MegaCon
| MegaCon | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multi-genre, form of COMICON |
| Venue | Orange County Convention Center |
| Location(s) | Orlando, Florida |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 1993 |
| Most recent | ongoing |
| Attendance | >100,000 in May 2016 |
| Organized by | Informa Canada Inc. |
| Website | |
| www |
|
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large multi-genre convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, and gaming communities, often occurring between late February and early March at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, USA. The 2016 event was held in late May.
The first comic book convention held in the Orlando area was OrlandoCon, held annually from 1974 to c. 1994. Regular guests included C. C. Beck, Floyd Gottfredson, and Hal Foster.
MegaCon was founded by James Breitbiel and first held in 1993. The convention was acquired by the Tampa-based publisher CrossGen in 1999, with Elizabeth Widera brought on to run the show in 2000. (Breitbiel became CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director.) During this period, from 2000–2003, MegaCon heavily promoted CrossGen products and creators, to the frustration of some other exhibitors and attendees, although the show itself grew and thrived.
In late 2003, Widera purchased the convention from the failing CrossGen, which was restructuring (the publisher went bankrupt in 2004). Widera, who is a board member of the comics charity The Hero Initiative, currently runs the show along with her daughter Christine Alger.
In September 2008, MegaCon headquarters moved from Safety Harbor to Live Oak, Florida, although the actual convention remains in Orlando.
In 2009, in addition to the main show, held February 27–March 1, convention organizers produced a "mini-MegaCon" held August 22–23, the only one to date, featuring a number of actors from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show.
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