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Las Vegas Comic-Con
Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, 2003
Fear of Extroding in Las Vegas, part one
by Dan Vado, SLG Supreme Commander
As I write this, the smell of death fills the air in our office like cigar smoke hanging in a crowded casino. It's everywhere, forcing us to walk past certain parts of the building with our noses plugged. We have a rat problem, you see. A big problem which we can only combat with a combination of traps and poison. One of the unclean little beasties has died in the walls somewhere, so now he exacts his ultimate revenge: forcing us to smell the stench of his disgusting, rotting little corpse.
The revolting smell and the involuntary gag reflex it brings evokes a word, A single word which I think sums up all of our feelings at this point.
That word would be....
EXTROSION.
Yeah, we went to the Extrosion™, otherwise known as the Las Vegas Comic-Con. This first-time convention was billed as "A Full Blown Extrosion."
No, I am not kidding, and, no, I am not making this up. As I gag down a piece of pizza over the smell of Extroding rat, I fight back the urge to Extrode my pizza all over the floor. While in Vegas, I got sick from bad sushi and I had an Extrosion all over the bathroom floor. Being polite, I cleaned up after myself and did not leave it for the housekeepers.
Can you guess the definition of Extrosion?
Right after the Comic-Con left the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, it was replaced by a convention of bull riders which was taking place in the event center. I found that rather appropriate since the bullshit that the show promoters were spreading prior to the show was pound for pound equal to the bovine excrement left behind by the bucking brahma bulls. Claiming that they were going to open as the third largest convention of its kind in the country, the organizers promised some exhibitors (although not us) a crowd of around 30,000. My take on the final attendance would be around 4000 over the three days. Ordinarily I would say that was a pretty good start for a first-time show, something that the promoters could build upon.
But, dammit, I was promised an Extrosion. No, make that a FULL BLOWN EXTROSION!!!! I was jobbed, in a big way.
In all seriousness, I have no doubt that the promoters of the show were sincere in trying to do something big. I think they did the best they could, and, hell, 4,000 people your first time out isn't bad. But they fell apart when they fell short of their goals in my opinion. Someone in it for the long haul would have been by the booth two or three times to talk with me (Slave Labor took four booths, making us one of the larger single exhibitors who actually paid for a booth).
I feel pretty secure in saying this is what they should have done because I used to be a convention promoter myself, having put on one day conventions in Northern California for years when I was a comic shop owner. Later SLG started and ran the Alternative Press Expo (APE) before giving it over to the people at Comic-Con International. When things went bad, or not as expected, I was right there at everyone's table or booth so that the exhibitor could vent or rage or whatever. It isn't fun, but it goes with the territory.
During the entire three day Extrosion/Ordeal a representative from the promoters came by our booth once, to give us an application for next year's show which was a) going to be in a different hall and b) cost more. I did see one of the show's promoters quite often as he tooled around the mostly-empty exhibit hall in his electric cart. Had these people been a little more involved with me as an exhibitor, I would not have ruled out going back to their next show, with a smaller more realistic presence.
But enough about Extrosions. You all want to hear about Vegas. I mean, we were in Las Vegas for Halloween weekend -- that had to be good for a few laughs right? Well, I can sum up the rest of the weekend with three words; Hookers, Horrors and "HOLY-SHIT-DON'T-EAT-SUSHI-IN-A-DESERT!"
Yeah, the last one is more than one word, but work with me on this.
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