Okay just one more posting for San Diego Hotel week. And then we’re done. But it had to be said: the idea of moving the con to Las Vegas is right up there in the Hall of Fame for Lame, Hare-Brained Ideas. Anyone who for one moment seriously espouses it is a dingbat.
We say THIS every year, too: the charm and magic of San Diego — and much of its appeal for the movie studios and production companies who have made it their PR launch pad — is the location. San Diego has the most temperate year-round weather in the contiguous United States. Yeah, it got a little hot and stinky a few times, but at night it always cools down to a perfect temperature: those who want to wear shorts and a t-shirt will be fine; those who want to wear a fancy little wrap they picked
up at FCUK will also be fine.
Name us one other American city with perfect weather, a giant convention center right on the oceanside, 7000 hotel rooms within actual walking distance of the convention center, and 150 cute, trendy and tasty restaurants from every world cuisine within walking distance. And a mall. And a Ralphs.
Go ahead. Name it.
Why is Sundance in Sundance? The incredible natural beauty. Why is Cannes in Cannes? The ocean and wonderful weather. 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.
And as far as the staying in a far away hotel thing goes — San Diego has us spoiled. Take New York City, f’rinstance. The convention center is a pain in the ass to get to, and while there are a zillion hotels in NYC, they are expensive and there are NO hotels adjacent to the Javits itself. We went down to the BEA in Washington, DC, last year and ALL the hotels were a $10 cab ride away. LA? Same deal. That’s just how life goes. If anything, having so many nice hotels close by makes San Diego MORE unique.
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.
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.
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.
TRIPLE PLUS: As everyone has pointed out, Las Vegas in July is a LITERAL HELL. We went there for a few days after San Diego a couple of years ago. It was 108 degrees during the day. For fun we decided to walk down to the 7/11 to get some soda pop. We had to stop twice to get water on the way to get a slushee! IT IS HELL. YOU WILL DIE. Plus, it ain’t really that cheap, traffic on the Strip is terrible and at 3:30 in the morning the town can be as depressing as hell.
And finally, this whole hotel room thing is just on beyond lame-oh, and it is not the Con’s fault that the demand for hotel rooms is high. We have no idea who this guy is, and he may be perfectly fine, but his LJ posting on the con/hotel snafu summarizes all the uninformed opinions that people throw around:
But yanno, they’ve spent an awful lotta years pumping attendance at the sacrifice of available hotel rooms. And now it’s bit them in the kharmic ass.
Gimme a break. People want to go to Comic-Con because it’s fucking cool! Whose “fault” is that?