Sonic Boom 2013 "Helllooooooooo St. Louis!"

[Tani Coyote]

Yeah, right after the costume contest, me and my friends saw the two sneak around the back of the place and we went after them. We were one of the few people that saw them, because we got a pretty good conversation in with them before others showed up.

Not sure if being recognized is a blessing or a curse... Everywhere you go, tons of fans!

Glad you were able to meet them personally though... The lack of face to face is a huge downside to Boom. I enjoyed my brief time being close to Aaron Webber, myself. Fantastic guy overall.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[Sapphire]

I saw both Johnny and Jun in the coffee shop later, around 9:50-10:30ish

Really? Ah, crap. I could've got Jun's signature too... Oh well, 3 signatures is plenty!

I enjoyed my brief time being close to Aaron Webber, myself. Fantastic guy overall.

Yeah, he's a really cool guy. I let him have my Sharpie because he didn't have one and he was so happy I did hahaha.

If you're out there somewhere reading this Aaron, thanks for the incredibly awesome event!

Edited August 12, 2013 by Sapphire

[MykonosFan]

Now... There was an English person asking everyone if they preferred Adventure 1 or 2 in the line. He grimaced if you said two. ...think the final video might be doctored?

That would've been FTA from FindTheComputerRoom haha. Hope you gave the obviously right answer.

[kimplix]

I've got a few.

(Eggman's smiling in this one, mind you.)

Holy crap! I love that costume <3

 

Now that's over with...

 

“Sonic Bust” May be More Appropriate

 

The number of ponies in attendance of this weekend’s Sonic Boom event in St. Louis, Missouri is almost without question the lowest in the history of the event, and perhaps the lowest for a Sonic an convention since the early days of Summer of Sonic.  The question now: How low did it go?

Though actual ticket sales may have been slightly higher, several attendees who were at the show have professed on Twitter or otherwise that the ballpark attendance for the show was somewhere in the 300-450 range, perhaps as high as 500.  The event’s location, The Pageant, has a capacity of up to 2,300. That meant on the low end of estimates, Sonic Boom may not have even been at 15 percent capacity. 

Even the best guesses mean capacity never eclipsed 25 percent.

Perhaps not helping matters was a livestream set up for the event, where anypony on the Internet could watch for free.  We are working to find out viewership figures for that stream.

Sega has not released figures for Boom in the past; it will be interesting to see if they do this time around in an effort to save face.  No matter what, it is almost a certainty the event–if financially justified for the future–will never be held anywhere but a major metropolis again.

What the hell man. Even for the 2 years, This amount of people is something that I cannot believe in. And if it was true (It's what I'm thinking so far), at least give some extra goodie bags to the people that want another bag or 2

Edited August 12, 2013 by kimplix

[LordMetallix]

Guy with a soundtrack...you weren't the one with the SA2 Multidimensional soundtrack were you?

If so I totally wound up misleading you about Johnny and Jun leaving. I think Johnny had hightailed it out of there for sure, but Jun was actually in that little coffee shop up front for a bit after the event like you just said. If that was you I apologize, I was the one with the copy of Sonic Adventure.

 

No I was the one with the Heroes soundtrack, but I think I remember you, you had the Skies of Arcadia disk in your game case with Sonic Adventure's manual right?

 

 

 

What the hell man. Even for the 2 years, This amount of people is something that I cannot believe in. And if it was true (It's what I'm thinking so far), at least give some extra goodie bags to the people that want another bag or 2

 

WELL to be fair, they only had I think 1000 tickets to give out if I remember right, so that would be about half capacity. Not amazing but I feel that the lack of anything tantalizing to go to as well like Comic-con and the shortness of the event is what kept a lot of people from going.

 

And let me go ahead and get into the cab issues:

 

We had to wait for about an hour for our cab to show up because of them sending the cab early and then the guy leaving before we even got out there. Which sucked HARD, though while we were sitting out there I saw Jun and Johnny standing in the Coffee shop talking to the person behind the counter, I would have knocked on the door but I had a feeling that they didn't want to be bothered lol.

Funnily enough, while I was sitting out there someone walked out front for a bit to have a smoke break I guess I didn't really look to see who it was. Turns out it was Iizukia, didn't even know the guy smoked lol, and after a while he just walked right back in. Before our cab even got there Iizukia and Hoshino both came out the front door and got into a different cab, (my sister made the joke that we should have called the company they used lol). Ended up just flagging one down, was a very nerve racking experience sitting out on St.Louis sidewalk at 11 at night. 

[MykonosFan]

If the 350 attendance thing was the quote from TSSZ, it's just typical Tristan being Tristan. If you check his Twitter he was throwing a fit about the location, probably just trying to slag off the event. Don't even give him the page hits.

Staff members at the event estimated about 500-600 people, which lines up nicely with the FB page of how many hit "Going". Considering there wasn't really any other big "nerdy" things going in St. Louis I think that's a pretty respectable number. I know if I couldn't have driven myself I would never have been able to convince my parents to take me to it. I imagine it was that situation for plenty of people who could have made it but didn't.

 

No I was the one with the Heroes soundtrack, but I think I remember you, you had the Skies of Arcadia disk in your game case with Sonic Adventure's manual right?

Yep, that was me! Haha. I didn't even realize it was the SoA disc until later in the night. I'm really bad at not putting discs back in the proper case.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Mykonos

[Sapphire]

I just find it very hard to believe there were only 300 people there. The entire room, sans the over 21 balcony, was pretty darn packed. When I walked out after the event, I only saw a single box of extra t-shirts, and I didn't see a single extra Chao bobble head. I don't think there were 1,300, but there were definitely more than 300! But it sounds like typical sour grapes from being unable to go from TSSZ/Tristan. He was bashing the event in his Twitter feed all night. Some "news" source, eh?

[Best Dude55]

Yeah, after seeing their first tweet calling the city a ****hole, I pretty much said I'm never going to that site again

 

So much for news being unbiased haha

[Your Vest Friend]

The number of ponies in attendance of this weekend’s Sonic Boom event in St. Louis, Missouri is almost without question the lowest in the history of the event

 

Well, I should hope there were none in attendance, think of the mess you'd have to clean up!

[GuyWithThePie]

The number of ponies in attendance of this weekend’s Sonic Boom event in St. Louis, Missouri is almost without question the lowest in the history of the event

 

I really hope that this was on some Brony news site and not a Sonic news site or something. I don't hate the Bronies, (I've watched seasons 1 and 2) but it sometimes gets on my nerves when people replace "people" with "ponies", and of course, the infamous "everypony" when not in context. Sorry if I'm being rude, I just don't understand all the negativity this year's con has been getting.

Well, I should hope there were none in attendance, think of the mess you'd have to clean up!

 

I chuckled.

Edited August 12, 2013 by GuywithPie3376

[bmn]

It's possible that Boom's capacity was lower than the venue's, simply by virtue of not using the whole of the venue. SoS' venue for example holds over 3,000, if you've got the money and demand to fill every room. Plus, adding things like game pods reduces effective capacity. In any case, a headline number for the venue isn't to be trusted, really.

 

Nor is it necessarily a bad thing for capacity to be lower than expected. If your venue matches your demand, then things are good in that respect.

[RobotOmega]

From someone who was there, I'd definitely say there was at least 500 people in there. Although the crowd thinned out near the end of the night, there was quite a bit of people at the beginning.

 

Either way, it was loads of fun, and I'll definitely be going next year!

[Abominal SnowTaz]

I'll definitely be going next year. I might even meet some of ya'll. I didn't get to because I kinda came a little later and didn't have a wristband. (How do I get one of those next time btw?)

[LordMetallix]

I'll definitely be going next year. I might even meet some of ya'll. I didn't get to because I kinda came a little later and didn't have a wristband. (How do I get one of those next time btw?)

Well at the Pageant you went into the coffee shop and bought something and got a wristband, I could see them doing something similar at next years event.

[Sapphire]

I posted the same, slightly reworded to be more respectful, comment I did here on TSSZ. This was his response. 

 

 

 

Sapphire: I have word from other places there were, in fact, 1,000 extra Chao bobbleheads outstanding and unclaimed. Do the math.

 

What a complete turd. And I'm loving the "word from other places" source. Grrr... I hate being so mean, but he's just so rude and annoying! But I'm done feeding the troll that he is. *deep breathing*

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sapphire

[Abominal SnowTaz]

Well.....

[Ravenfreak]

I wish you guys had showed pictures of yourselves to see if I actually ran across you and never even noticed it was you.

I believe I mentioned that I'd be wearing a Teen Titans shirt, and I was indeed the only one that did. I didn't necessarily took a picture of me with my Sonic hat and Teen Titans shirt, but I did post a pic in the pictures thread with said shirt on. Ah well, at least I know to be a bit more descriptive next time and to not be as shy as I was. It was my first time at a convention such as this so yeah. xD Oh and Ogilvie, I must appologize too. I think you were wanting to say something to me again but I walked back to my seat too early. X.X But hey, if I do go to boom next year and if we do cross paths I don't think we will be as awkward as this time. It was my first time meeting anyone from the community in real life, and I didn't know what to say either. :V I was expecting to see a few friends of mine irl, but I didn't see either one who went. I'll be more on the look out for community people if I go again next year though. ;

[RobotOmega]

Well.....

 

[Tani Coyote]

Boom 2012 sold 800 of 1000 tickets in much more populous California during Comic-Con. So 600 tickets or so for more remote St. Louis isn't too ridiculous. At the end of the day, Boom isn't run to make a profit - it's run to keep fans aware of what's going on and unite them all. Given that Aaron Webber hosted two of them and serves as brand manager (i.e. he has the same exact task as Boom), I think we can determine sales aren't the desire here. Boom goes to every city, leaves its mark, and energises the Sonic fans that are resident nearby. It's basically akin to a politician going to every state to energise the voter base there, really; a more energetic fanbase will logically buy the next games more, or buy merchandise, etc.

Now then... as for the video I promised I would share. Aaron Webber was approached with an extremely awkward question (I tried not to laugh at how he actually took a few seconds to gather his thoughts), but came up with a very heartwarming, non-offensive answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Stp5JaNOUM&feature=youtu.be

Once more he demonstrates he certainly is the man for the job when it comes to being brand manager, I think!

 

Oh and Ogilvie, I must appologize too. I think you were wanting to say something to me again but I walked back to my seat too early. X.X But hey, if I do go to boom next year and if we do cross paths I don't think we will be as awkward as this time. It was my first time meeting anyone from the community in real life, and I didn't know what to say either. :V

Real conversation can be very difficult when one is so used to rehearsing it via text! I myself always have difficulty coming up with subjects, but personally I think the biggest crunch is the simple fact there are so many people it can actually hurt one-on-one discussion. Maybe there's some merit to keeping SOS small for that reason after all...

[Tails spin]

Boom 2012 sold 800 of 1000 tickets in much more populous California during Comic-Con. So 600 tickets or so for more remote St. Louis isn't too ridiculous. At the end of the day, Boom isn't run to make a profit - it's run to keep fans aware of what's going on and unite them all. Given that Aaron Webber hosted two of them and serves as brand manager (i.e. he has the same exact task as Boom), I think we can determine sales aren't the desire here. Boom goes to every city, leaves its mark, and energises the Sonic fans that are resident nearby. It's basically akin to a politician going to every state to energise the voter base there, really; a more energetic fanbase will logically buy the next games more, or buy merchandise, etc.

Now then... as for the video I promised I would share. Aaron Webber was approached with an extremely awkward question (I tried not to laugh at how he actually took a few seconds to gather his thoughts), but came up with a very heartwarming, non-offensive answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Stp5JaNOUM&feature=youtu.be

Once more he demonstrates he certainly is the man for the job when it comes to being brand manager, I think!

 

Real conversation can be very difficult when one is so used to rehearsing it via text! I myself always have difficulty coming up with subjects, but personally I think the biggest crunch is the simple fact there are so many people it can actually hurt one-on-one discussion. Maybe there's some merit to keeping SOS small for that reason after all...

Well they had to rent out the venue, pay staff, and pay food. so the money may have been really necessary. 

[Tani Coyote]

It's like Summer of Sonic in that ultimately, it's going to run a loss no matter how you slice it. The community building is the key component of both - whether it's grassroots or corporate in nature is of no import.

The venue likely costs at least 10,000. Then you have the few thousand flying in Iizuka, Hoshino and Jun. Then the money producing the merch... food, security...

Even with the 25 dollar price tag (Which the Pageant probably gets a cut of), breaking even would be optimistic at best. It's ultimately to build the brand's strength up rather than anything else. A loss here to secure a gain there.

[GuyWithThePie]

Olgive, about the video, which one is you? Are you recording or are you asking Aaron?

[Tani Coyote]

Olgive, about the video, which one is you? Are you recording or are you asking Aaron?

My friend was recording it; the person asking the question is someone we met during the event.

I am unfortunately invisible in the video, sorry!

At least I'm not invisible here! Managed to grab a pic with Strongbad and Sapphire... if my memory is correct!

[OckMan27]

I think it's great that Sega made an effort to reach fans that aren't on the west coast with Sonic Boom this year.  I plopped down a lot of cash to fly to San Diego last year, but I'm an adult and if I want to blow that much cash, I can.  The majority of fans I've seen at both events are under 21 and need to ask their parents to go.  So I think changing the location every year is a great idea to give the greatest amount of fans a chance to attend at least once in their life.  I never dreamed I'd ever get to see Crush 40 play live unless I flew to Japan, so I was thrilled to have a chance to see them again this year and not spend several hundred dollars to do it (they're the main reason I go...I'd certainly never spend that amount of money just to play the latest game or hear Takeshi Izuka answer questions in Japanese).

 

That said, I do think St. Louis was an odd choice considering that previous years were always tied to another major event (E3 in LA and Comic Con in San Diego).  The fact that they scheduled this year's event the same weekend as Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago but decided on St. Louis instead is kinda puzzling (and I'm not just saying that cause I live in Chicago and it would been super convenient).  The turnout was definitely lower than I expected.  I told my friends who came with me this year my story of getting to House of Blues in San Diego an hour before doors opened and getting in a line that already wrapped around the entire block.  And yet we wandered down pretty much right at 5 and waltzed right in.  Maybe HoB was just more cramped though, cause the floor level was packed all night.  The 21 and over balcony was fairly deserted, but then so was the bar area in San Diego. 

 

I think everyone there had a great time (myself included) and I wouldn't be surprised if Sega announced next year's Sonic Boom on the east coast to give that last section of the US a chance to go.  My only disappointment was not getting a chance to meet Jun or Johnny.  I got to meet Jun in San Diego and got a pic and autograph - he was just hanging around the stage after the concert and was super cool.  But if Sega keeps this event going, maybe I'll get the chance to see them again!

 

I'll conclude this post with my favorite pic of the evening...Someone get some memes going on this please.

 

[RobotOmega]

Now then... as for the video I promised I would share. Aaron Webber was approached with an extremely awkward question (I tried not to laugh at how he actually took a few seconds to gather his thoughts), but came up with a very heartwarming, non-offensive answer:

 

The question itself kind of confuses me. Are there more autistic Sonic fans than say... Star trek fans? Is the sonic fandom known for having autism? I know it's a common issue, but I didn't think it was common enough to ask Aaron about.

 

EDIT: I read up on it a bit. Really interesting topic...

Edited August 13, 2013 by Robotgamma