Sonic Boom 2013 "Helllooooooooo St. Louis!"

[Tyranno]

I was there. If you recall the inordinately chubby guy in a blue shirt wandering around complimenting people on their cosplay, that was me.

[SnipSnap]

I'll never be able to get to Sonic Boom or any other Sonic conventions

[Tani Coyote]

I was there. If you recall the inordinately chubby guy in a blue shirt wandering around complimenting people on their cosplay, that was me.

 

Just another reason for me to try and go as Enerjak next year. It would be hard work to make, and ungodly hot inside, but hey, at least it would draw attention!

 

I'll never be able to get to Sonic Boom or any other Sonic conventions

Don't be too pessimistic, SnipSnap! There's always the chance it'll come close to where you are! ...I've no idea where you are, I confess, but I'm still confident one could still visit your region!

You could always try forming a local meetup group like Sonic London if nothing else; Sonic Boom West had only fifteen people but was still a blast for everyone involved. It is actually through local meets that the great Summer of Sonic originated; it's amazing what a few fans can do when they discover each other and meet regularly, to say the least! (I also hate to self-promote, but my hobby these days is actually locating these meetup groups and events and promoting them; you're always welcome to give the here at SSMB a look to see if any other fans are in the area. )

Personally, the sentiment surrounding Boom 2013 is why I'm so in favor of these meetup systems; if they took off it'd eventually be possible to organise regional cons. That way, one day, no fans will have to sulk over being too far away from a con; they could simply throw their own! Some California fans and myself are working on a Sonic con next year besides Sonic Boom; I'd greatly encourage fans all over the US and the world in general to try it themselves!

Edited October 18, 2013 by Ogil.exe Maurice

[Jix Hedgehog]

... Why is it cheaper to fly from San Fran to New York (what I first thought would be considered the worse case scenario location for Boom 14) than it is to fly to St Louis? :/

 

Well, as long as it isn't in Hawaii.. I should be able to make it >

[Tani Coyote]

... Why is it cheaper to fly from San Fran to New York (what I first thought would be considered the worse case scenario location for Boom 14) than it is to fly to St Louis? :/

 

Well, as long as it isn't in Hawaii.. I should be able to make it >

My guess would be there are more flights between New York and San Francisco; basic supply and demand states that a greater supply of flights will lead to lower prices. Or something similar to that.

I'd think the northeast would be a given... but I could just as easily see the event swinging down to Texas, Florida, or New Orleans. With how much of a shocker St. Louis was, who knows really.

I just hope next year's event is better organised; not only did they throw the event in a city that didn't have as energised a fanbase as the SoCal location, but the massively delayed announcement, the lack of a nearby con, the misinformation about the dangers of the city and the higher ticket price all worked together to make the event overall inferior to the prior two.

Let us consider that Gamestop has already given the date and location for its next expo out, almost a year in advance. While SEGA can cite financial issues, I seriously doubt that money's a problem when they're buying up companies left and right for millions of dollars and this event most likely costs a few thousand (much of which will be recouped through tickets anyway). I think they just are suffering from a serious lack of long-term planning, and I hope it gets fixed.

[Jix Hedgehog]

My guess would be there are more flights between New York and San Francisco; basic supply and demand states that a greater supply of flights will lead to lower prices. Or something similar to that.

 

Ah, there we go

 

I'd think the northeast would be a given... but I could just as easily see the event swinging down to Texas, Florida, or New Orleans. With how much of a shocker St. Louis was, who knows really.

 

I'm thinking the same, somewhere east, but yeah the St Louis thing just came out of no where .. *googles flight prices to TX, FL and LA*

 

I just hope next year's event is better organised; not only did they throw the event in a city that didn't have as energised a fanbase as the SoCal location, but the massively delayed announcement, the lack of a nearby con, the misinformation about the dangers of the city and the higher ticket price all worked together to make the event overall inferior to the prior two.

 

Well, they have a lot on their plate, they have travel to a bunch of places in between now and the next Boom (maybe there's a travel budget?).. the fanbase in Missouri made their voices heard and SEGA at least gave 'em a chance and at the same time got to see how something out of California would turn out (still not sure how many people attended, I heard between 300 and 1000) I agree with the announcement delay, but they did give adequate notice for people out of the state thinking of going (beats the 2 day notice of SEGA attending the J-Pop festival in San Francisco.. and I'm only an hour away and can't go because of the late notice).

 

If there was any drawback to having Boom during SDCC or any Con then I didn't see it.. the only thing I can think of that would deter fans from going to Boom during a Con would be hotel prices.. (maybe that's why we were told about Boom 12 a lot earlier, so people could book rooms which is no easy task in San Diego during SDCC)

 

Unsure about the dangers of St. Louis.. I just hope no one was confronted or assaulted or anything :/ LA can be pretty shady too

 

Let us consider that Gamestop has already given the date and location for its next expo out, almost a year in advance. While SEGA can cite financial issues, I seriously doubt that money's a problem when they're buying up companies left and right for millions of dollars and this event most likely costs a few thousand (much of which will be recouped through tickets anyway). I think they just are suffering from a serious lack of long-term planning, and I hope it gets fixed.

 

I guess GameStop don't have to do as much event planning as SEGA, but if GameStop closed 500+ stores and know where they're at in a years time then SEGA could probably do it too.. you hear things like staff cuts but at the same time they can't be doing that badly with the companies they've purchased *nods* I just think it's their schedule.. they take trips all over the world and in the US, clearing a weekend to host Boom might be challenging

 

Is Boom profitable? If they got a portion of the ticket sales (say $5 out of the $20 they charge) and 500 people bought tickets, that's not too bad (costs including food & drink, give aways, decorations, staff...)

[Tani Coyote]

the fanbase in Missouri made their voices heard and SEGA at least gave 'em a chance

The move was motivated by Kellie of the community team desiring to bring an event to Midwest fans, having grown up in the Midwest herself and knowing how often the Coasts hog events. So they had a pretty powerful lobby... though I think the St. Louis choice still makes no sense; Chicago would have been a much better one. While St. Louis is praised for being equidistant to most parts of the United States, it's not a major population center.

 

(still not sure how many people attended, I heard between 300 and 1000)

About 600 or so I'd presume. Though quite possibly less... the Pageant was nowhere near as crowded as the House of Blues, though that could just be because of a larger size.

 

I agree with the announcement delay, but they did give adequate notice for people out of the state thinking of going (beats the 2 day notice of SEGA attending the J-Pop festival in San Francisco.. and I'm only an hour away and can't go because of the late notice).

The big issue comes from the fact they waited until June; most places request you take work off with two weeks' notice, and since you're limited in how much time you can take off and how frequently, a lot of people would have already made their Summer plans by then. My friend almost couldn't get time off himself because he'd already taken so much off for other events, which would have kept me from going myself.

I really do hope SEGA returns to the Hedgehog Day announcement. If nothing else, I'm glad the SOS team got fed up with them and basically told them to announce it now or never. It sounds like Summer of Sonic will divorce itself from the joint-date idea since it's not known if SEGA America will be this slow next year.

 

If there was any drawback to having Boom during SDCC or any Con then I didn't see it.. the only thing I can think of that would deter fans from going to Boom during a Con would be hotel prices.. (maybe that's why we were told about Boom 12 a lot earlier, so people could book rooms which is no easy task in San Diego during SDCC)

Oh no, I meant the lack of a con nearby is bad for Boom. Sonic Boom previously was near SDCC and E3, so could leech off the "geek" crowds that those events draw. There was some other geek con in Chicago during the same week as Boom as well, and had Boom put itself there it probably would have done better.

 

Unsure about the dangers of St. Louis.. I just hope no one was confronted or assaulted or anything :/ LA can be pretty shady too

St. Louis is reputed as the most dangerous city in America, so some misinformation about that was being spread around. I don't think anyone had problems on the trip - the Pageant is in University City, an upscale tourist area on the west side of STL, whereas the bad areas are on the north and east side.

 

I just think it's their schedule.. they take trips all over the world and in the US, clearing a weekend to host Boom might be challenging

As memory serves the community team actively Tweet and such, so I don't think time's an issue for the community team (Aaron, Kellie, etc.). I presume the higher ups made planning very difficult, however; let us consider that it took much longer for news on Sonic Boom (the cartoon) and Sonic Lost World to be dropped this year compared to other years (and don't forget Sega America delaying Sonic Lost World's release date out of the blue). I think there was some sort of mess in the upper levels of SEGA this year, and the community team naturally couldn't do anything about it as they need to clear everything with their bosses.

 

Is Boom profitable? If they got a portion of the ticket sales (say $5 out of the $20 they charge) and 500 people bought tickets, that's not too bad (costs including food & drink, give aways, decorations, staff...)

I presume they get the full ticket price (having already paid the Pageant for the venue and staff), but that wouldn't come close to covering the full costs, I think. Between flying out the Japanese guests and providing all those goodies, they'd be lucky to break even. Ultimately it's a PR/community move rather than a business one, which is why I'm confident it'll fizzle out in a few years (which actually is what got me thinking we need an event more like Summer of Sonic out here, actually).

Edited October 23, 2013 by Ogil.exe Maurice

[Sapphire]

Looks like SEGA has put together this short little video as a recap. They must have been very busy with other things to finally get something rolled out. Good on them!

 

Hey! That's me at 1:20. Aww, I really want to relive that day, it was so incredibly fun!

[Tani Coyote]

Hey! That's me at 1:20. Aww, I really want to relive that day, it was so incredibly fun!

Sadly I can't spot myself in any of the video, but I did myself see in a few photos that have been taken (and boy is it surreal).

You're not alone in your love of the night. I continue to think Sonic Boom 2012 and 2013 were some of the best nights of my life, and that's why I really want this whole meetup idea to really take off. While SEGA works on taking the official event around the country, it's up to fans to make sure there's always an event to go to everywhere else!

[Sonicstitch]

What about  North Carolina  or Virginia?

[Tani Coyote]

What about  North Carolina  or Virginia?

 

Virginia and North Carolina have groups, yes. They're small, but that's to be expected - I don't think the groups will really grow and get active for the most part until later this year, when we can ride the success of other conventions.

 

I know this comes off as self-promotion, but to any moderators who might be watching: given that Sonic Boom 2013 is long since over, might I suggest this thread be de-stickied and the Meetup Megathread be stickied in its place?

[VO.SUPER]

 

This was from the Jazzwares booth at the nuremberg toy fair. I don't know if this was posted already, but I'll post this in case.

[Tani Coyote]

That was posted over in the Upcoming Games subforum.

I don't see anything pertaining to Boom 2014, sadly.

We can hope we're at least given more advance notice this year. 6 weeks is ludicrous.

[JaidynReiman]

I think the VisionaryBlur got confused between the fact that the Sonic Boom meetup and the new TV series have the same name.

[VO.SUPER]

Whoops. I did. My bad. *blush* I didn't know this was for the meetup; I thought this was for the show.

[Acter48]

Is anyone exited about Amy and Knuckles being playable I know I am  

[Acter48]

Sorry about the spam my laptop is slow

Oh it's not about the game sorry

[Tani Coyote]

I suppose that's somewhat relevant given it's practically guaranteed Sonic Boom (the game) will be playable at Sonic Boom (the convention).

Personally I just hope there's ways to buy your place in line like the St. Louis event. I was able to play Lost World fresh off the bat at Boom 2013 and do whatever I wanted the rest of the night.