Now more than ever, conventions surrounding Nerd Culture are growing at an outstanding rate. From Comic Con to Anime Expo, big or small, the events are at the height of popularity. One of the biggest indicators of that can be seen before this years MAGFest convention has even begun.
Registration for MAGFest 2017, which is based out of National Harbor, Maryland, opened earlier this week, but something went wrong. While the team behind the convention predicted an increase in sales, they never could have anticipated a number of purchases that occurred over the first three days. In an email sent out to fans, MAGFest Executive Director Dominic Cerquetti detailed just how big of a jump in badge purchase really occurred.
“In the past three days, we’ve sold well over 9,000 badges, which took us OVER TWO MONTHS last year,” Cerquetti Said. “We blew through 6,000 badges and two price tiers in 75 minutes. We are taken aback, and humbled, and we are the first to admit we were unprepared.
The MAGFest Executive Director also talked about how even the pre-plan tiered pricing system they introduced last year backfired on them. The system is designed to be configured to automatically adjust prices based on the number of tickets sold, but got out of hand due to the miscalculation regarding the actual amount of badges purchased.
Alongside that, the registration software had a difficult time for most handling the high amount of traffic. The email apologized for any inconveniences the fans suffered as a result of the miscalculations, but assured them they are still hard at work to make sure fans can still register.
MAGFest also did it’s best to update customers on Hotel Registration news, letting them know which ones are sold out in the area. For fans that aren’t able to book close by, they attempt to compensate by offering deals on parking, coupon codes for rideshares, and very affordable room blocks in nearby Oxon Hill and Alexandria.
They are adamant that they will still do their best to help, but that it will take them longer to compile all the necessary information due to technical issues. One of the final things the email details is that MAGFest will continue to allow new registrants to sign up for hotel updates until Sunday, August 13, at 11:59 PM EST. After that, you will not be able to alter your hotel update settings and new pre-registrants will not get the hotel booking link.
