NY Comic Con is Getting Dangerous!
Went to NYCC, Friday was great, got to see panels featuring Adam West/Burt Ward and then Peter Davison. But I once again made the mistake of going on Saturday.
Despite my late arrival on Saturday at around 3:30 it was still so crowded I didn't feel safe. At one point when I tried to get from where the dealers room on the second floor to the floor where the panels were I ended with a crowd of people on a turned off escalator. I kept thinking about what would happen if the escalator were to collapse? People getting trampled? A fire on Saturday during peak crowd times? How would they evacuate it? Does the city realize what kind of a mess they could potentially have on their hands?
It is really getting to be time for the con to expand beyond trapping 100,00 people in Javits Center with its $5.00 hot dogs, particularly on Saturday, the busiest day.
NYCC needs embrace everything that the city has to offer in terms of resources regarding TV, film, art and culture in general. There are all kinds of museums and schools that would probably be thrilled to take part in the convention in some capacity. Not to mention the fact that it is getting more and more crazy sponsors,like Showtime and Chevrolet, who could help secure some interesting venues. I'm also surprised that the city itself isn't doing more to help NYCC considering that it is now bringing them close to 70 million.
At this point I don't think it would be hard to make it as big as the Tribeca Film festival. Why not start holding panels that they know are going to attract 1,000 people at various locations throughout the city and charge extra?
If the Javits Center/Comic Con went down 34th street and nicely asked their neighbors including AMC Loews, The Hammerstein Ballroom, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, The New Yorker Hotel, and The Hotel Pennsylvania for space during the con, they would probably oblige and it could get a few thousand people out of the Javits Center.
Would things be more organized if they were to divide it into various "tracks" I've heard they do at Dragon Con? Say comic books, anime/manga, sci fi, fantasy, video games, and role playing games? Have the tracks at different places throughout NYC on Saturday and Sunday?
Talking about sponsors, I hate to admit this, but I would it be that bad if a credit card company got involved? They can have booths with comic con, or genre themed cards that people can sign up for. Also cash back offers for spending there? They are already at Tribeca and the US Open and Comic Con would not be too bad.
Despite my late arrival on Saturday at around 3:30 it was still so crowded I didn't feel safe. At one point when I tried to get from where the dealers room on the second floor to the floor where the panels were I ended with a crowd of people on a turned off escalator. I kept thinking about what would happen if the escalator were to collapse? People getting trampled? A fire on Saturday during peak crowd times? How would they evacuate it? Does the city realize what kind of a mess they could potentially have on their hands?
It is really getting to be time for the con to expand beyond trapping 100,00 people in Javits Center with its $5.00 hot dogs, particularly on Saturday, the busiest day.
NYCC needs embrace everything that the city has to offer in terms of resources regarding TV, film, art and culture in general. There are all kinds of museums and schools that would probably be thrilled to take part in the convention in some capacity. Not to mention the fact that it is getting more and more crazy sponsors,like Showtime and Chevrolet, who could help secure some interesting venues. I'm also surprised that the city itself isn't doing more to help NYCC considering that it is now bringing them close to 70 million.
At this point I don't think it would be hard to make it as big as the Tribeca Film festival. Why not start holding panels that they know are going to attract 1,000 people at various locations throughout the city and charge extra?
If the Javits Center/Comic Con went down 34th street and nicely asked their neighbors including AMC Loews, The Hammerstein Ballroom, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, The New Yorker Hotel, and The Hotel Pennsylvania for space during the con, they would probably oblige and it could get a few thousand people out of the Javits Center.
Would things be more organized if they were to divide it into various "tracks" I've heard they do at Dragon Con? Say comic books, anime/manga, sci fi, fantasy, video games, and role playing games? Have the tracks at different places throughout NYC on Saturday and Sunday?
Talking about sponsors, I hate to admit this, but I would it be that bad if a credit card company got involved? They can have booths with comic con, or genre themed cards that people can sign up for. Also cash back offers for spending there? They are already at Tribeca and the US Open and Comic Con would not be too bad.