I was at the show as a vendor--the guy selling the Marty, Super Grafx and Twin sticks Every single vendor in the room thought the show was incredible from a sales perspective. Ed Flemming personally came by and asked if everything was alright about midway through Saturday which was something I would never expect. I saw volunteer staff members within sight pretty much at all times both days and they were very accessible and friendly.
It wasn't a perfect show. Some things really sucked (like the museum in retrocon), but they got the numbers that they needed to get (24000+) to get better content and guests next year. It seems like they were in a real catch 22 the past few years where you need the attendance numbers to get the guests and events, but in order to get the attendance numbers you need to have good guests and events. Moreover, the rate they were charging for a single day entry, $15 is about 50%-70% less than other gaming conventions of their size.
The author spent a lot of space going over the origins of the philly area classic gaming scene. Maybe he could write an article on why founders the hugely successful PhillyClassic (original) gave it up? To me that seems like the real tragedy here and almost worthy of the "death" hyperbole.
Carlson