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Anaheim Lures Other Comic-Con, Going After Big San Diego Show

Anaheim is becoming fan fest central.

Along with baseball, Disney and online video game events, the Anaheim Convention Center recently signed on to host one of New York-based Wizard Entertainment’s Wizard World Comic-Con events.

The three-day event starting in mid-April is set to attract about 30,000 fans of comic books and science fiction to hobnob with movie studio executives, celebrities and comic book creators.

The event organized by Wizard Entertainment—a company that operates conventions and publishes magazines focused on comic book and science fiction characters, toys and other related items—is one of 11 other Wizard World Comic-Cons around North America, primarily on the East Coast.

While the name is similar, the event isn’t directly related to the much larger Comic-Con Inter-national held each year in San Diego—which Anaheim also is hoping to land.

The Wizard event is small potatoes compared to the San Diego event, but it attracts the same sort of attendee.

Anaheim is the first to host a West Coast Wizard World Comic-Con since the company stopped holding them in Los Angeles years ago.

“We had an outpouring of requests by fans and partners to return to Southern California and felt Anaheim was the best place to come back to,” said Gareb Shamus, chief executive at Wizard Entertainment.

Some 150 participants have signed on for the Anaheim event. They range from movie and TV stars to comic industry celebrities such as William Shatner of “Star Trek,” actor and comic book guru Stan Lee and Avi Arad, executive producers for many of Marvel Entertainment Inc.’s super hero movies.

Yet to Come?

Anaheim hopes to build on its Wizard Entertainment win. The Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau has submitted a bid to lure Comic-Con International away from San Diego.

The San Diego comic book and sci-fi convention has grown into one of the region’s largest annual conventions. It routinely attracts more than 125,000 attendees, who annually spend about $60 million on lodging, food and transportation during the four-day event.

Anaheim is looking to sign Comic-Con International for 2013, when its contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires.

Anaheim is touting its convention center’s size as a way to attract the growing Comic-Con.

“We have been in discussion with the San Diego Comic-Con for many years,” said Mindy Abel, senior vice president of convention sales for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau. “They have grown so much in the past few years that our size is part of the conversation this time around.”

It also has Walt Disney Co. in its court.

The company, which runs two Anaheim theme parks and three hotels, bought Marvel Entertainment last August for $4 billion, making it a major player in the comic book world.

Some industry experts anticipate Disney will have a big hand in helping to sway the decision to move the convention.

The Comic-Con International board is expected to announce its decision in July.

Landing the San Diego comic book event would be a coup for the county, which has seen convention attendance drop recently due to the economic downturn.

Additionally, visits to OC slipped by 1% to 42.7 million people in 2009, compared to 43.1 million a year earlier.

Spending dropped about 10% in 2009 to $7.1 billion, according to San Diego-based CIC Research Inc.

The Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau is predicting that about 43 million people will travel to OC and spend about $7.3 billion this year.

Anaheim has fared better than other parts of the county because of its tourist destinations, including the Disneyland Resort, and a stable of annual tradeshows including the International Music Products Asso-ciation’s NAMM Show.

Anaheim also has become a fan festival hub.

“It’s something of an accident,” Abel said. “Our focus is getting trade groups and corporate events that

will bring out-of-town guests, but those same amenities are very attractive to public promoters and consumer events.”

The city is getting a boost from some other big fan events slated for this year.

These events are expected to include BlizzCon 2010, put on by Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc., and Disney’s D23 Expo in September.

Last year, the 20,000 tickets for BlizzCon, a two-day event showcasing the video game maker’s online worlds, sold out in minutes.

Blizzard hasn’t confirmed the official date of its event, but it’s traditionally held in August. There’s been some talk of the show moving from Anaheim.

The four-day D23 Expo is expected to host industry speakers, celebrities and characters that should help bring Disney fans to the park’s hometown.

Fan fests are something of a different beast to traditional tradeshows.

“A fan fest is a celebration of mutual interest,” Abel said. “It’s totally different from a trade-show, where people are trying to sell things to one another, or corporate meetings, where a company has some corporate initiative to implement. Still, at the end of the day, people need places to stay, eat and get around.”

All-Star Game

The convention center also expects a rush of baseball fans to descend on the city in July.

It is holding a fan fest for people attending Major League Baseball’s 2010 All-Star Game.

The game is set to come to Angel Stadium of Anaheim this July.

“That’s going to be a winner and a boon for our hotels and others,” said Robert Donahue, director of groups and conventions for Disney-land Resort. “I think it will be a major feather in the cap for the city to showcase the All-Star Game here and great for business as well.”

Two years ago, when the All-Star Game was held in New York, it brought nearly $150 million in business to the city.

Even in the midst of the downturn, the game brought an estimated $60 million to St. Louis last year.

“We’re looking to have a triple-digit number if possible given our proximity to the greater Los Angeles area,” said Thomas Morton, convention center, sports and entertainment executive director for the city of Anaheim.

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