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A quick call by Seibertron member First Gen to the Pasadena Sheraton reveals to us that BotCon 2014 could possibly be held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, CA in June according to the Sheraton employees. Speculation was that it would be held in Pasadena again since 2014 is a movie year just like 2009 and 2011 (Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon), although the June 2014 event dates have yet to be posted on the Pasadena Convention Center website. There is also a discounted hotel block at the Sheraton in June. The phone number to the Pasadena Sheraton is 626-449-4000 or 888-627-8670 for hotel reservations.

Note this has not been confirmed by Fun Publications. Stay tuned to Seibertron.com and we will update you when we receive official confirmation.

Was juuuust reading about this over at TFW2005, and was thinking about writing up a report.

Ugh, will BotCon ever leave California again? Seriously, I'd like to go for once and not have to sell a kidney.

Behold, the Return of First Gen to Botcon!!

Bah, really wanted this to be in RI again since it's the 30th anniversary. Seemed like the perfect chance for another Hasbro tour.

Emerje

Well, I jumped and got a room. Big thanks going out Steve on the Facebooks for giving my Canadian ass the heads up!

Finally making a comeback after four long years!

Signed up! Mkall is going to Botcon 2014!

Edit: First Gen and Down_Shift? This is gonna be off da chain!

Booked. If they have the reservation block, this has got to be real. The hotel staff is confirming as well. Only thing that would suck would be if this is just one of the places you can stay, but the convention this time is somewhere else.

I LIVE in LA, and even I'm tired of BotCon on the West Coast.

I'm down for Pasadena again. Only a 12 or so hour drive.

For those of us on the east coast, may I just say

Hm ... if you go to this URL

http://calendar.pasadenacenter.com/iebms/coe/coe_p2_details.aspx?eventid=12129&sessionid=fa4fc4ej7eiofhnfd6

You'll see they had a general two week date range for this year's BotCon, which was not in Pasadena. I wonder if they put in a tentative date reservation but obviously didn't end up using those dates there. If the link above doesn't work for you, just go to their calendar and change the event id in the URL to 12129 but keep your sessionid.

Pasadena Convention Center wrote:Transformers Convention (BOTCON) 2013 Add To Outlook Calendar


Date: Monday, 06/17/13 07:00 AM - Wednesday, 06/26/13 11:59

To The Public

I'd love an East Coast location, but, really, selfishly...

:sits in hotel room in CA to write this post:

I'm out here once a month or so anyhow. Can easily tie a business trip into it. Let's do it!

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

FYI, 2009 was the 25th anniversary and release of RotF.

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

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.

morphobots wrote: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.

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.

Seibertron wrote:

morphobots wrote: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.

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.

Not so much opposed to flying to California as dealing with the fact I now work 2 jobs thanks to the recession, one of which gives me less than 15 hours of vacation time a year. It simply would be easier for me to drive to Chicago, Rosemont, Cincinnati, or Indianapolis for a day on the weekend. As you said, selfish, I agree. But sometimes you can't help feeling that way.

I'll say it. Ef California. I hope they get "The Big One" and CA falls off the map. I guess it's my fault. I didn't go when it was in Kentucky and it's done nothing but move farther away from me. Every year I say to myself, "BotCon moves every year. This is going to be the year I get to go." Now Cali is double dipping. Come on guys. You have fans in the rest of the country too. They might as well have it in Japan at this point. What's the point of going to BotCon when you've spent your whole budget just getting there?

Antron wrote:I'll say it. Ef California. I hope they get "The Big One" and CA falls off the map. I guess it's my fault. I didn't go when it was in Kentucky and it's done nothing but move farther away from me. Every year I say to myself, "BotCon moves every year. This is going to be the year I get to go." Now Cali is double dipping. Come on guys. You have fans in the rest of the country too. They might as well have it in Japan at this point. What's the point of going to BotCon when you've spent your whole budget just getting there?

That's ridiculous.

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.

Everything is right in the universe! I waited for Bot Con to land in California for so long before 2009. For years it was this myth, this legend that I had heard about in Rhode Island, Georgia and other places I couldn't find any other reason to visit. Then lightning (and a little help from Hollywood) struck three times, and possibly a fourth. The fact is Bot Con is definitely in the marketing Mecca here in CA. We're right behind New York City. Look at the success of SDCC. I feel Pasadena is perfect once again especially with all of the industry promo events that'll be going on for TF4. Now all I gotta do is put aside the gas money to drive an hour and a half north from San Diego.

I'm unpleasantly not surprised. This is MACHKICK $#!@.

And for anyone who says that it should just stay in CA. The fact is that not all TF fans live in or close enough to CA. Plane tickets are expensive, then you have to pay for the nights at the hotel which despite any discount they may give, always turns out to be quite expensive. And on top of that, there are many who just can't make the time. Botcon has a reputation as a traveling convention. If this is what they planned, they should not have held it in CA this year. While I'm not familiar with the difficulties involved with finding a reasonably priced convention center, I don't buy what they've said in the past regarding it. This country is freaking huge and has many convention centers. There has to be some other place besides California that's reasonably priced.

Antron wrote:Now Cali is double dipping.

Quadruple-dipping. Within same six years (four times out of six, with only 2010 and 2012 not being on CA).

Antron wrote:They might as well have it in Japan at this point.

They have. Twice.

Antron wrote:What's the point of going to BotCon when you've spent your whole budget just getting there?