Organizers of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and New York Comic Con (NYCC) have announced that they will be hitting the road this month to visit comic book retailers  and fans in Chicago and New York to spread holiday cheer. C2E2 The staff of C2E2 & NYCC will be taking to the streets, meeting, greeting, and giving away presents to fans at comic shops all month long. The tour begins in New York City tomorrow – Wednesday, December 9th – and will extend through Wednesday, December 23rd. Officials note that one big reason for the trip – aside from giving away presents – is to meet with fans in order to hear their ideas and to find out what fans want to see in 2010.

“We want to reach out to our community of supporters as much as possible to get the pulse of who and what they want to see at C2E2 and NYCC in 2010,” notes Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President and Show Manager for both C2E2 and NYCC. “At the same time, we want to have some fun, give out some presents, as well as spread the word about C2E2 and NYCC. This is a great way of accomplishing all these goals! We are looking forward to a great road trip.”

New York Comic Con Staff officials note that the full C2E2 and NYCC teams will be participating in the events, with Show Manager Lance Fensterman joined by various faces from programming, marketing, and sales. Every stop will have different team members in attendance. In both New York and Chicago, the staff members will be giving away movies, posters, and soundtracks from Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing, as well as raffling off toys from Diamond Select and Mezco. Of course, it wouldn't be the holidays without candy canes and assorted stocking stuffers, which NYCC and C2E2 staff will be handing out at all their stops. Additionally, in Chicago, the shops the staff will visit will be the very first place to get physical C2E2 tickets and limited edition C2E2 Alex Ross posters. A twitter scavenger hunt will be organized through downtown Chicago, and the staff will also be raffling off a C2E2 VIP package.

The location and dates for the Holiday Tour are:

NEW YORK CITY

Wednesday, Dec 9th:
Forbidden Planet
840 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
3 PM to 6 PM

Thursday, Dec 17th:
Midtown Comics - Times Square
200 W 40th St
New York, NY 10018
12 PM to 3 PM

Wednesday, Dec 23rd:
Jim Hanley's Universe
325 New Dorp Lane
Staten Island, NY
12 PM to 4 PM

CHICAGO

Tuesday, Dec 15th:
Challengers
1845 N Western Ave 2R
Chicago, IL 60647
4 PM to 6 PM

Wednesday, Dec 16th:
Graham Crackers - Chicago Loop
77 E. Madison St
Chicago, IL 60602
12 PM to 2 PM

Chicago Comics
3244 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60657
4 PM to 6 PM

Comix Revolution
606 Davis St
Evanston, IL 60546
4 PM to 6 PM

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS POP CULTURE GROUP:
The Pop Culture Group at Reed Exhibitions owns and operates the New York Comic Con (NYCC), the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), and the New York Anime Festival (NYAF). New York Comic Con was launched in 2006 and quickly became a dominant presence in the pop culture world of public events. In 2009, 452 companies exhibited at NYCC for a total of 84,000 square feet of paid exhibit space, and it has been ranked by Crain's New York Business as the second-largest annual event in NYC. C2E2, which will debut April 16 – 18 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center, is modeled after NYCC and will provide fans the opportunity to meet and greet their favorite writers, creators, and artists, as well as to see, hear and learn about the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. The Pop Culture Group also operates the recently-launched UFC Fan Expo in partnership with the UFC – the world's leading professional mixed martial arts organization – and it formed a strategic partnership with Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in 2008 and will work closely with PAX on the launch of PAX East in Boston in 2010.