I think I've been announced as a Special Guest at WonderCon, which is being held March 25-27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For those of you who came in late, WonderCon was originally a great con in Oakland, California and then it changed owners, moved to San Francisco and became an even greater con. It would probably still be in S.F. but one year, the Moscone Center in San Francisco did some remodeling and didn't have room that year for WonderCon…so the gathering relocated to Anaheim.
It was only supposed to be in Anaheim for the one year, then it would shift back to S.F. but two things happened. One was that it was an incredible success in Anaheim, more so than anyone expected. And the other thing was that even after the remodel was done, the con organizers had trouble getting workable dates at the Moscone. So WonderCon became an Anaheim convention and the idea was that if and when they could get decent dates in San Francisco, they'd consider having more WonderCons there in addition to Anaheim. That has not happened yet and may never happen.
This year though, they couldn't get good dates and ample room at the Anaheim Convention Center because it's being expanded. They're adding 200,000 square feet of additional exhibit space and there are also major upgrades to the parking situation and other improvements. If they could find a way to move it even farther from Disneyland, it would be even better but I guess that wasn't an option.
These renovations are expected to be completed in Summer of 2017, which causes us to ponder: What does that mean for that WonderCon 2017? Your guess is not only as good as mine but probably better. Some onlookers are suggesting that if the L.A. Convention Center works out next year, history will repeat itself and that is where WonderCon will stay. I have no opinion on this other than that I've always thought the L.A. Convention Center is a real terrible place with a confusing and fragmented floor plan, horrible parking and ghastly traffic for some distance in any direction.
I offer the following to give you pause on those last two points. To get to the convention center and park, you have to compete with those trying to get to and park for the Staples Center next door. The Staples Center seats 19,000 people and on March 25, there's an evening basketball game — the Lakers versus Denver. On March 26, there's an evening hockey match (Kings vs. Edmonton). And on March 27, there are two basketball games (Clippers vs. Denver in the afternoon, Lakers vs. Washington in the evening). So if any game is sold out, you have to avoid 18,999 people plus Billy Crystal.
Which would be bad enough even if the Staples Center was the only thing down there that attracts crowds. It isn't. Next door to that is L.A. Live, a huge entertainment complex that includes six live entertainment venues, a fourteen screen cinema and the Grammy Museum. There are also twenty restaurants, most of which are expensive and hard to get into during events. Does any of this sound a wee bit crowded?
Nonetheless, I will be there for WonderCon and I'm trying to decide whether to arrive by Uber or drone. The folks who run WonderCon put on really, really good conventions — they're the same people who bring you Comic-Con in San Diego — and it's always worth whatever hassle is involved in getting to one of their cons. I'm just anticipating way more than there should be.
Speaking of Comic-Con in San Diego! As you may know, there are always these issues about whether Comic-Con will stay there. The current contract runs through Comic-Con 2018 so we'll soon be hearing predictions it will move and rumors that other cities have an "in" to steal it away…and I'm sure there'll be those who think that larger facilities in L.A. or Anaheim will win the day. It will take a lot more of that than we've ever seen to get me to budge off my prediction that Comic-Con will remain right where it is for a long, long time.
But there have been problems as a planned expansion of the San Diego Convention Center was killed. Recently, a group unaffiliated with the con has been gathering signatures for a proposed ballot measure that would raise the city's hotel room tax to 15.5 percent. This initiative is being advertised as a way to fund the expansion, thereby keeping Comic-Con in S.D. It's a nice thought but there's some question as to whether the increased revenues it would bring in would actually go for that. On Friday, the convention issued this statement…
Comic-Con is not a party to the initiative and its passing will have no effect on the organization's decision to remain in San Diego. Comic-Con has stated in the past, and continues to believe, a contiguous, expanded convention center is one that will benefit the city best. It appears this ballot initiative does not favor that scenario.
In other words, while people are adding their names to petitions thinking they're keeping Comic-Con from moving away, they may be empowering other causes. Let the signer beware.