Comic Con International, San Diego: Events Management

Introduction

The event chosen is Comic-Con International: San Diego. This case study is going to study about a brief history of Comic-Con International, which is held every year in San Diego. Further Research will be done, analyzing Comic-Con, using the event concept framework as well as a critical analysis of whether, Comic-Con is embedded into the tourism strategy of San Diego. Research will also be carried out, reflecting how Comic-Con incorporates and addresses contemporary issues that it faces in managing the event. Finally, the study will conclude with the findings of why, Comic-Con is an event of interest for many.

Introduction to Comic-Con International: San Diego

Background/History

Comic-Con International: San Diego was started in 1970, as a result of when a bunch of comic, movie and science fiction fans along with the late Shel Dorf, Ken Krueger and Richard Alf joined in a gathering and carried out the first comic book convention, in Southern California. It was started as a minicon on 21st March, 1970 and it was called San Diego Golden State Comic Minicon and was held in the U.S. Grant Hotel in Downtown San Diego. The main aim of this one day event, which further had 2 VIP guests, Forrest .J. Ackerman and Mike Royer and attracted around 100 attendees, was to generate funds and increase, the interest for a larger convention. The positive outcome of the minicon further led to the first complete 3 day San Diego Comic-Con which was called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con and it was held from August 1st – 3rd, 1970. It was held at the U.S. Grant Hotel and the VIP guests were Ray Bradbury, Jack Kirby and A.E. Van Vogt. Over 300 attendees cramped into the hotels basement for the innovative fun filled event, which included a dealers room, panels, film screenings and more which efficiently served as the model by which every comic book convention would follow.

Event Concept

The core task while planning an event is creating a clear Event Concept. According to Allen et al. (2008) the concept has to be efficient enough to fulfil the events purpose and adaptable enough to serve the entire variety of stakeholders and attainable within the accessible resources. Goldblatt(1997) put forth that the process of the event concept can be summed up by posing 5 important questions which he calls as the 5Ws of the event. The 5Ws are listed as: 1) Why must we hold this event?, 2) Who will be the stakeholders for this event?, 3) When will the event be held?, 4) Where will the event be held?, 5) What is the event product that is being developed and presented?. Therefore, here are the 5Ws answered with regards to Comic-Con International: San Diego.

1. Why must we hold this event? : Comic-Con International: San Diego must be held because according to Hellekson and Busse (2014) they play a key role in the carrying out of information about new releases and they promote comics, Sci-fi novels and new productions from different pop culture platforms. It is mainly important for film producers and TV shows as they conduct panels for the fans who attend where they show them, exclusive never before seen footage of the upcoming film/TV show. Its also just a fun place where fans come to meet other fans as one of the main reasons comic-con started was to have a place where comic geeks could meet and now it includes all forms pop culture forms.
2. Who will be the stakeholders for this event? : According to Allen et al. (2008) People and organisations with a genuine participation in the outcomes of an event is termed as a stake holders. The 2 categories of stakeholders are Primary and Secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders are those who are directly involved in the event whereas secondary stakeholders are indirectly involved in the event. The Primary stakeholders for Comic-Con will be the Sponsors, Employees, Security, Volunteers, Special Guests, Celebrities, Media and Suppliers. The Secondary stakeholders for Comic-Con are Media, Vendors, Competitors and Special Interest Groups.
3. When will the event be held? : The first ever Comic-Con took place on March 21, 1970. However after the 3 day Comic-Con which was held in the same year from August 1st to 3rd, it has happened at the same time every year.
4. Where will the event be held? : Comic-Con International: San Diego is presently held in the San Diego Convention Center which has been its venue since 1991. It had two venues prior to the present one.
5. What is the event product that is being developed and presented? : The ultimate product that Comic-Con has always wanted to portray was to create a sense of awareness and value for comics and similar pop-culture artforms through the demonstration of conventions and events that create a sense of celebration for the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture (Comic-Con International: San Diego, 2018).

Tourism Strategy

Tourism Strategy of San Diego

San Diego is presently undertaking a new Tourism strategy which was coined by the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, termed as Experience San Diego, Destination 2040 (previously known as the Destination Master Plan). This plan is the first ever destination master plan for the city of San Diego. This plan is to be implemented over the course of 20 years. It is ambitious but its strategies are reachable and focuses on attracting more number of visitors and increase how much, they spend. The plan concentrates on four key factors: Investing in new and current leisure and recreation assets, broadening MICE tourism, revamping transportation and investing in the San Diego brand to advance and extend its reach. The main aspect of focus in this tourism strategy is the leisure assets and events. Leisure Assets are distributed across various tourist attractions and lifestyle offerings. Attractions include beaches, theme parks, zoos and aquariums. Events represent an underlying opportunity to portray unique aspects of San Diego.

Comic-Con in the Tourism Strategy

In Recent years Comic-Con has attracted over 130,000 attendees from across the world annually. The main way that comic-con is embedded in the Tourism Strategy is the amount of media attention they receive every year which always attracts people. According to the Destination Master, Comic-Con is one of the signature events along side the Holiday Bowl and San Diego’s Beer Week. However, Comic-Con along with other Conventions and events only attract 6% of the visitors base but on a positive note, it is responsible for 27% of Visitors spending.

Contemporary Issues

Event Experience

According to Pine and Gilmore (1999), the experience economy of events is depicted by a model which has 4 typologies of the event experience which is further derived using two intersecting dimensions. The horizontal dimension depicts the consumer experience as either active or passive whereas the vertical dimension depicts the consumer experience as either absorbed or immersed.

With regards to the model, the case of Comic-Con has been taken to explain the figure above. If a fan at Comic-Con gets actively immersed in the event like during a meet and greet at a panel, it depicts an escapist event. If they are actively absorbed in the event, like during a panel for a TV show, it depicts an education event. A fan is passively immersed when they explore the live props of the venue, it portrays an aesthetic event. Finally, they are passively absorbed when watching a never before seen footage of an unreleased movie at a film panel and this is an entertainment event.

Crowd Control and Management

This is a key issue at events like Comic-Con. Crowd Control is a phenomenon where precautionary steps are taken after the event of a crowd going out of control and Crowd Management is a phenomenon that includes the assistance, implementation and movement of crowds, Allen et al. (2008). There are many ways to implement the smooth management of crowds at events. Comic-Con has a tendency to cause crowding to the extent of having stampedes. A way to manage this is increasing security and planning before hand to ensure that, there are enough barriers.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, Comic-Con International: San Diego, is a three day fan convention, held every year, during summer time. It started in 1970, as a fan club meeting for comic geeks and other pop culture artworks. It has grown over the years and over the last two decades, it has gained over 130,000 attendees. The Event Concept process was discussed and ultimately portrayed what the event product is and how its incorporated in the planning of the event. Furthermore, research was done on the tourism strategy of San Diego and how Comic-Con is embedded in the strategy. Finally, the contemporary issues in events management, with regards to the event experience and crowd management, in the context of Comic-Con was discussed.

References

Allen, J., O’Toole, W., Harris, R. and McDonnell, I. (2008). Festival and special event management (4th edition). Milton: John Wiley.

Comic-Con International: San Diego (2018) Comic-Con International: San Diego. Available at: https://www.comic-con.org (Accessed: 21 November 2018).

Foley, M., McGillivray, D., & McPherson, G. (2012). Event policy from theory to strategy. London: Routledge.

Getz, D. (2005). Event management and event tourism (2nd edition). New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation.

Getz, D. (2013). Event tourism : concepts, international, case studies and research. Putnam Valley: Cognizant Communication Corporation.

Goldblatt, J. J. (1997). Special events: best practices in modern event management.New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Hellekson, K. and Busse, K. (2014). The Fan Fiction Studies Reader (1st Edition). Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.

Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H. (1999). The experience economy. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

San Diego Tourism Marketing District (2018) Destination Master Plan. Available at: https://www.sdtmd.org/masterplan/ (Accessed: 21 November 2018).

San Diego Tourism Marketing District (2018) SDTMD Master Plan. Available at: https://www.sdtmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/SDTMDMasterPlan_FINALApproved_2.pdf (Accessed: 21 November 2018).