NYCC and NYAF Sitting in a Tree
We just received word that next year’s New York Anime Festival and New York Comic Con are going to co-locate, with both conventions taking place October 8-10, 2010 in the Jacob K. Javits center in Manhattan. The full press release with all the details is after the jump, but here’s a highlight:
“Our decision to co-locate NYAF
with NYCC is the final installment of a strategic plan to place and
sequence our pop culture events in a manner that best serves the needs
of our fans and exhibitors,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President of
the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group.“We are launching the Chicago
Comic and Entetainment Expo (C2E2) in April 2010, and we have moved
NYCC to a permanent October date, thus providing a spring and fall
balance to these two key events which will remain in place as we move
forward. Rather than create a third date for NYAF, it was decided a
co-location would be better for anime fans, professionals, exhibitors,
and partners. We spoke to attendees and exhibitors of both shows
before making this decision, and everyone agrees that this will provide
an opportunity for both shows to further grow and prosper.”
What do you think? Can these two conventions join hands and sing in harmony? And even more, what does this do to the plans of Wizard with their convention in New York planned for the fall?
Official Press Release
Norwalk,
CT: Reed Exhibitions (RX), the organizers of the New York Comic Con
(NYCC) and New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced that both
shows will co-locate next year, with the 2010 installments of these
events taking place at the same time and place, October 8-10, 2010 at
the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan. New York Comic Con,
which last took place February 6 – 8, 2009, is the second largest
popular culture event in America as well as the second largest public
event in NYC. Since its inception in 2006 the show has played host to
some of the greatest and most popular celebrities, creators and artists
in the pop culture world including Neal Adams, Brian Michael Bendis,
Stephen Colbert, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee, Grant Morrison, Alex Ross,
Kevin Smith, Art Spiegelman, and Joss Whedon, to name just a few. The
next New York Anime Festival is September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K.
Javits Center and includes guests such as Yoshiyuki Tomino — the
Director of Mobile Suit Gundam — and Yui Makino — the voice of Sakura
in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
“Our decision to co-locate NYAF
with NYCC is the final installment of a strategic plan to place and
sequence our pop culture events in a manner that best serves the needs
of our fans and exhibitors,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President of
the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group. “We are launching the Chicago
Comic and Entetainment Expo (C2E2) in April 2010, and we have moved
NYCC to a permanent October date, thus providing a spring and fall
balance to these two key events which will remain in place as we move
forward. Rather than create a third date for NYAF, it was decided a
co-location would be better for anime fans, professionals, exhibitors,
and partners. We spoke to attendees and exhibitors of both shows
before making this decision, and everyone agrees that this will provide
an opportunity for both shows to further grow and prosper.”
The
jointly-held New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival 2010 will
occupy virtually the entire Jacob K. Javits Center in 2010. Both shows
will maintain distinct guests and programming space and share a common
show floor. And, more importantly for attendees, fans will be able to
attend both shows for the price of one — as a ticket to NYCC 2010 will
also provide access to NYAF 2010 and vice versa. “Co-locating NYCC and
NYAF provides value, pure and simple,” Fensterman concludes. “We want
to reach as many people as possible and this is clearly the best way to
serve our audience and grow our events at the same time.”
For
more information on NYAF, please visit www.nyanimefestival.com. For
additional details on NYCC, please view www.nycomiccon.com. For the
latest news about the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group please follow
the group’s official blog, www.mediumatlarge.net.
ABOUT NEW YORK COMIC CON:
New
York Comic Con is the East Coast’s biggest and most exciting popular
culture convention. Our show floor plays host to the latest and
greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games,
toys, movies, and television. Our panels and autograph sessions give
fans a chance to interact with their favorite creators. Our screening
rooms feature sneak peeks at films and television shows months before
they hit either big or small screens. And with dedicated professional
hours, New York Comic Con is a market place, bringing together the
major players in the entertainment industry. New York Comic Con is the
second largest pop culture convention in America and the only one that
takes place in the comic book, publishing, media, and licensing capital
of the world — Gotham City. Further information can be found at
newyorkcomiccon.com.
ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:
The
New York Anime Festival takes place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in
Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of
New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival showcases the best of
anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema,
music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films
from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive
screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the
biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explores the
Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and
cutting-edge Japanese life. Further information can be found at
newyorkanimefestival.com.
ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS POP CULTURE GROUP:
The
Pop Culture Group at Reed Exhibitions owns and operates the New York
Comic Con (NYCC), the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), and
the New York Anime Festival (NYAF). New York Comic Con was launched in
2006 and quickly became a dominant presence in the pop culture world of
public events. In 2009, 452 companies exhibited at NYCC for a total of
84,000 square feet of paid exhibit space, and it has been ranked by
Crain’s New York Business as the second-largest annual event in NYC.
C2E2, which will debut April 16 – 18 at Chicago’s McCormick Place
Convention Center, is modeled after NYCC and will provide fans the
opportunity to meet and greet their favorite writers, creators, and
artists, as well as to see, hear and learn about the latest and
greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies,
and television. The Pop Culture Group also operates the
recently-launched UFC Fan Expo in partnership with the UFC – the
world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization – and it
formed a strategic partnership with Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in 2008 and
will work closely with PAX on the launch of PAX East in Boston in
2010.
What do you think? Can these two conventions join hands and sing in harmony? Seeing as both conventions are run by Reed Expo–indeed, by the same team of Reed Expo staffers–I surely believe that their management will be able to make this arrangement work.IMO, there's not as much crossover as you might think/expect, between the attendees of an anime show and that of a comic convention. So colocating these shows together might not make a big difference for most attendees. (I imagine that this arrangement means that if you buy a ticket to, say, the anime show, you'll be able to go to the comic convention, too; if that's the case, then that would seem to address the interest of whatever attendee crossover may exist.)The only downside I see would be for exhibitors that might want to exhibit in both shows. I presume that this arrangement means that there'll be separate sections in the convention center for NYCC and NYAF. DC Comics (or DC Entertainment ;-) ) for example, would certainly want to have their big booth at the NYCC section, but might they want to exhibit their CMX manga at the anime show. Would they go to the extra expense to set up and staff separate booths at NYCC and NYAF? But that's a choice the affected exhibitors would have to make, and might not affect most of the exhibitor pools for these two shows…
I have nothing but respect for most of the people at the NYC Con. That said The Javits Center S U C K S S U C K S S U C K S S U C K S S U C K S S U C K S and SUCKS!!They treat fans like crap and the unions act like they run the show.I'm a DIE hard New Yorker and I LOVE my city but MAN DOES THE Javits Center SUCK! I still have a residence in NY but can't WAIT to get back to my home in L.A. ( and I HATE L.A) after I spend time at the NY Con-that's how much the Javits SUCKS!I've been told by some of the con organizers that they are going to work on the 'fan problems' with the union people. We will see.