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The Problem with "Manga Fairs" in Spain

As I'm sure you'll be able to understand despite your aggressive approach (...)
Here's the evidence. You don't know what you're talking about. Expocomic's last edition had the lowest attendance rate. Of course, official numbers said there were 40.000 attendees, which is absurd. Official numbers are about media impact, subsides and getting money from sponsors. As soon as you understand that (and make some research), you'll be able to face Madrid's conventions reality.

You even interviewed convention directors but don't go into the REALLY important question(s). Whether the con is charging $1 or $1,000 dollars isn't the "point" if we follow along with your opening premise and why people have chimed in about how some fans would pay more for better quality. The point of the problem you cite is how the convention budget is APPLIED.

Based on what you put forth, Spanish cons are going low price to inflate numbers.

It's pointless to say "raise prices by $5 and they can do what we want" if you feel people are running scams. Raising the prices doesn't mean better quality, it means they're just scamming away MORE of your money.

You compare Manga Fair's prices to other major conventions, asking why they can charge more while ignoring that, among other things, the costs of running & attending a weekend convention in Barcelona & Madrid are lower (London & Paris are two of the most expensive cities in the world). You wouldn't expect the site owners to charge rent based on rates in another city/country, so why expect a convention to price its tickets that way?

Indeed, the sentiment of your article seems not far off haranguing Spanish convention goers for not being sophisticated/serious enough to realise they should be paying more - which admittedly is a sentiment that seems to crop up a lot in this fandom.

It's ultimately on the operators to make their convention something attendees would pay more for, not attendees to pay more in the hope they get a better convention.

Quote:

They're more a hideous conglomerate of merchandising and recycled programs under a superficial climate of cosplay.

That's basically what a convention is to a T. With more memes of course.

I wanted to ask if there are any worthwhile Japanese, anime, or video games hot-spots in Barcelona (or nearby). I plan to do study abroad in Barcelona and I'll be there for the entirely of June, so I'm really hoping to meet some foreign fans

HeeroTX wrote:

Based on what you put forth, Spanish cons are going low price to inflate numbers.

I've never said such a thing.

Yeah it is actually the point. As I explain in the article, the costs of organizing a convention are really high. Being working in a few of them, I know how the money is used and how there's no money to improve certain stuff because of the dependance on money.