Newsarama has an interview up in which Lance Festerman, who organizes New York Comic Con for Reed Exhibitions, talks about the decision of Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus to schedule Big Apple Comic Con on the same weekend as New York Comic Con. In it, he muses over Shamus' reasoning -- and talks about being escorted off the convention floor of the Big Apple Comic Con by security guards.When news hit last weekend that Wizard owner Gareb Shamus' just relaunched Big Apple Comic Con would set up its 2010 run on the same weekend as the venerable New York Comic Con only a few miles down the shore of the Hudson River, fans and commentators were surprised to see the direct challenge to NYCC's supremacy. Although, one person who seemed less than taken aback was Lance Fensterman, the Reed Exhibitions VP who oversees NYCC.
"I'm not at all shocked. I would've been shocked if they did it a different weekend," Fensterman told CBR of the move. "This is a thing I've heard from them or from the rumblings out there. We run 40 events a year as a company, so we're pretty aware of where people are looking for dates and when."
Read the entire post.