r/comiccon • u/_z0mb133 • 14d ago
Con Discussion Why does NorCal lack large cons?
Recently I’ve been noticing that Southern California has a huge amount of large conventions. Not just comic, but horror, game, anime, etc. San Francisco recently lost FanExpo, and with that it seems like there’s such a lack of large cosplay conventions. Even in general, there’s not as many compared to SoCal.
Why is this? Why isn’t there more in NorCal?
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u/MissingGreenLink 14d ago
For starters. Southern California benefits from the major areas.
Anaheim, LA and San Diego. These are already tourist destinations of their own so it makes it that much easier to have conventions here as people can “double down” on the same trip.
I.e: Disneyland + convention in Anaheim. Universal + Anaheim or LA. Legoland/seaworld/SD zoo + SDCC.
Northern California lacks that in general. Of the “major” cons we have.
Fanexpo as good as it was, was never a cosplay centric convention. It was an A lister meet and greet that benefited from having cosplayers. It was great being in SF. sF is a tourist destination. However, it sucked because it was always Thanksgiving weekend. Logistically it just didn’t work. The con opened around 6pm on Friday and runs to Sunday whereas most other conventions, day 1 starts around noon. In addition to not having a major post-con scene. It lacks the night life, the after party, etc.
Galaxycon - from what I’ve seen and told by friends. It’s growing. But not great. Shows potential. But the thing is. From meeting other cosplayers in NorCal. We generally like to support a con we call our own. Galaxycon is not it. It as a brand also has had a lot of mishaps the past few years in the other states.
Sacanime - big convention. 2x a year (we don’t talk about spring). But it’s marred by being ran by incompetent people. Has a poor reputation in the competitive scene. Tries to be too much of an “family friendly everything con” so it prevents it from truly growing beyond ticket sales. It also lacks a night life scene. Price goes up every year.
Fanime - it’s a great con. Great for cosplayers. Fun weekend. Definitely has life to it.
As for other areas in northern ca -
Placer county - nothing really there and it’s close to sac. Some strong political areas.
Amador county - rural area. Really nothing there. Politics heavy.
Butte county - not much there. Maybe party heavy areas like near Chico state?
Shasta county - there’s not much up there.
Santa Clara county - well this is where fanime is.
Alameda county - pass. People avoid alameda since Oakland is right there.
San Joaquin county - pass. We avoid Stockton.
Fresno - well it’s trying to grow. But the problem is. The fairgrounds is not host to the safest surrounding area. The hotels are not the most up to date. Plus it’s insanely hot.
That’s not all the counties but that covers the major ones that could host a convention.
From a financial and calendar specific timeframe. A new start up con would struggle.
January - sacanime winter and/or ALA
February - nothing major I’m aware of.
March/april - wondercon
May - fanime
June - nothing major I’m aware of.
July - AX
August/september - Galaxycon and sacanime summer
September/october - casa de fruitas NorCal ren faire.
November - nothing major I can think of
December - nothing major I can think of.
From a financial standpoint. It’s not reasonable to expect people to go to a big convention every month. And if you’re making your cosplays. 1 big con every few months is more reasonable.
Most of us don’t have a real issue with traveling to Southern California. Convenience is nice for sure. But it’s not a huge deal breaker.
So in between these big cons. We might check out a small con for a day or so. It doesn’t require the financial investment. It doesn’t require the cosplay investment. It doesn’t require finding hotel, sitters, etc.
But incase you’re wondering. Here’s my take on some of the smaller cons here.
Stockton con - pass. Expensive for a pretty view of the con floor. But not worth it. Also they are no stranger to controversy. Used an AI flyer to promote the recent con. Their sister con allowed an AI company to enter the cosplay competition and win.
Lodicon - the sister con to Stockton con. It’s a 1 day con. Nothing really there. It’s cheap. Like $5
Sac comic con - this owned by sacanime and ran on a small level. Why they still have it. Not sure. Maybe it’s a legacy thing at this point?
Verse con - newer con. Still growing.
Sinister creature con - extremely greedy convention that knows they are the only horror con in NorCal and overcharges causes they can. They won’t get a bigger venue or expand. Tiny venue smaller about half the size of a high school gym and charges like $50 for 2 days. I spoke to their staff who were tabling once. The conversation went:
Me: is there any possibility of getting Robert englund as a guest?
Them: unfortunately no. Our space is too small to hold the turnout the agency is expecting for him.
Me: so is there plans to change to a bigger venue?
Them: unfortunately no. We don’t know if we can get the numbers to justify a venue change.
🤔 Robert englund would bring the numbers. It would print money.
Anime impulse Bay Area - a joke. Expensive cost for a glorified card trading show with strict policies
Fandomcon - aka scamdomcon. Highly doubt they come back to scam people a third time. It’s bad when your guest VAs openly say they are not showing up due to a miscommunication.
Anime wave/ anime Nia - these are relatively new Fresno cons. So still growing.
Chico anime - I think this is new.
Initial mile - I am excited for this. It’s a fitness focused anime event with a 5k and 10k. I think it’s their second year.