If there is ONE THING that Sandy Ego Con doesn’t need it is “extra draw”.
It’s lurched over the shark.
It’s the same with “Haight-Ashbury” after the hippies (who wanted to take but not give to the community) came to live on the street (from points East). Or so I hear. Those who created that bohemian scene said it all changed when the runaway tourists flocked in. The free store couldn’t handle the extra “demand”.
SDCC now sells out in advance. I hear that single days are all you can buy unless you buy a year in advance. And some people wait 24 hours in line to get into a specific panel room/discussion.
The artists have left. They set up shop at another hotel, run off from the convention that in name was designed to celebrate their hobby/field.
Yeah I know - I always wanted to go but never got to get there before it got out of control, so now I just hit local midwest stuff and still have some fun and meet some folks.