A couple of folks have written me about what I wrote about Comic-Con International here recently. Some seemed to think I said that everything that has changed about it has changed for the better. No, I didn't say that nor do I think that. I just think that there's much to enjoy within the new stuff.
I received a couple of messages that said something to the effect that two things have unquestionably changed for the worse: The prices and the fact that it's difficult to get admission. The con sells out so quickly each year that longtime attendees sometimes find themselves shut out. They're right that neither of these is for the better.
The price of a badge has skyrocketed, true. And I could point out that the price of almost everything has skyrocketed but that would, I know, be small comfort. All I can say there is that the con is non-profit and that they spend a lot of money on programming and other benevolent purposes. It's not like the operators are pocketing vast fortunes. If a for-profit convention was turning away at least 100,000 people each year, I suspect they'd figure they could double or even triple the cost and still fill the hall.
That many folks can't get in at any price is troubling and I don't think there's any solution. I can write a longer post about this some day but after hearing all these rumors about the con moving to Anaheim or the con moving to L.A. or Vegas and learning many upsides and downsides, I'm convinced none of those locales are viable.
Meanwhile, the San Diego facility is expanding in size and will soon be able to accommodate more bodies. Alas, I sense the number of bodies that wish to attend is expanding at an even greater rate. If anyone has a solution other than to hold the con outside and just let it stretch to Tijuana, I'm sure the convention committee would be glad to entertain it.
In the meantime, watch this space over the next few days for some posts about and around this topic.