Thinking about "starting a comicon" in my city

[revalk]

Hey folks,

This might be ridiculous, but I've been thinking about this for a little while. I live in London, Ontario (yes, that's Canada folks), and aside from Toronto and Montreal's Comicon's, you don't have many options if you're interested in comics and want to hit a convention. I was thinking about starting a Comicon-style event in London, given that's it's one of the major cities in Ontario, which is one of the most populated provinces in Canada.

There are 4 or 5 comic shops in the city, which I'm guessing would be happy to set up stands and sponsor the thing, and that'd be step 1. Getting a large hall or convention area would be step 2, I suppose. And then the next big challenge: getting some talent to come out. Writers, artists, etc., would be the big pull, and who knows, maybe Marvel/DC would send a guy or two.

If I was stupid enough to try to go through with this for next summer, do you think this would be possible? Would iFanboy come (I kid, haha)? Anything I might be severly overlooking?

Just curious what you guys think, and if you have any suggestions for what else I might want to look into.

Thanks,
Jeremy

[neb]

You know, most comic-cons, from my understanding, grow from local comic fans getting together and talking about comics. Getting the shops in your area involved is a huge plus, but booking talent may be hard for the first year or so. If you put together an event that has retailer presence and panels that fans can attend, buzz may be able to elevate it.

I wish you luck because it's probably a huge undertaking.

[nilcam]

One of my first and best con experiences was at the first year of NOLA Con in New Orleans. It was a one day con that ran from 8 am - 5 pm. There was a small but active dealer's room, a few panels and a video room or two. Admission was pretty cheap and there were scavenger hunts and other fun activities. I was 12 or so and went with my dad. We both had a blast. If you build it, they will come. Good luck.

[revalk]

I'd probably aim to just have a few fun things set up with the comic shop owners to give away a little swag and something to do for people. If I could get even 3 or 4 writers/artists from Toronto to come down and talk and ask questions, that'd be cool.

Would have to see who I can get in touch with.

[gabeja]

Kinda sorta wana get a good solid non wizard LA con started. Meh, I'm sure someone else will eventually.

[naveenm]

You know, most comic-cons, from my understanding, grow from local comic fans getting together and talking about comics. Getting the shops in your area involved is a huge plus, but booking talent may be hard for the first year or so.

Totally sensible advice for you here, Revalk. Listen to Neb.

If you can get this happening, you could build it up over time. Unless you're in a big city, or have a lot of experience doing this, probably best to go this route.

[revalk]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Alright, so let's assume the chance of getting talent to make it out is slim to nil. We're going to have to create some of our own panels/fun events for people to partake in, or they'll just get bored.

Any suggestions on what kind of panels I could put on without talent present? Or other fun activities? Keep in mind we'd most likely just have the resources of some local comic fans, and the 3-4 comic shops around town. What would you be interested in seeing if this kind of thing was going on in your town (and you didn't have a large scale alternative to attend)?