BroadwayCon 2016 - Experience reports!

[Pootie2]

January 22 - 24, 2016

 

I debated simply changing the other discussion thread's title and adding a "2016," but it's so long and unwieldy now, so I'd love to read actual experience reports from attendees here. :)  My fingers are crossed that Winter Storm Jonas won't be too horrible...

 

For example, how was travel and getting to the hotel? What kind of crowds did you see? Meet-ups? Cosplay? What did you think of the activities? Buy anything cool? Favorites? Fun anecdotes and observations? Things that could be better or that you'd do differently? Video or photos you'd like to share? Would you do it again?

 

Anthony Rapp's periscope Q&A indicated somewhere between 3000-4000 registered attendees, but I spotted a 5000 number somewhere as well. He also mentioned that some events will be recorded/shared, but he's not sure which ones and in what method. If they tweet links, I'll post here.

 

http://broadwaycon.com/

 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE: http://broadwaycon2016.sched.org/

 

New York Hilton Midtown

 

Playbill's social media:

Facebook

Periscope

Instagram

Tumblr

Twitter

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BROADWAYCON INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY
UPDATE: JANUARY 23, 9:00 A.M.

"Today’s events are expected to proceed as scheduled. However, due to the closure of the New Jersey transit system, we will be honoring all unused Saturday day passes on Sunday."

[jasonf]

I'm leaving today after work to go to the city, so I'm missing the snow. I'll report back probably on Monday since I don't know what kind of access to bww I'll have while there.

[LizzieCurry]

I'm taking tomorrow off. Good thing I'm only getting there by subway!

[staticradar]

Heading in early early tomorrow morning!  So excited!  Blizzard or not it's going to be amazing!  

[Pootie2]

Preemptively, here are some attendee statistics provided via New York Times so people will get a sense of the crowd:

 

Nearly 80 percent of the registrants are female; 75 percent are from outside the state of New York; and 50 percent are 30 or younger.

“There is a generational divide in understanding what BroadwayCon is aiming to be,” Mr. Bazadona said. “Some think it is a bunch of theater nerds in a room, but some think this is the future of audience development.”

 

80% female! That's 10 percentage points higher than the already female-dominated overall Broadway attendance demographics. I did expect a large portion to be in the "younger" demographic than those who normally attend Broadway shows. I'm really curious just how many are first-time convention participants as well.

[Marianne2]

I gave up on the opening line. I'm in the Sutton room to watch it on screen. It was too anxiety driven for me. It's nice down here if anyone else is afraid of the line. 

[Jordan Catalano]

From everything I'm seeing, I'm glad I decided not to go this year. 

[JM226]

i am here rightg now. it is a mess. worst convention ever so far. hopefully they tighten things up by tomorrow morning 

[round2]

Would have been great (miraculous?) to be well-organized the first time out, but I am saluting the effort. Hoping anyone experiencing frustration has that balanced before it's over.

[Play Esq.]

Eek. They're entitled to some first-year mishaps, but this seems completely not-thought-out. You have the biggest show in a decade doing a performance, and crowd control for said event is a mess?  The amount of people trying to get in should not have come as a surprise to anyone. 

[Pootie2]

I haven't been able to actually follow any of the live streaming, so I wondered how the crowding looked and such. I'm surprised, given that Leakycon/Geekycon were around the 4k-5k mark, supposedly. There are probably a variety of reasons why this is rougher than expected, though I do expect the first to be rough. Perhaps the other cons this group has managed never had the major star draw kind of frenzy like Hamilton? I also saw a group photo earlier that included what I thought was a very small number of volunteers. Hopefully things improve as time goes on!

[James2]

What sort of vendors do they have in the Marketplace?

[Marianne2]

I actually haven't had any really horrible experiences so far except for the line to get into the opening.  The meet ups were good earlier. And the autograph lines were organized decently.  Then again, I only went for Natalie Weiss so far. Actually,  my most annoying part was trying to get in for The King and I panel. It was just messy with people kind of pushing and shoving to get away from that section.  So I guess my problems are just not well organized crowd control at times.

[Pootie2]

James2 said: "What sort of vendors do they have in the Marketplace?"

 

The sample list below is from their website, but I wonder if the full list is printed in the BroadwayCon playbill.

 

Broadway Dance Center
The Shop at BDC offers a wide variety of items from dance apparel to casual street wear, youth apparel, shoes, accessories, and multimedia items.

 

Theatre Development Fund
Learn about the Theatre Development Fund, and receive discounted membership.

 

Custom Broadway
Canvases, wooden keepsake boxes, and canvas shoes customized with your favorite Broadway artwork and lyrics.

 

Tandy Leather
Tandy Leather is the best source for your leather crafing needs! From hides to hardware, stitching to dying, Tandy Leather has it all!

 

Eve Believes
Decals, underwear, neckties, keychains, wallets, jewelry.

 

Stella Adler Studio of Acting
World class professional actor training in the heart of New York City. Classes include Acting Technique, Scene Study, Acting for Film & TV, and more!

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About crowd control, I'm not sure how they can or will address it either as this convention continues or for next year. Ropes? More volunteers? It sounds kind of like a stage dooring madhouse.

[LaciePi]

All the panels I attended were 90%-125% capacity.   The line controls are poor.  

If you can get into a room, the talks themselves were good.  

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

I don't think it's fair to give too much slack for a "first time event" when it cost people up to $650 to attend. I know it's the first time for Broadway, but  these people have run fan conventions before. From the photos I've seen I'm almost glad I couldn't make it. 

[JM226]

you should be glad. i'm here and regretting it. 

[Pootie2]

NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "I don't think it's fair to give too much slack for a "first time event" when it cost people up to $650 to attend. I know it's the first time for Broadway, but  these people have run fan conventions before. From the photos I've seen I'm almost glad I couldn't make it. "

 

Yes, I'd agree with that. I sure hope their team regroups after tonight and figures something out.

[Mr Roxy]

A friend of ours is there on a comp from someone in the business. Jokingly he says he wants his money back. Kinda of reminds me of the horror stories from star trek conventions

 

I saw this coming when it was first announced. I was never into the star worshipping business.

[neonlightsxo]

I'm not at BroadwayCon, and I'm not planning to go, because that's too much money to spend time with Broadway fans/things when I live here, but I was reading the hashtag and I saw multiple people with the $600 VIP passes who were disappointed with their experience. If anything, the organizers should be making sure THOSE people have a great time. That's just business.

JM226, make sure you pass along your feedback to them if you haven't already.

[Kad]

I attended the opening performance as a representative for my job, so I cannot speak to the general experience as a real attendee. The main ballroom was packed, easily a couple thousand people. It was a cute mini musical with some nice cameos, performed by reliable Broadway troupers like Rob McClure and Ann Harada. 

This sort of thing just isn't fun or novel for me, I suppose. That said, the turnout was very impressive. 

[EricMontreal22]

WTF there were $600 buck VIP passes for this?  I charge less and can play the Starlight Express cast album at the same time....

[Bettyboy72]

I have friends who paid $600 for VIP and can't get seats in rooms while people with day passes are sitting. This is a **** show if VIPs are standing and sweating their balls off. I'd be pissed. 

[Matchi]

Opening number had video w Idina, LaChanze, Anthony, and Snyder. 

As far as "surprise guests",Ben Vereen, Tommy Tune, and others were on the stage for about 45 seconds. It was cute, I guess.

Tweens are everywhere. 

[Pootie2]

Bettyboy72 said: "I have friends who paid $600 for VIP and can't get seats in rooms while people with day passes are sitting. This is a **** show if VIPs are standing and sweating their balls off. I'd be pissed. "

 

I think the person to try to contact about that is really Melissa Anelli, though she's roving around the convention somewhere.