Dear Peggy Spineli,
I've wanted to respond to you ever since the day you published your article, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at my keyboard two or three times and eventually gave up. 😅
Then I decided to wait until we finished dismantling the booths and read your article again with a fresh mind, just in case I had misunderstood what you wrote.
I believe we owe you a response.
You begin with the question, "Who am I to judge?"
You have every right to do so. After all, it's the easiest thing in the world. As our grandparents used to say, "Those watching the dance from the sidelines know all the songs."
There's a difference, however, between criticising what you personally experienced and drawing sickening conclusions about the motives, vision, and dedication of the team behind this event.
And I'm not just talking about us, the organisers. I'm talking about Alina, Johann, Vee, Thomas, Evros, "Blue", Troody, "Toku", Christina, our Yiorgos "Couch Man", Napoleon, "Sachi", Penelope, Marilena, Lily, Stylianos, "Afro", Leo, Megas, Joseph, Conor, Ricky, Constantinos, Charalambos, Marc, "Revo", "Yiorc", Peter, Eleonora, Nicolas, Theo, Zack, Yuta, Ifigenia, Mike, Christoforos, Liv, and everyone else whose names my exhausted brain unfortunately can't recall at this particular moment. For that, I apologise.
For cosplayers, we've provided an air-conditioned area within the Cosplay Village and Hall A precisely because we understand the needs of those wearing heavy armour, costumes, masks, and wigs.
I'm not claiming this solves the overall problem. But it is a concrete effort to improve their experience.
As for October, we didn't choose the month simply because we liked how it looked on the calendar.
In the past, we've experimented with different dates. We've examined weather conditions, school and university commitments, examination periods, and other factors that affect people's ability to attend.
October emerged as the best available option, although that doesn't mean it's perfect.
And that's also why the number of cosplayers continues to increase every year.
You also refer to hygiene conditions and the toilets.
Food vendors participating in the event are required to comply with the relevant health and hygiene regulations and hold the necessary certificates.
Not just anyone can show up and start selling food without the required checks.
That may or may not happen with the street vendors outside, but they set up without our involvement or responsibility. We've tried to remove them, but we've even received death threats in the process.
As for the toilets, we acknowledge that accommodating tens of thousands of visitors is an ongoing challenge.
We brought in portable toilets to supplement the existing facilities, so we are making efforts to address this particular issue.
But let's move on to the part where you question what exactly we upgraded this year.
This is where I genuinely wish you had asked us before concluding that we're no longer trying to evolve.
Our Medieval Quarter was expanded. We increased the number of entertainment stages. The programme featured more than 80 activities, many of which were available at no additional charge.
We hosted more than 80 special guests, artists, and performers.
We had actors from Netflix's One Piece, artists from the world of Star Wars, voice actors from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (last year's Game of the Year), the Greek actor who voices Mickey Mouse, professionals from the video game and comic book industries, internationally recognised cosplayers, musicians, and many other creators.
All of this, alongside the tournaments, performances, workshops, artists, Kids Zone, wrestling, concerts, and countless other activities, made up a programme that was practically impossible for anyone to experience in its entirety over a single weekend.
And all of that with a €20 Weekend Pass.
Now tell me, genuinely, where else can you see and do so much for that amount of money?
I'll wait.
Could we have brought in bigger names from Hollywood?
Of course.
But those choices come at a cost, which is often passed on to visitors, particularly when it comes to photographs and autographs.
We're gradually trying to address that as well.
People are absolutely entitled to disagree with our choices. That's entirely respectable.
But you cannot claim that there has been no effort or progress without examining what we actually offered.
And that brings us to your comments about monopoly and commercialisation.
Are you serious?
You write that because we have no competition, we no longer have any reason to improve.
I genuinely cannot understand how you reached that conclusion.
We don't see Comic Con as a monopoly to exploit.
We see it as an event that began with a group of friends who shared common interests and managed to grow into one of the most important cultural and entertainment institutions in Cyprus and the wider region.
And precisely because we love what we've created, we want it to continue growing.
The numbers speak for themselves.
We listen to criticism and suggestions from the public. That's why we actively ask for feedback and reviews, and why we speak with visitors, exhibitors, volunteers, and guests.
We're not only interested in what people enjoyed.
We're even more interested in what didn't work.
After all, if we genuinely believed there was no reason to improve, why would we expand our activities?
Why would we invest in infrastructure that doesn't belong to us?
Why would we keep trying to offer more every single year?
We're not infallible.
We make mistakes. Sometimes serious ones.
But making mistakes is one thing.
Losing interest is something entirely different.
And now I come to the final part of your article.
The part that upset me the most.
You describe a group of people who have lost their motivation to innovate. People who tasted success and now feel entitled to exploit something they once loved.
At this point, we're no longer talking about air conditioning, parking, or toilets.
We're talking about the motives and integrity of people you don't necessarily know personally, and with whom you didn't speak before writing what you wrote.
You don't know what each person goes through or what they've sacrificed to help this event become one of the leading events of its kind.
And that's not something we're claiming ourselves.
It's what our international visitors tell us, and it's an enormous honour both for us and for our country, Cyprus.
I'd like to tell you about our team as a whole, not just the organisers.
About the people who put aside their jobs, their studies, and their free time to contribute.
About those who worked on sets until the early hours of the morning, carried chairs and tables, welcomed visitors, and ran from one end of the State Fair to the other to solve whatever problem had come up.
About the people responsible for decorating the Medieval Quarter, managing stages, special guests, tickets, exhibitors, social media, transportation, and countless other tasks that visitors never see.
And they shouldn't have to see them.
Because that's our job: to ensure that visitors can enjoy the event without having to know what's happening behind the scenes.
But that doesn't mean those efforts don't exist.
When you write that we've lost our motivation and are simply exploiting our success, you're not just judging five organisers.
You're doing an injustice to an entire community of people who still believe in what we're creating.
I want to believe that what you wrote came from simple carelessness, from a moment of frustration.
I'll finish with an invitation.
I'm officially inviting you to join us during the preparations for Cyprus Comic Con 2027.
Come and meet our team in person.
Let's lift chairs together, carry tables, prepare the stages and event spaces, and tell Evros, "You fucking idiot!"
Come and witness the "organised chaos" that goes into making all of this happen.
Join us on an overnight airport run to welcome our guests, and then be back with us the following morning at 7:00 AM to prepare the Cosplay Village, the booths, the networking activities, and everything else that needs to be done.
See with your own eyes not only what we do, but why we do it.
We'll even give you a team T-shirt. 😉
I'm not asking you to change your opinion.
Nor am I asking you to write a positive article.
I don't care about that.
What matters to me is the reality of the situation and the team that works tirelessly to make this weekend happen.
And if, after experiencing all of this, you still believe that we've lost our vision, our passion, and our love for Comic Con, that we're simply milking the cash cow, then I, along with Peter Anders Hvass, Helen Christofi, Christopher Barnett, and Neo Barnett, will be the first to sit down and listen to what you have to say.
I'll be waiting for you at the CCC 2027 setup. 🙂
Kind Regards,
