Reed Exhibitions is launching an ambitious podcasting venture it hopes will turn the New York Comic Con into a year-round pop culture event.
The podcast site is up now (http://www.nycccast.com) and programming will officially begin once the Feb. 23-25 show gets underway at the Javits Center, says Kelly Hartman, marketing director for Reed.
The Norwalk, CT-based convention producer first tried podcasting last year for BookExpo America, says Rob Simon, president and CEO of BurstMarketing, which is assisting Reed in the venture.
The BookExpo site logged 60,000 downloads from over 20 countries, and logged 220,000 unique visitors to the podcast Web site (http://www.bookexpocast.com). The site helped Reed broaden the show’s reach a little more to consumers without compromising the trade component of the event, notes Simon.
“What’s exciting about podcasts is it creates a way to extend a convention,” he says. “The podcast becomes a way to reach out to not only attendees but the industry who likes to reach those fans with compelling content year round. Think of it as a digital booth or showroom.”
Content on the NY Comic Con site will include coverage of the American Anime Awards, which will launch at the show; audiocasts of show events, such as creators and publisher speakers and panels; one-on-one interviews with comic book writers and artists; and previews of television shows and movies being promoted at the event.
At press time, some promotional content had been posted to the Comic Con podcast site, but the podcast really isn’t being advertised prior to the show. That being said, Simon notes he was pleased that several hundred subscribers had already signed up.
Hartman says she sees the podcast as a way to build up an online community surrounding the show.
“There are, of course, travel limitations on people being able to get to NYC, but there are a lot of great special announcements and editorial events happening at the show,” she says. “We want to make sure the whole comic book pop culture community is able to access this content. Nothing replaces being there in person, but this is an opportunity to become engaged.”
NY Comic Con, which launched in 2006, is also being promoted with blogs, television commercials, viral video on YouTube and e-newsletters, using a mailing list build of attendees from last year’s show and advance ticket buyers for this year who opted-in. The show is also working with other podcasters in the comic book community, and will have a podcasting arena at the show.
Online advance tickets for the second day of the show, Saturday. Feb 24, are already sold out, and Hartman says she expects Sunday advance tickets to sell out as well. Over 50,000 attendees are expected for the event, which exceeded Reed’s expectations last year – so much so that some people with advance tickets were turned away when the hall reached capacity.
Reed took care of those fans who didn’t get in, refunding their money, sending them a gift package of goodies from the show and giving them a free ticket for this year’s event.
“We’ve doubled in space this year, so the number of people we can allow in is much larger,” says Hartman. “But there is a limited supply, so in advertising we’re urging people to buy early to ensure they get in.”
The show has put measures in place to insure that advance ticket buyers get in, and on-site sales for Saturday won’t even be considered until at least after noon.
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