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Pax Prime, not in Seattle (2015?)

GravebornGraveborn Registered User regular
Robert Khoo states the following to Polygon: The segment take is the last two paragraphs in an article about scalpers.

PAX Prime, which runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, continues to grow, despite the addition of PAX East in Boston starting in 2010 and PAX Australia this year. While Khoo said the team would like to keep PAX Prime in Seattle, the rocketing attendance may force a move from the city.

"When push comes to shove and it becomes too difficult to do PAX in Seattle I will have to look at other possibilities at some point," he said, "but not right now."

I have to say I was extremely disappointed to read this. Extremly. PA was born in Seattle. The first PAX was absolutley horrible. Bad venue, not many booths, not many speakers, but people that supported PA came out. They had a good time, told thier friends and the next year grew to be bigger and better. Every year, more and more support, allowing them to then get bigger booths and bigger name speakers, until it got so big that PAX East was born.

The Seattle area PA/PAX supporter is what carried this endevour to what it is today. Sure, moving it to another location would probably mean more capacity, but how about a bit of fraking loyality?

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Posts

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    I think you're reading way too much into this. It's still in Seattle, they want to keep it in Seattle. They're just not the "never say never" types.

  • Chuck Liddell FanChuck Liddell Fan Registered User regular
    Only thing I could see is potentially expanding another pax somewhere else. Can't see Seattle not hosting pax prime

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  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Wouldn't mind something like a PAX Chicago or something for those of us who can't easily get to Seattle or Boston. I want to go, but I'm looking at a road trip in either direction.

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  • BekerBeker Child's Play Program Director SeattleRegistered User, Penny Arcade Staff regular
    Robert is very smart. He may have just said that to keep WSCC from thinking they had a monopoly on PAX Prime and raising prices too much or something. "too difficult" can mean a lot of things, and to him, shows selling out and dealing with a bit of internet drama is not too difficult.

    -Beker/Erick
    zx6ak2M.png
  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited April 2013
    zepherin wrote: »
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

    Although this is slightly off topic, the Oregon Convention Center has less than half the exhibit space of the BCEC. Oregon Convention Center has 255k sq ft of exhibit space, the BCEC has 516k sq ft of exhibit space.

    The "1million sq ft" figure that is sometimes used for the Oregon Convention Center is the total square footage of the building, including expo, meeting, ballroom, and hallway spaces. The BCEC does not cite its total space, but only lists its exhibit (516k), pre-function space (lobbies, not including hallways-300k), meeting (160k), and ballroom (40k) sizes.

    These sorts of numbers are very often misquoted and misused because they're taken from potentially unreliable sources, or they aren't apples to apples comparisons. It's important to separate the usage categories out like this to get a decent comparison of sizes.

    citations:
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/exhibit-space.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/registrationfunction.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/meeting-rooms.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/grand-ballroom.aspx
    http://www.oregoncc.org/PlanYourEvent/

    zerzhul on
  • XalaraXalara Registered User regular
    Beyond that I just don't see PAX Prime not being in Seattle. If you're going to read anything into the quote, the only thing to read from it is that Khoo is doing some political posturing over the fact that the city has been dragging its feet on expanding the convention center for awhile now.

  • hyrulehero96hyrulehero96 The Hero of Rhyme Registered User regular
    I really hope that the people at the WSCTC step up and get the ball rolling hard on the expansion/relocation of the center. Found out from a co worker who who has done ins with the people at the center and found out that the revenue they earn from pax alone pays for the entire year of operating, not sure how credible this info is but I can believe it, and if it is true or not its still its huge revenue source they would be missing.

    Money aside, I feel Prime is Seattle, and moving it would take alot of the heart out of it, prime started here and should stay here. I do like the idea of a pax central somewhere in the Midwest, but I think the next will be a PAX Europe some where else wherever seas.

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  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    zerzhul wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

    Although this is slightly off topic, the Oregon Convention Center has less than half the exhibit space of the BCEC. Oregon Convention Center has 255k sq ft of exhibit space, the BCEC has 516k sq ft of exhibit space.

    The "1million sq ft" figure that is sometimes used for the Oregon Convention Center is the total square footage of the building, including expo, meeting, ballroom, and hallway spaces. The BCEC does not cite its total space, but only lists its exhibit (516k), pre-function space (lobbies, not including hallways-300k), meeting (160k), and ballroom (40k) sizes.

    These sorts of numbers are very often misquoted and misused because they're taken from potentially unreliable sources, or they aren't apples to apples comparisons. It's important to separate the usage categories out like this to get a decent comparison of sizes.

    citations:
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/exhibit-space.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/registrationfunction.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/meeting-rooms.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/grand-ballroom.aspx
    http://www.oregoncc.org/PlanYourEvent/
    Fair enough, However this is still larger than WSCC, and I was just using that as a point to say that Khoo is not locked in and has a potential stick to hit WSCC and Seattle in General. They talk of convention expansion, and Khoo is patient, but if it looks like Seattle is going to lose Pax for five years, it may spur them to action. Although 766 million is quite a bit.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    It's a little bigger than the WSCC, but not much bigger than the WSCC + Downtown Seattle. If they were going to move for size, it would have to go to somewhere an order of magnitude larger, to get them out of Seattle. It's not going to portland for 50k sqft of exhibit space ;)

  • SkeleVaderSkeleVader Your Friendly Dark Lord of Destruction Registered User regular
    edited April 2013
    zepherin wrote: »
    zerzhul wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

    Although this is slightly off topic, the Oregon Convention Center has less than half the exhibit space of the BCEC. Oregon Convention Center has 255k sq ft of exhibit space, the BCEC has 516k sq ft of exhibit space.

    The "1million sq ft" figure that is sometimes used for the Oregon Convention Center is the total square footage of the building, including expo, meeting, ballroom, and hallway spaces. The BCEC does not cite its total space, but only lists its exhibit (516k), pre-function space (lobbies, not including hallways-300k), meeting (160k), and ballroom (40k) sizes.

    These sorts of numbers are very often misquoted and misused because they're taken from potentially unreliable sources, or they aren't apples to apples comparisons. It's important to separate the usage categories out like this to get a decent comparison of sizes.

    citations:
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/exhibit-space.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/registrationfunction.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/meeting-rooms.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/grand-ballroom.aspx
    http://www.oregoncc.org/PlanYourEvent/
    Fair enough, However this is still larger than WSCC, and I was just using that as a point to say that Khoo is not locked in and has a potential stick to hit WSCC and Seattle in General. They talk of convention expansion, and Khoo is patient, but if it looks like Seattle is going to lose Pax for five years, it may spur them to action. Although 766 million is quite a bit.

    Using On-Screen Takeoff (a program used in estimating) & the plans provided on the websites of each convention center I came up with the following sizes for each venue:

    WSCC: 882,700 SF
    BCEC: 1,391,200 SF
    OCC: 719,620 SF

    This includes all the spaces of each venue minus the loading docks.
    OCC may have a bit more exhibition space, but it has less overall space.

    Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AilPyWyh2FlbdG1tMThrXzBidVRyd0IxOVpIeUtWMkE&usp=sharing

    SkeleVader on
    IhtGIyi.png
  • TheGreySpectreTheGreySpectre Registered User new member
    I don't even live in Seattle and I am not really a fan of this. Any shift away from Seattle will be a temporary fix at best. The way PAX has grown I don't think a shift would really give them more then a year or two worth of time. PA itself is based in Seattle and Seattle has a great culture for Pax.

    I think having more PAXs is a better option then moving away from Seattle.

  • ColdbrewColdbrew Down in Front Productions Lake Stevens, WARegistered User regular
    Mike and/or Jerry said recently, iirc, that Seattle is their home and PAX Prime should always be there. That doesn't rule out another new PAX somewhere in NA of course, but it's hard to say at this point.

    Also, I'm pretty sure they're contracted through WSCTC for quite a few years still, but I could be mistaken.

    Personally, I wouldn't ever want to see Prime moved. Sure the WSCTC can be a bit of a cluster-fuck some times, and it's way too small for demand these days, but the location in downtown Seattle is awesome. There's just so many places to go, things to see and do within walking distance. I think that's the biggest point to make for me. If Seattle sucked and there wasn't anything good nearby then I might not have a problem with Prime moving, but I love Seattle.

    NSw0gum.png
  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    SkeleVader wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    zerzhul wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

    Although this is slightly off topic, the Oregon Convention Center has less than half the exhibit space of the BCEC. Oregon Convention Center has 255k sq ft of exhibit space, the BCEC has 516k sq ft of exhibit space.

    The "1million sq ft" figure that is sometimes used for the Oregon Convention Center is the total square footage of the building, including expo, meeting, ballroom, and hallway spaces. The BCEC does not cite its total space, but only lists its exhibit (516k), pre-function space (lobbies, not including hallways-300k), meeting (160k), and ballroom (40k) sizes.

    These sorts of numbers are very often misquoted and misused because they're taken from potentially unreliable sources, or they aren't apples to apples comparisons. It's important to separate the usage categories out like this to get a decent comparison of sizes.

    citations:
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/exhibit-space.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/registrationfunction.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/meeting-rooms.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/grand-ballroom.aspx
    http://www.oregoncc.org/PlanYourEvent/
    Fair enough, However this is still larger than WSCC, and I was just using that as a point to say that Khoo is not locked in and has a potential stick to hit WSCC and Seattle in General. They talk of convention expansion, and Khoo is patient, but if it looks like Seattle is going to lose Pax for five years, it may spur them to action. Although 766 million is quite a bit.

    Using On-Screen Takeoff (a program used in estimating) & the plans provided on the websites of each convention center I came up with the following sizes for each venue:

    WSCC: 882,700 SF
    BCEC: 1,391,200 SF
    OCC: 719,620 SF

    This includes all the spaces of each venue minus the loading docks.
    OCC may have a bit more exhibition space, but it has less overall space.

    Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AilPyWyh2FlbdG1tMThrXzBidVRyd0IxOVpIeUtWMkE&usp=sharing
    The spreadsheet is incomplete occ has 4 floors. Unless you rolled them into 2. But again not the point I could say San Fran or San Diego. What I'm saying is Khoi has enough leverage that he doesn't need Seattle. Hell pax prime would sell out in bumblefuck Montana. I don't think Khoo has any intention of leaving Seattle, but he doesn't want them to think they have a monopoly.

  • SkeleVaderSkeleVader Your Friendly Dark Lord of Destruction Registered User regular
    zepherin wrote: »
    SkeleVader wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    zerzhul wrote: »
    zepherin wrote: »
    I think Khoo is pressuring WSCC and Seattle into expanding WSCC, because honestly, He could shift it to the Oregon Convention Center, and have more space than BCEC, and sell an extra 5 thousand passes and space for 300 more exhibits. With that you could be looking at almost a million a year easy just with a minimal location shift, however the threat of that is what I think is the draw.

    Although this is slightly off topic, the Oregon Convention Center has less than half the exhibit space of the BCEC. Oregon Convention Center has 255k sq ft of exhibit space, the BCEC has 516k sq ft of exhibit space.

    The "1million sq ft" figure that is sometimes used for the Oregon Convention Center is the total square footage of the building, including expo, meeting, ballroom, and hallway spaces. The BCEC does not cite its total space, but only lists its exhibit (516k), pre-function space (lobbies, not including hallways-300k), meeting (160k), and ballroom (40k) sizes.

    These sorts of numbers are very often misquoted and misused because they're taken from potentially unreliable sources, or they aren't apples to apples comparisons. It's important to separate the usage categories out like this to get a decent comparison of sizes.

    citations:
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/exhibit-space.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/registrationfunction.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/meeting-rooms.aspx
    http://www.advantageboston.com/bcec/floor-plans-and-specs/grand-ballroom.aspx
    http://www.oregoncc.org/PlanYourEvent/
    Fair enough, However this is still larger than WSCC, and I was just using that as a point to say that Khoo is not locked in and has a potential stick to hit WSCC and Seattle in General. They talk of convention expansion, and Khoo is patient, but if it looks like Seattle is going to lose Pax for five years, it may spur them to action. Although 766 million is quite a bit.

    Using On-Screen Takeoff (a program used in estimating) & the plans provided on the websites of each convention center I came up with the following sizes for each venue:

    WSCC: 882,700 SF
    BCEC: 1,391,200 SF
    OCC: 719,620 SF

    This includes all the spaces of each venue minus the loading docks.
    OCC may have a bit more exhibition space, but it has less overall space.

    Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AilPyWyh2FlbdG1tMThrXzBidVRyd0IxOVpIeUtWMkE&usp=sharing
    The spreadsheet is incomplete occ has 4 floors. Unless you rolled them into 2. But again not the point I could say San Fran or San Diego. What I'm saying is Khoi has enough leverage that he doesn't need Seattle. Hell pax prime would sell out in bumblefuck Montana. I don't think Khoo has any intention of leaving Seattle, but he doesn't want them to think they have a monopoly.

    This pdf file taken from their website only shows two floors: http://findit.oregoncc.org/Floor Plans/occ_FacilitySpecs.pdf
    It does show a Lobby & Skyview that are on slightly different levels. I am not sure what the OCC looks like too well. I haven't been there since the TMNT concert tour.

    Yes, PAX could move anywhere and still sell out in record times, but not having a viable option in the PNW means they won't be moving any time soon and everyone (including WSCC) knows it.

    IhtGIyi.png
  • renly10renly10 Registered User new member
    Graveborn wrote: »
    Robert Khoo states the following to Polygon: The segment take is the last two paragraphs in an article about scalpers.

    PAX Prime, which runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, continues to grow, despite the addition of PAX East in Boston starting in 2010 and PAX Australia this year. While Khoo said the team would like to keep PAX Prime in Seattle, the rocketing attendance may force a move from the city.

    "When push comes to shove and it becomes too difficult to do PAX in Seattle I will have to look at other possibilities at some point," he said, "but not right now."

    I have to say I was extremely disappointed to read this. Extremly. PA was born in Seattle. The first PAX was absolutley horrible. Bad venue, not many booths, not many speakers, but people that supported PA came out. They had a good time, told thier friends and the next year grew to be bigger and better. Every year, more and more support, allowing them to then get bigger booths and bigger name speakers, until it got so big that PAX East was born.

    The Seattle area PA/PAX supporter is what carried this endevour to what it is today. Sure, moving it to another location would probably mean more capacity, but how about a bit of fraking loyality?

    Just so you're aware, the way this reads to other people is, "Sure moving it to another location would mean that way, way more people could experience an awesome thing, but how about not inconveniencing me personally?"

    Downtown Seattle is cool, and that's a stupid reason to keep a convention there. The Seattle convention center is clearly not large enough for demand. I also think it's dumb to keep the convention there just because the Penny Arcade people are from there - they are willing to fly to Australia, Boston, etc., would Las Vegas or Portland be vastly more inconvenient? - but it is their convention and they can do what they want with it... although that's not even the argument being put forth in this thread.

    I actually never go on these forums, this thread just came up on a google search I did for that polygon article. I was so irritated at the selfishness on display here I wanted to register and let you know how offensive this is to an outsider; changing venues would allow a vast increase in the number of people that could experience the greatness of PAX, wanting to keep it in a small place because that's how it's always been is just so shortsighted and selfish. And being "disappointed" in them for even "considering" (Khoo's quote makes it seem very unlikely they will actually move it) changing venues? Unbelievable.

  • EnderWiggumEnderWiggum Registered User regular
    If they can just hold off until 2017 they could expand to the new hotel a few blocks north with an additional 150k sf.

    meetingsfocus.com/NewsEvents/IndustryNews/IndustryNewsDetails/tabid/138/ArticleID/20932/Default.aspx

  • MortonStromgalMortonStromgal Registered User regular
    edited May 2013
    Technically didn't it start in Bellevue? I don't see any reason to keep it downtown. The first year I went was the first year at WSCC and I know PAX had been around for several years before.

    I also don't understand how these ticketing places cant keep the website up... Its not rocket surgery to design your cloud to handle 100k users or more at once.

    MortonStromgal on
  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    renly10 wrote: »

    Just so you're aware, the way this reads to other people is, "Sure moving it to another location would mean that way, way more people could experience an awesome thing, but how about not inconveniencing me personally?"

    Downtown Seattle is cool, and that's a stupid reason to keep a convention there. The Seattle convention center is clearly not large enough for demand. I also think it's dumb to keep the convention there just because the Penny Arcade people are from there - they are willing to fly to Australia, Boston, etc., would Las Vegas or Portland be vastly more inconvenient? - but it is their convention and they can do what they want with it... although that's not even the argument being put forth in this thread.

    I actually never go on these forums, this thread just came up on a google search I did for that polygon article. I was so irritated at the selfishness on display here I wanted to register and let you know how offensive this is to an outsider; changing venues would allow a vast increase in the number of people that could experience the greatness of PAX, wanting to keep it in a small place because that's how it's always been is just so shortsighted and selfish. And being "disappointed" in them for even "considering" (Khoo's quote makes it seem very unlikely they will actually move it) changing venues? Unbelievable.

    Agreed. So Graveborn, you argue loyalty. What about the loyalty owed to the people who want to attend PAX, but couldn't because tickets sold out? Isn't it the responsible thing for Khoo and Penny Arcade to try and find a way to allow everyone who wants to attend any PAX to do so? Because they moved the first PAX to a bigger venue when space was too constrained. They moved PAX East after space became an issue. They are likely to move PAX Aus when it runs into the same difficulty. So why not move PAX Prime somewhere they can double the attendance?

    PAX is not a local sports team: the attendees are not all locals. People fly in from all over the world. I'm coming from the UK. And even if there was a PAX Europe, that shouldn't rule out my attendance of PAX Prime. And ideally, neither should availability. Anyone who wants to attend any PAX anywhere should simply be able to buy a ticket and attend. But right now, there isn't enough space to allow this. It is a problem that needs solving.

    Now, Coldbrew makes a good point that the vibe of PAX Prime is entwined with Seattle. It would have a different feel in a different place. But different doesn't have to be bad, and the main question is: would you rather attend PAX Prime in a different venue, or not attend PAX Prime in Seattle? Because for most people those are looking to be the only choices.

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    I also don't understand how these ticketing places cant keep the website up... Its not rocket surgery to design your cloud to handle 100k users or more at once.

    Reading the FAKhoo, I'm guessing that it wasn't the ticket transactions, but the credit card transactions that were actually the issue. And that is likely to be a 3rd party system processing them. You can't really make them go faster, they are just going to say "We process them at this speed. If you want them done, you have to wait."

  • S2000GanS2000Gan Spartan-Rogue Class, Red Squad Bellevue, WARegistered User regular
    Oh wow. The Idea of PAX being WSCC + Downtown Seattle... That's alot of space.

    hnx2ZrU.jpg6jYGFlE.png
  • DedwrekkaDedwrekka Metal Hell adjacentRegistered User regular
    edited June 2013
    Time to finish up my proposal to make a PAX Dallas then!
    Dallas Convention Center! Over 2,000,000 square feet!!

    Dedwrekka on
  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    Dedwrekka wrote: »
    Time to finish up my proposal to make a PAX Dallas then!
    Dallas Convention Center! Over 2,000,000 square feet!!

    Given their reaction to heat, maybe Dallas isn't going to be the right place.

  • fiftypeakfiftypeak Registered User regular
    Dedwrekka wrote: »
    Time to finish up my proposal to make a PAX Dallas then!
    Dallas Convention Center! Over 2,000,000 square feet!!

    I'm in agreement with Dedwrekka. I can't possibly imagine that the folks at PA haven't given any thought to hosting a PAX in the South somewhere. Houston, Dallas, even Austin (where some very major game companies are located) would be great. This way, at least in the lower 48 states, it would give people an opprotunity to go to the closest PAX they can. I imagine the people coming from the southern part of the country would much rather travel to Austin or Dallas instead of making the hike up to Boston or Seattle. I really think putting a PAX way down in the southern central part of the US is smart so that you can maximize attendance without cannibalizing your business from other PAX locations.

  • SpiritfireSpiritfire Brookfield, WIRegistered User regular
    fiftypeak wrote: »
    ... This way, at least in the lower 48 states, it would give people an opprotunity to go to the closest PAX they can. I imagine the people coming from the southern part of the country would much rather travel to Austin or Dallas instead of making the hike up to Boston or Seattle. I really think putting a PAX way down in the southern central part of the US is smart so that you can maximize attendance without cannibalizing your business from other PAX locations.

    The case could be made for any region - not just the south. There's not a single would-be attendee who wouldn't want to see a PAX venue closer to their home.

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    fiftypeak wrote: »
    Dedwrekka wrote: »
    Time to finish up my proposal to make a PAX Dallas then!
    Dallas Convention Center! Over 2,000,000 square feet!!

    I'm in agreement with Dedwrekka. I can't possibly imagine that the folks at PA haven't given any thought to hosting a PAX in the South somewhere. Houston, Dallas, even Austin (where some very major game companies are located) would be great. This way, at least in the lower 48 states, it would give people an opprotunity to go to the closest PAX they can. I imagine the people coming from the southern part of the country would much rather travel to Austin or Dallas instead of making the hike up to Boston or Seattle. I really think putting a PAX way down in the southern central part of the US is smart so that you can maximize attendance without cannibalizing your business from other PAX locations.

    I think you two are missing the point.

    Moving PAX Prime is not about moving it closer to anywhere. It would be about moving it to a bigger venue. That's it.

    They are unlikely to add a third US PAX given they have said they want one in Europe eventually, which would make 4 already. They can't keep adding PAXes everywhere due to the time it takes setting them up, running them and dismantling them. I think 4 weekends a year is about the limit, especially if they are going to have two international ones.

    The best way to make a case for PAX Anywhere-other-than-Seattle isn't to say "people in x region would love to travel less." It's to play up the venue size, hotel capacities, airport(s) and transport links. A smaller consideration is the "vibe" of the city, but since the primary goal is to get people into the venue and enjoying PAX it probably won't be as valuable as some think.

  • QuintiousQuintious Registered User regular
    edited June 2013
    Spiritfire wrote: »
    fiftypeak wrote: »
    ... This way, at least in the lower 48 states, it would give people an opprotunity to go to the closest PAX they can. I imagine the people coming from the southern part of the country would much rather travel to Austin or Dallas instead of making the hike up to Boston or Seattle. I really think putting a PAX way down in the southern central part of the US is smart so that you can maximize attendance without cannibalizing your business from other PAX locations.

    The case could be made for any region - not just the south. There's not a single would-be attendee who wouldn't want to see a PAX venue closer to their home.

    Not true. Prime is about 15 minutes away from me. I don't want it any closer than that :P (yes, it's possible, and yes, it used to be back when it was in Bellevue)

    Quintious on
  • CuvisTheConquerorCuvisTheConqueror They always say "yee haw" but they never ask "haw yee?" Registered User regular
    edited June 2013
    I live near LA, and having PAX closer to me would be a mixed blessing. Sure, LA has a very big convention center, and it'd be a hell of a lot more convenient, but it'd mean missing out on the train trip, which was tons of fun (and promises to be tons of fun again this year). Not to mention, my trip to PAX was my first time in Seattle, and I'd probably have never had that experience if PAX were not there.

    I've only been once, but even I could see that a lot of PAX's character is tied up with Seattle, and being anywhere else, it wouldn't be quite the same. LA or Vegas could give more space, but it'd also mean changing a big part of the character of PAX, and that's something that shouldn't be done lightly.

    CuvisTheConqueror on
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  • pharaohwizardpharaohwizard Registered User regular
    Vancouver Convention Center is new and huge, only about 2-3 hours drive from Seattle. Plus it would save me the trip down. http://www.vancouverconventioncentre.com/

  • sarge1445sarge1445 Registered User regular
    I say keep it in Seattle but rent out more buildings or ad more days

    I AM THE VAMPIRE
  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    I live near LA, and having PAX closer to me would be a mixed blessing. Sure, LA has a very big convention center, and it'd be a hell of a lot more convenient, but it'd mean missing out on the train trip, which was tons of fun (and promises to be tons of fun again this year). Not to mention, my trip to PAX was my first time in Seattle, and I'd probably have never had that experience if PAX were not there.

    I've only been once, but even I could see that a lot of PAX's character is tied up with Seattle, and being anywhere else, it wouldn't be quite the same. LA or Vegas could give more space, but it'd also mean changing a big part of the character of PAX, and that's something that shouldn't be done lightly.

    I think the main problem with LA as a PAX venue would be the transportation. If they did go California-based for the next PAX Prime (or more likely, temporarily move it until Seattle finish building new space) they are more likely to go to San Francisco or San Diego. The recent DLC says SF is Khoo's favourite place for the weird people.

    Vegas would have the heat issue. I have been to conventions there, and stepping onto the sidewalk in daylight is painful.

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    Vancouver Convention Center is new and huge, only about 2-3 hours drive from Seattle. Plus it would save me the trip down. http://www.vancouverconventioncentre.com/

    466,500 sqft total. Considering that the WSCC has 205,700 sqft on the 4th floor alone and around 400,000 sqft total, I don't think Vancouver is going to be big enough to make the move worth it.

    Really they are going to be looking at 1 million sqft to increase the capacity to where everyone who tried to buy a ticket this year can get one, and host enough exhibits to be worth having that space.

    From an economic perspective, doubling attendance by doubling conference space rented doesn't allow you to double your price for booth space, or to host double the booths. So a place which is more expensive than Seattle has that working against it already.

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    sarge1445 wrote: »
    I say keep it in Seattle but rent out more buildings or ad more days

    How to counter such a well structured argument. Hmm.. :)

    Which other buildings are available? A quick overview of the area suggests nothing really suitable. They already moved to a bigger theater to accommodate more people. What else do you suggest? Throw a circus tent on Pier 62 for PAX: Three Ring Circus? (Actually that sounds pretty sweet.)

    Adding more days would not allow a large increase in attendance, since the vast majority of attendees grab tickets for every single day they can. Adding a fourth day didn't make people say "Which three of the four days should we attend?" They said "An extra day of PAX! Yoink!" as they grabbed the tickets.

  • DyasAlureDyasAlure SeattleRegistered User regular
    I would be sad if it moved. That being said I have failed at tickets two years in a row now. :(

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  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    DyasAlure wrote: »
    I would be sad if it moved. That being said I have failed at tickets two years in a row now. :(

    Care to elaborate? If it moved to somewhere with a larger venue and you were able to get tickets, would you still be sad?

  • miaAusamiaAusa GOD Gamer Of Daters ValhallaRegistered User regular
    it be nice if it was were they held E3 in la, its rather large and it be close to me, i want to go to a pax in seattle but i'm in southern cali : C

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    miaAusa wrote: »
    it be nice if it was were they held E3 in la, its rather large and it be close to me, i want to go to a pax in seattle but i'm in southern cali : C

    LACC has 860,000 sqft total. That's a big plus.

    It is in LA. That's...hmm. I mean, it's right by the freeway, so in theory that makes it easy to get the trucks there and set up. On the other hand, LA traffic is notorious on an international level.

    They have a huge international airport close by. That is a plus. But again, it is LAX. So that is heading towards minus country.

    As to the "vibe" aspect, I just threw my GoogleEarth guy randomly at the map near the LACC. The historic and downtown sections actually look like a more LA-ified Seattle than I thought they would.

    I think the clincher will be price. All that sqft needs to be about the same cost as Seattle to avoid a price hike on the tickets, booth space, etc. Hotels would need to be roughly the same, perhaps a touch more expensive.

  • MortonStromgalMortonStromgal Registered User regular
    Other than the Microsoft campus and the Puyallup Fairgrounds I don't see how you keep it in Seattle. Vegas has the space and the airport to support it. Though Microsoft would be awesome if somehow you could convince them to shut down the offices and keep the shuttle service... some how I don't see that happening.

  • PedroAsaniPedroAsani Brotherhood of the Squirrel [Prime]Registered User regular
    If they can just hold off until 2017 they could expand to the new hotel a few blocks north with an additional 150k sf.

    meetingsfocus.com/NewsEvents/IndustryNews/IndustryNewsDetails/tabid/138/ArticleID/20932/Default.aspx

    I keep coming back to this, and honestly the 150k on top of the 400k at WSCC isn't going to cut it (unless they are currently only occupying part of WSCC) if they are looking to double capacity. Add on that they need to wait through PAX '14, '15 and '16 before it happens, and a move looks more probable. Although I'm more and more wanting my tent-on-the-pier idea to be considered. Circus PAX, with mimes and clowns you can hit with a rake.

  • whypick1whypick1 PAX [E] Info Booth Manager ~2' from an LCDRegistered User regular
    PedroAsani wrote: »
    I keep coming back to this, and honestly the 150k on top of the 400k at WSCC isn't going to cut it (unless they are currently only occupying part of WSCC) if they are looking to double capacity.

    Here's something that I see people keep assuming. Who says they are looking to dramatically increase the capacity? I believe at some point, the con can have too many people, and the attendee experience will suffer greatly because of it. Just because they could in theory sell twice as many passes as they have doesn't mean that they should.

    Is it PAX <insert nearest future PAX here> yet?
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