Fan Expo 2010 – Pressure valve

As we briefly touched on in our initial Fan Expo write up, the convention was overcrowded this year, with attendance up by about 10,000 people.  It didn’t help that Expo was moved from the larger south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, to the north, which has approximately 20% LESS square footage.

The intention of Hobbystar all along was to keep it in the south building.  After all, Fan Expo moved from the north to the south a few years back precisely because of increasing attendance.  This year, however, there was a scheduling conflict with a medical convention, leading to the move back to a smaller hall, though one with natural lighting.  This also lead to long line-ups and the fire marshall declaring the building over capacity and blocking entry for a large part of Saturday afternoon, with some fans who just ducked out for lunch waiting hours to get back in.

In short, it was a cluster.  To alleviate the justified ire of attendees, Hobbystar president Aman Gupta has sent out a letter to the fans apologizing for the mess.  Not only that, but for the first time Hobbystar has secured the entire south building of the MTCC for the 2011 event.  This is certainly good news, but I suspect that given the growth of the convention, 2011 may be the last time it’s held at the MTCC.

See the Letter From The President after the break.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear fans,

On behalf of the staff of Fan Expo Canada™ I would like to apologize for the lengthy delays and inconvenience experienced by many at Fan Expo Canada™ this past weekend. We were, quite simply, inadequately prepared for the increased crowds in a venue that was neither familiar to us nor not capable of meeting our collective demands. We recognize and have heard from many of you that this was unacceptable and unfair to our loyal fans.

The staff at Fan Expo have been and will continue to read and act upon the concerns communicated by our fans about Fan Expo 2010. In preparation for Fan Expo Canada™ 2011, we have already confirmed a booking of the entire South Metro Toronto Convention Centre. This will be the largest area ever used for our show and its layout is far better suited to the size and nature of our event. We are also committed to the communication of key practices for ticket purchases, show access and other related logistics effectively and well in advance of the 2011 show. In addition, we intend to engage all of the event stakeholders as we work through the planning process including: staff, fans, venue, security, Fire & Emergency Services, Tourism Toronto and the City of Toronto in this process.

We appreciate the continued support of each fan, and are grateful to have fans who are willing to take the time and effort to help improve the “Fan Expo Experience”. Again we sincerely apologize to the fans that were unable to enjoy the full experience of Fan Expo 2010. Please know that we welcome your feedback and suggestions for how we can improve the fan experience. Please forward your comments to us at info@hobbystar.com.

Sincerely yours,
Aman Gupta and the Fan Expo Team

View PDF version of this letter here.