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Questions for San Diego Comic Con veterans (especially staff)

Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Feb 5 2014, 2:52pm

Post #1 of 14 (540 views)
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Questions for San Diego Comic Con veterans (especially staff) Can't Post

Hi guys,

I'm planning on attending Comic Con for the first time this year, so I had some questions for those of you who've been through this before.

First, the obvious question - just how fast do those tickets go? I'm waiting with baited breath for them to go on sale; but should I be ready to move immediately when they do?

Also, for staff who have gone before, do I need to do anything other than just order tickets as part of the normal process? Just curious.

And since I'm naive about all this, please tell me anything you guys think I should know as a newbie. Thanks in advance!

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen


(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Feb 5 2014, 2:52pm)


Magpie
Immortal


Feb 5 2014, 2:58pm

Post #2 of 14 (442 views)
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Some people here that see this can likely answer [In reply to] Can't Post

but the bulk of the staff that go to Comic-con will not (see this).

You might consider submitting this question via the contact us link at the left and even suggest (in your message) that it might be worth writing a home page article of advice and suggestions.


LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
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Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Feb 5 2014, 3:01pm

Post #3 of 14 (455 views)
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Yeah, I'm going to be sending an email to staff... [In reply to] Can't Post

I don't have access to my email at the moment, so I just thought I'd throw something up on here in the meantime.

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen


Kim
Valinor


Feb 5 2014, 9:24pm

Post #4 of 14 (437 views)
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I would be interested in this info too [In reply to] Can't Post

I'm hoping to go this year, but got a little nervous after watching last week's Big Bang Theory where the guys were all queued up on their computers to get tickets. It took them 20 minutes just to access the site, got in at ~50,000 in line, and couldn't get tickets. Was that realistic? Yes, I know it's a tv show, but they're generally pretty spot on with the geeky stuff.


entmaiden
Forum Admin / Moderator


Feb 6 2014, 3:15am

Post #5 of 14 (446 views)
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I've been once, and worked at the 'TORN booth [In reply to] Can't Post

from what I remember, the tickets sell ultra-fast, so be ready. I think you can register on the site in advance, and browse through the options before the sale starts. That will help you plan strategy.

What you are buying is an entry ticket, and once you're in, that should be it. There is a huge exhibit hall where the movie studios, retailers, game makers and other vendors display and sell their stuff. It will take you hours to get through it all.

In addition to the exhibit/selling space, there are individual meeting rooms for specific presentations. Some are quite large, like the famous Hall H, where major studios hold presentations. People sleep out the night before to get in line for Hall H and other popular presentations. TORN usually has a presentation - not in Hall H - but we've had a lot of success in past years.

We share space in two spots on the exhibit floor - at Weta and Badali Jewelry. Both of them are very generous to allow us some room to sell T-shirts, host games and meet fans. It's a very dangerous spot because the Badali items are beautiful, and I was even considering some significant Weta purchases, even though I'm not a collector.

Weare comfortable clothes, and shoes you can wear for hours. Be prepared to walk a LOT, and figure out in advance whether you want to buy expensive food and drink at the convention center, or make other arrangements. The convention center is within walking distance of downtown and there are lots of restaurants, but everything is expensive that week.

The Con usually ends about 7 every day, and many of the exhibitors have evening parties. There are some evening movies/events, so there will be more than enough to do.

Hotels are tough to get - the SDCC blocks nearly every hotel room so you have to get your hotel through them. They run a lottery, and you're not sure what you will get. There is a decent shuttle system that runs to all the hotels, but you sometimes have to wait a while.

The SDCC site is very helpful - I recommend you spend some time there.

I'm hoping to go this year, but be sure to stop by and see the TORN folk!


Garfeimao
Rohan


Feb 7 2014, 5:39pm

Post #6 of 14 (415 views)
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You need to get educated on the process [In reply to] Can't Post

Read everything you can on the Official website at http://www.comic-con.org/cci

Then start reading the unofficial stuff to get a better understanding. Visit this twitter https://twitter.com/SD_Comic_Con or their Facebook page https://twitter.com/SD_Comic_Con or their blog page http://sdccblog.com

This is a really good blog about the goings on at comic con, complete with analysis on the process of getting passes.

Next, you will not be getting passes if you don't already have a Member ID registered with the official SDCC. Right now, they are not giving out new Member IDs because tickets go on sale for Pre-Registration tomorrow, Saturday. That means tickets will be available to people who attended the con tomorrow. After this, at a date yet to be announced, they will open ticket sales to new people or those who did not attend last year. Hopefully that means they will open up registration for a Member ID.

If you already have a Member ID, log in to your account and make sure you have put into your profile that you want emails regarding news about the con, or you will not even get the registration email.

As for the registration process, here is how they are doing it for Pre-reg, my guess is it will be very similar for regular registration when that happens.

Step one: they just sent out a passcode to all Pre Reg eligible people that is required in order to enter a 'virtual waiting room' tomorrow morning between the hours of 7am and 9am.

Step two: precisely at 9am the system will shuffle everyone in the 'virtual waiting room' into a random order for the actual ticket sales. Anyone who reloads their page will be put at the back of the line. Anyone who opens a second browser window and enters the room using the already used passcode will automatically cancel their earlier entry and be put at the back of the line. Anyone who crashes and has to re-enter will be put at the back of the line.

Step three: when your time comes up to purchase, you are allowed to purchase 3 passes, but only for persons who are eligible for pre-reg, you can not purchase a ticket for anyone who is not eligible. So, for those eligible, it behooves you to talk with family and friends beforehand with all pertinent registration requirements. Those are your Member ID, the email associated with that, and the last name of that member. Without this info, you can't even register yourself, let alone a family member or friend. Also, tickets are not being sold in full Convention blocks. Now, they are being sold on a daily basis, so you can buy a Thursday and a Saturday if those are the only days you can attend, or a Friday and a Saturday, Or a Thursday and a Sunday. You can only get the Wednesday preview day if you get all 4 of the other days, so it is the only one that can't be bought as a stand alone day.


Hopefully some of this info helps.

Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,


Garfeimao
The orange stripey One

Cruise to Middle-earth


Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Feb 7 2014, 6:54pm

Post #7 of 14 (423 views)
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Thanks! [In reply to] Can't Post

The site said it would still allow registration for new Member IDs, so I went through the process and am now just waiting on my confirmation code.

When it comes to the individual days, would you recommend certain days over others? My schedule will be open, but I'm obviously I'm not against saving some money. Thank you for the warning about getting put at the back of the line. Fingers crossed that I can get tickets.

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen


Garfeimao
Rohan


Feb 7 2014, 7:25pm

Post #8 of 14 (413 views)
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Days to attend [In reply to] Can't Post

If you are available and if the tickets are available, you may well want to get all days, but the total is now up to $200 per person for all four days plus the preview night.
That being said, whatever you plan may or may not matter depending on what is available when open registration begins. I don't foresee them selling all available passes during Pre-Reg. SDCC has made it clear that they want to allow for either new attendees and returning attendees who have missed the last year or two. So tomorrow's Pre-Reg should be a certain percentage of what is actually available, and then at a later date they will sell the rest to everyone else, including those who do not get in tomorrow.
BTW, that tv show representation of just how hard it was to get tickets is pretty much accurate and the reason they have added so many extra steps this year. By opening up a 'virtual waiting room' and allowing people to enter for a full 2 hours before closing the door, shuffling everyone into a random order and then issuing that order is to avoid everyone hitting the site at once and crashing it. It also makes it completely random, so anyone who says "but I was waiting for two hours and I got 35,000 in line, it has been made abundantly clear that the line order will be random.


So, what days to go? It used to be that Friday and Saturday were the best days, all the studios put on the best panels and the biggest stars on those days, especially Saturday. The reason was, for commuters and other locals attending, they may not take the full week vacation from work and could only come on the Weekends or Friday afternoon on. And then as bigger and better panels focused on those two days, the demand for those two days grew beyond just the fact that it fell into line with the time people were willing to miss work. So SDCC finally began asking the studios to spread out their programming in an effort to make other days, Thursday and Sunday, look better, to draw more attendees to those days. Thursday and Sunday have typically been days where tickets were available for much longer. People used to tell me they were waiting to see who was attending before registering, and 15 years ago, you could do that, but 10 years ago, that was taking a big risk on not being able to attend, and 5 years ago, the convention sold for the following year through just Pre-Reg on location, which is why they moved all Registration online and began limiting how many passes people could buy.


So, for choosing a day or two or three, you sort of need to know what you want to focus on. There are less crowds on Thursday and Sunday, no matter how much cool programming gets moved. Do you want shopping chances and all the booths, cause there are over 1000 of them or do you want to see panels? And if you ant to see panels, be prepared to stand in long lines, unbelievably long lines. If you want to focus on autographs, again there are lines, but these aren't the lines for the autographs, these are the lines to draw a ticket to see if you will then get to stand in the line for the autograph. Nope, not kidding on that one.


And if you are a local and not able to get into the convention, not to fear. There are now so many off-site events going on, including events open to the public, that you can get a full geek experience with no ticket for the con whatsoever. You just need to pay attention to the blogs to find out what is going on with the events, particularly those held at Petco park, because tickets are required for them, at a low cost, but they can be just as cool, with tons of stuff to do.


Intimidated much? SDCC is not for the faint of heart, read everything you can from the official website and then the blogs because there is always a lot going on and things are going to move fast.


BTW, even though you aren't eligible for the Pre-Reg, if SDCC opens up hotel reservations before General Res opens, do it. Don't wait to see if you are going to get a pass, the registration for Hotels is just as complicated and in demand as tickets themselves, so when Hotels open up, get yourself a room, and if you end up with no tickets, you can still do all the offsite stuff, but without a hotel, it doesn't matter if you get tickets or not.

Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,


Garfeimao
The orange stripey One

Cruise to Middle-earth


Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Feb 7 2014, 8:29pm

Post #9 of 14 (424 views)
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Geez... [In reply to] Can't Post

Crazy Intimidating is certainly the right word. I'm not a local either (I love in Southwest Florida), which means that I'll be even more of a fish out of water. lol

Is it worth the headaches, though? I figured I'd go this year - since there will never be a better time (last year for a Tolkien film and all - and I'd love to meet some TORn folk). But I'd be lying if I said your detailing wasn't giving me pause.

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen


(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Feb 7 2014, 8:30pm)


Garfeimao
Rohan


Feb 7 2014, 8:34pm

Post #10 of 14 (421 views)
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It helps to have friends [In reply to] Can't Post

It does help to have others going that you know, if for no other reason than to share in the cost of the hotel. It kinda is something everyone should do at least once, but there is always DragonCon, which is closer to you and has a large Tolkien presence as well.


So, try for SDCC, and if you don't have any luck getting tickets, go for DragonCon.

Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,


Garfeimao
The orange stripey One

Cruise to Middle-earth


Kim
Valinor


Feb 7 2014, 10:23pm

Post #11 of 14 (429 views)
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Yeah, feeling a little faint hearted now [In reply to] Can't Post

I'm planning to go with 2 friends, but am a little worried about coordinating all this. I had looked thru all the stuff on the SDCC site, but good to have all this info. I guess we'll give it our best shot and see what happens.


Inferno
Superuser / Moderator


Feb 8 2014, 12:29am

Post #12 of 14 (413 views)
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Also, [In reply to] Can't Post

There are other comic-cons beside just San Diego's (although theirs is far and away the largest). I know there's a NYC Comic Con, and I believe a Baltimore one (I live in UT, not on the east coast, so my knowledge of the ones there are pretty vague). Out in my half of the country, I can think of Pheonix, Emerald City (in Seattle), Salt Lake, and Denver Comic Cons off the top of my head. If you're feeling a little intimidated by the SDCC process, and want to get your feet wet, or even if you don't manage to get SDCC tickets, checking out one of the other comic cons may help. And, as Garfeimao said, there's DragonCon in Atlanta as well, although the emphasis at DC is a lot different than at SDCC. I'm sure some googling will help you turn up comic cons on your side of the US. =)

Inferno.

======================
Good night, tOR.Nados. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely delete you in the morning.
======================


(This post was edited by Inferno on Feb 8 2014, 12:30am)


Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea


Feb 8 2014, 12:51am

Post #13 of 14 (505 views)
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Baltimore has Otakon [In reply to] Can't Post

It's more anime-based but has some booths have a wider audience. The cosplay is all over the place. It's hilarious to get on the Circulator bus and see the locals sitting next to Spiderman. I don't think there is anything Tolkien-related though. SDCC gets the big studios and the wider audience draws - Marvel, DC and the big movies and TV shows. My daughter goes every year.

I've heard really good things about DragonCon in Atlanta in I think September. They are a little bit smaller but are gaining a reputation that is allowing them to draw bigger names. I think they had the best cosplay (at least according to photos I saw posted) and they have a parade too!

Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings







Tamara
Rivendell

Feb 14 2014, 9:06pm

Post #14 of 14 (510 views)
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So....who got SDCC tix? [In reply to] Can't Post

I know Garf and I managed to get 4-day passes + preview night, but who else can we expect to see?

Steward of Harvard

 
 

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