Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Feb 11, 2015 11:03:37 GMT -6
Ron Brister, director of Portland, Oregon’s Rose City Comic Con, discusses ending the event’s two-year partnership with Emerald City Comicon following its acquisition last month by ReedPOP. The partnership brought Rose City access to contacts and expertise, helping organizers to increase attendance and move to a larger venue. However, with 26,000 attendees last year and vendors already booking tables for next year, Rose City is ready to take off the training wheels.
www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/02/rose_city_comic_con_goes_it_al.html
Rose City Comic Con goes it alone, after ending relationship with Seattle's Emerald City convention
Three hours. That was all it took for organizers of the Rose City Comic Con to realize what they had.
It was 2012, and within those three hours they had packed their inaugural convention at the DoubleTree Hotel to capacity. The question then wasn't how big the crowds would get, but how to manage them as they grew.
For guidance, Rose City organizers turned to Seattle's Emerald City Comicon, considered one of the biggest and best-run conventions in the country. The two formed a partnership later that year, which Rose City director Ron Brister said was crucial for their rapid growth.
The two cons formed an umbrella organization around them to maintain the independence of each. Under their agreement, Rose City would gain access to industry contacts and the immediate credibility they needed to expand to the Oregon Convention Center in 2013. Emerald City would split the revue with the Portland event, but would offer no financial support in return.
"Emerald City had nothing really to gain from this relationship and a lot more to lose," Brister said. "It was a partnership in running and growing the show."
It worked. The 2013 Rose City Comic Con grew by an astonishing 408 percent over 2012. Even though the growth in 2014 was much more modest - 28 percent - it's still above the industry average of about 10 to 15 percent, he said.
All those percentages amount to an audience that reached nearly 26,000 people last year. That's still relatively small, compared to Emerald City's estimated 80,000, San Diego's 130,000 and New York City's mind-boggling 151,000 visitors in 2014, but for a Portland convention only in it's third year? It's still pretty impressive.
With the explosive growth of comic conventions comes the natural buyout by bigger organizations. Emerald City, which has long maintained a good reputation offering a more laid-back event, sold to ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world, earlier this year.
There are a lot of lingering questions in Seattle, namely whether or not this will change that laid-back reputation, but in Portland the attention has turned to Rose City, which as a result of the acquisition has dissolved all ties to its mentor.
"Comic cons have been around for basically 40 years now, they've evolved and they've matured, there's been peaks and valleys," Brister explained. "I think that shows like ours can weather just about any storm."
And as far as storms go, the severed relationship with Emerald City is hardly a tropical depression.
Rose City is already reaping the benefits of its short-lived partnership. Comic book artists and vendors are now contacting them, booking spots as far out as 2016. As far as financials go, you don't have to work hard to figure out that 26,000 by $20 a ticket equals a pretty decent profit.
Despite their newfound reputation and skyrocketing popularity, Rose City organizers are looking to keep a reserved approach to growth, Brister said.
The next step is considering an expansion, from two days into three, or maybe only two and a half - that decision is still a couple years out. Organizers seem to be far from the idea of exploding it into another pop culture fan expo, and the notion of selling out is completely off the table.
It's welcome news to comic con purists after the acquisition of Emerald City and the sale of Salem's Cherry City Comic Con to marketing firm B.A.M. Solutions Inc. With the business of comic conventions bigger than ever, we can only expect to see more corporate acquisitions in the future.
But organizers of Rose City, one of the biggest conventions on the west coast, are looking to run their own show - for now.
"I'm not interested in anything other than being independent in the foreseeable future," Brister said. "But who knows?"
The Rose City Comic Con will return to the Oregon Convention Center on September 19 and 20.
www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/02/rose_city_comic_con_goes_it_al.html
Rose City Comic Con goes it alone, after ending relationship with Seattle's Emerald City convention
Three hours. That was all it took for organizers of the Rose City Comic Con to realize what they had.
It was 2012, and within those three hours they had packed their inaugural convention at the DoubleTree Hotel to capacity. The question then wasn't how big the crowds would get, but how to manage them as they grew.
For guidance, Rose City organizers turned to Seattle's Emerald City Comicon, considered one of the biggest and best-run conventions in the country. The two formed a partnership later that year, which Rose City director Ron Brister said was crucial for their rapid growth.
The two cons formed an umbrella organization around them to maintain the independence of each. Under their agreement, Rose City would gain access to industry contacts and the immediate credibility they needed to expand to the Oregon Convention Center in 2013. Emerald City would split the revue with the Portland event, but would offer no financial support in return.
"Emerald City had nothing really to gain from this relationship and a lot more to lose," Brister said. "It was a partnership in running and growing the show."
It worked. The 2013 Rose City Comic Con grew by an astonishing 408 percent over 2012. Even though the growth in 2014 was much more modest - 28 percent - it's still above the industry average of about 10 to 15 percent, he said.
All those percentages amount to an audience that reached nearly 26,000 people last year. That's still relatively small, compared to Emerald City's estimated 80,000, San Diego's 130,000 and New York City's mind-boggling 151,000 visitors in 2014, but for a Portland convention only in it's third year? It's still pretty impressive.
With the explosive growth of comic conventions comes the natural buyout by bigger organizations. Emerald City, which has long maintained a good reputation offering a more laid-back event, sold to ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world, earlier this year.
There are a lot of lingering questions in Seattle, namely whether or not this will change that laid-back reputation, but in Portland the attention has turned to Rose City, which as a result of the acquisition has dissolved all ties to its mentor.
"Comic cons have been around for basically 40 years now, they've evolved and they've matured, there's been peaks and valleys," Brister explained. "I think that shows like ours can weather just about any storm."
And as far as storms go, the severed relationship with Emerald City is hardly a tropical depression.
Rose City is already reaping the benefits of its short-lived partnership. Comic book artists and vendors are now contacting them, booking spots as far out as 2016. As far as financials go, you don't have to work hard to figure out that 26,000 by $20 a ticket equals a pretty decent profit.
Despite their newfound reputation and skyrocketing popularity, Rose City organizers are looking to keep a reserved approach to growth, Brister said.
The next step is considering an expansion, from two days into three, or maybe only two and a half - that decision is still a couple years out. Organizers seem to be far from the idea of exploding it into another pop culture fan expo, and the notion of selling out is completely off the table.
It's welcome news to comic con purists after the acquisition of Emerald City and the sale of Salem's Cherry City Comic Con to marketing firm B.A.M. Solutions Inc. With the business of comic conventions bigger than ever, we can only expect to see more corporate acquisitions in the future.
But organizers of Rose City, one of the biggest conventions on the west coast, are looking to run their own show - for now.
"I'm not interested in anything other than being independent in the foreseeable future," Brister said. "But who knows?"
The Rose City Comic Con will return to the Oregon Convention Center on September 19 and 20.