BroadwayCon - A convention for Broadway fans- Page 2

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 5:39pm

The travel expo which was the same weekend this year was comping tickets left and right. I think October or March is a better time for this. Looking out my NYC window right now............

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 7:00pm

I was waiting for a ballpit reference!

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 7:04pm

This sounds like a truly horrifying experience, but I hope those of you going have a marvelous time and that you don't miss all of your cats.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 7:09pm

Maybe I'm missing something, but "travel expo" doesn't scream a must-participate tourist/consumer convention experience.

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 7:26pm

The two biggest hurdles would seem to be:
- Oops, that panel we booked is for a show that just closed 2 weeks ago
- Hey, everyone! Come to NYC in January! (Admittedly, they will probably line up some show special deals with shows to compensate for this one).

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 9:04pm

Is a fella who wears a kilt producing this? If so, include me out.

I would definitely go to After Eight's death panel.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 10:19pm

Yeah, I'm not really feeling all that enthusiastic about this right now. They'll have to release more details before tickets go on sale, right? Otherwise it's difficult to commit that much money to an event that might very well be taking place in the middle of another snowstorm.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 10:47pm

I got close to 20" snow yesterday, shutting down the airport near me for several different stretches. So I'm supposed to assume winter weather that sucks isn't striking the Midwest or New York during a traditionally very unpleasant time of the year?

The timing isn't ideal. Weather-wise, it's a mess. Having any major event or convention that requires buying admission and extras immediately after the holidays can be tricky. People are spent-out, visited-out, traveled-out, etc. Not to mention that people are just back to work after holiday breaks, short or long. I can't take time off immediately after the holidays. I'm a teacher and people frown upon the teacher taking a few days off when the kiddos have only been back a week.

I like the idea. Honestly. Really, it seems like an expansion of the Flea Market (in some ways) which is fun, but I won't be sewing up a spangled replica of Liza's costumes from when she was at the Palace and schlepping window cards in a suitcase. Maybe some other time.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 10:56pm

This convention should get as much lined up as possible, but like haterobics said, there's a real risk that booking a show booth may fall through if a show closes. And shows booking now would be too early. Unlike known people/celebs in other industries who can book appearances far ahead of time without worrying about other contracts (e.g. authors), an actor probably shouldn't book now and then go for auditions that would force cancelations due to other obligations.

What I expect are other industry pundits and vets setting up the informational panels and workshops at least. Star autograph tables and actual performances probably won't be until later.

I do know that other conventions start ticket purchases long before the guest list and schedule are complete, but those are established events (hotel packages can sell out for the bigger conventions months ahead as well, even without a known schedule). It's entirely possible, due to theater actors' iffy schedules, however, that this convention will be forced to continually update until the last moment. I wouldn't be surprised.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/2/15 at 11:15pm

JESUS, that's a lot of money for a convention. They're going to need to announce some amazing names coming there if I'm going to shell that out.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 12:14am

Yes, I think the third hurdle is the entry price, a tough pill to swallow for something completely untested and probably with fluid schedule and guest list until month-of. This must start as a state/regional-level event, IMO. But as conventions go, a large part of the audience would be regulars, and regulars don't worry about holiday money because they buy entry and book hotels months before the convention dates. Whether this one gets to that level remains to be seen, but at least dates and prices can be adjusted for the future.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 1:28am

that price is ridiculous New York Comic Con for 4 days is like $120.

Why did they announce this almost a year in advance, seems strange, i don't know about this one.

[fyeahmaria]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 5:49am

It's organized by Mischief Management who created Leakycon (Geekycon), so they definitely know their stuff!

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 7:40am

Conventions are usually announced pretty far in advance. Sales don't open until March, so this seems normal.

@fyeahmaria
I hope they know what they're doing about prices and whatnot! They have over a month to make adjustments.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 9:54am

It's too bad that they couldn't brand this as a "theater" convention and hook it up to the NYC Fringe Festival.

If it's thought out correctly, it might be fun. Wouldn't it be great to see some musical numbers like they did at trade shows in the 50s and 60s? All of the broadway dancers pre-A Chorus Line talk about performing in the trade shows while they were waiting for their Broadway breaks.

I'm interested to see how this is going to play out.

[mikem]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 10:09am

The pricing on this is ridiculous. Is there any convention that's anywhere close to these prices? The San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in the world, charges $35 or $50 per day. $125 a day for this is way too much.

[veronicamae]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 10:27am

One should think prices get lower the more tickets can be sold (generically and vaguely speaking). They may have a lot of start-up costs to cover, plus the uncertainty of attendance. Perhaps they'd rather ask for more up front than have to entice people to fork over more later in exchange for some ball pit time...

Also I had no idea about Dashcon; I don't know how I managed to miss that incredible non-event's coverage. Was a very entertaining read. lol

Not sure I can shell out a weekend pass, and certainly not a VIP. I'll probably go 1 day when the most interesting (to me) things are happening and go check it out. I'm excited regardless, though.

Updated On: 2/3/15 at 10:27 AM

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 10:49am

But that's the problem; convention schedules are often subject to change and may not be hammered down until much later. A more common pricing scheme I've seen is to have the cheapest prices earliest and raise prices as more months pass, closer to the convention date. I suspect the BC/EFA donation is rolled into those prices, and that could be suicidal for the first convention.

And maybe complain/suggest by social media.

Updated On: 2/3/15 at 10:49 AM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:03am

>The pricing on this is ridiculous. Is there any convention that's anywhere close to these prices? The San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in the world, charges $35 or $50 per day. $125 a day for this is way too much.

I think that's because they are not charging a fee for photo/autograph assuming most of the attendees' interest is to get a photo/autograph? Yes, other conventions, the admission is cheap but those celebrity booths are the money maker ($50-60 per autograph or photo). I wonder if any of the stars get a share of their time at a booth, but how if autographing/photo is free? I suspect if you have a $125 pass, you have to wait in a long line and if you have $600 pass, you are guaranteed to get to the front of the line at any booth. Since any convention, it costs $50-60 each time, if you can get 10 autograph/photo from big stars, $600 pass will be worth it. But who would do that when you can get it for free at a stagedoor, right?

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:13am

You can't get autographs of creatives at the stage door - so, that could be an advantage.
Also, it will be interesting to see how many "stars" are willing to spend a day at the con, when there are weekend shows to perform.
I too think the pricing must be based on the no charge for autographs - since the site is heavily pushing that aspect of the Con. Which means they have to negotiate a fee with an actor/creative ahead of time. The Flea Market had a minimum of $30 per autograph.
Flea Market Autograph Table

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:19am

I would also be curious if any of the ticket price could be used as a tax deduction, since it states a portion of it goes to benefit BC/EFA.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:25am

The no charging for autographs had me wondering about the price. Did not realize that stuff was so expensive at Comic Con. I also don't know if they give gift bags there upon entry as this one says.

As long as the whole weekend is interesting, I don't think it is that unreasonable. Like if you divide the $250 between 3 days, that's about $83 a day, which is certainly less than the price of a regular priced orchestra ticket to a show. My thing is that I can't afford the $200+ for the hotel rooms, so I would look for an alternate accommodation, which should be easy in January.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:28am

But they need to give out more information before they announce these outrageous prices. Information like how many autographs each person can get and if additional money can be paid to get more, if wanted. Also a tentative guest list would help with some HUGE names participating (that's why it's strange it's happening a year away). As it stands right now, there's no way I"d give a penny for this without a lot of other info put out.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:38am

They really do need to say what, exactly, this convention entails. Is it just like the Broadway Flea Market- vendors and autograph tables? Panel discussions? Workshops? Performances?

[Marianne2]

Posted: 2/3/15 at 11:43am

Okay, I will give that. If it is essentially the flea market, then I agree it probably isn't worth it.

But, there are still almost 6 weeks before tickets go on sale. Maybe they will start to announce stuff.