Hey Factory Fans!
It was a great show for me, but I’m fried. I literally came home, laid down for a minute and power napped three hours. Now I’m fading, so I’m going to wrap up this post with some quick thoughts on the show.
BTW, today’s Super Frat link: Your Philly Wizard World Fratoscope.
People had money, so there was a bit of a shift in the air. However, Wizard World had to buffer the show with non-comic booths like T-Mobile, State Farm and a few others. The big publishers didn’t seem to have a major presence. It’s was mostly about autographs. There was tons of room at the show. (Again, thanks to Victor for giving me a great corner table!) However, it felt like the room was a little too big.
My conclusion is that it was a good show. The way I would improve it is move it to a smaller venue. I believe it’s the Philly unions that prevent the con from extending the hours. We could’ve easily kept the show going on Friday and Saturday very late. On Friday, the room died at 3:30. That’s because, if you’re heading out for dinner, that’s about when you’re going to leave the venue to get somewhere or go home. If you grab dinner at 5 or 6, there’s no sense in coming back for like an hour. If the show had extended to 10, then they’d be back. Seemed like we were kicking people out late Saturday. Definitely could’ve gone two more hours, probably a lot more. Just sayin’.
The smaller venue, like a very large hotel, would give the con the flexibility of the hours. Just like Dragon Con, you could keep it going very late. You get the rooms round the clock basically. Plus, if you have gaming, people will game very late. Also, a smaller venue like a hotel won’t make the place look empty and you won’t have to deal with the unions loading in and out. Then you could forego the T-Mobile, State Farm, etc. More smaller rooms makes it more intimate, like a sci-fi con. People enjoy that. It’s more relaxed. Just sayin’.
The only down side is that the autograph lines could get out of control if the hotel isn’t big enough. I think the Ramada on Penns Landing is probably big enough. Maybe the cost is astronomical, I don’t know, seems like the convention center must be too.
Anyhow, I have to sleep. Thanks to everyone that came out!
