Jim Bahler of Jim's Comics in Janesville, WI writes in to share his thoughts on the recently concluded Chicago-Con and the upcoming Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo:

My business these days is too small to afford the $800 for tables at this year's Chicago Comic-Con; I'm not even thinking about Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2)--I have no idea of the price, but it's comparatively out of the way, and the handful of dealers I spoke with when I attended Chicago Comic-Con on Sunday were not very interested, either.  Now, that may change as the April dates approach, but dealer responses Sunday centered on how far it is from the O'Hare airport for both customers and dealers, and all the gear that goes along with them.  In addition, added costs of lodging, meals, and parking in downtown Chicago worried them.

It's been a long, long time since the Con was at the Congress Hotel downtown--even then, parking and food expenses were egregious.  It hasn't been quite so long since I attended the Electronics Expo at the McCormick, (which moved permanently to Las Vegas some years ago--guess why?) but I had a devil of a time driving there, and parking was... interesting--huge, expensive lots that were a long, long walk to McCormick itself--which is a monstrous place to get around in.

This doesn't mean all is rosy for Chicago Comic-Con at Chicago, though.  The fellow dealers I assisted during Sunday's loadout said that, while the Chicago Comic-Con people came around with paperwork for next year, there was no begging/arm twisting as in the past.  Dealers also mentioned a noticeable lack of advertising anywhere except the Internet, and a relative lack of amenities.

Okay, it was subtle, but there had been a bit of arm twisting in the past, in the form of a $50 per 10 foot space discount if you paid before Sunday's convention close.  And they came around more than once, urging you to reserve right away if you wanted the same space.  Not this year, though--and guess who's going to pay for the loss of DC, Marvel, and all the rest?  The dealers, as a ten foot space goes up from $800 this year to $1000 next year.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.