Topic: Webcomic Conventions...

So, have you been to any? Which would you recommend?

Having been to a number of business convetions in my job's industry, I have to say I enjoy them. And since they've mostly based around domain names, web development and the such, the fact that they were fun makes me more than curious about the prospect of conventions and trade shows in which webcomics/comics play a central or important role.

Meh, I've been to the 'stripdagen' (comic days) convention in Houten, the Netherlands, because I was nominated for a prize for the best webcomic of the Netherlands, belgium and Luxemburg. Well, the audience consisted solely of nominees and some of their friends. No one cared at all. Then again, the Netherlands has no real comic culture to speak of.

Mental Note: Skip 'stripdagen' convention in Houten, the Netherlands.

Just finished Wondercon weekend here in San Francisco. As a comic convention, it's pretty good, but the webcomic presence was limited. That is to say, many were there - Girl Genius, Supernatural Law, the soon-to-launch Broken Hearts and Zombies, Digger, among others - but when you walked down the aisle, you really didn't get any sense that any of them were on the web, per se. All the webcomics were focused on their print editions.

The magic of Wondercon comes from the networking opportunities, however. If you go to it, or its sister convention the Alternative Press Expo, the best place to be is the Afterparty thrown by our local comic lounge, Isotope. Booze, shmooze and party down.

I'm considering attending DragonCon this year, depending on how well this site starts doing. I'd like to make an initial run personally, in the hopes of getting some ideas for attending others as WebcomicZ.

Like mentioned, I have some experience attending trade conferences for web development and domain names, but this is a whole other animal. And quite frankly, a crowd much more akin to myself.

Aside for DragonCon and ComicCon, are there any other must-hits that deal more with Webcomics specifically. Which would be the most fun and which would be the most beneficial business-wise?

Plus, anything in NYC would be great, as I'm 2 hours away. Much easier than a flight

I'll be attending my first convention ever, the UK Webcomix Thing08 on the 22nd of this month but only as a visitor, not an exhibitor.
Next year I hope to be more organised and be an exhibitor.

UK Webcomix Thing08:
http://www.ukwebcomixthing.co.uk/index.php

ConnectiCon is a big convention for webcomics. I wasn't able to go last year, but I'll have a table there this year.

Other than that I've gotten tables at a couple of small anime conventions, as well as Anime Expo last year. I've been to the San Diego Comic-Con twice, but just as an attendee.

Webcomics play a fairly reasonable role at Penguicon each year...tremendously fun con.

Webcomicz, if you're near New York then the New York ComicCon is probably a good bet. I've never been so I'm not sure how much of a webcomic presence there is, but it's a large con so there should be some, at least.

Webcomics are a little out of their normal territory at cons, because they're face to face with people instead of providing them with entertainment over the ether of the interwebs. It's pretty hard to be web-focused in person, so they generally focus on their print material or other merchandising. Which is a bit ironic, since it removes the uniqueness of delivering free content on the web and makes them seem like any other comic exhibitor. Even so, they're usually a great opportunity to draw in new readers and sell stuff.