Jul 30 2009
Is Orlando, Florida an Oversaturated Convention Market?
Having grown up in Orlando, I can tell you from personal experience that the area offers a pretty wide variety of fandom conventions to attend. There’s MegaCon (and now Mini-MegaCon too), FX International, Anime Festival Orlando, AccioCon, OASIS, EyeCon Twilight, Zona Con, Florida Battle Con, and Vulkon. And don’t forget, there used to be JACON as well (it’s last year was 2009). And that doesn’t even include the other dozen or so conventions within driving distance of Orlando.
I got to thinking about all the Orlando cons after yesterday’s posting about the AFO, Anime Sushi, and Mini-MegaCon issue (see here). The central Florida area has so many conventions, it seemed only a matter of time before a con stepped on another con’s toes (or at least created the perception of such to some people - y0u can make a decision about all that drama for yourself).
Is the Orlando convention market oversaturated? Are there just too many conventions in the area? As someone who has personally attended some of the aforementioned cons, I know that not every central Florida con is a quality convention. But clearly these cons must at least be breaking even financially, which suggests that Orlando does have the numbers to support them.
What do you think, fellow con-goers? Is having a lot of local conventions a good thing? Are there negative aspects to having that much variety? I’m curious to know your thoughts on the matter. Post a comment and share!
I live in Orlando and I love that we have so many conventions here. It kind of makes up for the parts of Orlando that are sucky. Besides, I think it makes sense to have so many of them here–people come here for family vacations, so if they can get a little geek in too, everybody wins