Convention Fans:
PAX East Sells Out of 3-Day Passes

PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, a convention born from the Penny Arcade web-comic. For the past few years, PAX was a once a year convention held in Seattle over the summer, but for the first time, there is to be an East coast version too. For 2010, that location is Boston.

If you've been following developments regarding PAX East 2010, you probably know by now that the convention has sold out of three day passes. Joystiq.com reported the news yesterday around 1pm (EST). There had been a notice on the official PAX East website since January 20th, warning of a sell out, so it's not like people didn't see it coming.

But what I find curious is that a convention that only a few days ago announced some of the exhibitors and concerts (and who hasn't announced the keynote speaker yet), still managed to sell out weeks before the convention.

Notice I said "curious," not "surprising." It isn't surprising at all really. The West coast version of PAX routinely sells out, and there are a bunch of East coast Penny Arcade fans who have always wanted to attend, but couldn't.

But think about it for a second. Penny Arcade, a web-comic dedicated to gaming, has managed to sell thousands of tickets to a convention on name and reputation alone. Very few fandom/geek conventions can make those kinds of claims. I think it says a lot of great things about the Penny Arcade brand, and the convention's positive reputation among attendees.

A quick side note about that forthcoming keynote speaker announcement: did anyone else catch Wil Wheaton's tweet about it?

@wilw: Using my extensive inside contacts, I found out who the keynote speaker is for PAX East. I am *so* going to be there for this.

For the record, Wil is the only regular Star Trek: The Next Generation cast member that I have not yet met. And I may cry real tears of joy if he does indeed come to PAX East. He rarely ever comes to this coast, so this will be a real big treat for me if I can get to see him.