[Revised] 32,000 Fans Attend CV - Per Steve Sansweet

http://clubjade.net/?p=22542

In a Facebook post this afternoon, Steve Sansweet pegs the attendee numbers of Celebration V at 28,000 ? the lowest since Celebration I in 1999. Celebration IV in 2007, which also had no movie to boost awareness and attendance (but did have the advantage of being in movie-loving Los Angeles) weighed in at 35,000.

It?s no shock that the numbers are lower for this round ? in addition to the economy, the late announcement and a less-than-inspiring locale, August is smack dab in the middle of convention season ? most notably in that CV was bracketed by the biggest cons of all: San Diego Comic-Con in July and Atlanta?s Dragon*Con coming up on Labor Day weekend. Both are huge draws for much of the same audience, and we even had a Jader or two choose D*C over CV.

Really, between all that, 28,000 doesn?t look all that shabby!

Wherever Celebration VI may be (and I am not asking for suggestions) I hope they return to a late-spring date ? if nothing else, because that would make almost any location fairly palatable. (And a note to our delicate warm-weather flowers: Orlando?s life-sapping humidity has more than paid back the midwest?s debt for CIII?s ridiculously light snow, okay? We?re even.)

Being there I wouldn't have thought there was a "low" attendance, and Orlando with several other parks and the opportunity for the Last Tour to Endor, seems like a perfect location. Sure it's hot in Orlando in August, but that didn't really affect me after I got inside since I was inside the convention center during each day.

Pretty good numbers, IMO.

I just don't get the "less-than-inspiring locale" comment. While a cooler time of year could have been better, I think it was possibly the perfect location for this show.

Yeah I completely agree. There were a number of activities and attractions for everyone that wanted to make a week long vacation out of it. I think it was the perfect locale, the only thing I would change is the date. I would shoot for a spring date...around May like the rest of them. I don't really consider those numbers low, especially since the economy is in the tank. In fact I would imagine a lesser number if it were held in LA this year...just for the sheer expense.

28,000 is still pretty darn impressive IMO.

Which? The weather or the location? Either one is a pretty lame excuse not to go though, quite honestly. If you really want to go, the location and season shouldn't be a factor.

Yeah I've been to GenCon up there and would have no problem attending a CVI if it went back there. Especially if they have added more con space.

Yeah, if this was an outdoor music festival or something, I'd agree there. I spent less than an hour outside each day at CV. That includes going to/from my hotel to/from the OCCC (over a mile away) and going out to parties and dinners each night.

I think those people just didn't want to go and tried to use the Florida summer as an excuse.

Wow. Unless someone is planning on camping in a tent during the convention I find it hard to fathom why someone would make a decision on not going because of the weather.

Especially since the convention center was freezing inside. The only point you really had to deal with the humidity was walking to and from the convention center. I don't know, call me crazy, but I just don't think the weather was that big of a deal. Sure, it was hot and miserable most of the time, but it was still an amazing experience. I'm glad I went.

?Less than ideal location,? huh? What?s that supposed to mean? I might be biased (having lived all 30 of my years on this planet in Orlando) and while it might not be ?as? centrally located as CII and III, Orlando is about as ideal as you can get in terms of hosting a convention. We have the 2nd largest CC in the country (and perhaps the most overall metro-area convention space in the US), 2nd most hotel rooms in the country, an extremely busy (but efficient) Int?l airport, infrastructure and trained employees to support thousands of convention goers and are THE tourist capital of the world. There is so much to do in this area (or within an hour?s drive) beyond the con itself, something Indianapolis can?t boast. Granted, Central Florida and August aren?t usually favorably associated for obvious reasons, but when you throw in the fore-mentioned Disney/Lucasfilm connection, it?s really a no-brainer.

Personally, I?ve never attended a Celebration before, nor would I have attended this year if it weren?t for the fact it was in my own back yard. While I?m a general sci-fi nut and have attended my fair share of small, regional cons in the past, I?m not the kind of fan that can justify the expenses involved w/ traveling for almost a week to attend a con AND drop the kind of jack I saw being thrown about to the vendors. While it?s these devoted fans that bring home the majority of the revenue for most cons, devoted fans can always be expected to attend and in relatively the same numbers. However, it?s the marginal (or even the few non-fans I saw running around CV) fans you need to persuade to come in order to make your con truly profitable.

When we?re in a down economic cycle, it?s very hard for a family to justify discretionary expenses of this type, especially to run around a Sci-fi convention for four days. However, tack on an additional couple of days to enjoy Orlando?s other activities and hit the theme parks, all of the sudden it becomes a little easier to swallow from an expense-perspective with your significant other. I remember reading articles before CV saying they were expecting lower numbers than previous years, from the 20-25k range. However, Lucasfilm and Reed can?t help but be satisfied that they exceeded their expectations by 5,000 or so, and I honestly believe the location had everything to do with it.

Move CVI to spring prior to the major cons, but keep it in Orlando and I think you?ll rival CIV in terms of attendance.

I knew a lot of people who were put off by the fact that it was August/Orlando because they had previously done that combination or lived through that type of weather. Yes, for a con, you are inside the convention center most of the time. But with that heat/humidity, it cuts down on most people's outdoor walkability range. If you can't walk more than 5 minutes without soaking your clothes with sweat, that's a turnoff for a lot of people. And since there's not much within 5 minutes of walking distance to the entrances of the OCCC that were actually used (A/B and C), your ability to go out to get lunch or dinner with friends is now limited to private cars, shuttles, rental cars and taxis.

A lot of people have said that it was fine except when they were outside.
Why not pick a place that is fine inside and outside?

Like others said, Indianapolis and San Diego (and Columbus) have good downtown convention centers, where there are lots of walkable options next to the convention center for dining, hotels, nightlife, and fun - though parking tends to be a premium.

Orlando had a great convention center, but unless you had wheels, your options for dinner were pretty limited.

Did all of you miss the restaurants/shopping/movie theater(Imax) that were right across the street from the convention center? There were a lot of places to eat at all different price points.

And in terms of things to do in the area (driving distance), it's hard to beat Disney, Downtown Disney, Universal, and Seaworld.

I was kind of wondering the same thing. I walked past or rode the shuttle past countless restaurants every day. If you stayed at the Peabody or either Rosen property you may have felt like walking more than 50 yards was too far since you were right on top of the OCCC, but the rest of us who stayed a little farther out (even within 1 mile) were right in the middle of tons of great places to eat and socialize.

Just because it wasn't a "downtown" I think some people thought you couldn't walk anywhere. Not sure why. Yet I bet if you were in any downtown and someone told you that a cool bar to meet at was 4-5 blocks away, you'd think nothing of walking. Well, in the average city, I'm pretty sure that 4-5 blocks is usually about a mile in most US downtowns.

Where we were in Orlando, it was just under 2 miles from the Peabody to the Wyndham. Between those two hotels were a LOT of restaurants and things to do.

Actually, all of the restaurants, movie theater, etc were right in between the Peabody and Rosen Plaza.

Just on International Drive between the convention center and the Wet and Wild I saw two IHOPs, two Denny's, two TGIFriday's within a mile, in addition to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, the Wonderworks, a couple of themed dinner theaters, a go-cart track. That whole area looked nice, clean and safe too. I didn't go to anything else though because I was in town for STAR WARS Celebration V, which was an all-day and all-night event for four days. The times I wasn't there I just needed to sleep to get up the next mornings. I didn't need to do anything else, and liked cocooning myself away within STAR WARS (and Disney) for four days for a true vacation. Going to Walgreen's for batteries and Denny's for breakfast one morning almost took me out of the experience. Dining options were limited inside the convention center, but I'd much prefer to share a table with someone in a stormtrooper's outfit eating a pizza any day.

Don't blame Orlando or the shuttles because you and your friend stayed far away from each other.