Dutch Comic Con - 2015

What: Dutch Comic Con
Where: Utrecht, Jaarbeurs
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29, 2015
Facebook | Twitter

For the first time ever there was going to be a Dutch Comic Con. We have our smaller cons with specific themes, but a full blown Comic Con never really happened. Most happen at our neighbour countries (Belgium, Germany). We had one go with EpiCon, which didn't turn out so good. With this news last year, people got very excited. This needed to happen and the support and need to go there grew like crazy.

Up until last week the growing pains started to show. There were some issues with guests not coming and the lack of communication. They had a very busy last week ahead to tie things together. I'm not going to point fingers on what could have been the cause (some things were just out of their control, like personal reasons, other offers and the power failure on Friday on the airport), but it was a first time for them to run an event on this scale. And with every event you make mistakes, you learn and fix that the next year.

Overall
Long lines and massive crowd when I walk in around noon. Strange way to handle a space like the Jaarbeurs. Some things were clogging up the crowd and then there were so many void spaces where nothing happened. Lots of murmur noise (can't be helped in those big halls). I went out around 14:00 and got back at 15:00 again. A lot of the crowd was gone and it was much better. I could finally find friends, stands, see the cars, buy a drink and that's when the fun really started. Good vibe, happy people and if something did go wrong somewhere, I never noticed.

Artist Alley
Actors had very nice booths for autograph line up, but they were a bit in the dark. There was a void space occupied by the lineup cords that could have been used better. Just a few tables with artists and no clear sign on who they were. It looked shabby and I found it an insult for the artists. They deserve a spot like the actors. From what goes around, the photo booth wasn't that spectacular. I was too broke for the photo booth, so I don't have a personal experience with that.

Stage
The hall in which they located the stage for Q&A, the COSplay competition and The Misfits was way too big. The stage was too low to actually see something. It would be nice to place some plateaus for people to stand on that don't need a front row view... but just a view. I couldn't see anything of the COSplay competition.

Commercial Stands
I don't like crowd hugging. The commercial stands were packed together and so was the crowd. If one person decided to halt in the flow, everybody had to halt. You just couldn't move towards the tables and check the merchandise. This got better after 15:00.

Highlights Stands
I picked 3 stands for a little spotlight.There was so much more, but I couldn't grab all the flyers and cards.

* * *

Found out they were there. This is where all my comics come from and they sometimes even know better what I do and don't have.
www.hetgeleteken.nl


* * *

Canvas Warriors have All Stars (I'm a big fan of Chucks) and make marvelous artwork on them (also on request). I fell in love. Asked them for Starscream and they want to do that. I just need to save up.
www.canvaswarriors.com




* * *


Grindhouse Horror tees from own design. Really loved the dark and gritty.
www.ultratrashstore.com









* * *


Utility
Signs and notifications: The overall signs were clear and visible. The detailed signs (like which row you need to line up in for your ticket, which artist/actor is in the chair, the one floor map) were not. I doubted if I needed better glasses.
Access for disabled, wheelchairs and buggies: Till 15:00 it was a hell for them to stroll around in the dealers alley. There was no way that if they were there early to have a good time. Jaarbeurs did supply wheelchairs for those who need them.
Toilets: There were enough toilets with no lines. The Jaarbeurs keeps it clean and neat. Big plus.
Resting: The amount of places to sit was fairly low. In the void spaces people just sat on the ground to rest their feet, but you could expand some of the tables and chairs.

The Crowd
The concept of a Comic Con is unknown to the Dutch Public. Paying for an autograph or a picture sounds weird to them. They need to get used to it. The COSplay on such a big commercial event was not as huge as the US counterparts of comic cons.
.
Again next year?
Yes. I will go. I will now avoid the dealers alley till the crowd is gone and pull up a chair at all the Q&A's. Unless they make some improvements in dividing space. Already heard they will have more space next year, so that's a good sign.

Samalla Stand in the future?
It was, according to the stands I talked to, a very good day saturday. Their minds were blown. I don't think I could handle the crowd, unless I would have enough manpower to keep things up.

Signing off
Miss Ess
(Mary Jane Misfits)



More media
http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/dutch-comic-con-het-kind-komt-je-naar-boven [Dutch]