by Jim Dandy

The New York Comic-Con is coming up this weekend, and the show’s Director, Greg Topalian, was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his incredibly busy schedule to give YourMomsBasement an exclusive look inside the planning of such a mammoth undertaking.

Greg, thank you so much for answering our questions. What made you decide to bring a big con to New York City?
It was recognizing the void. NYC is the media and publishing capital of the world and it didn't make any sense that there wasn't a major pop culture show in this market.

What kept the big ones away from the city for so long?
I think its really 2 things. Venue and cost. It's nearly impossible to get dates at the Javits Center, and it is far more expensive for an organizer to run an event in New York.

How far in advance do you start planning a convention like this?
The concept of New York Comic-Con is 2 years old but we started actually working on it 12 months in advance.

What has been the hardest part of organizing the event?
The Con is really several shows under one umbrella. The hardest part is building events and programming that appear to the Comic, Anime, Gaming, TV/Movie fan base.

Marvel and DC have been very supportive of your efforts. Did you expect that? Has their support made it easier to pull it off?
They have been incredibly supportive and it has made all the difference. In fact, from the very beginning the entire community has been behind us and wants to see a show succeed in NYC.

How do you decide on the panels? Do you have an idea of what you want or do the companies come to you with what they have?
A little of both. We have a programming team and several people from the industry that act as an advisory board.

While you certainly don't want things going wrong, you do have to plan for many different possibilities. What kind of contingency plans do you make in case something does?
You always need to consider all options, especially on a first year show. We are most concerned with crowd control and are prepared for many different scenarios.

What's the most ridiculous request you've gotten from a vendor/exhibitor/guest?
I believe there was a question about the use of body paint on booth personnel.

At what point does the con end for you? What do you still have to do once everyone else has gone home?
Once the show is over on Sunday we stay on through Monday to make sure it all gets moved out. It takes a whole year to build and only a few hours to tear down.

What part of the con are you most excited about?
We have some amazing Movie screenings. Some that have been announced and some surprises as well.

Thanks again for taking the time to talk to us. See you Friday!
No problem. And make sure you swing by the Ultraviolet Presentation and Q&A on Saturday evening. Milla Jovovich is going to be answering some questions for fans. We're very excited about it.

Stay tuned to Your Mom’s Basement all this weekend for extensive in-depth coverage of the New York Comic Con.

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