joevill wrote:Have any of you booked your plane tickets and hotel rooms yet?
Seibertron wrote:As much as I'd love to have BotCon here in Chicago again, I think it would be more beneficial to the convention if they would just pick a place and keep it there. I think Pasadena is a really good location. It certainly makes for an entertaining BotCon having it be so close to so many things Transformers related. Take off your selfish "i want it in my city!" hats for a moment and tell me one other place in the country that can offer ALL of this ...
More Transformers fans than any other state! The traffic Seibertron.com receives from California (#1) is just under the amount from Texas (#2) and New York (#3) combined!
- Activision located in California
- High Moon Studios located in California
- IDW is located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers movies are located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers cartoons are located in California
- Hasbro Studios is located in California
- Paramount is located in California
- Shout Factory is located in California
- Loyal Subjects is located in California
Fender Bender wrote:
Perhaps it's not that California has more Transformers Fans, but that it just has more people paid to actually give a **** about Transformers.
ScottyP wrote:Fender Bender wrote:
Perhaps it's not that California has more Transformers Fans, but that it just has more people paid to actually give a **** about Transformers.
I highly doubt that the staff of those companies alone is why there's so much traffic. C'mon man. CA has a massive population and a great internet infrastructure, and it's a laid back place so there's tons of time to waste on the internet
ScottyP wrote:Fender Bender wrote:
Perhaps it's not that California has more Transformers Fans, but that it just has more people paid to actually give a **** about Transformers.
I highly doubt that the staff of those companies alone is why there's so much traffic. C'mon man. CA has a massive population and a great internet infrastructure, and it's a laid back place so there's tons of time to waste on the internet
morphobots wrote:njb902 wrote:Seibertron wrote:As much as I'd love to have BotCon here in Chicago again, I think it would be more beneficial to the convention if they would just pick a place and keep it there. I think Pasadena is a really good location. It certainly makes for an entertaining BotCon having it be so close to so many things Transformers related. Take off your selfish "i want it in my city!" hats for a moment and tell me one other place in the country that can offer ALL of this ...
- Universal Studios Transformers Ride
- Activision located in California
- High Moon Studios located in California
- IDW is located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers movies are located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers cartoons are located in California
- Hasbro Studios is located in California
- Paramount is located in California
- Shout Factory is located in California
- Loyal Subjects is located in California
- Closer location for our international fans from Australia and Asia
- Lower shipping costs for Fun Pub to move products from shipping docks to convention center (assuming they have these timed properly and don't have to ship them twice)
Yes but I live in Pennsylvania
Seconded, even though I don't live in Pennsylvania. The last con I was able to attend was in 2004, and even then and previous to that the only way I was able to afford attending was to sell my exclusives as soon as I came home. Seibertron makes many valid points about California, but (puts on selfish hat) I live in a podunk town in northern Indiana where I'm the town weirdo for my hobby. I'd really like to be able to talk face-to-face again with people who understand what I enjoy.
MR Optimus Prime wrote:Most fans are tired of this being in the same place as SDCC only ONE week prior when Hasbro saves all the huge TF Reveals for SDCC anyway. It is not for the benefit of TF fans. Put BOTCON on the east coast for people who can't get out there, because TF fans can just go to SDCC and see the EXACT same and MORE reveals at SDCC.
Seibertron wrote:As much as I'd love to have BotCon here in Chicago again, I think it would be more beneficial to the convention if they would just pick a place and keep it there. I think Pasadena is a really good location. It certainly makes for an entertaining BotCon having it be so close to so many things Transformers related. Take off your selfish "i want it in my city!" hats for a moment and tell me one other place in the country that can offer ALL of this ...
- Universal Studios Transformers Ride
- Activision located in California
- High Moon Studios located in California
- IDW is located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers movies are located in California
- Majority of talent involved with Transformers cartoons are located in California
- Hasbro Studios is located in California
- Paramount is located in California
- Shout Factory is located in California
- Loyal Subjects is located in California
- Closer location for our international fans from Australia and Asia
- Lower shipping costs for Fun Pub to move products from shipping docks to convention center (assuming they have these timed properly and don't have to ship them twice)
- More Transformers fans than any other state! The traffic Seibertron.com receives from California (#1) is just under the amount from Texas (#2) and New York (#3) combined!
Keeping it in the same place every year also has a few other advantages ...
- Enables Fun Pub to build a better relationship with the convention center
- Enables Fun Pub to learn the ropes of the location better
- Enables us to know where we have to fly to every year
- Enables us to become more familiar with the various hotel locations so we can find the places that best suit our needs
Seibertron wrote:Are you opposed to flying to California? If BotCon is indeed in June 2014 you bought your plane ticket next May, you'd only have to save $50 per month for the next 8 months to afford a $400 plane ticket, which is the only extra expense if BotCon were in California versus being within 6 hours of wherever you live.
Metrosuplex wrote:Seibertron wrote:Are you opposed to flying to California? If BotCon is indeed in June 2014 you bought your plane ticket next May, you'd only have to save $50 per month for the next 8 months to afford a $400 plane ticket, which is the only extra expense if BotCon were in California versus being within 6 hours of wherever you live.
No offense, Seibertron, but don't talk TF/Vacation financials like that. You just don't know. No one knows. The fact is that some people CANNOT afford the extra "$50 a month" you so casually offer. There are pop-up expenses (medical, disaster, etc). There are other commitments as well. You just don't know. It's a little presumptuous to sum it up so neatly as "save $50 a month and you're there". Jeez...
Seibertron wrote:I'm only talking about financials like that because we're talking about a business and where a business plans its' locations. If $50 a month is a struggle for someone to attend BotCon, you're probably not the type of customer that a business goes after. They're going where the money is. Fans that struggle to put aside $50 a month for a convention aren't going to make a convention a lot of money. I'm just talking business, nothing personal.
Seibertron wrote:I continue to make it happen and do whatever I have to do to make sure that I am there year after year so that I can provide the coverage we have on Seibertron.com for all of you. I have missed family obligations, friends weddings, my own daughter's 3rd birthday so that I am there each and every year because I have to be there now. We don't plan family trips or vacations in advance like most people because I have to know when and where BotCon is every year so that I can attend (this is a big part of why I'd like to see BotCon settle down so that I can enjoy a more normal family life instead of having one event that is integral to my business being a moving target). Yes, that is selfish on my behalf, but I look at BotCon attendance levels and I can't help but think that they would benefit greatly by picking a spot and time of year and always have it at that date and location. I have made plenty of sacrifices to be at BotCon, more than I care to share, because I am very dedicated to Seibertron.com and to all of you.
Seibertron wrote:I really feel that it was a mistake to make BotCon a "traveling circus". It would be more beneficial to just pick a place so that people can plan accordingly each year instead of moving the event around. BotCon attendance levels aren't anything special. How does this brand have 3 major live action movies that grossed over $2.6 billion dollars since 2007 and has massive fan support only pull in approximately 5,000 to 8,000 people per year at BotCon?
Seibertron wrote:Something isn't right about these numbers ... they need to reign it in, keep it in one location, promote the heck out of it.
Seibertron wrote:If you guys really want to be at BotCon, you'll find a way. To those of you who just want to complain that it's not in your backyard so you're not going, I don't know what to say other than you should try to find a way to make it at least once very 5 years, especially for the big years like 2014. It's a special event and I'd love to see as many of you there as possible.
Metrosuplex wrote:I understand. You're saying Botcon IS an elitist event, open only to those who can afford it! Look, I don't take it personal - but I'm sure those who are less well off do take such a statement personally. But when you think about it, Botcon is wrong to have that attitude: Hasbro sells toys to children and low-income families. This is the only way to explain why they don't just jump the prices and keep the toys the same as 20 years ago (quality-wise). But the reality is that Transformers is a brand for ALL INCOME LEVELS. Sadly, and I agree with what you said, Botcon is not.
Metrosuplex wrote:But by that same token, I'm sure you appreciate all the page hits and affiliate links your members use, and I do hope it's some small consolation for said sacrifice. It's your job to cover these things for the site... I'm not sure why you want to make that so painfully obvious, because all of us do understand that you put forth the effort to make the event coverage possible, the galleries, the forum, etc.
Metrosuplex wrote:Most "fans" are just casual movie audiences and kids looking for the next big Summer movie. Why waste effort catering to the casuals? Nintendo certainly isn't making a great point of that, considering how its Wii-U sales are incredibly disappointing - it's success with the Wii was noteworthy as a fad, not as a long-term business model. I just don't think most TF movie fans ACTUALLY care about TFs. I mean, they care like they care about what they had for lunch - consume and forget.
Metrosuplex wrote:Ergo, would it be so bad to consider the die-hard fans a little more?
Metrosuplex wrote:To maybe stage the show in some moving venues, like a circus who is struggling to grab audiences? From everything you said, the show SHOULD go on the road, just because the numbers are so low.
Metrosuplex wrote:But, I suppose, the compromise would be more than one show per year? Given that such a solution would be unlikely, as other people on this thread have mentioned, it might benefit the con to take the show on the road. I've never had the chance to go, for example, and I wouldn't spend a ton to go to CA and gamble a good time (not when I can do a local convention or something else for much less, and for a longer period). But if I DID get to go, I might enjoy it enough to think the CA trip was worth the trouble. I can't help but think there are more than one or two people out there who think the same: should I go or not? For the love of God, if the event could be more convenient for the rest of the country, you might see more unique visitors than the same group of 5,000-8,000 in CA.
Metrosuplex wrote:CA is just too hardcore. It's so far West that you'd fall off the map if you kept going. I love TF's, but I'd rather spend that money on a trip to FL (which is a lot closer).
Metrosuplex wrote:EDIT: I just re-read your original assertion, and you make a great point: THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE PLANE TICKET. See, that doesn't make me feel better, as the entire thing is expensive (tickets, exclusives, hotel, etc.). In fact, I'd venture to say that the CA hotels cost MORE than midwest hotels. Just an educated guess, as I've done some traveling. But more importantly, the price sheet for Botcon is just overwhelming - I may be in the minority to say so, but $400+ for the attendee set is crazy. How the hell are you going to attract casual fans with prices like that???? The 5,000-8,000 attendees have found a way to make it to Botcon, and they have sacrificed much (I'm certain)... I feel very sorry that the rest of us, and even casual fans, have no chance of making it! (I guess, to be clear, I should say that I veer toward CASUAL more than HARDCORE. I couldn't name every episode, comic, or character, but I could find a casual group of people to go to the con with me. It's sad to see how hardcore these cons can be - nerd-con versus everyone-con ).
Metrosuplex wrote:
I'm complaining because this shouldn't be the elitist meet that it's become - this shouldn't be available ONLY to those who can afford it. That's how you kill a franchise: make the benefits apply only to the upper crust.
I can't afford a Chevy Corvette but because people can does not make it an elitist car.
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