Comic-Con is the mack daddy of all cons. There were approximately 130,000 nerds there this year. The whole of San Diego was taken over – every hotel for miles was booked.
That being said, it was just a con. Bigger, yes, but ultimately, like any other con. The San Diego Convention Center is so big that it can totally fit 130k people without feeling hella full. The building is, oh, I’d say about 2 or 3 city blocks (A NY city block is approximately 1/5 of a mile) long (map here). It was bigger with more walking, but the feel was the same. I must also point out that even the most popular panels were accessible. Of course the top 5 panels had campers and long lines, but generally you could get into everything. For the Harold & Kumar and Torchwood panels we walked right in. Registration was a breeze as well, once you got there (literally 15 seconds for both of us) the line took about 1.5 hours. It totally puts DragonCon into the category of amateurs, I can tell you that (3-4 hour waits for about 1/3 of the attendees). Comic-Con has full time staff, con staff, convention center staff AND a few volunteers. Crowd control was amazing and very, very smooth. It’s also a non-profit that reinvests into the Con. Our little scruffy con does none of that – and it shows.
The one advantage of the local con is that everything happens on site so it’s more intimate. You eat, drink, party and sleep on site, which means that you can saunter up to the bar and be standing next to a movie star or whatnot. Nice. Comic-Con is in a convention center, so there is NOTHING on site other than some snacks and coffee. No beer. No real food. No celebrities milling about. They want you to go into the Gaslamp Quarter to eat and drink, which sucks ASS. It’s not a hang out con, it’s all about panels and the exhibitors’ room. The Special Guests are kept away from the fans for the most part.
The Exhibitors’ Hall. Wow! It took us 2 days just to get through it all. Truly, the Exhibitors’ Hall is the main reason to attend this con. Every comic company is there. Every network is there. Jeeze, everyone is there. It’s spectacular! There are feeding frenzies every time a freebie is given out – and there are many. Two biggies were the Big Frakkin’ Bag given out by Sci-Fi (yes, I have one) and the Tinkerbell Wings given out by Disney (every hour). I thought I was gonna have to Roshambo someone to get a Big Frakkin’ Bag!!
We met several of our heroes in comics: Aaron Alexovich, Camilla D’Errico, Tommy Kovac, PvP Online, Half Pixel and many others. We met Sergio Aragones, who is a sweet SWEET man with an accent that is exactly as you’d expect. We met so many artists who are starting out like us – it was very encouraging. We hung out with Ted and Kelly and met their awesome friends Karl and Kelly and the fabulous Elaine. Shout outs to all! I was so busy I totally forgot about Wil Wheaton being there – and I had a book for him to sign, too! Oopsie!
I have contact info for Image Comics that I shall attempt to pass along to the local ACE con (Atlanta Comics Expo, now defunct), although I’m sure they’ll rebuff me since I’m not a DragonCon worshiper. I was thinking about it and I also have SLG contacts to offer as well. The fee for my contacts will be a small table and 2 passes… Wish me luck. ;-)
It was great to see Andy and Ellen – especially since they can’t make DragonCon this year. Got to put the actual kids with their names finally. They only had Friday passes, so they got just a taste of the con. Next year they’ll attend the whole thing. It will be a challenge to book for next year since the city of San Diego regulates the con rooms, etc., but I’m gonna try. I want to be in a Con hotel next year, not at freaking Sea World.
After the con, we stayed an extra day to explore the San Diego Harbour and tour the Midway that is berthed there. The Midway tour is but a shadow of the Yorktown over in SC. Most everything is cordoned off. Even the bridge is a guided tour (which we were too late for). I guess it’s because the Midway was in service into the 90s and they don’t want to allow the public to see exactly how the ship is put together. ?
I can tell you that San Diego is LOVELY. It was a perfect 72 or so the whole time we were there with no humidity. Aaaahhhh! I can also confirm that CA does rot your brain. I swear you can feel yourself becoming a liberal hippy as soon as you breathe the air. I think longterm exposure would definitely cause brain damage – like lead does.
More about the rest of the trip in the following post.