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A long ago Wizard World con schedule included stops at New Jersey and Cincinnati—venues that never panned out. But it seems the con biz is going so well that Wizard is adding two shows to its sched: WW St. Louis Comic Con March 22-24 , and WW Nashville Comic Con October 18-20. Both seem promising venues for the pop culture/autograph/comics shows that Wizard has been having great success with of late. Both shows will feature the familiar guests lineup of Stan Lee, Dean Cain, Lando Calrissian, et al.

Nashville was on Wizard’s old list of expansion cities, so this is a plan long held. Some former cities like Los Angeles and Boston that have challenging con situations or a lot of local competition, haven’t been added back however. It’s fun to compare the list in this link with the current schedule.

PR below:

Wizard World, Inc. (PK.WIZD) today announced the addition of shows in St. Louis and Nashville to its 2013 schedule of pop culture conventions, with Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con set to make its debut March 22-24 at America’s Center and Wizard World Nashville Comic Con debuting October 18-20 at Music City Center. Popular Wizard World celebrity guests Stan Lee, Dean Cain, James Marsters, Ernie Hudson, Billy Dee Williams and Jason David Frank are the early celebrity roster headliners at both events.

Additional celebrities, artists, exhibitors and other attractions will be announced in the coming weeks.

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St. Louis and Nashville fit comfortably in the 2013 Wizard World calendar, which also currently includes shows in Portland, Ore. (Feb. 22-24), Philadelphia (May 30 – June 2), Chicago (Aug. 8-11), Columbus, Ohio (Sept. 20-22), and Austin, Texas (Nov. 22-24). Wizard World has also scheduled its next New Orleans date (Feb. 7-9, 2014).

Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, comics, toys, video gaming, television, sci-fi, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. St. Louis Comic Con show hours are Friday, March 22, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, March 23, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 24, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Nashville Comic Con will take place on Friday, Oct. 18, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 19, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

For more on the 2013 Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con, visit http://www.wizardworld.com/home-stlouis.html. For Nashville Comic Con information, visit http://www.wizardworld.com/home-nashville.html.

About Wizard World:
Wizard World produces Comic Cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate graphic novels, comic books, movies, TV shows, gaming, technology, toys and social networking. The events often feature celebrities from movies and TV, artists and writers, and events such as premieres, gaming tournaments, panels, and costume contests.

The full event schedule can be found at www.wizardworld.com.

***** SAVE THE 2013-14 DATES *****
February 22-24 – Wizard World Portland Comic Con
March 22-24 – Wizard World St. Louis Comic Con
May 30 – June 2 – Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con
August 8-11 – Wizard World Chicago Comic Con
September 20-22 – Wizard World Ohio Comic Con
October 18-20 – Wizard World Nashville Comic Con
November 22-24 – Wizard World Austin Comic Con
February 7-9, 2014 – Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con

 

14 COMMENTS

  1. Haven’t been to a Con in 2 years, what with changing jobs, buying a house, slaving away to forward pay on the mortgage…

    I think I will get out in 2013. Nearest one to me is MegaCon and the dearest to my heart is FanExpo.

  2. It’ll be interesting to see how Wizard World St. Louis does. I know a lot of people who are really excited about it, including many who used to make the drive to Wizard World Chicago but decided that it was no longer worth the expense. Being able to sleep in your own bed instead of paying for a hotel and gas for a 600-mile round trip makes a pretty big difference.

    It’ll also be interesting to see the effect this has on our other convention, Project Comic Con, a much smaller con that has gotten a lot of good will in the area despite some growing pains and difficulty in finding a proper venue. America’s Center–being both downtown and an actual convention center–is a much more logical place to hold a con than the hotel ballrooms in the ‘burbs that Project has been using, but Wizard (so far, at least) has a pretty limited number of comics guests so who knows if they can draw a big enough crowd to justify the space?

    All I know is I’ve already registered for my Artist’s Alley table. Heh.

  3. This reads like an ad for Wizard (the stuff before Wizard’s PR blurb)…Wizard has lousy financials and is in pretty big trouble as a company…and I see no mention of the quietly canceled Toronto show…

  4. Nashville:
    http://nashvillemusiccitycenter.com/
    Brand new, slated to open in 2013.

    (Google Maps shows it under construction, just south of the Bridgestone Arena. OxBlue has a construction cam. The previous convention center was never very successful… the Opryland Resort overshadowed it…SWEET JEEBUS! It’s Las Vegas without the casino! 363,000 sq.ft. of exhibition space. Six ballrooms, 2800 rooms. 10 minutes from the airport.)

    Lots of parking!
    Lots of meeting rooms, especially on the Second Floor.
    The exhibit halls are on the Third Floor (!) and total 353,000 sq.ft.
    A separate ballroom can seat 6,300.

    Nashville is 4 hours from St. Louis, so the two shows can twin. Also four hours from Atlanta, Indianapolis; three hours from Birmingham, Memphis. Not a bad location for a regional convention.

  5. Torsten: the St. Louis Auto Show regularly uses the football stadium in lieu of taking up all of the halls. (At least they did the last time I went to the auto show, which was admittedly a few years ago.) Probably because, well, it’s pretty cool to walk around on a professional football field. And hell, the Rams certainly won’t be using the field in March…

  6. Nice article! I like that you folks have taken an objective standpoint on this. I know in the past, you’ve probably not gotten along with Wizard World (or some of yr writers, at least), but I do like the journalistic attitude in this one. :)

    Also, I agree with Jason, Alex. All this article has done as far as PR is show WW’s PR statement. They even mention it’s a PR statement.

    Besides, just like any company, the harder WW works at improving local relations and drawing more comic talent (e.g. Kevin Eastman, Kurt Busiek) and celeb guests (e.g. Dean Cain, CM Punk, Bruce Campbell), the better business will be. And now, they’re trying to appeal to markets that do not get many events like this. I like that they’re trying to repair damage done by mistakes of the past by making good.

  7. I attended the first Wizard World Chicago show (right after they purchased it) and enjoyed it. But I think that was more of like when a college team changes coaches…the players keep playing, but slowly the quality suffers.

    I attended the Big Apple “Con Wars” show a few years ago, in an unheated pier on a cold rainy October day. Too much money, too little quality or worth. But I bit my tongue when Mr. Shamus walked by.

    Management has changed, so I will give them an honest-and-open second chance the next time the opportunity arises. I do support their business plan, and hope they or someone else fills the “comics-show-as-auto-show” void, perhaps with a weekly schedule of various guests. This week, Omaha; next week, Amarillo; the week after, Spokane… So that retailers can take one week out of every 4-8 weeks to travel to a regional show. (I know of one Omaha retailer who traveled to WW N’Orleans this month.)

    I’d also like to see them replace/improve on the “hotel bazaar” model. While the Internet has replaced much of the excitement of discovery once experienced at comics shows, there is something to be said about the giant “comics shop” one finds at shows.

  8. Good to see St Lou getting a show. (And it’s not the same weekend as C2E2.) I’d like to attend one day, but $40 a ticket is steep. Especially when I don’t do much outside of
    1. look for back issue bargains (and my want list is extremely small)
    2. browse artist alley (browse being the key word)
    3. get a few select autographs (the entertainment guests are not for me, I go for the comic guests)

    I’ll wait until I get a better idea of who is coming before I commit.

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