But this is how I first learned about Iowa City Mega Comic Con. From Cedar Rapids Comic Con:
We have been messaged by a large number of people (from all over the country) concerning a convention being organized in Iowa City (just 30 minutes south of us). Because the convention world is very tight knit, people are reaching out to us to voice their concerns.
A Facebook representing that convention is posting and promoting things that are the exact opposite of the type of convention we run. Examples include (and we're copy-pasting here), "hot girls in bikini cosplay get in free" and telling people to skip other shows because they are "for chumps this show will be so much bigger."
Despite being so close to us geographically, the Iowa City show has nothing to do with us. We are a very inclusive, and a family-friendly convention. More than 10,000 people attended CRCC this year and we are proud to put on the type of convention we do.
Leading up to and during our convention each year, we make our zero tolerance policy for harassment and inappropriate behavior very clear... people who behave this way are not welcome at our convention. That policy continues year-round.
Anyone involved with this Iowa City convention is not welcome at Cedar Rapids Comic Con.
and...
The ICMCC folks later claimed that their Facebook page was hacked, keeping in mind that their FB pape was hacked about as soon as it was created. But the damage (self-inflected or not) was done and the Iowa City Mega Comic Con FB page has completed disappeared.
Then again, somebody has been trying to salvage the ICMCC's reputation -- or maybe they're just trying to salvage the idea of an Iowa City-based comic con. As recently as yesterday:
To all who seen this crap ...and are still supporting a con in iowa city,and to those vendors who i still have on my list who saw through all this crap.. thank u..and to those who cant see what happened your still invited to our con..we have picked up a few shops who know it was a bunch of crap..for those who beleave this.. sorry ..but if your going to put on a con and want it to be a great con ..your not going to advertise hot girls knowing it will be mostly kids..come on think about it..and why would we bash other comic cons knowing they could send ppl this way. Again think about what u saw and if u still choose to beleave thats ok..the support we had and the messages we have gotten telling us how much of a ass they are..they could have came up with something better to get us shut down..but anyways..we have some great things coming to cr wait and see..and if u dont..well hope u have a great time at all the other cons.and to the ppl who are runnng the cons..the ppl who was going to fund this project , they are waiting to talk with u...Actually, I can't tell if he wants to start something in Iowa City, or if he's all about Cedar Rapids now.
Did ICMCC doom Iowa City's convention hopes for the foreseeable future??