Press Release

Norwalk, CT, September 10, 2009: Reed Exhibitions (RX), the organizers of the New York Comic Con (NYCC) and New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced that both shows will co-locate next year

New York Comic Con, which last took place February 6 – 8, 2009, is the second largest popular culture event in America as well as the second largest public event in NYC. Since its inception in 2006 the show has played host to some of the greatest and most popular celebrities, creators and artists in the pop culture world including Neal Adams, Brian Michael Bendis, Stephen Colbert, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee, Grant Morrison, Alex Ross, Kevin Smith, Art Spiegelman, and Joss Whedon, to name just a few. The next New York Anime Festival is September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center and includes guests such as Yoshiyuki Tomino -- the Director of Mobile Suit Gundam -- and Yui Makino -- the voice of Sakura in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.

"Our decision to co-locate NYAF with NYCC is the final installment of a strategic plan to place and sequence our pop culture events in a manner that best serves the needs of our fans and exhibitors," notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President of the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group. "We are launching the Chicago Comic and Entetainment Expo (C2E2) in April 2010, and we have moved NYCC to a permanent October date, thus providing a spring and fall balance to these two key events which will remain in place as we move forward. Rather than create a third date for NYAF, it was decided a co-location would be better for anime fans, professionals, exhibitors, and partners. We spoke to attendees and exhibitors of both shows before making this decision, and everyone agrees that this will provide an opportunity for both shows to further grow and prosper."

The jointly-held New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival 2010 will occupy virtually the entire Jacob K. Javits Center in 2010. Both shows will maintain distinct guests and programming space and share a common show floor. And, more importantly for attendees, fans will be able to attend both shows for the price of one -- as a ticket to NYCC 2010 will also provide access to NYAF 2010 and vice versa. "Co-locating NYCC and NYAF provides value, pure and simple," Fensterman concludes. "We want to reach as many people as possible and this is clearly the best way to serve our audience and grow our events at the same time."

For more information on NYAF, please visit www.nyanimefestival.com. For additional details on NYCC, please view www.nycomiccon.com. For the latest news about the Reed Exhibitions Pop Culture Group please follow the group's official blog, www.mediumatlarge.net.

ABOUT NEW YORK COMIC CON:
New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention. Our show floor plays host to the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. Our panels and autograph sessions give fans a chance to interact with their favorite creators. Our screening rooms feature sneak peeks at films and television shows months before they hit either big or small screens. And with dedicated professional hours, New York Comic Con is a market place, bringing together the major players in the entertainment industry. New York Comic Con is the second largest pop culture convention in America and the only one that takes place in the comic book, publishing, media, and licensing capital of the world -- Gotham City. Further information can be found at newyorkcomiccon.com.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:
The New York Anime Festival takes place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival showcases the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explores the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life. Further information can be found at newyorkanimefestival.com.

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.