After doing some Google-fu around the internets, we have stumbled upon the dates for next year’s Comic Con International in San Diego. START PLANNING YOUR TRIP NOW!!!
Thanks to the official Convention Center’s online schedule, the show is set for 7/18/2013 – 7/21/2013, or 53 weeks from this year’s con.
Coincidentally, 2013 is (according to this poll found on Comic Book Resources) also the final year that the event could be held in the city under the current contract is set to expire then. EDIT: it is 2015. With all of the debating and politics over the expansion of the convention center, the proposal of a new football stadium splitting available funds, and the sheer time that it will take to do it all, I would not be surprised to see the event move to a new city until the dust settles. Heart broken but not surprised.
With this past weekend’s Wondercon being held in Anaheim many are wondering if this could have been a fortunate turn of events to testdrive another venue that has expressed interest in wooing the big show. While I have fallen in love with the intimacy that downtown San Diego has to offer, I could see from a business point of view that the current size is too small and may not change any time soon.
At the moment hoteliers, not the public, are the ones who get to vote later this month on a hotel-room tax hike to pay for most of the 520 million dollar expansion project. But now the hoteliers are asking the city for a bigger grasp over the Convention Center’s sales and marketing. Right now, a city-created nonprofit board handles things but the hoteliers want a private tourism company to take over the duties. This comes in conflict with labor groups who want the promotion to remain in public hands.
Things are never as easy as they should be.
EDIT!
Sorry, I was misinformed about the 2013 contract ending. I too thought the contract was through 2015 but a Google search had me believe that the poll referenced above was from the last 24 hours so I ran it with a question mark for good measure. My bad.
Also, we have news that the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau won marketing control of the San Diego Convention Center Tuesday in a 7-1 vote. This means that the hotel owners will be more likely to vote in favor of the 3% to 15% tax hike to help finance the expansion of the Convention Center.
