The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

[captain_slinky]

You know how lots of people get depressed at Christmastime each year? All the TV shows and store displays and stories and music about people coming together with loved ones in the spirit of The Season just reminds some people about how alone they really are, or how lonely they are during the rest of the year.

I love Christmas. I have no problems with depression at Christmas.

The hardest time of the year for me is THIS WEEKEND. Every year. The weekend of The San Diego Comic Con International. Every website, blog and newsfeed is full of reports from the convention, and it always makes me sad :(

Just like how Christmas reminds folks of how alone they are, SDCCI is my yearly reminder that every year I'm getting further and further out of the loop. Further and further from being able to ever own my own comic book store again. Further away from "The Dream" that kept me going for so long.

It'll pass, but this weekend is just really hard for me :(

Comments

[pastilla.livejournal.com]

So sorry. Here's to opportunity knocking twice. It does, more often than is recorded historically. :: clink ::

[khristle.livejournal.com]

:(

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

Personally I think that SDCC has gotten so large that it has lost any appeal to me. I don't like being shoulder to shoulder with people all day. I don't like waiting in lines so long that I never get my turn to join the real line. I don't like the idea of having to compete with so many people for the one treasure I might want to get. It is like being in a store at Christmas when you know that the item you want is in the back of the store but there are 100 people in between you and you know that 10 of them want the same item. The smaller local con has more draw for me.
But that is me.

Have hope though. Your once-in-a-lifetime SDCC con experience may come someday. And remember, if you get your comic store running FIRST you can write off SDCC as a business expense on your taxes. If SDCC is your Holy Grail, don't forget that to get there you need to undertake the quest. Just don't forget the coconuts and watch out for Grail shaped beacons. :D

Oh, and retail space is really cheap right now. Might be worth looking into.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

That's not it... I don't have any huge desire to actually go to the SDCCI myself. Just like you, I think it's too huge and too crowded and too... imposing. It's not ATTENDING the convention that gets me depressed this time of year, it's what it represents to me. It's what train of thought i get on because of it. It's all the feelings and regrets that it stirs-up in me. It's like I'm a washed-up quarterback, and this is The Superbowl. It reminds me of all the good times and how I'll never have those times back again.

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense. Well if I can ever be of any help getting your business off the ground let me know. I'm happy to join the work party.

[teegin.livejournal.com]

Gin and I were talking about taking the train down to go to SDCCI also but I know I'm fubar until next year. Next year will be my 5 year mark at work and get the extra week of vacation. However now that you mention the lines however it may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, SDCCI is... it's like 14 ECCC's and 6 PAX crammed in to a space the size of PAX. It's NUTS. I know a guy who's live-blogging from there all this weekend (convention officially kicked off today), he spent the first FOUR HOURS in line for the "Hollywood Preview" panel... missed Alice In Wonderland and TRON.2, but looks like he'll get in for the Twilight: New Blood panel. FOUR HOURS to not even get to see what you went there to see! I'll take the smaller conventions any day of the week thank you very much!

[aurora77]

Four hours!?! Oh, wait, the Twilight fans. There were a ton of crazy Twilight fans who got in line super early. They don't clear the rooms between panels, so half or more of the ballroom was probably full of Twihards waiting for the Twilight panel. And a high percentage of the rest of the line was yet more of them. That particular room and one other was specifically for TV/Movie panels (a large number of which had nothing to do with comics, like 24, Burn Notice, Bones, etc.), so I don't feel like I missed out on much by generally avoiding it (except for Whedon, which I waited in line for just over an hour to get into and it was incredible!). It didn't always have a long line, though. Just when particularly crazy stuff was happening.

The other rooms were smaller, but had shorter lines. Basically, if you showed up a half hour before your panel for a lot of them, you'd get in. Those were also the more on-topic panels.

The exhibitor's room was several football fields large, I'd wager. It is largely laid out by categories. The section with comic books (barring the DC/Marvel/Darkhorse booths) is not nearly as crowded as the section with the artists, which is not nearly as crowded as the video game or movie sections. If you hit up the video game/movie studio areas first thing in the morning, it's not quite so bad. Duck in, duck out. Otherwise you're fighting horrible crowds right there.

The area for autographs is really organized. The art show (gorgeous original art!) never had a line. The anime rooms are never packed. Public transportation in the area is great.

Swag was lighter this year and anything decent was in high demand. No free T-shirts for me this time. Got several comics, pins, a DVD, keychains, and a signed Jhonen Vasquez print (best swag of the con, baby!). I have a handful of items for you. Not quite as much as I'd hoped, though. A few kids things as well.

They're contractually stuck in San Diego until at least 2012. If they can find a better venue (dunno where) they'll probably move. There's nothing exactly wrong with the place; it's just not able to hold any more attendees. They sold out every full and daily membership beforehand.

As far as comparing it to PAX, the exhibitor's hall alone (not counting any meeting rooms, pavilions, ballrooms, halls, patios or any other of its three floors of facilities, has the square footage of 9.6 football fields. It's unbelievably bigger. They take up the whole thing in one way or another. They even spill over into the next door hotels.

Sorry about the jumbled info dump. Just got back and I have so much in my brain all jumping around waiting to be let out. hehe.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

INFO DUMP!!!! AAAAARGH!!! I'M BURIED IN IT!!!

Thank you , though... sounds about right and I'm still envious as heck that you got to go. Thank you for the stuff! Now I just gotta *get it*!