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National vendors such as SuperHeroStuff may also turn their attention towards Grand Rapids.įor 2018’s event, Hodges is laying the groundwork to bring in a celebrity speaker series of epic proportions.
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Army of Darkness actor and Michigan native Bruce Campbell is high on Hodges’ wishlist for next year. “Certain celebrities and vendors won’t even talk to you until you hit ,” Hodges said. Hodges will also be leveraging the credibility gained from larger attendance numbers to secure more renowned celebrities. Many attendees come just to game, Hodges said, so giving gamers their own dedicated space would be like creating another “mini-con” within the larger Comic-Con, just a 10-minute walk away from the main event. Grand Rapids Comic-Con has already reserved several ballrooms in the Amway Grand Plaza for evening pop and heavy metal concerts next year, and is working to secure the JW Marriott’s 13,000-square-foot ballroom as a dedicated gaming room which would run throughout the event. This year “will be the first year we’ll actually make what I call ‘real’ money,” Hodges said.įrom the tone of Hodge’s plans, it sounds like that profit will be re-invested into expanding next year’s event. Last year’s event netted $16,000, which helped its recovery from losses the year before. According to Hodges, the two cut annual salaries of $15,600 each-which is likely another key reason the event has been able to turn a profit (albeit a modest one) in its first five years of operation.Įvents like this, Hodges said, take at least five years to turn a substantial profit.
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That community-centered attitude articulates itself consistently throughout the Hodges’ management, all the way down to the couples’ take-home pay. This year’s visiting TMNT celebrities, including reuniting cast members from the 1990 TMNT film Michelan Sisti, Leif Tilden, and Josh Pais, as well as TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, volunteered to participate in the ceremony-pro bono. The pair has also done their best to facilitate “weirder and weirder requests” from the nerd community itself, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) wedding which took place in one of the event’s stages on Saturday morning. “I believe the show belongs to the community,” said Hodges, who, along with his wife, has actively avoided large corporate sponsorships and incubated a vending environment that favors local sole proprietors over large corporations. But it’s clear from the vibe of the event that the “mom and pop” management style of Hodges and his wife, co-owner and Vending Coordinator Jennifer Hodges, has also played an instrumental role in the event’s surging success. This year over year growth can be attributed to a growing “nerd market,” the strength of which has surprised local conventions bureaus, according to Hodges. With over 20,000 estimated attendees from Friday and Saturday alone, and another 8-9,000 attendees expected on Sunday, this year’s Grand Rapids Comic-Con will easily break last year’s attendance record of 22,500. In 2014, the event clocked in nearly 20,000 people at the Deltaplex. And then we’ll get what I call our ‘big boy pants,’” said Hodges at a press conference Sunday morning.Īttendance the first year was capped due to the Home School Building’s 1,500 person capacity, with rumors of up to 5,000 people being turned away at the door. We’re going to be really close this year. “In the field, 30,000 turnstiles is considered a major national event. But, according to event director and co-founder Mark Hodges, Grand Rapids Comic-Con is just warming up. The event that arose in 2013 in Wyoming’s Home School Building has completed its second year running at DeVos Place with record attendance, looking likely to break 30,000 attendees over its three-day span. Humble origins are often the precursor to greatness, and that’s proving no less true for Grand Rapids Comic Con than for the superheroes who flocked there in droves last weekend.