Comic Con In Abandoned Mall Store A Hot Topic With Fans

Fandom Fest, a long-running comic and toy collector fan expo in Kentucky, seemed like is was off to a rocky start when it announced a change of venue a few weeks before the convention date. Soon after, sixteen of the previously announced celebrity guests canceled their appearances. Part of the reason? The new venue was an abandoned Macy's at a local mall. Writing for Comics Beat, Heidi McDonald is your tour guide to the train wreck. For example, celebrities complained of promised airfare and hotel fees not being paid. Fans seeking autographs of the 16 celebrities that had now cancelled were denied refunds. A fire marshall showed up at the venue and, citing safety concerns, only let the 30,000 fans in 1,700 people at a time.

So what did Myra Daniels, the convention co-organizer have to say in her defense? She did release a statement.

It's a doozy.

“I am not going to say that everything I have done… that I have no made mistakes. Absolutely I have made mistakes. Has there been a time maybe flights weren’t done on time that they had wanted? Maybe they said they wanted them by 30, 40, 50 days out and they weren’t done at that exact time. But did they have flights? Did they have hotels? Yes they did,” Daniels said.
When asked if she felt bad about the fans who were left without any celebrities that they wanted to see she said, “”No, I don’t feel bad about that, we’ve done nothing to rip anybody off. They knew that when they signed up. They even had to click a box saying I understand this.”

The entire report is by turns fascinating, frustrating and horrifying, and you can read the whole account here.