San Diego Comic-Con 2024: the best SDCC in years, with a few caveats

 31 JULY 2024

Some Cons need a few days to settle before you can see them clearly. SDCC 2024 is not one of them. It snapped into clarity right away for me and thousands of others: we were having the best Con we'd had in years.

I know it wasn't perfect (but that's impossible anyhow) and I agree with the many observations of the general rudeness of some attendees and security. And yes, it inevitably became a super spreader event with many people testing positive for COVID by Sunday. Oh, and there were the repulsive sex trafficking arrests. But let's focus on the good things right now.

We had some great panels.

Aside from one panel which was clearly a marketing campaign for the dude's business, every panel I attended was good - ranging from enjoyable to remarkable. NASA jazzed up their Artemis panel with snazzier visuals than they usually have, Interview with the Vampire and other Saturday Ballroom 20 panels delivered as expected, and of course, the Alien panel in Hall H was pure old-school SDCC - from video messages from Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro to the staged alien "attack" and actor with a chestburster to the amazing face-hugger and movie tickets swag. I also attended some good horror and comics panels that introduced me to new titles (always my ultimate goal at SDCC.) And so on. Of course, you probably attended completely different panels - but if you're like the people I know, you probably enjoyed them too.

Other special touches that got praised include:

The drone show. This was a fun and beautiful way to glimpse Marvel's future. 

Crunchyroll concert. I didn't go to this but I heard it was great.

Deadpool and Wolverine's Celebration of Life. I know. If you're one of the cheated, you probably don't want to hear this praised in any way. But the people who did get in said it was a classic SDCC experience they'd remember forever. (And if you're one of the liars who scammed your way in? Shame on you.)

Swag. Some people complained theirs wasn't great but I must have been in the right place at the right time because boy howdy did I score. It was great to see studios bring back actual merchandise like shirts and toys instead of cheap trinkets that belonged at the bottom of a cereal box. Some creatives ideas were in play, like FX offering umbrellas that graphic artists would mark up at your request. On the whole, I think people who did panels came away with items they truly wanted to bring home.

The guest energy. I can't remember which year it was - 2022? - when almost every panel guest I saw seemed bored, contemptuous, or sunk in existential despair. While I recognize the humanity of each player in the SDCC machine and their right to be authentic, it still seemed a little insulting to convey, "I am only here because I have to be" to thousands of fans who moved heaven and earth to see them. This year was different; I observed lots of enthusiasm and audience engagement and cast members and creators who seemed genuinely appreciative of their audiences. 

What wasn't so great...

The rudeness. I know everyone complained about arrogant and even threatening security staff, but I encountered some wretched attendees too. I currently have a dark half-moon bruise on my arm and a massive dark bruise on my thigh from being violently pushed out of the way and shoved over a chair in Ballroom 20. Honestly, I could write an entire blog post on the melee that transpired over 90 seconds in Ballroom 20 - absolute villainy. I know attendees are increasingly ruthless but when did we start physically hurting people to get the seat we want? Another woman about my height commiserated with me over tall/large people simply pushing us aside to take things from us. Compared to some hardcore punk shows I've been to, where even the roughest people obey an honor code, SDCC really has some assholes in the mix. And I haven't even touched yet on the reports of fat-shaming cosplayers, scolding people on scooters, and actual threats. 

Staffwise - I didn't tangle with any rude officials but I observed it and heard even worse stories. I know this was a big focus at the Talk Back panel. We can only hope for better training next year. But the workers supplied by the booth companies are wild cards - and they were some of the worst ones. Someone told me (take it with a grain of salt) that some local volunteers simply didn't show up because they were part of the San Diego COVID wave.

Some offsites. I actually think most of the offsites were okay - it was the expectations that were out of whack. But I do understand that it's disappointing to wait 3 hours in the sun only to be whisked through a boring room and be handed a bandana. It's also annoying to have a ticket, get into the offsite, and realize everything their press release advertised is actually capped off and unavailable to you. Either people have access or they don't. 

The volume of announcements. Robert Downey Jr. is Dr. Doom! Keanu won the Inkpot Award! Dexter is back! The announcements we got were fine, so no frown on that account - we just didn't get the fertile bonanza of new shows and films that we used to get. I understand why so no blame, but to me that deficit was felt by many.

The amount of cosplay. Same principle here - what I saw was good, but I just didn't see that much of it. Maybe I just didn't spend enough time on the street? 

Line management. Obviously Deadpool was a debacle that will live in SDCC infamy. But some of the other lines were poorly managed too - and some of the ADA decisions were mind-boggling. What's frustrating is that there are ways that could reduce a lot of this. Why weren't there wristbands for Deadpool winners to pick up - and why weren't there more scanners available when admitting people? Why can't some of the bigger booths on the floor with long lines like Funko move to hotel space? Artists Alley looked like it could barely breathe.

There's been a perceptible inexperience in the air since the pandemic - not coming from the top CCI leadership, I think, but from other people making decisions. Strategies and processes were implemented that simply didn't work in real life. Sometimes, it's understandable. At the Alien panel, they intended to pass out face huggers to us all and then take a photo of all 6500 of us with them over our face. Cute social media idea, but they didn't realize just how many people you'd need to pass out enough items in such a short time, so only the front rows were in the photo while everyone else scrambled to pass them out/pick them up. SDCC logistics are tough to grasp. That said...

Primitive processes. It's 2024, we have automation and LLMs at our fingertips. We have experts in large event management and omnichannel communication and onboarding. I love SDCC but sometimes it seems that they aren't fully aware of their options in terms of improving efficiencies. I hate to go corporate but a few consultants in tech, management, customer service, and comms could make things easier, faster, smoother, and more satisfying for everyone. Creating automated/LLM chatbots (and I hate chatbots but they'd offer some help) to answer attendee questions on the go, more interactive maps, onboarding campaigns and immersive instruction for first-timers, utilizing our RFID badges for line and admission control - there are a lot of options for innovation here. 

And yes, I'm aware CCI is a non-profit. But they've got options for fundraising, grants - their commitment to keeping the Con affordable is highly commendable and would play well in a funding proposal - that I hope they're exploring.

But maybe all of this is on the way. Apparently people complained about the new website (I think some of it is good but the UX is not, especially on mobile) and apparently CCI is going to address it. Maybe an overhaul with new talent is coming. 

For now, we can put 2024 to bed and move forward. What did you think - was the juice worth the squeeze? And will we see you in the waiting room on September 21?

                

What do you think of SDCC 2024 so far?

 25 JULY 2024

Well, we've done it; we've completed our first full day of Comic-Con. Before everything even began, the media agreed that "Comic-Con is back!" in terms of panels, guests, offsites, general pageantry, etc. But now that we're here and assessing it all with our judgmental eyes - is it?

I would say, yes. Mostly. A mix of my and others' opinions holds that:

~ The Exhibit Hall shopping is good. I spent much more than anticipated. 

~ The offsites are on par. So often they sound better in their press release than the reality and that was the case today. But some people were thrilled.

~ The cosplay I've seen in the Gaslamp has been of limited quantity - it's Thursday - but some of it is really good.

~ The panels are decent so far, the few that people have seen. I attended one that seemed a blatant advertisement for the panelist's business and a great one from NASA.

~ The line and flow management has been typical. Some people are saying it's worse than ever but I find it on par.

~ The Deadpool Wolverine event was magic for those who got in and an outrage for everyone who didn't.

First-Timers

Just as I observed what felt like an unusual number of first-timers leading up to the Con, I seem to be running into them everywhere. They are, by turns, impressed, curious, and confounded by some of our practices, including the SDCC "move this way, go down that hall, no, the other hall, swipe out, go outside, come back in and swipe again" directives. It's hard to get them to accept the unavoidable amount of WTF that is baked into, and then sprinkled on top of, every Con. 

And hard for me, sometimes. I whined childishly about Mattel selling out of the Batmobile Hot Wheels set at 11:30 this morning. What's the point of winning the exclusives lottery and then waiting in line when so many items are already gone less than 2 hours into the Con? Other people contacted me to tell me it got much worse throughout the day. My take: the people who work there probably haven't much control over the stock, but they could at least let people in line know what is sold out so they don't waste (more of) their time.

The first-timers I've talked to say that:

1) They were not adequately briefed on where things were. One group repeated an observation from different first-timers last year - they wandered around the Exhibit Hall without understanding where the panels and events were. They didn't know to go pick up their bag and guide. They just showed up and expected a clear map and directive that frankly, would never be possible with an event of this size. 

2) They are stunned at the ignorance and conflicting advice from "staff." To them, all volunteers, security guards, and staffers are one homogenous mass and they expect them to know everything when in fact, they barely know anything. They also complain of rudeness. 

3) They feel that buying a badge entitles them to entrance to every booth, offsite, party, and panel and any barriers therein are unjust. Tantamount to robbery, even. "I'm going to ask for a partial refund."

My suggestion: a lot of this is unavoidable - but I do think CCI could do a better job prepping newcomers to our shores. They could trigger something on Member ID accounts to indicate a first-time badge and send out a nurture campaign that walks first-timers through the basics in the months going up to the Con. They could create a series of video tutorials. They do this for badge sales and other processes, but I think they need to address the culture and experience of SDCC as well. 

Offsites

The Lodge was a pretty cool offsite and we were lucky enough to get pizza, drinks, a trip through the Ghosts apothecary, and a photo op, but the Star Treks t-shirts, tattoo parlor, and money pit were capped. What struck me was that the worker cheerfully told us to just go get in the standby line or come back Friday or Saturday and maybe they'd have shirts then. He seemed genuinely unaware of how obscenely long the standby line was and that it was impossible to just go get tickets. This is a good lesson in why people should stop worshiping at the feet of these offsites - they can be fun but they're hardly guaranteed to deliver. Are they really worth waiting in the sun for 4+ hours? 

I'm hearing mixed reports on Exploding Kittens and the Chariot Races, good reports on Hulu Animayhem, and okay reports on Abbott Elementary. The FX offsite seemed to please people, but not if they waited a long time. I didn't do any of these so I can't report directly. On the whole, Thursday lines were the shortest we'll see, so be really sure you're ready to invest hours for these experiences.

Deadpool Wolverine and lines in general

This is something else I did not experience directly. My friends got in. The line was horrific. I thought there the matter lay until I heard that people without tickets were getting in by flashing scans of winner emails from social media and then that they were just processing people through without checking anything at all as the time got short.

In the end, some people who legitimately were picked for this did not make it in. Given the enormous emotional importance this event held for attendees, this really was an epic shitshow on a par with the fake wristband scandal of ... 2017? Somewhere around there. And this was worse because it could have been avoided in several ways:

~ They could have moved some Thursday Hall H events to Sunday (or moved the schedule around in general) and left more time to clear and then fill the room.

~ They could have passed out wristbands throughout the day.

~ They could have randomly assigned seats and boarding groups on the winning emails.

~ They could have assigned more people to manage the line. I've heard that some volunteers didn't show up for their shift and I've also heard Disney blamed. Who knows the real story.

I know I am not a logistics or line management expert and I'm sure I'm wildly simplifying the whole thing - but I also know that much bigger events manage to handle this stuff without this level of disaster. 

Lines in general have been messy so far, but what I hear people complaining the most about are security and staff. I actually noticed this at the first post-pandemic Con - it seemed like a lot of inexperienced people had taken the reins. My friend had to get his prop weapon checked; he asked at E and they sent him to H, who sent him back to E, who confirmed on radio that he needed to go to H, and he bounced back and forth about 4 times before getting it sorted. Other staff seemed to have zero training at all on basic questions like where to pick up bags and badges or where the ADA line. 

How is this so difficult? We live in a golden age of communication. Every person should have a physical cheat sheet or a device where they can quickly get answers to attendee questions. It's like 1993 out there.

And some staff seemed to have no idea what they were in for. A guy at a Mattel booth showed his exclusives email to some staffer and politely asked where he could go to pick up an exclusive. I listened in because I was in the same boat. The staffer said, "How would I know? You signed up for it, don't you know?" There's no call for that kind of pissy attitude (and this was on Thursday - I would love to see that staffer by Saturday afternoon).

I hate to pull this card but ultimately attendees make this show happen. We pay the money to go, we pour the money into bars and restaurants and vendor booths, and without us, nothing happens. We deserve basic respect and courtesy.

Attendees

On that note... it's time for the annual lament of the changing face of Comic-Con. Preview Night, I was fortunate enough to meet a comic book writer who's been coming here since the 1980s. He let loose with all of his complaints about how the show is run and the failure of TPTB to implement his suggestions and he also criticized the attendee demographics as well. (Yes, Twilight was mentioned.) I agreed with every single thing he said and it was a lovely moment of two kindred souls remembering days gone by. But also a confirmation of how little comic talent there is at SDCC these days. The Daniel Clowes event on Saturday really stood out this year in that regard. I remember those years when the schedule was peppered with that kind of panel. Okay, I'm done. 

I'm off to a luscious Friday of good things; I hope you are too. I'll check in later and see where we are. Right now - where are you? How is your Con going?