Building on the rapid success of their New York Comic Con (NYCC), Reed Exhibitions is now launching a Chicago-based sibling. The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) will debut the weekend of 16-18 April 2010, at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. The new show will be structured in the spirit of NYCC which Reed launched in 2006. C2E2 comes “in response to significant customer demand. Reed officials note that customers of NYCC have frequently and repeatedly asked Reed Exhibitions to bring a major pop culture event to downtown Chicago,” said publicist Roger Bilheimer.
“We are delivering this event for the industry and for the fans,” said NYCC Show Manager and Vice President Lance Fensterman, who will also oversee C2E2. “We have heard their wishes and we are thrilled to bring what we hope will be another massive comic and pop culture event, in the spirit of New York Comic Con, to an eager audience in Chicago and the entire Midwest. With April dates in place for Chicago, this has also provided us with a perfect opportunity to balance the sequence of our events by moving New York Comic to permanent dates in the fall.” This year’s NYCC is this coming weekend, 6-8 February, in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The next NYCC will be 8-10 October 2010. Reed says the October time for New York Comic Con is “sustainable and will be permanent to avoid shifting dates from year to year. Most importantly, the new dates will afford substantial growth opportunity within the Javits facility itself.”
That balanced calendar also takes into account non-Reed shows, such as the grandaddy of the media cons, the San Diego Comic Con, which this year will be 23-26 July, in San Diego.
Fensterman is planning a major launch for C2E2. “We plan to apply everything we have learned in launching and building New York Comic Con to our Chicago event and we intend for it to be a major attraction right out the gate. Of course, this not only means providing a customer friendly atmosphere but also providing dynamic programming that boasts top talent from across the pop culture spectrum, including artists, creators, and celebrities from Hollywood, TV, comics, books, video games, toys, anime, manga, and all other applicable aspects of the popular arts. But, most importantly, we will also seek to make adjustments so that our show reflects the essence of Chicago. This will be critically important. The city itself will form an important part of our identity.”
Reed officials noted that their ability to confidently launch C2E2 is an indication of how deeply embedded all aspects of pop culture have become in our society. In addition to New York Comic Con, Reed’s New York Anime Festival debuted in 2007, and it entered a strategic partnership with Penny Arcade (PAX) in 2008. Reed will be “working closely with PAX on the launch of PAX East in Boston in 2010. The emergence and growth of the pop culture segment of our business has been huge,” said Fensterman. “We are absolutely dedicated to this community and are thrilled to be delivering our customers what they have told us they need.”