When I first heard of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Con, my gut had some trepidation:
- A first-time convention, from a new company. (A little research, and I discovered it was the company which builds and manages booths for various comic book publishers, as well as manages other consumer events.)
- A first-time convention, in a convention center.
- A convention in Atlantic City, which is a bit dogeared as tourist destinations go. (The casinos are struggling, the city has not invested the gaming revenue wisely.)
Yet… the show managed to bring in a lot of comics publishers (Boom, Valiant, Aspen, Zenescope, Marvel, Top Cow), placing it ahead of many older, regional shows.
They have a decent guest list. While I have been to Atlantic City to gamble and hang out on the boardwalk, I have never been to the convention center. Why not take a day trip to Atlantic City and check out the show? I woke up at 5 AM Saturday morning, caught the 8:15 Greyhound, and arrived at Bally’s casino at about 10:30 AM.
(Note: if travelling to Atlantic City by Greyhound, they might give you a gaming voucher with your bus ticket. Otherwise, ride the bus to the casino, not the bus station, show ID, and you’ll get a gaming voucher. Free money! And they’ll have geeky slots, like Lord of the Rings, Iron Man, Wizard of Oz… Then walk a few blocks to the convention center.)
I decided to experience the convention like a normal fan. Buy the ticket, hang out, see a few panels, no agenda. My only question to answer: How successful was the show?
This map gives a sense of scale of how far one had to walk from the main entrance to the front of the show floor on the far left.
Things which impressed me:
The badge. The front had space to write your name! But even more impressive and “why wasn’t this done sooner?” mind boggling: the back had a matte finish, and a miniature blank comics page! Get autographs! Signatures! Take notes!- Hall B was mostly empty. During the day, it hosted giant scenic backdrops for cosplay photos! The other half of the room was set up for a stage, and right after the show, from 8 PM – 2AM, hosted the Cosplay Ballroom Party.
- The middle aisle was divided into thirds (see map above). The middle row, it seems, was used for those with ADA needs. I didn’t see it used for that, but I wasn’t there when the show opened. Otherwise, that middle aisle was easy to navigate; few traffic jams. I had no problem moving around.
- One exhibitor was selling 3-D printer sculpts of cosplayers. The process took about two minutes on a turntable, and the initial scan looked great! Six weeks for processing and printing. The Jedi Knight I witnessed paid $100 for a six-inch model.
- Did you know that George Romero had planned to do a science fiction cyborg movie in 1984? Bob Layton explained the history to me.
- The Atlantic City Convention Center! There’s a big, 90-foot atrium when you enter, with lots of natural light! The exhibition halls are on the second floor, covering 486,000 sq.ft. Above that, on both sides of the Atrium, levels three and four offer meeting rooms and large event spaces. (No ballroom, although Hall A can be used as such.) (Flat daily rate for that entire exhibition space? $45,000) Walking the length of the atrium wasn’t bad…about two blocks long.
Things I noticed:
- There was a lot of space. Even artists alley, the booths were “small press” size, The rows were also short, perpendicular to the main aisle, so were more intimate than the typical AA layout which recedes into the vanishing point.
- I don’t know how they convinced the Convention Center, but there were a lot of food vendors on the show floor. Bulk candy, macaroons, pop corn, chocolate… Next year, they should get Pez or candy licensees for comics properties to show up!
- The auto row was a nice idea. Lots of Batmobiles, the Batcycle with sidecar, Dukes of Hazzard, Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future… $10 a photo. The added bonus: the curtain wall hid the bathrooms and concessions behind it. Shorter lines!
I wandered over to the convention hotel (the Sheraton) to scope out their event space. I discovered a small Miss America museum off the lobby! Did you know that Lee Meriwether AKA Catwoman, was also Miss America 1955? She was the first to wear the current tiara. There’s also a costume display of famous winners. (Wouldn’t it be awesome to have her appear next year?!)- There was a lot of cosplay! Lego Avengers (no Black Widow, alas), Inside Out, and what might be the most comfortable outfit: The Goon.
- Did the earlier Wizard World Philly drain off some excitement? Is the local demographic one which shops at conventions, or just site-sees?
Things to improve next year:
- From the entrance to the exhibit hall, one had to walk about 100 yards past the box office to turn the corner and enter the show floor. That entrance wasn’t well laid out… it required a 90-degree right turn, so you were bumping into people who were exiting. Yes… that was the only entrance/exit. Once the mass of humanity was let in, they should have opened a secondary entrance at Hall C or B.
- There was a lot of empty space unused, especially in Hall D. While I understand the need for a big space to hold the early attendees before the show opens, Hall B, where the Cosplay Ballroom Party was held, could have been used instead. Or… line them up on the Third and Fourth floors, in the hallways outside the panel rooms. Run the line down the open stairwells to the Second Floor and the exhibit hall. Or, better yet… seat them in the film room, show ads while they wait, do some emceeing, then guide them downstairs in an orderly fashion.
- The floor layout was very confusing. I’m systematic when I hit shows, and I thought I had completed my first run in 90 minutes. After a panel, I took a second pass to do some shopping, and found even more booths I had missed. Then I deliberately did a third pass, and I still missed seeing the Aspen booth! There were strange placements, triangular booths (a nice idea on paper, but not in practice), a bit hard to orient oneself, even with the banners overhead. I don’t think the booth islands were arranged well. (The parent company does 3-D booth design. Perhaps they should use that software to better layout the next show.) If Marvel returns, their booth should run parallel with the outside walls. Place the entrance to the show floor where Aisle 1100 is, make it lead directly to Marvel so that’s the first thing attendees see, and then run the long aisle both ways. That would avoid the narrow 1000/1100 booths seen on the current map, and makes circulation less complicated.
- The Cosplay dance party… it’s a good idea, but with regional pop culture cons, there will be other events in competition with whatever the show plans. It’s best to co-sponsor an off-site after party event with a publisher, as Aspen did with a local retailer at Bally’s. It also saves money, not just with the sponsorship, but also in hall rental and convention center expenses such as security.
- The convention center has a permanent box office, on the first floor. It wasn’t used, instead, part of the show floor held the ticket booths. I described above how this created a big inconvenience for attendees. ACBC also needs to improve the Will Call process. It should be as simple as “scan printout barcode, hand attendee the badge”.
- There was good media coverage locally, but I heard and saw little here in the New York City area. I wonder if the same happened in Philadelphia?
The best cosplay? This:
Overall:
I paid $35 for the Saturday ticket, $44 for the bus ticket, and $13 for lunch (hoagie and a bottle of OJ). I spent less than $150 on merchandise, at five vendors. I’m not a big spender at shows, unless I see original art that interests me. Also, I didn’t want to schlep something onto the bus and subway.
The scheduling of the show was good. While there might be a ConWar with Wizard World Philadelphia (which is scheduled next year for early June 2016), there aren’t many other regional shows on the calendar in mid-May. It’s a nice counter-balance to the New York Comic Con in October, although I don’t see ACBC getting that large.
A bigger problem, which I don’t know how to solve: hotel rooms. Unlike Las Vegas, Atlantic City doesn’t have much weekday business powered by conventions. Thus, weekend hotel rooms, unlike every other hotel in the country, are in high demand and expensive. (Unless you have a car and can stay at one of the cheaper hotels far from the Boardwalk.) ACBC did offer hotel deals, as many shows do, but they weren’t available when I checked on Friday. ACBC should partner with one of the hotel casinos, offering a shuttle bus service, and hosting after parties. Then, you’ve got a captive audience, both for gambling and nightlife. (Were I a hotel manager, I’d advertise a drag queen revue to the cosplayers!)
There was a lot of posting on social media Monday, and generally, people had a good time. I’ve heard that there will be another next year, so I hope it keeps improving and growing. The locale is good (between Philadelphia and New York City), the convention center can handle the growth (about the same size as Denver and Salt Lake City), there’s an audience hungry for this type of show, and enough retailers nearby to make this show work. Of course, if the numbers get big, then national retailers will jump on the bandwagon.
Will I attend next year? Sure, I’ll probably daytrip like I did this weekend. It had a good mix, and there was little stress.
Virtual Book Blog Tour — Cousins and Robbers: Tales of Black Jack Jetty by Michael A. Carestio
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Cousins and Robbers: Tales of Black Jack Jetty
written by Michael A. Carestio
published by Michael A. Carestio 7/15/2013
978-1-49090934-9
Age 8 to 12
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“The Great Recession is punishing families across the land: lost jobs, lost dreams, lost hope. Tough times bring out the best, and worst in people. The sleepy South Jersey shore towns are being hit by a crime wave, a band of robbers boldly breaking into homes right in the middle of a summer day. The cousins of Black Jack Jetty devise a plan to protect home and family. That plan will drag them into the mean streets of the meanest neighborhoods in Atlantic City. That’s where the tale twists and turns like a treacherous rip tide. Lucky will tell you the rest.”
Opening
“We’re going to Atlantic City,” Jack says, in a rare display of bravado.”
The Story
The cousins, nine-year-olds Riley, Jack, and Nick, seven-year-old Willy, and honorary cousin, nine-year-old Angel are determined to catch the robbers brazen enough to rob in clear daylight. They all fear their home on Black Jack Jetty will be next, thinking the robbers will be looking for the gold coins they recently found belonging to a deceased uncle. (Book 1) The kids go on reconnaissance, including using an old military lookout post on the top of the house. From there they can see most of the area.
Angel notices a lot of landscapers, which is not unusual in Margate. Only problem is, these guys never mow a lawn or trim a bush. Out on their bikes the kids go, looking for this black landscaping truck pulling a white trailer. Once found, two of the kids try to take a closer look and end up inside the locked trailer when it takes off to wherever the robbers take it at the end of the day. Two other kids follow the trailer and their cousins, while Willy goes home. He is to tell their Aunt Jane what has happened, but only after two hours have passed. Willy, though visibly distressed, refuses to say a word until those two hours have swept away. Will the cousins safely escape the robber’s trailer? Will the robbers be brought to justice?
Review
First, let me say that the narrator is so annoying that had this not been for a review, I would have tossed the book after page five. The story of Cousins and Robbers is a mere 89 pages, easily a one sitting tale. It took me several days. In frustration, I left the story several times only to pick it up a day or two later—because I had to. The narrator spends more time interjecting opinions and commentary more than he likes to narrate the story. It takes quite a while before you realize the “narrator” is a seagull that can talk. He also physically enters the story near the end. Lucky’s narration is always in italics, while a normal narrator is in regular print. Yep, two narrators. Plus, I found the paragraphs in italics—one nearly every page—annoying, causing me to shift from story to commentary. This interrupts the actual story, and I do not care what this seagull thinks about the action, the economy, or the Great Recession. This narrator simply interrupts the story, like someone talking about the day’s events while you try to read the paper. Now, kids might enjoy this oft-time funny bird and not feel the distractions I felt.
If you ignore all those italic paragraphs, what is left is a decent story, with a good plot, a good conflict, and an interesting ending, though easily solved. I say this with one caveat: in children’s stories, even cops and robbers, kids should be the ones who solve the problems. In this case, the talkative seagull and an adult rescue the kids, rather than the other kids rescuing their mates. Worse, these characters enter the story near the end. I don’t like reading about these great kid characters only to have two new characters (an adult and a seagull), show up in the last ten pages and save the day. In children’s literature, kids solve the problems, are the heroes, and empower the story—and the child reader.
The illustrations, photographs that look like someone’s old vacation pictures, often do not relate to what is happening on the page next to it or in the story as a whole. Granted, illustrations can be the most expensive part of a kid’s book, but if the alternative is confusing photographs that Uncle Jay took on his last vacation, skip them all together. Illustrations should enhance the story and move it along its journey.
I believe the author knows how to write a good story. He understands the elements needed for a good story. Maybe he took some bad advice about the seagull playing opinionated narrator, or having the seagull’s narration stand out by italicizing it. A good editor might have caught all of this and had it corrected. Here is the sentence, from the story, about the use of a talking seagull:
“Now before you go thinking what a cheap literary device . . . a talking animal . . . how cliché . . . Get over it . . . please.”
The author calls his use of a talking seagull cliché, and he is right, so why did he use it? Was he saying I know this is cliché but I do not care what you think? No, I think this was a tongue-in-seagull-cheek joke that took a dive, coming across arrogant instead of witty. As for “Get over it,” not possible. There is too much of this talking animal interrupting the story to express its opinion or make an unneeded comment, yet, in its defense, the author/seagull says,
“I am opinionate, informed, and do not suffer fools lightly.”
Oh, and the prologue, which I do not like anyway, is nothing more than the identical repetition of three pages (41, 42, 43) from the middle of the book. What is the reason for this? It seems like the author knows what he needs to do, but insists on not doing it or does it incorrectly. Don’t waste your time with the prologue. Skip it and start at the beginning of the story at Chapter 1.
Now, the good. Boys will enjoy this tale of cops and robbers. They, as I, will like Angel, the “guest cousin” whose father is in jail for robbery. Angel is a taller and bigger than average nine-year-old who could have saved the day. That would have been a great ending. Angle would have earned the position of a cousin and I would have looked forward to further adventures with Angel in the group. Kids will also like the bicycle chase. It has loads of adventure, suspense, and humor.
While Cousins and Robbers needs tuned—lengthening the story, correct the typos—the elements for a great kid’s story are there. The writing is good. The plot is good. The cousins are good characters that speak to kids and are easy to like. The conflict is believable. There is a nice twist. The adult characters, while they take on too much of the story (important sections like the ending), most are characters one can like. The setting is fabulous. Not just on the beach, but at a house that sticks out into the bay, looking dangerously defenseless—though defenseless it or its occupants are not.
Kids will like Cousins and Robbers. They might even think Lucky’s squawking narration is funny. It is witty in an annoying way. You never know what will influence a child while he or she reads a story. A good plot, convincing conflicts, excellent writing, and, humorous twists are great if not marred down by a cliché. Remove the unnecessary. Build on what really works. Write for kids. Think like a kid. Let the kids be the heroes. Accomplishing those, while not always easy, could bring Cousins and Robbers to the level of a Best of 2014 novel for children. The current story is a good start.
COUSINS AND ROBBERS: TALES OF BLACK JACK JETTY. Text copyright © 2013 by Michael A. Carestio. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Tony Auth, Alex Forbes, et al. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Michael A. Carestio, Philadelphia, PA.
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Buy Cousins and Robbers . . . at Amazon—B&N—CreateSpace—Author’s Website—your favorite bookstore.
Learn more about Cousins and Robbers . . . HERE.
Meet the author, Michael A. Carestio, at his website: http://www.blackjackjetty.com/
About Michael A. Carestio
A native Philadelphian, Michael has spent much of his career in advertising as a Creative Director. Black Jack Jetty: A Boy’s Journey Through Grief is his entry into children’s literature and reflects the loss he felt as a young boy over the death of his own father.
The story takes place in Margate, down beach from Atlantic City where Carestio spends his summers with friends and family.
Mr. Carestio has two daughters, two granddaughters, and two World Series Championships thanks to his beloved Phillies.
Find Michael A. Carestio at these sites:
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Also by Michael A. Carestio
Black Jack Jetty
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Virtual Book Blog Tour
Cousins and Robbers: Tales of Black Jack Jetty
Monday, July 21st
Kid Lit Reviews – http://kid-lit-reviews.com/
Tuesday, July 22nd
Cubicle Blindness Reviews – http://cubicleblindness.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, July 23rd
Bright Kids Books – www.brightkidsbooks.com
Thursday, July 24th
Literary Diva – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diva29
Friday, July 25th
Jenn’s Review Blog – http://www.jennsreviewblog.com
Monday, July 28th
The Write Stuff – http://rosihollinbeckthewritestuff.blogspot.ca/
Tuesday, July 29th
Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog – http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/guest-blogs/topics/
Wednesday, July 30th
Gabina49′s Blog – http://gabina49.wordpress.com/
Thursday, July 31st
Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog – http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/guest-blogs/topics/
Friday, August 1st
Get Kids to Read – http://www.mrtierneyslibrary.com/
copyright © 2014 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews
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Series Tagged:
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A new HBO series, Boardwalk Empire, premiered this weekend. Worlds away from what we see on Jersey Shore, it has reignited interest in New Jersey history and culture. Bryant Simon (author of Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America and Professor of History at Temple University) has been interviewed for the accompanying HBO documentary, and here we ask him some questions about the “dreamlike” place that is AC.
You’ve described yourself as a native of South New Jersey. What drew you to writing the history of Atlantic City?
When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in Vineland, Philly was not the place that drew us; it was more Atlantic City. That was where we went for splurge meals, special occasions, amusement parks, parades, and shopping. In fact, that’s where I got my bar mitzvah suit! Years later, my family moved just outside of Atlantic City and I watched, while riding my bike in the morning on the Boardwalk, as gambling woke the place up and irrevocably transformed it. I was transfixed by the city, by people’s nostalgia for it, by its nervous energy, and its aching sadness and painful poverty in the midst of plenty. Really, it had everything I wanted to write about it – it was like a Springsteen song, a place that could be mean and cruel, but a place of romance and possible redemption. How could I resist?
Compared to places like Las Vegas or Coney Island in its heyday, how did/does Atlantic City epitomize the urban playground?
All of these places share something in common – they are each the tale of two cities. They are places built in the interests of visitors, not necessarily residents; they sell (or sold) fantasies – fantasies that put tourists as the center of the narrative and allowed them to slip their daily skin and imagine themselves not as they were, but as they wanted to be. That is what people paid for when they went these places – they paid for fantasies.
As you researched the book, what memorable anecdotes did you come across that really captured the heart and history of Atlantic City?
One of the first things I learned about Atlantic City stayed with me throughout the project. I remember looking at a postcard from the 1920s or so. In it, the benches on the Boardwalk were pointed away from the beach. I asked if this was a mistake. “No” an expert on the city told me, “That’s how it was.” That was my first lesson that Atlantic City was essentially a stage and the visitors were both actors and audience.
You’ve been interviewed for a documentary that’s set to run in conjunction with the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. What do you make of the series’ take on Atlantic City, and what to your mind does it say about public perception of the city?
If the show is a success, it will no doubt draw tourists to town, looking for the romantic, if still violent, past the program surely mythologizes. Yet the real Atlantic City Boardwalk of today has little relationship to the past except its common geography. Most of the dreamlike hotels – buildings that looked like French chateaux and Moorish palaces – have been torn down. The amusement piers are long gone or covered up and turned into air-conditioned malls. The crowds of people dressed in their Sunday – really their sleek and elegant Saturday night best – have been replaced by people in t-shirts and flip flops. Except for the ocean and
These past many weeks long, my friends have written from far-off, quiet places—cabins near the shore, cabanas high on the beach, the slip of land beside the lake, a grandfather's lodge. They've been reading and writing, staked out on a chair, cracking clamshells at night, throwing a lobster to the grill. These are writers and readers, taking time away to do what they most love to do.
We haven't had that sort of summer here (though I have yearned for such a day or two). Now it's August's end, and a single week remains before our son disappears for another university semester.
We have to go somewhere, we said to one another, and so we did what we tend to do when we have less than 24 hours within which to travel—take the 90-minute drive to Atlantic City. We don't gamble. We don't swim. But we walk the boardwalk at night, have dinner, talk. We're together, and that is what matters.
We leave before nine in the morning. I take a beach walk before we do. This was Atlantic City, just after dawn, today.
Yesterday, in preparation for the re-launch of this very blog (which will be happening soon), I did something I almost never do—return to books once written. I was in search of a few words about each, and in going back, all the way back, over 12 books and five genres, I stumbled across the generosity of authors like Buzz Bissinger, Jayne Anne Phillips, Rosellen Brown, Ken Kalfus, Susan Straight, Kate Moses, Katrina Kenison, Sy Montgomery, and Jennie Nash; I was reminded of the kindness and illuminating intelligence of reviewers whom I've never met and likely never will.
Whenever I could, wherever I could, I have sought to reach out, to say thank you. But yesterday, I realized, I haven't said thank you enough to those who have tried to understand. What I see. Why I write. How I hear. What I want. There's an
I in each of those fragments. That selfish, big, bolded
I. I stood where I stood, and others circled near. You can't say thank you enough.
Well, because it's funny, and because it's my blog, and because if Paul Krugman can blog six times a day, maybe it's okay if I blog twice, but:
Some of you have asked about those shoes I bought in Atlantic City. The ones I danced around in after getting some nice publishing news.
It's this very pair, photographed against a black tango dress. Also bought yesterday. Also silky, and sleek.
Because, while it is true that I was the kickball queen when I was a kid, that my high school years were filled with guys who buddied up with me (and saved their flirting for others), that I wear lousy, ripped jeans when I'm out with my Sony digital, and that the running joke during a recent Friday night dance party was that the only way I'd get a man to dance with me is if somebody paid the poor fool for the favor (thanks to all who contributed to the dance-with-Beth fund), I do, every once and while, like to be a girl. A real one, with real shoes.
Like these.
I hope that next year they will implement better security on the wifi net.
Via Facebook, Michael D’Alessio states attendance as “About 25,000+ over three days”.
Wasn’t the show 4 days?
Good honest review – one suggestion for getting to the AC Convention Center from points west like Cherry Hill or Philadelphia is to take an NJ Transit train. The last stop is right at the Convention Center.