Forum - View topicNEWS: Otakon Cited in Baltimore Hotel Plans
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jtnishi
Posts: 62 |
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Is that number right? That'd be about $1000/attendee, right? Does the combined total of the dealer's booth buying, attendee fees, food, hotel, travel expenses, convention space rental, etc. all average out that way? I could possibly see a total money flow of $22M given that any given dollar might get spent 3-4 times because of the convention if you calculate that way, but that's still a distressingly large number.
EDIT: Nevermind. I didn't read the article carefully, and I just realized that the number is probably averaged out over several years like in a long term contract. |
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Animedude35
 Posts: 98 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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LOL I had to laugh at the news anchor's pronouncation of "otakon" but that was an interesting piece of news. To a city $22 million over a weekend span is alot, and since if they decide to build a hotel, they will probably get double the amount and probably would make up the cost of that hotel in one or two conventions. Too bad I'm all the way down here in Texas....I would like to see 70,000 people at one place....or maybe not
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aisasami
 Posts: 46 Location: Waldorf, Maryland |
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I don't think a hotel is really worth an additional to Otakon or even the city of Balitimore. I think they should expand BAC a little more to provide more space for more people. I think they should move to a better place but like the report says, it's too dear to give up
Out of curiousity (and I know this is a bit off topic), does anyone know how is the Washington Convention Center to the BAC? |
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Dejiko
 Posts: 276 Location: Holland (between Great Britain and Germany) |
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That was one poorly written piece, and I'm not even counting the spelling errors (sure, 'anime' is a difficult, foreign word, but 'fantasy'?).
Apart from that, it is interesting to hear how much fandom is worth nowadays on your side of the pond 
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Actually, it's 22 Million over the weekend. Don't forget all the money spent by the Industry and dealers while they are in Baltimore as well. This includes money they give directly to the BCC for electiricity, set-up and packing costs. That alone obviously isn't going to be $22m, but I'm pointing out that there's a lot more spent at the event than just what is spent by the attendees. -t |
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wolfcry
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 81 |
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Aye. thats a lot of money. And im sure they factor in what they think to be where our food money is spent (inner harbor) and stuff. I dont doubt it could be that much...
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ats
Posts: 2 Location: MD |
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i went this year for the first time, and i can definitely see it making 22 mil over the weekend. also they capped it so it wasnt 70,000 it was like 22,000. Since this was my first year, and it felt crowded at some points, I bet it was really bad in the past. i must say i did not really like the article that was written. it was poor writing and not everyone was dressed up. it seemed to be poking fun at the otaku there... I think a hotel attached to the bcc would b a good idea...although i dont know where they will fit it. i live in bethesda, md and although it was only like a 40-45min drive for me and my buddies, i was tired after the day and didn't feel like driving. a hotel would have been nice. still, there are like 5 hotels about a 5 minute walk from the bcc, just because its the bcc. still one more wouldn't hurt.
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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I just wanted to make a note about the 70,000 number they reported. That's counting each 'person' per day. So while Otakon capped the registration at 22,000 and sold out, that does not count staff and dealers and stuff. If you count every single body, it probably goes up to around 25,000. However, most news places go by an 'attendance day' count. So those 22,000 three day passes would be 66,000.
It wasn't 70,000 per day for three days. |
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jtnishi
Posts: 62 |
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Well then, it's probably money flow, then. I mean, if the average convention goer spent about $50 on registration, probably about $100 for hotel (basing on an average of 3 per room @ $150/night), about $75 for food, about $200 for merchandise, and about $100 for travel (which normally wouldn't even be counted), we're up to half way only. Now, say each convention goer's dollar is spent on average twice (once by the convention goer, and once by the convention [from the reg dollars], dealers & convention [from the merchandise dollars], etc. Then I can see the $22M figure, and I guess the city would count it that way since each transaction is taxable, presumably. This is why I didn't go into accounting. 
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Colonel Wolfe
 Posts: 370 |
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Well, you have to take in consideration that that figure probably takes into account some of the extra ammenities that Hotel Guests spend while staying at their hotel as well. Dinner and other things as well. You have to remember that they're not counting only just the guests attending the convention and staying at their hotel but also dealers, employees of the convention itself as well as VIP's that attend the convention as well.
While I would dispute the $22 Million Dollar figure, the figure is probably still high as the hotel probably charges a little higher than usual for conventions anyway. |
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jvowles
Otakon Representative
 Posts: 219 Location: Maryland |
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Regarding that interview -- it was one of about 5 or 6 I did over the weekend, and I knew that mentioning a possible move due to lack of space might increase the chances of getting mentioned in a favorable light.
Here are some clarifications: 1. The 70,000 figure is derived using standard convention visitors logic: 22k max, times 3 days, plus support staff, dealers, industry, press, guests, and associates. They're counting "person-days" or "attendee days" (aka "turnstile" counting) rather than the number of actual people. However, I provided them the figure the way we've always presented it; they did the math to convert it on their own. Frankly, it's not an unreasonable way to assess the impact of the convention on the city. 2. What I said, I meant. We are tapped out for space and we simply have to find more. We *are* looking at other venues and the only real strong contender is the new DC convention center. We are not moving next year, but it is on the table for 2007 or 2008. Having a new hotel with additional exhibit, meeting hall, and ballroom space would give us a reprieve. 3. I"m not sure what the *real* financial impact is for Baltimore, but that number is probably about what BACVA (Baltimore Area Convention Visitors Association) estimates as our impact. Because it's not just what *we* spend to run the show -- it's what 300+ dealers spend, what industry spends, plus the travel costs, plus the hotel usage (we fill up pretty much every room in the city), food, parking revenues, souvenirs, miscellaneous services, etc. It adds up faster than you think. We can estimate that even if they spend just $10 a day on food, we have at least 22,000 people to feed every day. We take between 20 and 50 guests (plus their managers, spouses, etc.) out to dinner at least twice with the average cost per plate at around $50-60. It adds up pretty fast. Add in the fact that our staff arrive starting tuesday or wednesday, and that at least 8500 people showed up Thursday night, and a lot of those who fly in leave on Monday, you're talking about a not-so-insignificant number of people outside of our core days. Whew! Hope that helped... |
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I know one place that would be hurt by a move, that nice little Japanese/Chinese food place in the Inner Habor food court. They made up their own Otakon T-Shirts, and were selling food as fast as it could be made the whole con. The Sushi chefs were going like the Flash or something, it was like Christmas to them. I bet if Otakon left they'd lose as much as 10% of their annual revenue.
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jvowles
Otakon Representative
Posts: 219 Location: Maryland |
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Yeah, they probably dropped about $10-15 per t-shirt for half a dozen employees. Unfortunately they technically violated our trademark because they didn't ask for permission (we would almost certainly have granted it unless our lawyer said no) to use our logo or characters. I don't really have any objections beyond legal issues with them doing something special for us -- we encourage it. Next year I'm going to try to have signs for the windows and whatnot that say "OTAKON MEMBERS WELCOME HERE!" for the restaurants.
(They spent maybe a hundred bucks and had a HUGE pool of people who eat the sorts of food they sell, so it was a good investment for them.) But in the grand scheme of things, it's a drop in the bucket. |
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aegeus
Posts: 9 Location: US |
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The DC Convention Center is about twice the size of the BCC, and has current plans to get even bigger. No idea of a comparison of how 'nice' it is re: layout, atmosphere, design. |
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Aresef
Posts: 915 Location: MD |
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Otakon really does take over the city, even if some people around just scratch their heads and wonder what the heck is going on down at the BCC. I remember Saturday night I was walking to grab dinner at the Bank of America Building (still wearing my Green Ranger cosplay) and a family of four walked by. A little kid asked his dad, "Why's everybody dressed so funny?" The dad replied, "It's a party," to which I replied, "Yep, one big party."
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