USS Endeav
Sr Member
I think I saw you---and from what I could see, your costume looked great. Don't sweat the little stuff. Some of what I unwillingly witnessed will leave a lasting scar on the back of my eyes.
San Diego Comic-Con 2015 SDCC
- Thread starter Vivek
- Start date
The problem is that SDCC has gotten too big for its britches.
I can understand the idea of branching out into various other fandoms to increase the appeal, but when things go too far, as it seems to have done with SDCC, it becomes less about the comraderie within the community and more about the spectacle that celebrities and major announcements can bring.
Is it great to get actors and film information at a convention? Of course! People love meeting their favorite stars and, for the most part, the stars love meeting their fans. It's a great place to release information to the crowds.
However, SDCC should not be the ONLY place that it matters to do so.
Let them spread the love. Bring it out to the other big cons. I'm sure NYCC and DragonCon would love to get a piece of that action.
When you bottle that much stuff into one small area, the resulting sensory overload can result in people deciding to not return.
I agree. I used to go all the time and it just got worse and worse. The attendee experience never gets improved, always the opposite. This article kinda hits it on the head:
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/10/8929505/why-comic-con-sucks
Like I said. They're too focused on the experience and not focused enough on their target customers. Sure, let's make a badass, awesome spectacle with several movie studios, plenty of guests, and lots of shiny things to look at. However, if your core audience can't even get in to see what you've done because you've overhyped the spectacle to SuperBowl proportions and people buy them in bulk, perhaps it's time to rethink how you do things.
third3ye
Sr Member
The article brings up a good talking point:
The large comic book publishers and major studio franchises now don't have to rely on having hundreds of thousands of eyeballs converging in one convention center for a weekend to make announcements. Marvel's marketing experiment at El Capitan with their Phase 3 announcement is proof of that. DC announced their DCCU slate at a WB shareholder call and it STILL got enormous traction. Both Marvel and DC publishing make comic announcements throughout the year rather than wait for a con. The Internet is basically turning the idea of using large cons for marketing an outdated concept. I think smaller properties and publishers certainly have more to gain from such events, but they're also at the mercy of the larger players maintaining a presence to provide the main attractions.
I think what we're slowly seeing here is a change in approach from major studios. Some players got burned in the box office after staging large announcements at SDCC, which for a studio exec that would raise questions on the ROI of presenting at a large con. If studios can stop seeing conventions as marketing launch platforms, maybe that could improve the fan experience by taking the conventions back to their roots - an environment where content creators and attendees interact and engage in panels across a number of events rather than just 2 per year.
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That article does nail it! And I see this happening with the The RPF in the eyes of many of those old timers who have been here back from the early 2000's. I hear them complain all the time about the "way it used to be". The article states: "it also suggests the frustration that arises when something you love, something you've devoted a part of your life to, is simply becoming something else". And that is how the Growth around here has started to tick off those who reminisce about the good old days.
USS Endeav
Sr Member
Time to read the corporate friendly book, "Who Moved My Cheese".
Here is Heather Grimes and I as Mara Jade and Grand Adm Thrawn
...and Sneaky Zebra's video is up...
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The Imperfect Perfection Of Comic-Con
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jul/15/imperfect-perfection-comic-con/
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jul/15/imperfect-perfection-comic-con/
Room8
Well-Known Member
Here's what my theory is regarding the future of Comic Con:
Seeing as the city of San Diego and the Comic Con company have signed on through 2018, well, we're stuck with how it is until then. But, here's my prediction for the years after...
I know the Anaheim Convention Center has come up in discussion in the past, and I know that Wondercon is held there; what I also know is that just recently the Anaheim Convention Center just broke ground on adding 200,000 square feet to its building, which will make it the biggest convention center on the West Coast. So, I predict that the San Diego Comic Con will be moved to the Anaheim Convention Center. But it won't stop there. Some would say that would not happen because Wondercon is held there already. Well, seeing as the city of San Diego won't want to lose the money that the Con brings in, and seeing as San Diego was the city where the Con began, both sides will compromise and Wondercon (being smaller and more akin to what Comic Con was like years and years ago) will be held in San Diego while the original, much larger Comic Con will be held in Anaheim.
Just a theory...
Seeing as the city of San Diego and the Comic Con company have signed on through 2018, well, we're stuck with how it is until then. But, here's my prediction for the years after...
I know the Anaheim Convention Center has come up in discussion in the past, and I know that Wondercon is held there; what I also know is that just recently the Anaheim Convention Center just broke ground on adding 200,000 square feet to its building, which will make it the biggest convention center on the West Coast. So, I predict that the San Diego Comic Con will be moved to the Anaheim Convention Center. But it won't stop there. Some would say that would not happen because Wondercon is held there already. Well, seeing as the city of San Diego won't want to lose the money that the Con brings in, and seeing as San Diego was the city where the Con began, both sides will compromise and Wondercon (being smaller and more akin to what Comic Con was like years and years ago) will be held in San Diego while the original, much larger Comic Con will be held in Anaheim.
Just a theory...
USS Endeav
Sr Member
That isn't really a compromise at all. Once the contract reaches maturity, the city of San Diego has no legal hold over Comic-Con. Thus Comic-Con can move wherever and Anaheim would only be too happy to receive such a contract. Wonder-Con has no voice in the matter unless their contact (should they have one) expressly forbids a competing venue being granted space/time. Wonder-Con would probably relish the chance to move to San Diego banking on many Comic-Con attendees not wanting to switch cities, perhaps because they have locked in deals with surrounding businesses. Either way, once the Comic-Con/San Diego Convention Center contract expires, the convention will most likely remain in California and still be the enormous gathering it is right now.
So, the nerd secret about SDCC is out then? LOL
Where did all these nerds come from???
Where were all these nerd girls when it mattered to me in my youth! LOL
I have a theory, the bully as endangered species.
Bullies kept the nerd herd culled. There were serious consequences for being a nerd once.
Now days it is safe, it's easy.
Now with bullies hunted and being wiped out. The nerd herds are swelling to unsafe levels!
This is how we get JJ Trek! and Ghostbusters reboots and... Ack.. arghh.. Twilight!
I keed, I keed.
Mostly.
Where did all these nerds come from???
Where were all these nerd girls when it mattered to me in my youth! LOL
I have a theory, the bully as endangered species.
Bullies kept the nerd herd culled. There were serious consequences for being a nerd once.
Now days it is safe, it's easy.
Now with bullies hunted and being wiped out. The nerd herds are swelling to unsafe levels!
This is how we get JJ Trek! and Ghostbusters reboots and... Ack.. arghh.. Twilight!
I keed, I keed.
Mostly.
USS Endeav
Sr Member
Watch the news, the bullies are still there...many of them wear uniforms instead of costumes.
monolith21
Sr Member
The world is going to have to pry Comic Con out of San Diego's cold dead hands. lol I've been hearing it was going to move since the later 90s and EVERY TIME they renew the contract. The city makes too much money. The local businesses would freak out if San Diego let it go. Comic Con takes over the entire downtown area. There really isn't anywhere that can compete with the SD convention center that wouldn't take it far out of state. Las Vegas, maybe. Anaheim...not a chance. They can barely hold Wondercon and that only has about half of the traffic IF that. LA's convention center is puny by comparison. It started in San Diego and that's pretty much where I see it staying for the long haul...for better or worse.
The crowds are NUTS though. Each new year brings a new set of problem. The only way to enjoy the con at all is to stay ahead of the changes. Parking is the latest thing to hit all new challenges. It has always been an issue but now that everyone buys parking early ACE parking has had two years in a row of major blunders. This year they just tried to be sneaky and hope no one found out about how they were doing it.
The crowds are NUTS though. Each new year brings a new set of problem. The only way to enjoy the con at all is to stay ahead of the changes. Parking is the latest thing to hit all new challenges. It has always been an issue but now that everyone buys parking early ACE parking has had two years in a row of major blunders. This year they just tried to be sneaky and hope no one found out about how they were doing it.
:facepalm
I"ll repeat some thoughts of mine...
They should add one more day, and limit the ability to get all the days for one person. Or make each additional day become expensive. Rationing basically so that
more people at least get chance to go just one day.
Also.... I've noticed "professional" is pretty damn loose definitions. I know someone who barely acts on the side.
Gets to go for free for all days! I think gets to bring a guest. This is BS especially when I think I have been going loyally thirty years plus
and barely able to get a ONE day badge the normal way!I Also hear about people with many passes to give out, well that also seems to be being abused.
They should add one more day, and limit the ability to get all the days for one person. Or make each additional day become expensive. Rationing basically so that
more people at least get chance to go just one day.
Also.... I've noticed "professional" is pretty damn loose definitions. I know someone who barely acts on the side.
Gets to go for free for all days! I think gets to bring a guest. This is BS especially when I think I have been going loyally thirty years plus
and barely able to get a ONE day badge the normal way!I Also hear about people with many passes to give out, well that also seems to be being abused.
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