We Chat With Chris DeMoulin About LACC 2021

Earlier, we shared the news that Los Angeles Comic Con is coming back to the convention center, and virtually, see our article Here. We couldn’t resist to the chance to talk once more to Chris DeMoulin about what’s in store, what’s changed, and what to expect from Los Angeles Comic Con this year!

Eric Bryan Seuthe II: So early December dates. I know San Diego Comic Con decided to do their event right after Thanksgiving, for whatever reason. Besides being further out in the year to allow the pandemic to calm further, was there any significance to these dates?

    Chris DeMoulin: Our top priority was to find a date in 2021 that was as late in the year as possible in order to allow the greatest number of fans to feel comfortable attending in person. We also love for our vendors to be able to sell holiday gifts, since L.A. Comic Con is like nerd Black Friday for shopping, so we didn’t want the dates to be too late in December. We know how important holidays are to people and how many were missed last year due to COVID-19, so we wanted to avoid overlapping with any holidays.

Eric: We are back to the hybrid concept that was originally planned for last year. How has the hybrid format changed between last year and today, and has your time working on Micro Con taught you guys some new tricks to prepare for this event in December?

    Chris: We’ve gained a ton of valuable experience from Micro Con: from conducting digital celeb/fan meet & greets, to handling live/streaming hybrid events, to conducting panels with live and digital guests, we’re embracing all of this hybrid technology. This will all be super helpful for December’s big in-person event. In the meantime, we’re continuing to learn and test additional hybrid digital and streaming features as we preparation for December!

Eric: Was it hard keeping the headliners for the convention locked in for the floating convention date, or does everyone pretty much understand the questionable footing caused by the pandemic?

    Chris: The talent and their teams have been amazing. We’re all going through the same issues trying to schedule, and everyone has been flexible, fair and honestly quite kind, working with us to adjust and maintain their commitments to the fans.

Eric: Vaccines are flowing into the veins of nerds and geeks alike, but there are still many who refuse to take their shot, is Los Angeles Comic Con considering requiring proof of vaccination, like many other venues and companies are considering?

    Chris: We have not yet finalized all of our on-site policies because the event is still over seven months away. Hopefully by September, we’ll meet with the team at the L.A. Dept. of Public Health along with our partners at the LA Convention Center to review all the latest guidelines and best practices, and then we’ll finalize and communicate all of our COVID-19-related plans, guidelines and restrictions – e.g. masks, vaccinations, density maximums, etc. We’ll be fully compliant, and when in doubt, we’ll always lean on the side of being extra safe.

Eric: I know one of the major issues with attempting an event last year was the lack of communication from people in charge of public health decisions. Has this year been different, or is it too early to tell if they will be helpful, and communicative this year?

    Chris: While the L.A. Department of Public Health team and the Mayor’s office were terrific last year, the lack of clear guidance from Gov. Newsom until October 2020 kept the events and theme park industries completely in the dark and guessing on best practice guidelines. We hope that as things progress this year, that guidance will be more timely and readily available.

Eric: Last year, when hoping to have a convention, Los Angeles Comic Con proposed some really awesome solutions to keep people safe, how many of those choices are going to be present in December, and which are being left behind in 2020?

    Chris: We’re not 100% operationally planned yet, this far in advance. We know we’ll be in the entire convention center facility, so way more space than ever before, and spread out. We still think having two sessions per day makes sense, as that will really help keep the attendee density down. Plus, we will still be providing enough ticketing options so fans who want to be there almost the entire show will be able to safely do so. There will also be more hybrid live/digital offerings, which we’ll likely be finalizing these details in July, August and September.

Eric: Getting more involved with the NFT field is an interesting and bold concept for a convention, but then giving attendees free NFTs with their tickets, why did Los Angeles Comic Con decide to get into the NFT game?

    Chris: NFTs are quickly becoming a fan favorite, and we love to give our fans what they want! It’s a fast-evolving field, but we think we’ve found a great partner we can grow with. We plan to launch a small NFT program now and then grow it into a more full-fledged program by December. We’re even hoping to involve a lot of the L.A. Comic Con artists and vendors in the larger program. That said, we’re still finalizing details of our April program– it’s only 90% set!!

Eric: With NFT being a virtual item, and the convention in December planning a live event, will LACC be instituting rules or guidelines to help purchasers and sellers who want to potentially sell NFTs live and online at the convention in December?

    Chris: Our understanding of the NFT marketplace as it currently stands is that if a secondary market develops for NFTs, those markets regulate themselves. Our NFT partner, Bondly, will be a resource to understand how to tap into information on any secondary market for existing NFTs at the time of the Con in December.

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