PAX expands to East Coast

Since its inception in 2004, the Seattle, Washington-based Penny Arcade Expo--PAX for short--has grown in leaps and bounds. Last year's open-to-the-public event saw 39,000 gamers pack themselves into the Washington State Convention and Trade Center for a three-day celebration of tabletop role-playing, console, and PC gaming. For this year's show, the organizers are doubling the exhibition hall space to accommodate more than 70 companies displaying their wares for the crowd.

That's nothing compared to the show's future expansion plans, as Jerry Holkins--writer of the Web comic that is the expo's namesake--announced that beginning in 2010, PAX will spawn a second show on the East Coast. The Web comic has enlisted the help of Reed Exhibitions (the team behind the New York Comic-Con) to handle the logistics of the new show, but Holkins stressed he and Penny Arcade artist Gabe Krahulik will still be hands-on with the event.

"We still run the show, determine all the panels, choose where it takes place, select the bands, pretty much everything," Holkins wrote. "We are its conscience. Reed provides the logistical muscle."

Holkins also hinted at even greater plans for PAX, saying that an East Coast show is only the beginning. "It deserves to be on the East Coast," Holkins said. "Frankly, it should be global. I'm working on it."