[Groop] San Diego Comic-Con

Tue Mar 6 20:09:55 PST 2012

I have been to the Motor City Comic Con (Detroit) and the Emerald City Comicon (Seattle) and had the opportunity to meet Sergio Aragonés at both, but I have never been to the Comic-Con and have wanted to go for some time.  (Being in Canada makes that a little more difficult.)  I tried last year to no avail.  This year the process for me was much like it was for you except I went to directly to the Comic-Con web site a little earlier, at about 8:08 a.m.  My number in line was about 21000.  I was hoping, like most, to get a four day pass, which I didn't, but I did manage to get tickets to Thursday and Sunday. 

From: groop-bounces at groo.com [mailto:groop-bounces at groo.com] On Behalf Of Chris McCollum
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 1:21 PM
To: groop
Subject: [Groop] San Diego Comic-Con

I usually buy my tickets for the next years Comic-Con during the first day I attend the convention. There have never been any lines during the first few days of the con and I like to get it out of the way. It was very convenient doing it this way for the last 10 years or so.
Last year the Comic-Con committee took that option away and made that almost impossible to purchase a on site registration.
You had to wait in line for hours, at a off site hotel, to get a chance to buy one of 1500 tickets. The line was forming at 4 am or earlier, and opening the line at 8am,they sold out in less than a half hour, leaving thousands without anything to show for their 4 to 6 hour wait each day. I decided not to waste my morning like this, when I was told on line registration would come later. 
Months later, after signing up for a twitter account to get updates, I was told I needed to sign up for a member ID, which I did, and wait for the on line registration. Meanwhile, I watched their video telling how to maximize my chances of successfully purchasing a ticket, and down loaded their pdf file, giving further important instructions. 
Finally the day came to register for a ticket. At 8am on 3/3 I was at my computer and hit the link at exactly 8am. I got a "site unavailable" or "error" window. I tried again with the same result. I tried my lap top and hit the link to the site like I had been shown in their video, again the same result,site unavailable due to too much activity or site wasn't yet up. I tried my lap top again with the same results. I went back to my desk top and tried one more time, same thing. I finally wised up and disregarding the instructions they gave me, I went to the comic con web site directly, and immediately got through. My number in line was 30948. It was 8:11am. After staying on hold for a little over one hour my number came up. I entered my ID number and was informed that everything was sold out except for a one day Sunday ticket. I quickly decided that this was the best I could do, so I clicked to purchase and was quickly told that this ticket was sold as well, and there were no further tickets available. I was shut out. I've been going to this, my home town convention, for over 20 years without missing, and I was not able to purchase a ticket.
 I hate that comics have taken a supporting role to the movie and TV industry making this their showcase, taking over our convention. I mostly hate the over crowding it has created, and the back seat comic books have had to take. But I could still enjoy the show. I could still attend most of the panels that I loved, Quick Draw, Voice animators,Sergio Aragones, Scott Shaw!s oddball comics presentation, all of Mark Evanier's Golden and Silver Age tributes and of course the Groo panels. 
 I had thought about not attending for the past several years as the crowds grew, but I still came. I couldn't help myself. I attended every Groo panel with many lasting memories, but I feel an era has past. The death of the Comic-Con I once loved. I don't think that will be attendaing another. 
Chris McCollum, Garden Grove

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.newdream.net/pipermail/groop/attachments/20120306/949d581d/attachment.htm>