By: ~The Volunteer~ Additional reporting by Attendee 1
I have been to Holiday Matsuri in the past, and always had fun.
This is a con that many looks at the final call of the con season. Relax. Get a little loose. Celebrate the holidays in a geeky fashion.
Last year; I decided to volunteer for Matsuri because I loved the con, and was hoping to be a part of this great con.
My views had changed this weekend.
By: ~The Artist~ & ~The Guardsman~
Additional writing and interviewing by ~Attendee 2~
You would think our first major article on this blog would be about this weekend’s Metrocon, or last weekend’s Tampa Bay Comic Con and the security snafu that they had. It’s not even about the past Super Con in Fort Lauderdale
Our actual story is about Megacon. Now the convention has already past in Orlando and the next one won’t be until September/October in Tampa. Our reason for talking about Megacon is about a bigger issue that is having, or will have, an adverse effect on conventions here in Florida.
For those of you who don’t know: Megacon is a yearly convention that’s held in Orlando,
Florida and it has been since the 1990s. It has been a Florida convention staple, and working hand and hand with the local geek community at large, and has recently expanded to host a show in Tampa Bay.
Recently, the convention was purchased by a Public limited company known as Informa, a publishing and events company, based out of London.
Now there is nothing inherently wrong with businesses operated with the company or person in-charge not living in Florida. Many conventions do this (Mizucon, Finalcon, and Minecon 2013), and some convention organizers from Florida will host conventions outside of the state (Supercon in North Carolina).
The bigger issue is conventions that are being operated by major corporations or businesses. The concern is based on what happens when a corporation steps in and runs conventions.
Megacon in the past has been a key player in the convention community in Florida, and the Orlando geek community. They have worked with local fan groups and panelists to put on a great show, and their nighttime and after hours shows were always top notch.
However, after it was announced that Megacon was sold to Informa in 2015, there were some immediate concerns with entertainers, dealers, and staffers. Many had wondered if their contracts were going to be carried over to the new owners. Artists and dealers had to meet with organizers, during the convention in 2015 to renew and review contracts that were signed and in place for 2016.
Many entertainers that were also lined up for 2016 had received little to no contact from the new organizers, or were asked for a step-back on demands.
One former cosplay guest for Megacon 2016, who wishes to not be identified, was asked if they could find another way to the convention as the flights was expensive, after the guest was told that they would be flown out for the convention. Another issue was that the organizers could not communicate with the guests as often, because they were busy organizing other conventions.
This led to information and last minute, messy, confirmations.
There was also a major change in the programming to the convention itself. The convention during its first year under Informa (2015), the convention was moved to a smaller venue. Keep in mind, in 2014 they had hit record numbers to the point that Orlando traffic patterns were severely challenged because of the influx of attendees.
Line control was also mismanaged. The only time there was any control was during Stan Lee’s Q&A. But, during other panels, lines, and waits; scuffles were happening because of people skipping.
There was no game room, which, while is not a requirement for a convention, was always present at Megacon. Attendees that were hoping to spend time at one, had to find a alcove in the convention hall itself, and make a gamers den with gear and equipment brought from home.
However, the biggest and most jarring change, was the cutoff time of events.
There are now little to no events past 8 PM, and any other events that are past that time, are either off site or separately ticketed. There are even some panels that you need to pay to enter.
While now there are strides to make conventions family, friendly, fun; there are others that want to have late night fun and enjoy more time at the convention, while not hurting their wallet, and getting more bang for their buck.
This has led to a common complaint, that Megacon was only good to shop at and meet guests, but not worth the rising ticket prices.
Photo ops with guests have increased, and some celebrity panels and Q&A panels were a separate ticket. Meaning on top of the weekend pass, and parking, and hotel, and other fees; you still gotta pay for the “DLC”.
While recently this has slightly changed, there has still been one major issue: little to no
community involvement.
In the past, it was easy to be a part of Megacon, as a panelist, entertainer, host, event runner, or more. However, many of that has been outsourced to others in Informas convention sphere.
According to Informa PLC’s annual 2015 report, it lists Megacon as nothing more than a
financial acquisition.
While there hasn’t been any major monetary issues from Megacon to report on yet: there was an issue before with another convention that is owned by a corporate entity: Wizard World.
While Wizard World started running events in 1991, they really pushed their convention
numbers in 2008, about the time conventions really began to saturate the market. This was a major concern for local conventions, as it could take away attendees and money from local conventions, and have a negative impact on the scene. One issue was that many fan communities and local panelists had to pay to be a part of the show. Some fan groups paid upwards to $600 for a table, and the tables were often hidden.
Boycott groups were set up to make people aware of this unknown issue.
Wizard world did take a major hit. 2015, Wizard World had a $4.25 million loss, and began to scale back its conventions.
We asked Aaron Pabon, a Florida convention entertainer and convention consultant if there were any positives to corporate owned conventions.
The only positives Pabon mentioned was that they will have larger budgets for more events and guests. Also more resources from other conventions, and can work with conventions related to the parent companies.
This sound like personal positives to the owners, but not the public.
Pabon did follow up with “The key issue is that the event itself is no longer locally owned and operated. Any profits are not kept locally, and are instead floated around to the other
conventions. Also any deals the convention has made with local vendors, guests, or other
conventions could be canceled. Most of the work can be outsourced to non-locals. If the corporation feels that the convention is not viable in profits, they could stop convention
operations, and stop running events in the area.”
That last bit is the most worrisome.
Should Informa decide that Megacon, or any of the convention they own are not worth their time or money; they could just stop running them. Also, since they now own the name Megacon, if they decide to end for BS financial reasons, then Megacon could cease to exist.
Our final call to action: let’s put more support for locally owned, fan conventions, and not these corporately, businesses owned ones.
Sources:
https://informa.com/Documents/Investor%20Relations/Annual%20Report/Informa-Annual-Report-2015.pdf
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/11/22/wizard-world-to-run-out-of-money-in-2017/
EDITED FOR CLARITY AND GRAMMER Aug 7, 2017
I have tried exposing what has been happening at conventions, but little to no change has happened.
At the most, more issues are being had, and I have realized that almost nothing can be done from my end.
Cons are failing and people are still helping the ones that are harming the rest.
As for me, I’m done fighting.
I will keep my identify to myself, but I have grown to trust a few, and if they want to continue this fight, so be it.
All help from the sidelines.
If you still believe that Cons can be saved, here are a few that I would recommend still going to:
-MegaCon
-ChibiPa
-Ultracon
-KaoticKon
-MiniCon
My only message left is, make you cons for the fans, support the under dog, and if you don’t like a con, don’t go.
Almost a week after my interview with Mike Broder, the situation has continued to increase on many sides.
It has made me push aside reviewing conventions, so I could continue updating people on the subject.
Some have given Broder praise for the interview, with his support for the college con community, others have new views on Jason David Frank, others would say turd metaphors.
I plan on doing continuing research on the things that Broder has mentioned in the interview, but at the moment, the question on everyones minds is:
What will happen to Chibi Pa?
Jason Bailey has always been open about his number in the monetary side, and attendee side. Jason has always had successful events, even with hotel issues and being lightly in the red in return revenue, but his numbers have slowly increased. However, with the issues of multiple cons planed in the same month and close proximity (Animate!) Chibi Pa will more then likely take a hit.
The only way to combat this is to hope (in my opinion) that people will take a side for the underdog, and help Chibi Pa.
As for the facebook page Animate Miami, Please Change Your Dates, Jennifer Rose, the page founder, has responded with the banned/conversation she had with Broder.
The following is from her post on the Animate Miami, Please Change Your Dates page:
“In response to Part 3 of the interview of Mr. Broder that has been posted on YouTube, I decided to post these screenshots of all the correspondences and posts I have made. Never did I curse at Mr. Broder. I don’t think that I was aggressive either. I was as respectful as I could be, in my opinion. But I will leave it up to you all to decide. And if any of you do feel like I was rude or mean, then I apologize. However, all I’ve wanted to do is make Animate aware of the situation and then once they were, then I asked them to please move their dates. *sigh* Anyways, here they are. Kind regards, Jenn”
She has asked Broder for a formal apology, however, she has yet to receive one.
“I would like to be more cheerful, but after the correspondence I just had with Mr. Broder, I am finding it impossible.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I talked to him, and told him that I’d like an apology for some of the things he said in the interview, as I thought they were not true. Well, despite my best efforts, it did not go well. *sigh* And I will not hold my breath for an apology.
It’s a bunch of senseless drama. I’m left shaking my head in wonder how our respectful petitioning could have been sucked into such a black hole. I do not want to be disrespected, nor have anyone else treated poorly, because we dared to ask for something. So, I will no longer try to communicate with Mr. Broder or petition Animate for anything. I won’t be going to his events, not this year or ever again. But I do hope that those who go to Animate have a great time, get to see friends and guests, and enjoy it. I will see you all at other conventions or speak with you all in groups, message boards, or meetups.
For those curious as to why I have made this decision to remove myself from the fray or just want to know what happened, below I have included the text from our quite lengthy correspondence.
I thank you all again for your support. I hope everyone takes time to get involved in our community. Yes, sometimes it does not turn out well. But even so, I think it’s necessary to be a part of shaping our environment, instead of just letting it mold us.”
-The foolwing is the messages between Jennifer Rose and Mike Broder. (Jennifer’s Text is in Italics, Mike’s is Bold)
“Mr. Broder,
I expect an apology from you for your false statement that I cursed at you when I never have. I also would like you to clarify by what definition you would classify my actions as aggressive. Here are your options, provided by dictionary.com:
“1. characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing: aggressive acts against a neighboring country. 2. making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive: an aggressive basketball player. 3. vigorously energetic, especially in the use of initiative and forcefulness: an aggressive salesperson. 4. boldly assertive and forward; pushy: an aggressive driver. 5. emphasizing maximum growth and capital gains over quality, security, and income: an aggressive mutual fund. 6.Medicine/Medical . a. (of a disease or tumor) spreading rapidly or highly invasive; difficult or impossible to treat successfully. b. pertaining to a risky surgery or treatment, or to a medication that has grave side effects: aggressive chemotherapy.”
I could understand my actions being classified as aggressive in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th senses of the word. However, I think most would understand your comments to connote the 1st. I never attacked you, offended you, or anything like that. In return, you painted me and my efforts in a negative light in part 3 of the most recent interview with Johnny Doe. Also, even if only 50 people liked my page, that’s nothing to sniff at. Every person has value, Mr. Border. Please remember that.
So, I request that you apologize. Please feel free to message me back at your earliest convenience.
Thanks, Jenn “
“I don’t believe I said you cursed at me
Your actions were aggressive. I attempted to discuss with you rationally in a private conversation
You continued to barrage my public facebook pages after I made several attempts to converse with you
I believe I said that you were free to make the page, and attempt to get as many people as possible to it… but that I would not allow your crusade to be done on our social media pages.
At a certain point, after continued aggressive tactics from you to our organization, there is no other option but to ban and delete you from posting on our pages
As you have seen, and can see.. I make every attempt to discuss problems and concerns with any attendee. I attempted that with you, and you made it clear thru your actions that it was not enough”
“Mr. Broder,
Please see the following text from the interview which I transcribed in part:
“And then she… then she gets aggressive on my Facebook page. And I’m going to tell you that I will… I will… I will have civil discourse on my Facebook page. But I won’t… I won’t allow… allow like attacks. Like when people get aggressive or use strong curse language or are you know, really just… angry. Yeah, I’m gonna delete… I’m gonna delete you based on what you say I may ban you.”
You implied that my discourse was not civil; that I attacked you; and that my posts belonged in the category of those who were aggressive, used strong curse language, and/or were just really angry. I’m glad you acknowledge that I did not curse at you then, and you can understand why I and others have mistakenly inferred that you were saying I had. But please, explain further what aspects of my posts were aggressive, because I fail to see it.
Additionally, I did not “continue to barrage” your public Facebook pages after you “made several attempts” to talk with me. To demonstrate this clearly, I have created a timeline of my posts and our correspondences.
5/28/14 – About 9:12pm on Supercon’s Page “Hello, can you please change your dates for Animate!Miami? The ones you rescheduled to, November 14-16, 2014, is the week before Chibi-Pa: Suki Desu’s, November 21-23rd. Because the venues are so close to one another, fans would have to choose between the two and that just doesn’t make sense. Thanks for your time. ^.^ – Jenn”
5/28/14 – 9:44pm on Animate’s Page “Animate Miami, please change your dates!!! “
5/29/14 – 12:54am on Animate’s Page “Sorry if there’s more than one of these, but I can’t find the other posts I made.”
5/29/14 – 1:10am on Supercon’s Page In response to my original post, Florida Supercon wrote, “Jennifer: We appreciate your concern. We know that Chibi Pa has a dedicated group of fans, and hope they can enjoy both shows… just like last year, when Chibi Pa hosted a show the week before Supercon. I think it worked out for everyone. There should be plenty of time for everyone to save up for both, and have fun two weekends in a row.”
5/29/14 – 1:12am on Supercon’s Page In response to your response, I wrote, “You just copied and pasted those words after using them to respond to someone else. And why did you block me from the Animate!Miami page? Did I say something wrong?”
5/29/14 – 1:33am on Animate’s Page “Thank you for unblocking me. I don’t know why I was, but I apologize if I said anything wrong. This is my fourth post here, and the only one that has not been deleted (so far). I created the page, Animate, please change your dates., to make you guys aware that your dates are now the week right before Chibi Pa’s. And since you just changed them, I humbly request that you change them again to a weekend not so close. I realize that there are attendees with the stamina and money to go to conventions back to back. I admire them as I personally am so exhausted when Sunday of conventions come along that I cannot imagine having the energy to do another one the very next weekend. But I think more fans are like me, maybe its vain to think so, and can’t keep up like that. Well, I guess what I’m getting at is that it doesn’t make sense to jump right in front of another convention like that. And so I’d ask you guys at Animate to think about it from that perspective. Thanks for listening. – Jenn”
5/29/14 – 1:43am via Messages You wrote, “Jennifer: Like I mentioned earlier. I hear what you have to say, and I appreciate your interest in both shows. That being said, we have our dates set based on talent and convention center availability. We cannot change our dates. We are also aware that Chibi-Pa has a lot of fans, and we hope they can enjoy both shows. There was a similar situation last year, when Chibi-Pa had a show the week before Supercon, and I don’t think it affected anyone negatively. I hope that is the same case with this situation”
5/29/14 – 8:40pm on Supercon’s Page “Please don’t censor me. Humbly, I ask you to consider our request. Thank you! – Jenn”
Please note that my last post to your pages was made before I looked at your message to me. After seeing it, I posted the following response:
5/29/14 – 8:50pm via Messages “Hello Mike! Thank you for taking time to talk with me about this. I’m really glad I could help bring it to your attention. I wanted to let you know that I completely understand what you mean about the difficulties of scheduling, but I really hope to persuade you to reconsider. I can remember how strong of a supporter you were for Hurricon when Chibi Pa accidentally booked an event for the same weekend. You argued then that it wasn’t right and would hurt Hurricon. It was your championing of the problem that brought it to light so it could be remedied. My hope has been to do the same thing here. Back then, Chibi took your words as well as the attendee’s thoughts and constraints to heart and changed its dates, even thought it was difficult. Chibi was able to score the only other weekend at the hotel left open. I believe the same logic applies to this case where Animate! Miami has been rescheduled to the weekend right before Chibi Pa. It would hurt both conventions and inconvenience attendees who want to just want to enjoy all the opportunities they can to connect with people who like the same stuff. So please think about it some more. I’m sure here is a better solution and we can overcome this challenge as a community. Thank you for listening! Best Wishes, Jenn” 5/29/14 – 9:07pm via Messages You wrote, “Yes, you are correct… I was a strong advocate when Chibi-Pa booked their show on the same date as Hurricon… they moved their show to the week before Supercon. I had no problem with that, and did not say anything to the contrary.”
I have not posted to neither the Animate!Miami page nor the Supercon website since I started communicating with you via messages. So please explain how I “continued to barrage” your Facebook pages after you “made several attempts” to talk with me. I clearly ceased posting on your pages after I received your message. If that was you who posted as “Florida Supercon” then no, I did not stop after your response there as it was a generic response that was sent to others and I didn’t feel like I had actually been heard. Add that to the realization that my posts were being deleted and that I had been banned from the Animate page, and what was I supposed to do but keep trying to petition Animate to properly address our request?
In my continued attempts, I was respectful. And even though you never asked me not to post on your pages, I stopped once we began a formal dialogue – once I knew who I could speak with to voice my position on the matter. Now in regards to your other statements from the interview, here are my responses to each: “Your girl Jennifer Rose, I think that that is the name? So she is the one who created the facebook page. This is the person I banned. She posted on multiple pages, we have this page, please stop.” I was never asked not to post on your pages.
“So I engaged her in conversation. She thanked me for discussing with her and I said to her, you know, anytime you want to talk to me, you can. And she’s free to promote uh… she’s free to promote her facebook page wherever she wants, but not on my page.” You did engage me in conversation, and I did thank you, but you did not say I could talk to you anytime. It’s good to hear now, though, and I’m glad you’ve taken the time to speak with me. Again, you never asked me not to post on your page. Regardless, I didn’t anymore.
“So, you… you want to get an audience, so you go get an audience. But I’m not… I’m not going to give you an audience. It’s not… there’s no reason for me to give you an audience. Just like her, she wants to get an audience for what she’s doing. Well, don’t take it off my page.” I did want an audience… with the staff of Animate. Gathering other voices to make a louder noise to get our petition heard is natural. Groups of people have more power than a single person. It also shows that it is something that more than just a few people desire. That is activism. Once I had the opportunity to speak with you formally, I moved the dialogue there.
“What happened with her is that after I talked to her multiple times she continued to post on the page and got aggressive about it and then called me… called me out and said you can’t quiet us.” This is false. As I have stated, I stopped posting on your pages. I didn’t get aggressive or call you out. I never said you can’t quiet us. Please retract your statements here, as they are inaccurate.
“So, what am I supposed to do after multiple e-mails with her back and forth saying hey, I hear ya. We can talk about this. I’ll tell ya whatever ya wanna know. After we have that discussion, and she keeps posting, and I keep deleting and going hey, I thought we discussed this. And then she… then she gets aggressive on my facebook page.” Again, your statements are untrue. I did not post anything to your pages after we first began our discussion, so there’s nothing for you to have deleted. You never went, “hey, I thought we discussed this” and I never got aggressive on your Facebook page. It doesn’t make sense in the order of events and the facts. So, I would like an apology. I have been nothing but civil with you, I have not said a word against you, and I have conducted myself properly in each step of our petition.
“And, you know, I expect, I expect to be treated, I exp… I’ll be civil with you, but I… I would prefer… I would like to be treated civil back. And the Jennifer girl didn’t do that. She didn’t abi… didn’t abi… She was a lot of posts, man. By the time I just said. I’m just done with this, I’m not… I’m not going to play whack a mole with you anymore.” This is incredibly false. I treated you civilly, much more so than you have treated me. I challenge you to provide a single example where I have not given you, and everyone else who has made comments on this matter, with respect. I would not like to be disparaged by being portrayed as anything but who I am. And so, I would like you to clarify your statements or apologize.
As always, thank you for your time.
“yes.. i said when people curse on our page, I ban and delete them. I did not say YOU cursed. I included you in a blanket statement about what we will allow on our Facebook page
and yes… I was not going to play whack a mole with you anymore.
Now.. if you’ll excuse me… I have to go back to work on our event for next month.”
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
~The Blogger~
Here is my interview with Mike Broder (Supercon, Animate, Pinned, Magic City Comic Con).
In part 1, I ask him about the controversy / feud between him and Jason Bailey (Chibi Pa, CGA shows).
In part 2, I ask him about his relationship with Hurricon, why he started Supercon, Anime Supercon, then Animate and what is Magic City Comic Con and the difference between it and Supercon.
In part 3, I ask him if he is aware of the facebook group Animate Please Change Your Dates, people getting banned on his pages or groups, and people associated with Supercon attacking with opinions about other cons online.
In part 4, I ask him about Hollicon and issues with guests (Jason David Frank).
In the last part, I ask if he has anything to say to the public.
Let me know what you think.
~The Blogger~
I was going to post something about Florida Anime Experience, but due to some heave online chatter (which some of you may have read about prior) I had to switch gears.
This year, on January 17-19, Animate! Miami was held. The event was a success and plans were to have it again in 2015 on January 16-18.
That was the plan at least.
Instead, Mike Broder has changed the Animate! Miami event to another event he is hosting (that make 4 if you count Supercon, Animate!, and Pinned). The new event is called Magic City Comic Con.
But what about Animate!? Is it gone like Anime Supercon?
Some of you know what’s going on today involving Broder and Animate! And Bailey and ChibiPa.
Expect something from me today. Getting as much info as I can.
In the comments section of the Megacon 2014 review, I received a comment from an anonymous user calling him/her self “Whats in a Name”challenging me to review BelleCON.
I was not expecting to drive to Jacksonville, but, for a con to challenge this critic, why not.
Hurricon was this past weekend, and frankly, was 50/50 about the con.
It was very basic. Both fun, but also found myself bored as well. Mostly because of the lack of events that appealed to me.
Hurricon was organized by the University of Miami Anime Club, and has been going on for three years.
The first time I went was their first year, and it felt like a first year college con, as it was. They had no idea what they were doing, but made sure people had fun.
This year, UM would not allow them to due to the cost and new protocols at their new student center (according to the Miami Hurricon Facebook page).
But, south Floridas only free anime con (Yasumicon being the first) would be saved by…
[Insert Drum Roll]
Khaotic Kon (April 11-13) made me realize something.
I am an adult.
I was walking around the con, and realised that I was surrounded by 21 year olds and younger.
While it came as a shock to me, being in my late 20’s, I realised who these smaller cons are for. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, I am having a realization that age may be a factor in the attendees and type of venue. Despite my age, I had a great time.
Now back to the review.
FL cons blog 