

*******************

The show growing means more exposure and more fans & pros coming, meaning more money being made.

By the way, I should mention I’ve been to other types of conventions in Las Vegas at its HOTTEST and their air conditioning is the best in the world. There’s never been a problem. And these are cnventions that make CCI look like a little get-together of a few friends.

If they can handle 250,000 people a day for a week straight with nary a problem, save for having to wait in line to get in, I think 100,000 people is a walk in the park.

Las Vegas is now connected with a monorail. You can literally go from one end of the strip to the other (MGM Grand to Hilton) with only having to wait outside for about 5-10 minutes (if you’re staying at one of the hotels connected to the system), and then walking another 5 minutes or so to your destination. And the monorail is connected to the convention center itself. Plus Las Vegas has MANY hotel options and cabs running 24/7 as well.

The only reason people keep saying no is because of the temperature. But when you’re inside during the hottest part of the day, it’s a non-factor. It’s extremely easy to avoid being outside for long periods of time during the day anyway.

I know SDCC is SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON, but Chicago’s Convention is no longer IN Chicago proper, but one the burbs. Yes, moving to Las Vegas is a hell of a lot longer of a move, but it affords the chance for the con to grow and to give people chance at going.

Out of sheer curiosity, I did a check of airfare (out of Chicago) and hotel… I used Flamingo (since I love staying there) as the hotel of choice and it’s on the monorail system. Flying in on the morning of the 23rd of July and flying out mid-afternoon on the 27th, it’ll cost you just under $730. For San Diego I’m picking a hotel within walking distance (Embassey Suites) and flying in and out at a similar time. The costs you’re looking at is about $1,150 ($345 for airfaire and $800 for hotel), and that’s not including hotel taxes.

I don’t about anyone else, but saving nearly $500 is worth the move to me. At least then you can buy stuff and eat! Believe me, it’ll cost less to go there, hold it there, and to expand it.

The air conditioning at San Diego can barely keep up with the hordes. It would certainly be vanquished in Vegas. Contrary to what the scenes on Tatooine would have us believe, stormtroopers can’t handle heat very well.

“the heat is not an issue anyway, it’s just an excuse.”
…excuse this. the thought of over 100,000 comics fans in Vegas is overwhelming, in an olfactory sort of way we can only hope the show “grows” then…

i like the thought that san diego is san diego, like telluride is telluride. the sense of entitlement that comics fans have is ludicrous.

Keeping it from artificially growing because there’s no room and “besides, who wants more people at Comic Con” seems ridiculous to me since moving would give it bigger space and more hotel rooms. It should be a gauntlet to see and do all the stuff you want to do; it shouldn’t be a gauntlet just to attend.

Also, 110 degrees is nice in Las Vegas — because it’s dry and everyone has air conditioning. Now, summers in Chicago? 80 degrees plus 80 percent humidity and no one has central air? Please kill me if I have to be here another summer.

Honestly, I’d rather do a Special Event Bus through the city than do either a regular three-transfer trolley trip or try to luck into a Special Event Trolley. I would bet that a Special Event Bus through the Hotel Circles would likewise ease the trolley load, especially to/from Old Town.

And before the MTS would say, “But we don’t get a lot of people jumping on the regular buses on the Hotel Circle routes as it is!,” all I’ve got to say is that a Circles-centered Event Bus that goes straight through after the Old Town stop would probably result in more people parking at Fashion Valley just to get a no-transfers straight shot to the Convention Center. And if MTS were *still* concerned about how overcrowded the parking already is at Old Town, then the simple answer would be to skip Old Town entirely and just head to the Convention Center at the Taylor on/off-ramps to I-8 over to I-5.

I’d love me them four-day Daytrippers even more than I already do, lemmetellya.

Okay, yeah, I’m getting technical, but OTOH, I’ve been staying at the Hotel Circle hotels every year since I moved away from SD in 2004, so I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Especially the one time that I took the wrong bus up to Clairemont Mesa that I habitually took when I worked at the VA in La Jolla. Oy!

— Rob

Yeah, they’re moving up to the 7th level of Hell.

Keeping it in San Diego guarantees me never going. It’s too pricey for airfare and hotels (assuming you even get the one you want).

Moving it to Las Vegas, even in July, would increase the number of attendees. Yes, it’s hot there in July, but MOST of the people would be inside during the hottest part of the day anyway. Plus, if they hold it at the LV Convention Center, it’s near the Hilton AND the Monorail system. It’s EXTREMELY easy to get there, and the monorail is well shaded too.

I know people want things to never change and keep them the same, but San Diego is way too jam-packed now. It just cannot grow. Getting to and from the con sucks. And it’s a venue I have no interest in ever attending again.

So if it’s just an issue of how hot it is in Las Vegas in July, the average high there is 106 and the average low is 74. In San Diego it’s 75 and 63. But, again, with the con being held during the day, the heat is not an issue anyway, it’s just an excuse.

Move the con to Las Vegas and get more people there (myself included) or keep it where it’s at and it’ll just become more uncomfortably packed.