Comic-Con a Significant Impact on Region’s Economy Says SDWP

Comic-Con a Significant Impact on Region’s Economy Says SDWP

San Diego Workforce Partnership affirms Comic-Con’s value at San Diego Convention Center

Comic-Con International (PRNewsFoto/Comic-Con International)

THE SHOWBIZ LIVE! – SAN DIEGO, Nov. 5, 2014 — San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP), which serves as a vital source of information on the San Diego region’s labor market, has recently published an article reviewing Comic-Con’s impact on San Diego’s workforce and the San Diego Convention Center’s staffing in particular.  Comic-Con, held annually in San Diego and organized by a nonprofit educational organization, is a convention celebrating the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.

SDWP’s article calls attention to the estimated $320,000 in wages Comic-Con brings to the Convention Center’s 500-member staff.  In addition to those staffers, the Convention Center hires temporary employees and posts job listings prior to Comic-Con to cover needs that the regular staff cannot.  These positions include engineers, laborers, electricians, and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union workers, to name a few.

According to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, Comic-Con’s 2014 show has been projected to have an impact of almost $178 million on the local economy. The actual economic impact may be larger as it has since been speculated that the factors used to calculate the figure did not take into account ancillary spending by locals, out-of-town visitors and corporations, and companies that buy advertising on buildings, lamp posts, restaurant buyouts and activations of local park space and private venues.

“Year after year, it is not lost on me the amazing number of talented people it takes to make this show happen,” said David Glanzer, spokesperson and director of marketing and public relations for Comic-Con.  “In addition to Comic-Con’s thousands of invaluable volunteers and staff, local businesses and organizations hire additional workers who make sure the event and the city are represented in the best possible light. It really is a terrific collaborative effort.”

What is not measured in the workforce study is the economic benefit of worldwide media attention focused on America’s Finest City during the four days of the convention and throughout the year.  “We never dreamed that our local annual convention would evolve over its forty-plus years into the worldwide celebration that it is today,” said Glanzer.

The entire article can be found on SDWP’s website at http://workforce.org/news/comic-con-impact-san-diego-convention-center-workforce.

About Comic-Con International:
Comic-Con International: San Diego is a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. In addition to its San Diego convention each summer, CCI organizes WonderCon Anaheim each spring. On the web: Comic-Con.org,Facebook.com/comiccon, Twitter.com/comic_con.

SOURCE Comic-Con International

RELATED LINKS
http://www.comic-con.org