Plus, I’m not sure if the marketing was different or the socal demographic was different, but there was almost no events except for the trading card tourneys (well, except DND minis and dreamblade). All the other mini events were fan set up and not very professional.

That said, i’ve been going to the GW gamesday here the past 5 years or so and the crowds there are huge, so I’m sure the market is here…

I don’t recall other gaming cons at the same time though… Gamesday is in the summer and the other gaming cons are earlier.

This is why it would have made a lot more sense to have started the event small with the intention of eventually moving into a significantly larger venue. I always thought that the Pasadena Convention Center would have worked extremely well. It would’ve “felt” bigger. You start smaller… You attract people who push attendance over the top (for your venue) forcing you to move into a larger space (and making the event more attractive to sponsors).

One other tragic mistake made with SoCal was the downright terrible management of the exhibit hall. Prices were far too high to attract local merchants and thus you had empty tables and a tiny little corner of a massive hall devoted to a handful of retailers.

The more I think back on SoCal, the more disastrous it becomes in my mind.

As I am in L.A., I can tell you that the entire GenCon SoCal fiasco was a joke from day one, as well. The idea was sound, but he should have put it into a MUCH smaller venue to begin with and allowed it time to grow. Putting it into the Anaheim Convention Center was like dropping a pebble into a lake. LOTS of space… Not a lot of convention. And it only seemed to get worse.

Just poor business sense from that guy.

And don’t get me started on ‘Clout’… ;)