I'd like to present another possible solution to the venue size issue that Alison brings up:

I can see the option of scaling back down to a smaller venue like YU (which is pretty great) being resisted for multiple reasons, one of which could be the appearance of having not been able to "make it" at the bigger venue. Whether that's a fair read to make or not, (I personally don't agree) I can see people making it, and it would make sense to try and avoid that perception if possible.

But maybe instead of scaling down the whole festival, maybe scale up the ambition in deciding which guests to go after. This years lineup is great, but would anticipation for this weekend be just a little bit increased if they could have scored two or three of the following names in addition?

Brian K. Vaughn/Pia Guerra
Matt Fraction
Brian Michael Bendis
Jeff Smith
Frank Miller (It'd be a spectacle, definitely)
Chris Roberson
Scott McCloud
Kevin Eastman/Peter Laird
Alan Moore
Neil Gaiman
Jeff Lemire
Mike Mignola
Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie
Kate Beaton

I mean, yeah - that's a wishlist, definitely, but some of those names have been panelists/guests before, and probably would be again, as some of them live near here/have connections to this city. But still, I recognize there are costs incurred beyond me just sitting here and dreaming up names of comics creators that I think could draw crowds. You gotta pay for those people to come out, you gotta pay to put em up, all that stuff. It's not as easy as just dropping an email into their inbox and crossing your fingers. It'd be unfair to suggest otherwise.

But if staying at the Convention Center is the current plan, I don't see how pursuing names like the ones above (and there are plenty more) is out-of-the-question. And honestly, it could be the case that those plans are already being made.

I really love this critique! I am an organizer for the Portland Zine Symposium that first started by volunteering at Stumptown Comics Fest and then PZS 8 years ago... Alison puts it very well, listing reasons I stopped volunteering for SCF and devoted myself to PZS in a way that's always been a struggle for me to articulate.

I feel I watched SCF tailspin from what I thought it was (based on it's marketing when I first heard of it)... A community event focused on indie creators. I also feel that I watched people in "power" in the SCF ranks take advantage of the disorganization of SCF for the sake of their personal and selfish goals. As an organizer of a different convention, I saw the prices of event spaces while searching for new homes for PZS, and I was baffled at the way prices for SCF increased for a table... As well as increases in fees just to get in the door! It didn't add up for a "non profit." With PZS, I saw that they did not do that because PZS was started as a non profit with firm community roots and listens to our community's feedback, there is a real accountability going on... I gave up on SCF and devoted myself to PZS because I saw that it was really working to serve independent press and community. Our fest is FREE to attend, we have a year-long schedule of community-building and fund-raising events, we follow press release guidelines by the merc because we care about people reading about our events, we don't allow publishers to have 4 tables and the symposium, we attend other community events to table and reach out to new fans, etc...

I have a lot of hopes for Shawna Gore taking over as director, however, as I am acquainted with her and she seems very selfless, very driven, and very ethical. So, I am hoping critiques, like what Alison has written here, don't fall on deaf ears. As SCF becomes a non profit and is run by more accountable people, we may see it change. I think this is the chance for SCF to reform and get into actually being a sustainable, creator-driven fest... Not a fest straddling the line between fanboys and indie-lovers trying to desperately sustain itself as it passes hands between power-tripping organizers. I am interested in going to see if a tablet device has a booth or how many booths the Dark Horse company has, but maybe if SCF will start keeping that space open for local creators of awesome comics. And, if it does not manage to weed out some of the profit-driven commercialism this year, maybe it will next year, when the organizational legs are more stable. SCF has a lot to recover from. Maybe it will be a fest I am interested attending in the future, much less in tabling at some time again in the future.