With the success of all the various comic conventions popping up everywhere, it’s always best to research where the money is potentially going. Or double check guest announcements. Why? Conventions are getting more and more expensive, so you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, and that it isn’t potentially a scam.
Up in Idaho, there are actually quite a few conventions popping up. Anime Oasis and Fandemonium have been around for over ten years now, the latter happening August 1st through the 3rd this year. Now, there is a convention attempting to grow from their examples called Tree City Comic Con. Unfortunately, there are so many “iffy” aspects of it, that it’s not a convention starting off on the right foot at all.
We’ll start off with one of the simpler pieces of the puzzle. On May 30th, Tree City announced Nicole Marie Jean, a very well known U.S. cosplayer, as a guest on their Facebook page. As of June 16th, in a private email screen-capped and sent to me, she made it clear she had no knowledge of being a guest there, or the fact her image was being used without her consent. If it has been cleared up since then, I don’t know, but with all of their big guest announcements, I’d be curious who else isn’t actually going.
They’ve also claimed to be connected with Salt Lake City Comic Con, another convention who has had huge success within their first few years. Kevin Hansen, the head of Tree City Comic Con, claimed to have worked for them, when all SLCCC has done was rent AV equipment from him. While there were no issues between the two, SLCCC has made it clear they wish to dispel the rumor because they’re not associated with Tree City AT ALL. Again, this was all shown to me via screen-capped emails.
The final nasty piece? Kevin Hansen is being tried for theft, and you can see the story here. I cannot find any new information on it all, so I’m not sure if the case has been closed or if continuances have been granted to cause it to not continue to trial just yet. Either way, it’s something that would make me wary to throw my money at this con.
Needless to say, it’s best to take a look on everything and make a decision before dropping cash on something like this. There are so many comic conventions now, that I’d hate to see people disappointed and potentially getting scammed, when we have so many options to attend. Be aware, take note, and think about it before jumping on the boat.
