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Con Season 2021
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30 posts in this topic

I know I am looking ahead and the world could still be in turmoil but I wondered what people thought the 2021 Convention season will look like. If we assume that Cons run as they did in 2019 (I realize this may not happen, might not even be likely to happen, but it is for the purpose of the exercise) will they be bigger than ever? Will those artists that missed out on the money the Conventions bring in be even more eager to attend or will have the quarantine shown them they can sell as much over Facebook as they did in person? Will it differ depending upon the marketability of the artist? What about the individual sellers or the merchants?

 

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My own two cents, when it's finally determined to be relatively safe for cons to take place again, we'll still see reduced capacity for several years to come.  It's just not worth the risk or liability to have these shows packed wall to wall. Also, I expect some creators and "celebs" (such as attend these shows) are going to be gunshy about making appearances. I kinda think (but could totally be wrong) that those cattle call photo ops, where they ferry several hundred people in front of a camera with a celebrity over the course of hours or minutes, may be gone for good. Or at least drastically reduced. Who wants to be the guinea pig lowered into those viral pressure cookers?

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5 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

 Who wants to be the guinea pig lowered into those viral pressure cookers?

Canary in the coal-mine. But with the dynamics of C-19, infection vs. symptomatic case by case, and the lag time between, the canary may still be singing, possibly Chopin's Funeral March, while those that were in the coal mine around him are dropping. 

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I've got my fingers crossed for 2021 but realistically I don't think there will even be any cons.  2021 is 3 months away and we're nowhere near being able to have large public gatherings.  My guess is we won't even see limited capacity cons starting until the end of 2021/early 2022.

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Maybe I can reword my question. Let's assume that the con season is back in 2022 (the year doesn't matter). Once health is no longer the primary concern will Cons look different? Have artists come to discover that Cons don't do them much good? Will publishers be less likely to budget the expense as the digital avenues have improved?

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I see cons being on a much smaller scale for many years to come.  maybe it will be the return of an actual comic con rather than these mega celebrity cons.  I don't see celebrities needing the money that bad to put themselves at risk.  I also don't see massive convention centers that would be needed for the capacity that handles those types of shows allowed to operate for quite some time to come.  so they will need to step it back.  also dealers have figured out ways to sell outside of shows so I don't think they will do major cons anymore at the current table rates.  the rates are out of control anyway in order to bring in the celebrities.  if all of that isn't happening we will have smaller venues with probably nothing but comic dealers. we wont see all the corporations there marketing all their non comic garbage.  all this is said as a good thing to me.  I hate what wizard world became.  in the late 90s the show was great, as time went on it became worse and worse to the point I stopped going about 3 years ago. eventually the shows will return to what they were before the shutdown but I think it will be a long process.

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I think demand will always be there for in person conventions. I think once a vaccine is produced and widely available (thinking fall of 2021 once it's reached distribution to the general public) cons will resume their old model. I wonder if celebrities who make money on meet-and-greets are doing well enough with the virtual version to make them remain on that model. I assume the answer is no, I assume it's helping them make some revenue, but I assume it's less than they were making in person, and I assume that the delta doesn't cover the offset of of time/convenience. 

Once a vaccine is distributed older celebrities should have no worried about returning to crowds. Same for attendees. 

I do think that these shows will now have an "online" model in their back pocket for the future and will move to the model more quickly in the future should there be other wide-spread virus-style threats. I think we'll see this in general across schools/businesses in the future now that we've worked out some of the kinks of going "virtual" with schools and (some) businesses. 

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32 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

I think demand will always be there for in person conventions. I think once a vaccine is produced and widely available (thinking fall of 2021 once it's reached distribution to the general public) cons will resume their old model. I wonder if celebrities who make money on meet-and-greets are doing well enough with the virtual version to make them remain on that model. I assume the answer is no, I assume it's helping them make some revenue, but I assume it's less than they were making in person, and I assume that the delta doesn't cover the offset of of time/convenience. 

Once a vaccine is distributed older celebrities should have no worried about returning to crowds. Same for attendees. 

I do think that these shows will now have an "online" model in their back pocket for the future and will move to the model more quickly in the future should there be other wide-spread virus-style threats. I think we'll see this in general across schools/businesses in the future now that we've worked out some of the kinks of going "virtual" with schools and (some) businesses. 

I think this is absolutely true. There were huge growing pains as businesses and organizations tried to adjust to virtual on the fly, but even a few months in things have stabilized greatly. I work for a public school district, and the spring virtual learning was sort of thrown together, in a "doing the best we can" type fashion. However, for the 20-21 school year, classes and trainings were launched in a much smoother and more comprehensive fashion.

I think for celebrities and creators, it will be a personal equation that each will have to reach on their own, of risk vs reward. Seems like there are a lot of folks making money by doing the virtual conventions, but I doubt it's as lucrative as the in person appearances, where a lot of these folks are walking away with literal trash bags full of cash, making $40-$100 per minute to sign autographs and take pics. That's going to be hard to beat, but for some I'm sure it will be enough. Same with creators, who are no doubt making some much needed cash via the virtual signings such as what CGC has been offering. But will it be enough to justify staying home vs a relative risk in attending a convention?

I know that this has all had a big impact on me, from a safety/health standpoint. I consider the fact that since this all started, and I made changes to my life such as wearing masks EVERYWHERE as well as constant sanitizing and washing, not only have I not gotten COVID, I've also not had a single illness. Not a case of the sniffles, or a head cold, or a stomach bug. NOTHING. Working in the school is like working in bio-warfare. Kids and schools are germ factories. When I worked in the schools, I can't count how many times I ended up with strep, or a stomach illness, or several colds. (It didn't help that for five years I was working in the front office of an elementary school, where I took temperatures and distributed meds to students all day long.) I thought I did a good job of staying clean and safe, but apparently I didn't, as I was sick all of the time. Since COVID, I can't imagine ever going anywhere without a mask again, or gloves, or both. Not being sick is great. I'm not in a hurry to be aroudn people ever again. I wonder if any potential con guests may have a similar mindset.

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For 'normal', 2022 at the earliest.  A vaccine is the key.  6-8 months later, if cases are sparse and contained, things should pick up, but many people will still be weary of confined spaces and crowds and think, "just to be safe, i'll go next year instead".

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16 hours ago, Mercury Man said:

Back to Holiday Inn Conference Rooms and out of Convention Centers hopefully.  :wishluck:

Set number of tickets, once they sell out, they sell out.  No walk ups. 

the density, lack of air flow and low ceilings in those conference room conventions are not an improvement 

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I'm hearing about a few small cons over the next couple months here in Cleveland which hopefully will go over without a hitch.  We are entering the colder indoor months and I'd expect people to hunker down for a couple months and then go completely bonkers over Christmas and want to get out of the house come spring.  I'd be shocked if Con season isn't pretty much back to normal with restrictions (reduced crowds, masks) by 2021 unless the deaths spike over the next 6 months.

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50 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

 I'd be shocked if Con season isn't pretty much back to normal with restrictions (reduced crowds, masks) by 2021 unless the deaths spike over the next 6 months.

I just dont think we'll have the level of vaccine distribution necessary by spring to make it. Maybe summer, probably fall. 
And then there's the fact that it will likely take a while (weeks to months) for vaccine efficacy. 

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2 hours ago, miraclemet said:

the density, lack of air flow and low ceilings in those conference room conventions are not an improvement 

Exactly. I'm not planning on hitting any shows at all for a long time, but if I did, I'd much prefer a large convention hall where there's room to spread out and more space for the air to move around.

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Just now, miraclemet said:

wheres "here"? 

Virginia. Only laggard has been public education (except colleges which have been open for the most part from day 1) and even they are open and/or are opening here over the next few weeks.

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