Sorry for the poorly filmed and edited video. It was my first time doing both and I was very much distracted by the actual convention. For those of you who didn’t know, this was my first time going to SDCC. The only other convention I’ve ever been to was Anime Expo. SDCC was definitely more than I could have hoped for. My only complaint would be the lack of cosplayers. But, to be fair, I was only there for the first day. I assume it gets better during the weekend. Anyways, I learned a lot about preparing myself for Comic Con 2013. Which I’m stoked that preregistration will be online and I have priority!
So here are some tips I have learned through experience with my first time:
1) Dress comfortably. When I first got to the convention center, it was freezing cold because of the air conditioning. But as time passed and people began flooding the halls, it got noticeably warmer. And when the day went on, outside was extremely humid and hot. Unless you plan on going all out with your costume, just dress lightly. Even though there were a lot of people, the air conditioning still made the place nice but my jeans were killing me.
2) Bring food. I totally regret not packing any food. I ended up eating the really crappy pizza they had in the convention center at about $8. And it definitely did not taste all that great. Little Caesars, at $5 a pizza, is WAY tastier in comparison. Sure I could have left, but the humidity outside prevented me from ever wanting to leave and I can only assume food outside would be much tastier but still pricey.
3) Stick to your plan. Make sure you plan out a schedule before the convention. I had a list of panels I wanted to go to, but being a first timer, my mind was heavily distracted by everything. Literally everything. I ended up only going to one panel, luckily Psych was the first panel of their room.
4) Prepare to wait. I probably waited in the Psych line for a good hour and a half, if not more. And the line was outside in the heat. They set up a few tents, but it gets really warm out there none the less. Also, I learned there is a rule with panels. If you get into one panel, you are allowed to stay in that room for however long you want and through what ever panel follows. They will not kick anyone out. I wen into the Workaholics panel an hour early but since people had stayed in that room beforehand, they only allowed 12 people in the actual line I was waiting in.
5) Steady hands. This is specifically for me and any other amateur cameramen. a good 80% of my footage at Comic Con was ruined because I kept swinging the camera around from one thing to another because I couldn’t put a lid on my ADD. The proof is in the lack of footage in my video above.
Overall, I loved Comic Con. I didn’t do as much as most people get to, but I’m most definitely stoked on next years event. I’ve got my fingers crossed for the 4 day pass. Ian and I are hoping to get this site even more successful and start getting merchandise out there. Hopefully yall can see us with our own booth at future Comic Cons. Who knows, if our future projects turn out to be a huge success, maybe we’ll have our own panel. Regardless where we are in the future, I can guarantee Comic Con will be a huge hit in 2013.
