MetroHero.com

The Bear · Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 1043

http://www.usatoday.com/life/2010-07-24-comic-con-stabbing_N.htm

Flynn Cook · Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 541 Location: Bellflower, CA

...and THAT right there is why the whole thing needs to be re-thought.

ComicCon should become a retailers/professionals summit ONLY. The general public need not go anyway. News told at the Con is not exclusive... it hits the web in seconds. There's no reason to allow this madness to continue. If the con were managed better and more under control (and there was less of an emphasis on exclusivity), nobody would have been angry enough to snap in such a way.
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"I'm Batman!"

metrohero · Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject:

I think Comic Con SHOULD be a general public event. It's always been about fans of comics, and even though it's mutating into a general pop culture/media con instead of just being about comics, it's still a time to reach out to fans and allow them to congregate. But...

Yep, it's as I've said - they should manage the panel lines much differently. People waste entire days waiting in lines for big event panels in Hall H or whatever, so they are hungry, hot, and exhausted by the time they get inside. Because the rooms aren't cleared after each panel, there aren't enough seats for all the people waiting in the lines.

Instead of this, they should clear each room after each panel - yes, that means you won't be able to camp out in Hall H (or the ballroom, or wherever) all day any longer. So now, people would have to really think about which panel they would rather see, and not just go to one so that they could park in a seat for the one after it.

They should only allow people to line up 45 minutes ahead of the start time of each panel. This way, they'll only waste an hour getting there and queueing up. Because the rooms are cleared after each panel, they will certainly get a seat if the line attendants keep a decent count of the people in the queue. Security should continually clear the area so that they can't just lurk there for hours.

I really believe that if they would start handling lines this way, there would be fewer problems.

I also believe that they should stop all those freaky lottery style swag giveaways or promo sales. That's bizarre and makes people crazy.

And finally, they're going to have to install a metal scanner like they have at the airport. How did that guy get in there with a knife anyway?

Flynn Cook · Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 541 Location: Bellflower, CA

It was actually a pen!
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"I'm Batman!"

metrohero · Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:27 pm Post subject:

OMG. They're going to have to scan for pens.

XP

The Bear · Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 1043

Here's the deal. They need to clear out the room after each panel for sure, but what they really need to do is give out a specific ticket to what specific movie or television panel you want to go to or better yet stamp the name of the panel (i.e. BBT for Big Bang Theory or GL for Green Lantern movie panel) on the back of your name badge. Oh and also make it so that people are only allowed to go to 4 or 5 movie or TV panels during the con, so they have to really choose what's really important to them and that way everyone gets a fair chance.

The problem is comic con organizers sold out to Hollywood a long time ago and are afraid to take any real measures of any type that may upset the studios in any way.

By the way, I'd love for someone to open the con's finance books. How the hell is this still a non-profit organization? Give me a break.

metrohero · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:04 pm Post subject:

Yeah, that's a great idea - one movie panel per day per con-goer, and they stamp a code on the back of the badge when you get in line. they could print a series of boxes labeled Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun, maybe giving two boxes to Sat, since that's the big day.

Then as they queue up, the line ushers stamp something in the box for that day. Once there's a stamp in there, they don't get to line up for any other movie panels the rest of that day. I don't even think they need to make special stamps - they could code the stamp as simply as using a different colored ink to signify what event they're stamping for, since just putting a red check in the box for every single event wouldn't clue the line ushers as to whether that was for this event or one earlier. Or just use a different stamp for each event.

Whatever they do, they should do it soon. This would also help alleviate the overcrowding situation - knowing the room will be cleared each time will allow more people to be in the queues and will also let them count how many to allow before capping each line. That way you don't have people waiting in line for hours only to find no seats available once they get inside.

Maybe they should also allow only so much free centaur poopie per day, too. Instead of just laying stuff out on tables for people to take (unless it's flyers, you know), they should have them handed out and stamp the badge as well. Once there are no more boxes left, no more rushing up for freebies.

I don't know what the real answers are - but luckily, it's not my job to know. There are people whose entire livelihood revolves around crowd and line management and event security. Let those people figure it ou - these are just our suggestions for workable, easy to read solutions.

Meanwhile, the stabber was wearing a Harry Potter t-shirt. Obviously, he is not a Gryffindor. Must be a Slytherin.

The Bear · Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 1043

www.comicsbeat.com (formerly The Beat) throw their two cents in on this matter......

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/07/25/some-thoughts-on-hell-hall/

>EXO< · Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 88

I totally disagree with the wristband idea. SDCC is bad enough as it presently is, I don't think throwing scalpers into the mix is a wise choice. Scalpers are already a huge problem for SDCC and giving them another opportunity to elbow the true fans in another separate instance gives me the hives.

Honestly, Since the Con people are unwilling to lower the limit of attendance and make it more comfortable for everyone, the only thing I can think of that would be beneficial for everyone would be to make it a week long event. Starting on Monday as a preview night and continuing on to Sunday for closing. Spread out the events and big ticket items so that people, such as last year's Twilight fans can get a whole day to themselves to wreck the con. It's a win win for everyone. The city wins because they get a couple of extra days for their merchants to make money. The Hotels in because now they can accommodate almost everyone that needs to stay nearby. The panelists get to have everyone that wants to see them instead of having a whole room that's probably half filled with people that are only interested in the next panel. The smaller exhibitors can set up shop for 3 days and then give their space to people that are willing to pay more for the weekend traffic. And finally and most importantly, we fans win because the days that we can walk in and out of panels that we choose to preview and decide we want to go to another one will return. No more campers. Honestly I'm betting that SDCC is still awesome but it's the wait and crowd that killed it for me. And it's only really 2 more days. Once you run out of space, you just have to make up for it by making more time.

metrohero · Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 3:17 pm Post subject:

I don't think they're going to spread it to a full week long. But I do think they're going to spread it to other venues. They'll probably keep it in San Diego, because SD is finally coming to the realization that ComiCon is a huge cash cow for them, despite the fact that they sort of sneer at the nerdiness. But they're probably going to start moving some of the panels to nearby hotels, which is great as far as I'm concerned.

I agree about the wristbands - that's horrible. All that would do is foster scalping and more bizarre hoopla around another "con exclusive." But to just put a stamp on your badge - that's brilliant. They don't even need to make custom stamps. All they need to do is use red for Thursday, purple for Friday, Blue for Saturday, Green for Sunday. Use a star for Hall H, and whatever for the rest. You should only get to have two stars for Hall H for any given day - easy to tell if you clear the room after each panel. And they should limit the queue to one line for the next event 45 minutes prior to start of that event - no queueing up at 9am for a 2pm panel. Once they've gotten two in the same color, that person is out of Hall H for the rest of that day. That way you won't have people waiting in lines all days, and you practically eliminate campers because since the hall is cleared after each event, they can't get into line fast enough to get back in for the next event. People have to THINK about what's really important. Meanwhile, you televise the Hall H events ALL DAY LONG in one of the other rooms via CC TV so that you accommodate the overflow. Presto. That will solve a lot of the problem - I mean, I think you're going to have some problems, whatever you do.

>EXO< · Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 88

yeah they're never gonna do it but I think it's the best thing for everyone but the Padres.

I saw a couple of panels were going on at the Hilton next door and the first thing I thought was that the last thing I want was to hoof it there if i was coming from the other side of the convention. It was one of the signs that told me that it was never going to stop growing. i can't imagine going from one hotel to another just to check out stuff. That was the great thing about con maybe 5 - 6 years ago. I can stand up and leave a Kevin Smith panel if I realized that Neil Gaiman was speaking and not have to worry to see if I can still get in. That and rubbing against a million people on the exhibition floor.