Why you should care about the Exhibit Hall map

20 JUNE 2019

Happy summer solstice. Today - a year to the day they last published the Exhibit Hall map and other list - CCI announced:

Artist's Alley
Fan Tables
Exhibit Hall
Exhibitors List
Small Press List 

I know a lot of you are only concerned with Hollywood news, and some of you don't even set foot in the convention center except to swipe your badge.  And some of you think the Exhibit Hall map is dizzying just to look at and you'll figure it all out on arrival. But I do recommend studying it a little, especially for first-timers. Because there's no way to anticipate the impact of entering the beating heart of San Diego Comic-Con and how it can feel like you just walked into a beautiful but disorienting cult.

Here are a few reasons you want to be clear on your goals and figure out in advance where you'll achieve them:

You'll forget what you wanted to buy. Same with what you promised to pick up for your friends and coworkers. There's just so much to be dazzled by. It really helps to keep a list on your phone, with booth numbers of where you need to go.

The aisles are too crowded to notice everything. I'm pretty astute and even so, I constantly discover new things on my third pass down an aisle. Sometimes there's just too much to take in, sometimes it's too crowded to see everything, or a collection of Sith lords are posing for a shot and you have to detour around them.

You can discover great new artists and work. I definitely agree that SDCC is not the comic nerd's paradise it was once, and other Cons better fill that niche. A lot of what you'll see is the same stuff you've already picked through at Barnes and Noble. (RIP.) But if you put the effort in, you can find  some creators who are really talented but just aren't household names. Be open-minded and see what you discover.

You can close in on your prey much faster. Some attendees can get sour about how many event tickets, exclusives and other targets are gone seemingly even before attendees are let into the hall. They're not wrong - it happens. But there are still times you'll need to sprint to a vendor to get the last one or two items, or to line up for a popular photo op before it gets insane. It helps to know exactly where you're going.   

And it's just nice to read through all the vendors and see what's going to be there. For me, I can plot my path from NASA and the Ray Bradbury Experience Museum to the comic sellers. Collectors wanting something from Dark Horse or someone wanting to pick up a commission from their favorite artist can understand where they need to go. But reading through your options can also spark ideas and take you somewhere new.

The Exhibit Hall Map is live

20 JUNE 2018

Today CCI released one of the most important parts of San Diego Comic-Con: the Exhibit Hall map and Exhibitor List. First-timers, this may sound dry - but you shouldn't skip it.


Tell me if this is you: you hate reading directions, you'd rather be spontaneous and roll with your own personal Tao than follow a roadmap, and you believe in Comic-Con serendipity. Yeah, me too. But I still study the Exhibit Hall map - and you should too.

This is what CCI just published:

The Exhibit Hall map

The list of exhibitors

The list for Artists' Alley

The list and map for Small Press

The Fan Tables map


Why This Matters

The Exhibit Hall is a maelstrom of noise, crowds and visual stimulation. You won't accomplish your goals - buying certain exclusives, hitting certain booths - if you try to wing it. It's just too distracting.

"But I don't have any goals," you might be saying. To which I say: "Hogwash" and point out you'll wind up shuffling along zombie-like with the crowd if you don't have some kind of plan upon entering.

I mean, you can just trudge around and see what there is to see. But if you have certain books or collectibles or signings in mind, it helps to look up vendors in advance. You don't have to memorize everything, that would be impossible, but you will get a little more organized and learn some new things. And you won't be on a flight home Sunday night and realize you never did see that amazing Walking Dead photo op everyone else is posting on Instagram.

A few myths and realities of the Exhibit Hall:

You can see everything by walking up and down every aisle. The crowds are too thick and the booths too crowded for you to spot every single item. I've walked right past favorite artists doing signings because there were just so many people around.

You'll remember everything on your list. First of all, you'll have your own list and the wish list from coworkers, roommates and friends - and much of the latter will take the form of "If you see a Zatanna figure" or "Any Black Panther kid's shirt" etc. And once you're on the floor, with video games thundering in your ears and Darth Vader blocking your path and footage flashing on multiple screens, a lot of thoughts will fly right out of your head.

It's all overpriced crap that's available cheaper on Amazon anyhow. No, it's not. Well, okay, some of it is. But you will see unusual gizmos you can't find anywhere else and if you have even a few nerd molecules in your blood, you'll probably spot some weird item you can't live without.

Artists' Alley and Small Press are just indie people who don't have much commercial appeal. No a thousand times. While SDCC can no longer compare to ECCC in this regard, it's still worth going through if you have any comic/art/lit interests.

The Exhibit Hall is all Hollywood studios, with nothing for comic book geeks. Not true. Yes, there is plenty of studio bombast. There are also aisles offering books from Fantagraphics, Image, Dark Horse, Boom, Drawn and Quarterly, Oni Press and others. Lots of back issue dealers. Graphic novels that get cheaper every day. Again, SDCC is no longer a Mecca of comic finds but this comic nerd always finds a few treasures to take home.

You don't want to get lost in heaven. Take a look at the maps and use them to shape your agenda.

Start plotting your Exhibit Hall domination now

10 JUNE 2015

One of the most exciting days of Comic-Con season is here: the day the Exhibit Hall map goes live.

You can also see:

The Exhibitor List
The Fan Tables List
The Artist Alley list
The Small Press Area list


First-timers, none of this may mean much to you. It may also look rather overwhelming. And guess what? It IS - especially when you're there in the thick of it, surrounded by thousands of people with a giant zombie statue looming over you, a gaggle of Disney princesses trying to push past you, and the sounds of a video game demo booming in your ears.

Which is why you actually should spend some time on the Exhibit Hall map. As we get closer, you'll compile a wish list of treasures to collect - variant covers, an Adventure Time collectible for your sister, a signed edition from your favorite author. If you have a good memory as our kind tends to have, it's easy to assume you'll remember all of this and notice each item when you pass by it.

You won't. You won't have that kind of visibility, for one. The crowds will be too thick. (Yes, even on Preview Night which used to be reasonable and is now ungodly. The most uncrowded times are first thing in the morning for about 3 minutes and early evening before the hall closes.) And even if you can see everything a booth has to offer, it's likely they'll have a colorful circus of items on display, making it hard to notice your specific item.

Smart collectors know this and have their Exhibit Hall conquest down to a science. They know what booths are their priorities and where they are and the exact route they're going to take to obtain each item one by one. They are that methodical.  You don't have to be that anal about it, but you should know the booth numbers you need to visit and where they are.

Fair warning, you're going to hear me harp incessantly on the need to be organized going into your SDCC experience. It's not because I'm a super-organized, mapped-out list maker to end all list makers. (Although I am.) It's because I constantly hear attendees express surprise and dismay that they "couldn't find" any of the exclusives and shirts and books they wanted to get. It really is best to make your Exhibit Hall shopping as navigable as possible, even if it feels like doing your homework on the front end. Because once you have that mapped out, you can relax and follow wherever the Tao of Comic-Con takes you and still get everything you want.

Going to SDCC as an indie comics creator

9 JUNE 2015

People outside the comic book world think of Marvel and DC when they think of comic conventions – if they think of them at all. Yet anyone who goes to San Diego Comic-Con or any other convention knows that indie creators and small press publishers are some of the most exciting aspects of the Con. This is where you can find work that’s often more fresh and creative than anything filling the shelves of your comic shop on Wednesdays. And because Comic-Con is a natural meeting ground for comic fans and the creators who are trying to get their work noticed, it’s a dream of many indies to just get in the door – something that’s gotten harder and harder each year.

Someone who did just that for SDCC 2015 is Chase Cunningham, co-creator of a comics universe called The Cynja. Inspired by his two daughters, Cunningham collaborated with partner Heather C. Dahl and illustrator Shirow Di Rosso on the series. As techies and parents, the three formed the perfect creative team to develop The Cynja – a character who helps kids understand online dangers as they navigate apps and virtual environments in their digital lives. From the book:

 

Hidden deep inside our planet’s virtual world, lurking in the darkened cyber alleys of our digital neighborhoods, a new generation of bad guys has risen. Zombies, worms, botnets – all threaten our happiness and future. But there is hope. A lone warrior battles this new sinister cyber evil. He is the Cynsei. 

The Cynsei is trying to keep us safe. But the guardian of all things noble in cyberspace cannot fight alone. His enemies are too numerous. If the Internet is to escape falling into darkness, the Cynsei needs help. But who would be brave enough to travel into the depths of malicious networks? 

A Cynja, that’s who.

After releasing their first graphic novel last year, the team now publishes The Cynja as a weekly web comic in English and Dutch, along with activity books, blog, subscription newsletter and children's workshops. The series has been so successful that it’s been recognized by PBS NewsHour, the Guardian, Children's Book Review, HelpNet Security, PC Magazine, the National Press Foundation and the former inspector general for the NSA. That's some serious prestige.

Recently they were selected by a panel of judges to be a featured small press publisher at Comic-Con. I talked to Chase today about how The Cynja came about and what it’s like to be facing San Diego Comic-Con for the first time.

What can you tell me about The Cynja? What motivated it?

The real idea behind the Cynja came from my partner Heather and I looking at the industry and seeing an absolute lack of material for kids to get interested in cyberspace.  We started talking about doing something cool for kids to get them interested in cyber security and shortly thereafter the character of The Cynja was born. We’re motivated by trying to educate the next generation about the benefits of cyberspace while also providing real knowledge about the science and math that really make the magic of the Internet work.  

When we use the Internet, each of us enters a virtual world where forces of immense magnitude battle for power. Like ancient myths and tales of fantasy and science fiction, this cyber darkness is filled with a new generation of monsters—zombies, worms, botnets and more – but these monsters are real.

How are you participating at SDCC this year? Have you been to SDCC before?

This is our first year at SDCC.  We entered a contest for small publishers that had thousands of entries and we were lucky enough to be selected.  We are truly blessed and extremely excited to be coming to a venue like Comic-Con.

What challenges did you have in 1) creating the comic book and ) getting to SDCC?

Probably the hardest thing was figuring out how to go about publishing the comic and not going broke doing it. It is not cheap to self-publish. But it’s worth it after it all settles out.  

How are you marketing your book?

We have active campaigns going through sites like Twitter, FaceBook, and other social media channels. But we also have our own Circle of Cynjas who are members of our forum who are basically all about the Cynja. We talk with them regularly and they help us spread the message about being cyber smart and cyber safe.  

What advice do you have for indie comic creators?

If you have an idea and a dream, then don’t hinder yourself by thinking, “It might not go anywhere” or “Who will want to read this?”  If you like it and you think it is a cool concept, odds are someone else will as well. The only other thing I can say is to just fight for your cause, whatever that may be, and watch like-minded people flock to you.  

To me, writing a book or comic is one of the best ways we can really leave our mark on the future. That tome will be around long after we are gone and it can speak to someone across the span of time if we do it right.

You can find out more about The Cynja on Twitter at @TheCynja - and of course you can visit them in the Small Press section at Comic-Con.

 

 

 

The Exhibitors list is back up

30 JUNE 2014




After a brief midnight appearance a few weeks ago, the list of exhibitors is back up. Same with fan tables, the Artists' Alley and Small Press Area.

As I said before, these might not seem that interesting to first-timers, but looking through the exhibitors at the very least is a good idea. Look for publishers, toy companies and other booths you want to visit and write down their numbers. Don't assume you'll notice them as you pass by, or that you'll pass by them at all.

And don't assume Comic-Con buzz will notify you of everything relevant or exciting while you're actually there. All too often you wind up in a weird insularity that's kind of like being trapped in the belly of the beast - and it's not until you're spit out again that you find out what was actually happening around you. Seeing all the "best of San Diego Comic-Con" lists that come out the week after, and realizing everything you missed, is truly a galling experience. So consider this my first of several exhortations to map out your plan and take a look at all the vendors and promotions that'll be vying for your attention on the floor.

Exhibitors, Small Press, Artist's Alley and Fan Tables are published - or they were

11 JUNE 2014




If you think you can't possibly make it through the 42 days until Comic-Con, CCI has come through for you and released a motherlode of information to tantalize you.

The Exhibitors list was released last night, letting you craft your Exhibit Hall battle plan; there's also the start of the Fan Tables list; and finally, the Artist's Alley and Small Press lists have also been published. (ETA: CCI took these down. I don't know why. Let's hope they go back up soon.)

First-timers, this may not mean much to you. But it's worth at least scrolling through the list of exhibitors and seeing if any names jump out at you - comic book artists, studios, toy companies, etc. It'll give you an idea of what you can expect to see in the Exhibit Hall and what booths you want to hit up first. If you've been stalking the exclusives, make a note of where those companies are. Don't think you'll just wander through the whole thing and eventually find what you need to. The Exhibit Hall is too crowded and overwhelming for that.

If CCI follows their tradition of publishing the programming 2 weeks before the Con, we'll have that 4 weeks from Thursday. Am I the only one who feels like Comic-Con season has accelerated? I think it's the late-season badge and hotel sales.

ETA: If you gave up on following CCI's Toucan blog because it didn't seem to post much of interest, you may want to start again. They announced today that they will be unleashing almost-daily updates on things like this year's official t-shirts, Souvenir Book cover (done by Jim Lee), film festival schedule, restaurant guide and so on.