All Things: San Diego Comic-Con

WonderCon 2015: How the Studios and Corporations Missed a Golden Opportunity
http://collider.com/wondercon-recap-editorial/

This article is the perfect summary of why Wondercon was a fail. Add to the aforementioned complaints the complete BUNGLE of the parking situation(bad/lack of direction, traffic officers standing around and doing NOTHING, etc). We wandered the countless rows of the dealer floor looking at the same things over and over again. There was literally NOTHING i.m.o. as far as panels worth seeing. There was a new more irritating form of cosplay too. Groups of people, or an agressive midget Starlord, playing music and dancing. That was annoying. Add to that the multiple guys wearing purchased/rented Buton Batman costumes,(look, it's a pet peeve for me) what are you trying to accomplish there? The entire family done up in Road Warrior/Thunderdome cosplay...HOMEMADE I stress,(including the dad who had the huge bell helmet and baby on his back a la Master Blaster) now that's doing it right. It took us almost 2 hours to park and I was pretty well done in and annoyed by the time we did. I would NEVER go to it in Anaheim again. But I will have to give it a try in L.A. just cause it's so close. One year run, I have to imagine a LOT of eyes will be on it to see how well they can handle it, not just for the future of Wondercon, but also to see if bringing the big boy here is even feasible.
 
WonderCon 2016 Moving from Anaheim to Los Angeles
http://collider.com/wondercon-2016-los-angeles/

Personally, I feel like an expansion of WonderCon would diminish the festival’s individuality. It would be San Diego Comic-Con in the spring, and while studios may have a chance to make their message stand out, I personally think it would just devour another convention. San Diego Comic-Con isn’t a celebration of the fans; it’s exploitation. It’s making them choose between viewing footage in Hall H or having them stand in a line in the exhibitors hall to get a poster signed.

Studios moving into WonderCon would also amplify teaser culture, which is a blight to geeks and moviegoing in general where everyone cares more about what’s next than what’s now. If Warner Bros. decides to have a presence at WonderCon in 2016, I seriously doubt it will be to celebrate Batman v Superman; it will be about people looking ahead to Suicide Squad.

This all being said, I can’t speak for devote convention-goers. I feel myself increasingly disconnected from fandom as I’m absolutely baffled by the ridiculous line for Hall H at Comic-Con. I don’t understand why people would choose to camp out to see footage that will be online later that day and to endure cringeworthy Q&A sessions. That doesn’t make sense to me, but if San Diego Comic-Con is the model for conventions and SDCC is ridiculously popular, it follows that Comic-Con International would try to emulate that success with WonderCon.

We’ll see in 2016 if studios take Steve’s advice and try to take advantage of an open playing field or if WonderCon will remain the kid brother to SDCC where fans can walk and breathe and not feel crushed by marketing.
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jerseydevil said:
WonderCon 2015: How the Studios and Corporations Missed a Golden Opportunity
http://collider.com/wondercon-recap-editorial/

This article is the perfect summary of why Wondercon was a fail. Add to the aforementioned complaints the complete BUNGLE of the parking situation(bad/lack of direction, traffic officers standing around and doing NOTHING, etc). We wandered the countless rows of the dealer floor looking at the same things over and over again. There was literally NOTHING i.m.o. as far as panels worth seeing. There was a new more irritating form of cosplay too. Groups of people, or an agressive midget Starlord, playing music and dancing. That was annoying. Add to that the multiple guys wearing purchased/rented Buton Batman costumes,(look, it's a pet peeve for me) what are you trying to accomplish there? The entire family done up in Road Warrior/Thunderdome cosplay...HOMEMADE I stress,(including the dad who had the huge bell helmet and baby on his back a la Master Blaster) now that's doing it right. It took us almost 2 hours to park and I was pretty well done in and annoyed by the time we did. I would NEVER go to it in Anaheim again. But I will have to give it a try in L.A. just cause it's so close. One year run, I have to imagine a LOT of eyes will be on it to see how well they can handle it, not just for the future of Wondercon, but also to see if bringing the big boy here is even feasible.
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I'm not surprised to hear you say that, and I honestly don't have anything I disagree with in your post. I think that maybe is geared towards the much more casual con-goer and, at times, to the more comic-obsessed nerds like myself. I spent most of my time at the Con standing in line to get books signed and rifling through half-off trade paperback bins. Which is really all I want when I go, regardless of whether that's WonderCon or San Diego. In my opinion, the panels at WC have ALWAYS been weak. Even the ones this year that had 3-5 people I cared about on them were still pretty boring, with the exception of the Ed Brubaker spotlight which was great because he's good at it. But... whatever. I got a ****-ton of books signed, got Ron Lim to do a commission inside my Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus and got some deals on some other ****. I'm good.

I'm of mixed feelings about moving to LA, mostly because Anaheim having a connected parking structure was a big bonus for me even though that meant getting there an hour before the doors opened. I ended up having to truck a ****load of books back and forth from my car and being parked semi-nearby makes that less of a problem. I don't know how that'll work in LA.
 
Here's that commission, by the way:

LimCommission.jpg


The Omibus doesn't have any blank, white pages, so he had to do it in silver on the black page. Still looks pretty great.
 
I am said con-novice. I saw cosplayers, got the only two items I thought I *might* even want to add to my sci-fi arsenal, got some shirts, and sat in on the Orphan Black panel (preceded by the Falling Skies panel).

Oh, and I have a Disneyland pass, so parking was easy and free.


For next year, I'll probably go, but will expect it to be more of a pain. Unless it happens to be after a 1pm Kings game.
 
Multiple Signs Point Toward San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Dates As July 20-24
http://sdccblog.com/2015/01/multipl...san-diego-comic-con-2016-dates-as-july-20-24/

We barely know anything yet about San Diego Comic Con 2015, and we certainly know even less about San Diego Comic-Con 2016. But we might have just gotten our first peek of information about the convention happening next summer.
Although Comic-Con International has not yet made an official announcement for San Diego Comic-Con?s 2016 dates ? which is also currently the last contracted year that the convention will be held in San Diego at all, although San Diego officials seem hopeful that an agreement can be reached through 2018 ? there are several signs which point toward 2016 dates running from July 21-24, with Preview Night being held on Wednesday, July 20.
A recent U-T San Diego article detailed San Diego?s ongoing efforts to bring the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game to San Diego in 2016. The game is locked in for July 12, and if San Diego is chosen as the host city of the major event, Joe Terzi, chief executive of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, told U-T San Diego that the event would feature four days of related activities in the city. That?s five total days of programming, none of which are moveable.
?We thought about [moving Comic-Con] ? but we didn?t feel it was appropriate to try to do that,? Terzi told U-T San Diego. ?Their attendees are such a unique group that they don?t take well to change. They plan their year around this event.?
Instead, since the game is expected to draw some 60,000 tourists and presumably take up much of the available hotel and parking options downtown, the Bureau has had to shuffle around other downtown events in case they are chosen as the host city. One of those events is the Environmental Systems Research Institute?s annual conference, which was originally slated to hold its event downtown at the San Diego Convention Center on July 11-15, 2016. The San Diego Convention Center?s website still reflects this, and if another city is chosen to host the MLB All-Star Game, ERSI will get to keep those original dates.
Screen shot 2015-01-02 at 8.05.42 PM
But here?s where it gets interesting. The U-T San Diego article states that, ?Terzi said concerns about conflicts prompted officials to explore moving Comic-Con, which wouldn?t overlap with All-Star festivities in 2016 but which is scheduled to begin just a few days after.?
Comic-Con International is held annually on a Wednesday ? Sunday, and the Environmental Systems Research Institute?s ending date of Friday, July 15, 2016, knocks that week out completely. That would make the following week ? July 20 ? 24 ? the most likely candidate.
And, to top that off, the San Diego Convention Center currently lists July 21 ? 24 as a ?Private Event? with an attendance size of 130,000 (the convention center?s site never lists the Wednesday date for Comic-Con, explaining why it?s a day ?short?).

A representative for the San Diego Convention Center could only tell us that per their standard contract agreement, thy aren?t permitted to release the name of events on their calendar labeled ?Private Event?. As of press time, representatives at Comic-Con International could not be reached for comment.
You can view all of the San Diego Convention Center?s currently scheduled 2016 events on their calendar.
It?s not a home run, but it sounds like we just might have our San Diego Comic-Con 2016 dates. Start planning accordingly.
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Walker Stalker Fan Fest Adds ‘The Walking Dead’ Guests, Events
http://sdccblog.com/2015/04/walker-stalker-fan-fest-adds-guests/

[UPDATE April 19] The first guest announcements for Walker Stalker Fan Fest include actors Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob), IronE Singleton (T-Dog), Emily Kinney (Beth), and Scott Wilson (Hershel), who will all be appearing both days at the convention.
Kinney will also be performing a concert on Friday, July 10 at Petco. Tickets are $25, and now on sale.
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Wow it's WalkingDeadICon...unlike Disney/Marvel, at least they are going to their audience.
 
SmytheKing said:
While I'm not laughing at this, the thing rings FAR too familiar to me and I wonder if these guys will ever get their heads out and see what they've actually built.

http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/A-Statement-About-New-York-Comic-Con-2015-Tickets/
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I'm laughing. Welcome to the big leagues N.Y.C.C. You woulda thought NOTHING could make the humble folks @ SDCC look professional. But damnital man, SDCC don't have scalpers buying/reselling tix as far as I know. They found a way to put the kibosh on that. You would think there would be some conversation between the 2 about what works and what doesn't...but I guess not. Live and learn N.Y.C.C., live and learn.
 
jerseydevil said:
I'm laughing. Welcome to the big leagues N.Y.C.C. You woulda thought NOTHING could make the humble folks @ SDCC look professional. But damnital man, SDCC don't have scalpers buying/reselling tix as far as I know. They found a way to put the kibosh on that. You would think there would be some conversation between the 2 about what works and what doesn't...but I guess not. Live and learn N.Y.C.C., live and learn.
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They actually do have people selling those tickets. You'd be surprised. Not as open and deliberate as it sounds like these people are, but they're up on Craigslist from time to time.

Still, crashing servers, website issues, long waits...It's like 2012 all over again. :D
 
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