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Dallas Fan Days -- October 19-21, 2018
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84 posts in this topic

On 8/18/2017 at 10:13 AM, Kevin Boyd said:

Interesting you mention ponies. Just finalizing the remaining comic guest tables  this weekend for the flyer list, so hopefully the announcement for comics will be next week.

Yeah, not the greatest list. Im sure its a tough time to schedule people for a small show right after Boston, Canada, Baltimore and New York. Hopefully they will pull some rabbits out of the hat.

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10 hours ago, Kevin Boyd said:

Sorry you feel that way, our big comics show is Fan Expo Dallas. This is a show with a selection of comic guests. 

You may see one additional comics guest added. 

I really thought Fan Expo was supposed to be the "premiere" show in Dallas. The two smaller shows (Dallas Comic Show, and North Texas) have had, or have more exciting comic talent.  As a comic vendor at these shows, your response of "a selection of comic guests" makes me think you don't care to put out a quality selection of guests to bring in fans and collectors that will shop at my booth. We understand that the spring show is the crown jewel, but don't have a show, expect vendors and fans to spend money, and give us a "selection" of guests that do pretty much every Texas show, or have been on the Wizard circuit forever. 

 

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Fan Expo Dallas is the 'premiere' show in Dallas. This is not Fan Expo Dallas, this is Dallas Fan Days. A smaller event held in the fall each year and I have the same discussion with people every year about this. We have different types of events. I have specific direction on what to do here and so I have gathered a cross section of solid pro guests that will be signing, sketching, selling prints and art. 

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Considering what tables cost at this event, I would bet your vendors would expect a "premiere" event and not the "smaller show" you describe. At this rate this show costs vendors around double what it would cost to vend at one of the other comic shows held at the Irving Convention Center that have better guest lists to drive traffic.

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An event can have lots of great comic guests that should in theory drive traffic to a show, and the attendance may still be lacking and vendors don't make those cheaper tables rates back and it's a loss for all, as we've seen in lots of places - including Dallas. I used to run my own comic focused event that had tons of great comic guests and cheaper tables and it barely moved the attendance needle and I chose to leave it because vendors were not doing well and the show was losing money.  DFD attracts 20K attendees, people interested in pop culture, and it's done so with approx. 15 comic guests, mostly locals. You can say hey if there were more it might be double that, which is a great theory, and you might be right, however, you build on what you have established. Good for the vendors, they won't be competing for consumer dollars as much with a limited guest list.

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57 minutes ago, Kevin Boyd said:

Fan Expo Dallas is the 'premiere' show in Dallas. This is not Fan Expo Dallas, this is Dallas Fan Days. A smaller event held in the fall each year and I have the same discussion with people every year about this. We have different types of events. I have specific direction on what to do here and so I have gathered a cross section of solid pro guests that will be signing, sketching, selling prints and art. 

But Fan Expo (informa) owns Dallas Fan Days. I'm not confusing the two. I understand that they are two different shows, but it feels like a big step backward going from three shows a year to two, and your secondary show really becoming SECONDARY.  Table prices for this show have steadily increased, and it seems attendance and customers have decreased.   The rebooking of local guests is great, as they usually have a good following in the area, but it doesn't cause a "call to action" to go to this show specifically. 

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For a $40 Saturday ticket or a $60 3-day pass, with $545 10 x 10 booths ($645 if you get a 10 x 10 corner booth), this show is priced like a higher end show. Other than Matt Smith, the guest list on either side, celebs or comic talent, is not reflective of a higher end show. I'm not sure what the tickets for the "main event" cost, I worked it so I didn't buy tickets, but I'm guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of $100. Would you argue that this October show will be 60% as good as what you guys brought for Fan Expo Dallas?

The February and October shows attached to the Dallas Comicon name used to be very solid shows, reasonably priced, with good guest lists that would return local talent but also add additional names (Herb Trimpe and Kelley Jones come to mind, I am sure there are others I could list) from time to time that would excite the locals and bring in people from out of town. Tables and tickets reflected the size of the show, which was effectively a strong regional show. $545 booths and $60 3-day passes are not reflective of a good regional show, nor is this guest list outside of Matt Smith.

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Everyone has valid points in the thread.

But everyone needs to understand that Kevin is doing the best with what he's been given.  He would never try to intentionally put a substandard show together.  At the end of the day, the guys sitting in the corner offices in Ontario expect a profit from this show.  And the group that runs the convention center wants a cut of that profit too.  Then there's the transportation companies that want a cut of that too.  Then you have to pay the talent, and there's no way those guys come to town cheap.

That's why the booths cost so much.  Hell, I'm priced out of Artist Alley for this one.  

Fan Expo Dallas was pretty badass last year.  Great guest list.  Great crowd.  

Dallas Fan Days needs a little more razzle dazzle, but it's not an awful show.  It's got Matilda, and that's a pretty good thing.  Maybe he asked comic legend X and they declined.  He can't force anyone to come out here.  

But guys, remember it's all about the bottom line.  If Kevin is expected to have a 25% GP at the end of the show, then he has to find a way to get a 28% GP to keep Ontario happy.  

Just sayin.

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1 hour ago, jadams said:

Everyone has valid points in the thread.

But everyone needs to understand that Kevin is doing the best with what he's been given.  He would never try to intentionally put a substandard show together.  At the end of the day, the guys sitting in the corner offices in Ontario expect a profit from this show.  And the group that runs the convention center wants a cut of that profit too.  Then there's the transportation companies that want a cut of that too.  Then you have to pay the talent, and there's no way those guys come to town cheap.

That's why the booths cost so much.  Hell, I'm priced out of Artist Alley for this one.  

Fan Expo Dallas was pretty badass last year.  Great guest list.  Great crowd.  

Dallas Fan Days needs a little more razzle dazzle, but it's not an awful show.  It's got Matilda, and that's a pretty good thing.  Maybe he asked comic legend X and they declined.  He can't force anyone to come out here.  

But guys, remember it's all about the bottom line.  If Kevin is expected to have a 25% GP at the end of the show, then he has to find a way to get a 28% GP to keep Ontario happy.  

Just sayin.

I completely agree with all of this. I know Kevin has to do the best job he can with what he is given, and I know he doesn't make the decisions regarding how that budget will be distributed. He has a thankless job, particularly when guys like me start hammering away at his hard work. I do get this.

I have expressed my reservations about the list in the hopes that these could be communicated to upper management through Kevin. If there are other ways that blowing off this steam could be more constructive I would appreciate hearing about those. I get bent out of shape because I LOVE shows, and I am particularly partial to the Dallas scene. It is a great area, and a great area for comic shows and culture. I would simply like to see that continue and to grow as well. And sometimes this may turn me into a jerk in event threads. :foryou:

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