June 25, 2010
Good News For CCI In Impact Survey
As part of their ongoing coverage of the dance between Comic-Con International and the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Las Vegas for hosting honors regarding the post-2012 version of the show,
the San Diego Union-Tribune revealed the results of a study intensely favorable to CCI: an economic impact survey based on information collected in 2008 that estimates the con's contribution to the local economy at over $163 million.
Now granted, economic impact surveys have a somewhat dubious reputation based on two basic factors. The first is the sometimes-hard-to-track accuracy of the information-gathering step on which such numbers are formed, which in this case is apparently a 2008 survey of attendees by the convention center people I've never heard about or been exposed to before now. The second is that a multiplier or several multipliers are used to compound the impact of money spent up the line -- say if Mark Waid tips his waitress at the Hilton bar $20, she then spends $10 at Ralph's for some crabcakes on the way home. Complicating matters further, the article claims that this report actually
under-estimates overall impact by not dealing with non-hotel attendees and other locals that might spend money in San Diego without that hotel-room home base. If a standard economic impact survey was something that had to be given the stamp of approval or disapproval via a comments-thread battle on the Internet, that comments thread might go on for 7,500 years without resolution.
I still think the survey has to be a boon, because all such reports share potential problems and this one is way ahead of expectations. Also, a hugely positive set of numbers like these fits a script that the convention has largely been ill-served by past estimations -- expect a majority of "we told you so"-type rhetoric from comics people, and a minority of "of course that's what they're going to say" comebacks -- which fits the
further storyline that's been advanced during the negotiation process that San Diego is just now waking up to how much CCI means to the city and is making moves accordingly. If there's anything in the way of further screws that CCI can put to its potential suitors at this late date, this survey provides the means.
posted 7:00 am PST |
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