John Rogers (businessman)

John Geoffrey Rogers (c. 1961 – November 10, 2018) was a Canadian-born American businessman and executive. Rogers, who served continuously as President of San Diego Comic-Con from 1986 until his death in 2018, oversaw its expansion from a niche event into an international multi-genre entertainment and comic convention. He was the longest serving president in Comic-Con's history.^[1][2][3][4]

Rogers was born in Canada on Feb 23, 1961. His parents moved to Mount Helix in San Diego County when he was just 18-months old.^[4] They later relocated to the Del Cerro neighborhood of San Diego, where he attended Patrick Henry High School.^[4]

San Diego Comic-Con was founded in 1970. Rogers joined the convention in 1978 while working as a software engineer for a San Diego telecommunications company.^[1][2] He served as a technical coordinator and films coordinator before being elected president for his first term in 1986.^[1] He was re-elected president annually from 1986 to 2018.^[1][3]

Each year on the last day of Comic-Con, Rogers appeared in a popular panel called "Comic-Con Talk Back" to answer questions from convention attendees.^[3][4]

Rogers died from complications of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, on November 10, 2018, at the age of 57.^[1] He had recently been diagnosed with disease on September 10, 2018.^[3][4] He was survived by his wife, Janet Tait, and two siblings, Barbara and David.^[1] Officials at Comic-Con praised Rogers' three decades as chief executive saying, "As our longest serving president, first elected in 1986 and re-elected every year since, John's tenure saw Comic-Con grow from a select gathering of fans to the largest and most prestigious convention of its kind in the world."^[1]