While this is obviously something that will need to be addressed in future years, the crackdown on the badgeless and counterfeits did overall reduce crowding on the floor. While aware of this, Fensterman said that more badges for booths mean fewer badges for paying fans, and that is always ReedPOP’s priority. Prior to the show, availability of exhibitor badges had decreased, with tables unable to get badges for booth workers, and even exhibitors with large expensive booths unable to purchase more badges. By “tapping in” it was determined which badges hadn’t been tapped out-and it was mostly exhibitors doing it. They also determined that exhibitors are “by far the biggest perpetrators of badge fraud,” said Fensterman, mostly by sharing badges and using the time tested going out with a badge in the pocket technique. He estimates that more than 20,000 people may have entered last year without badges. By using the technology, ReedPOP was able to know exactly how many people were in the building at any time. With concerns over crowd safety a huge priority this year, the RFID badges enabled Fensterman and his crew to get an idea of how big the counterfeiting and fraud were last year. “On Friday morning between 9-11 am we successfully moved in 60,000 people,” he told PW. ReedPOP’s global v-p, Lance Fensterman, who oversees their shows around the world, said the new technology was a huge success. For the first time this year, attendees were asked to “tap in and tap out” to eliminate counterfeit badges and fraud. How did the show manage to grow while getting less crowded? It’s all due to the new RFID technology used on badges. That’s up from an announced 116,000 attendees in 2012. With security and overcrowding issues of past years mostly resolved, New York Comic-Con actually managed to grow in 2013, with an announced attendance of 133,000-roughly the same number as attend July’s Comic-Con International in San Diego.
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