San Diego Comic-Con 2002: Lessons Learned, Comments, Questions and Feedback

San Diego Comic-Con 2002:

Now that it's come and gone, we'd like to hear your Lessons Learned, Comments, Questions and Feedback. For many of us from Phoenix, it was our first major Con, and our first experience at an event like this. Needless to say, we made a few mistakes, but still had a great time. Others had been there many, many times before, and are old pros at cons. (and they even got lost --hehehehe )

We'd like to hear from you. Maybe your comments could save someone else time, money and hassle. I know our trip next year will be much smoother, as we learned a lot from this trip. Maybe even next year we can have more than a shoe-string budget, so we'll have even more options.

So let's hear what you have to say.....

 

Granola bars or Power Bars. Get them and take them with you. You'll be glad you did for those "I'm hungry, but <insert famous actor here> is signing over there" times. I always get a box of 10 granola bars thursday night of the con to take with me friday. That and a bottle of water. That way you don't have to leave the convention to eat or drink and you don't have to pay the exhorbitant prices for convention food. The granola bars and water should be enough to get you through the day.

Also, if you're going for more than 1 day, don't forget extra batteries for your camera or a charger for your rechargeable batteries.

 

If you go to the Comic Con site now, you can register for Comic Con 2003 now! If you do it now, it only costs $35 for the full pass, whereas at the door it is $60.

PS The volunteer coordinator was very impressed and pleased with all the volunteers he had at the convention.

 

Yes, to LordJedi you listen. This was one area where the Phoenix group was ill prepared. We already had our own table, but we didn't bring a cooler to keep food in.

Here's one I've learned from personal experience: Pockets. I think this one is a must for anyone in costume. Obey Wann had the right idea wearing cargo pants with his Rebel Fleet Trooper, but my Grand Admiral's uniform didn't have any place to keep my wallet, camera, contact lens case, etc.

 

Hmmm... Lesson's learned from Con'ing....

I agree with the power bars and water. A MUST! Even if the Con has a ConSuite with freebies in it. You want to take stuff with you all the time.

Try to hit the ConSuite at the odd hours. That is when they restock and you'll get the fresh food like sandwichs, nacho's...other hot foods, instead of the regular fare of chips and salsa, popcorn and pretzels. And IF you are lucky and are at a Con that serves breakfast foods in the morning, don't miss it! It may be the only HOT food you get all day!

Take your posters in a mailing tube or something hard that you can put a strap on to help carry it.

When you go to the dealer's room, take along an empty bag to carry all your purchases in.

If you can, go shopping in pairs at least. That way one person can watch out for the goods and wallet of the one shopping. Remember, even at Con's, thieves love an easy target.

Ladies, don't carry a purse. Use a belly bag or a backpack. Much easier on the back and leaves your hands free for whatever.

Wear comfy shoes and bring a spare pair. Change shoes in the middle of the day if you can. Your feet will thank you! Even if you bring shoes to change into, this next thing is great for everyone and helps your legs and feet. Get your butt as close to a wall as you can and put your legs up the wall. Leave them there for like 30 minutes or so. You'll be glad you did!

Pack light and leave lots of room for the goodies you'll buy, or bring a spare fold up suitcase to carry them back in.

If you've never been to this Con before, make sure ahead of time that you check on transportation to and from the airport before you go. Cost me 20 for a taxi in Indy.

Confirm your flight reservations and hotel reservations before you go.

If you are driving in, bring an ice chest and all the food and drinks you think you will need for the Con. You will save LOTS of money.

Bring extra film. You can always use it later or return it. Film at Con's if you don't have a Wal-mart nearby is VERY expensive. Same for batteries. Same goes for Video camera's .

If you're not from a climate that has AC...bring a sweater. It gets cold in the meeting rooms sometimes.

I know there is more, I just can't think of it atm. *S*

 

While I didn't attend this convention, a lot of the comments people are making applying to cons in general. I've been a number, and I totally agree with the comments about bringing munchies (dry cereal, pop tarts and granola bars are my faves), shoes and water.

Back when CII was still coming up, a thread was started asking for advice for 'con newbies'. Lots of good advice there that applies not only to CII, but all cons in general. Check it out here.

The club that cons together, stays together.

 

$35?! Where on the site does it say 35 bucks for next year's whole weekend...?

 

<<Yes, to LordJedi you listen. This was one area where the Phoenix group was ill prepared. We already had our own table, but we didn't bring a cooler to keep food in. >>

Hello?! SDSWS provided a HUGE cooler (for us, Phoenix, 501st, and Rebel Legion) which was maybe 1/4 full the whole time! lol. it was that 4'x3'x3' red/white/blue behemoth under the banner. Ask if there's a cooler next time!
But make sure to bring food and drinks to share... pretty much everything in the cooler is considered fair game. Still, I ended up taking home quite a bit of food on Sunday night that was still in there.

For jedi and sith with Parksabers: bring your blades into the Con inside a postertube, then store the tube at the FF table. Carry the blade tucked into the back of your belt under your robes when you're not showing off how cool it is when it's ignited. That way only your hilt shows and security won't tag you with that dumb red tape on your saber. Also, bring a whole box of 9V batteries... you *will* use them all! Home Depot carries boxes of 10 9V batteries for $8.99

If you have a digital camera: make arrangements with local 501st, RL, or SDSWS members to download your camera at the end of each day. That way you're not trying to make your memory card last all weekend (like some people tried to). We brought a laptop with USB ports to make this easier, you could DL pics right at the FF table.

People planning to volunteer hours for memberships to the Con... sign up early! And contact your local FF City Rep or RSA early to let them know 1) you'll be there and 2) you'll be volunteering for the Con. We have an "in" with the director of Volunteer Operations for the ComiCon, and he can set you up doing FUN volunteer work instead of doing paperwork or manning the door to a back room somewhere.

Since you'll be visiting San Diego for the Con, try visiting the San Diego FF forum for a couple weeks beforehand so you can get to know members who will be hosting you in their city! We would have loved to take more people around the city after hours for dinner or whatever, but only a couple people asked! We're nice, friendly people in SD!!! And most of us don't smell like wookies, so it's cool... get to know your FF city hosts, and all will be fun

 

Well, I spent some time in the SD forums before the con.

I have a feeling that we ALL will purchase passes in advance, so we don't need to volunteer next time, but we might be able to do crowd control, especially at critical, key SW locations, or where we can get the maximum exposure, and we have a year to plan that.

I think it'd be WAY cool to have us trooping the main SW panels, etc, but it needs to be planned well in advance. Yes, please hook us up w/Mario or the other dude and we can work something out. We don't mind trooping, but we would rather be utilized wisely, where we can get maximum visual and coolness impact.

Great comments, folks! Keep them flowing!!!

 

One word...well maybe it could be thought of as two words... "PRE-REGISTER". I have to give Obey a HUGE pat on the back for handling the situation to get some of us into the con without having to wait in that horrible line. I really didn't mind volunteering for 3 hours even though I didn't do squat. I am going to pre-reg for next year right now! When are we gonna see some pictures on the boards Obey?

 

We'll get pics up as soon as I can get the pics to Moe so he can upload them.

Possibly tonight, but our home computer just went mammaries skyward and is telling us that we need to change our administrative password (XP), and we don't know what we chose. So my wife is at home freaking because we're locked out of our home comp.

We'll see.

 

D'oh....

 

Comic-Con has no ConSuite, as those who were there know, so you are on your own for food. Food sold in the convention center is NOT CHEAP. Be prepared to pay or bring your own. If you didn't discover Ralph's grocery store, make a point to next year. It's on one of the bus routes. Peanut butter sandwiches that have been squashed at the bottom of your backpack taste much better than most anything they serve there (gotta love them pretzels, though).

Comic-Con cannot be planned for at the last minute. Pre-registering is a must. And be prepared to book your hotel as soon as you can after the hotel info is listed on the Comic-Con site, generally sometime in January. If you don't, you will end up far away from the convention center and you will be sad.

This is nothing like the little science fiction conventions you may have been to. You can't be too prepared for this one.

 

Two words: Baby Powder

It's hot in the con, and stuffy, muggy and sometimes downright humid, and this can be accentuated by certain costumes. Unless you're one of the Hottie McNaughties, or a Slave Leia, many of our costumes are rather cumbersome and don't breathe much, it at all. And let's not forget the gloves that almost every costume requires. It's no fun to be in a killer looking costume, but be dying in it because of heat overload, or because you're sweating in all the wrong places.

Go the baby powder route. You won't be sorry. (Shower to Shower is another good option)

 

Uh, according to the con guide, there is a ConSuite. I don't know where it is as I usually bring granola bars and I'm usually to busy doing other things to go look for it. I'll check my con guide tonight and post with the info.

 

As I said earlier, there is a ConSuite at the con. It was at the Hyatt Regency (my hotel) on the 4th floor. They don't have sandwiches, but they do have snacks like chips, fruit, and soda. It was open Thursday through Saturday, 5pm to 2am.