1) there is almost no correlation between any exhibitor’s ability to pay high table fees, and the quality of the product this exhibitor is selling;

2) in a community as incestuous and chatty as “indie” comics, it’s short-sighted for an event organizer not to heed the math in #1 while rushing to maximize profit;

3) gouging the finite wallet-load of SPX attendees with high admission fees seems like a pretty underhanded way to funnel profit away from the creators and small publishers (read: the only reason anyone comes to SPX in the first place) and towards the coffers of the organizers behind the curtain. in fact, i’m consistently amazed that so many people get in line at SPX to spend $10 for the privilege of, you know… spending more money.

i’d go so far as to say such a setup is disrespectful to the creators at SPX — i.e., the same people the CBLDF was created to help. as the table and admission prices at SPX rise, it seems likely that a certain resentment will also rise among the cartoonists who can already barely afford to contribute their talents to this con. i support the previous comment’s request for more fiscal transparency at SPX, as well as a reduction or complete abandonment of admission fees. if SPX wants to gouge the deep pockets, they shouldn’t do it at the expense of the prole cartoonists and their devoted fans (read: the only reason SPX is worth going to) — they should do it the way a proper NGO would do it, and auction off some more electric guitars.

As a long-time NGO staffer, our funding and financial records are made available to most anyone. Foundations often require transparency and public accounting from their grantees, donors often peruse IRS 990 data of charities before they donate–shouldn’t SPX consider the same level of disclosure?

There is no question that SPX is exceptionally well-run, and that the committee and volunteers generously volunteer lots of time (And no one more than Karon, who really gives the proverbial-if-mathematically-suspect 110%). And while I don’t think SPX is a non-profit, there is no rule that would prevent more openness.

Just my two cents.

However, it’s just an unfortunate nature of the beast when dealing with this type of show. To be in a venue that can house a show this large indoors requires the costs to be what they are. It sucks. A lot. But unfortunately you can’t do anything about it without changing the show so drastically that it’s just not SPX anymore.

Thank you for feedback. We want to know what works and what doesn’t about the show for exhibitors and attendees. We do very carefully consider the table and admission price trying to walk the fine line between being affordable and making enough money to cover show costs. I know that many exhibitors do not make in sales what it costs to attend the show so we aim to make SPX as enjoyable a social event as possible for everyone to help offset the cost. As we saw a 19% increase in attendance I don’t think the $10 fee is considered a blocker in the DC area. That is cheaper than the cost of a movie here and an attendee could spend 8 hours at the show on Saturday enjoying the programming and exhibitor floor.

The cross-pollination is also happening although I suspect it is invisible to people not local to the area. Flyers for SPX have been available at Crafty Bastards (the craft show you mention) and at the National Book Festival when those events have fallen the weeks before SPX. We also hand out free passes at area book signings and at the local art schools. This type of advertising is incredibly important and it helps the show and comic creators to increase it every year. I would love to have more suggestions from exhibitors and fans as to other areas where we can attract more visitors to the show. I keep waiting for knitting comics to become big so that we can get flyers and posters to the yarn and craft stores.

While I am not going to discuss exact numbers the show is considerably more expensive to run than your expectations. Everything you see at the show must be sourced – the ballroom and meeting room space, tables and table drapes, chairs, wastebaskets, microphones, laptops and projectors plus paying for the labor to set up and tear down ballroom and meeting rooms. It is comparable to hosting a wedding for over 1000 guests. SPX is volunteer run – no one on staff from the board members to the show volunteers receives payment for working on the show. We do of course get in free to the show so volunteering is one way an attendee can save money on the admittance charge.

Cutting out the chocolate fountain wouldn’t lower the show costs as hotel and venue contracts include required hospitality purchases. Since food purchasing is mandatory (as it was with past hotels as well), we try to have a variety of things provided and that includes something fun like the chocolate fountain . Plus I’m scared exhibitors would be calling for my head on a platter if the chocolate fountain disappeared.

I do want to correct one assumption on your part. There are not half-dozen nearby hotels with the appropriate meeting space. The exhibit hall is just under 12,000 continuous square feet while most hotel ballrooms and mezzanines are half that size. There are very few venues in the Washington, DC area that offer open rooms of that size and we are not willing to spread the exhibitors across different rooms or floors. Once we eliminate venues not served by a metro station it drops the options even more. We are actually remarkably limited in spaces that can accommodate the show.

But this is a good problem to have. Being too big for most venues just shows how SPX has been able to sustain growth over the years. Exhibitor space sells out 6 months before the show each year so I would love to see the show get even bigger in the years to come.

Karon Flage – SPX Executive Director 2006-2009

I love when our vendors say to me things like, “Surely you can charge less for tables” or “Can’t you find somewhere comparable closer in?” The short answer was no, we cannot. I love that Susie Cagle seems to think that hotel space is so bountiful and cheap in DC but it is not. Were the show to move the table prices would probably double, just based on my own “let me pull out a calculator and do the math” numbers. (For all I know it would be higher.) Were the show to stay and drop table prices I’d bet there wouldn’t be another show because they’d be broke.