This could very easily turn into an angry rant about the SDCC registration process, and had I been writing this 23 hours ago it very well might have. Instead I'm going to go the opposite direction, and point out that SDCC in an increasingly popular event, with probably hundreds of thousands of people trying to get a much smaller number of tickets (2010 attendance was at 130,000, I'm assuming that's the max capacity of the convention center). Of course there's going to be a mad dash for the tickets, no matter what method you use to sell them.
At least they've come up with a method that avoids scalpers. I've heard stories of tickets for popular concerts selling out quickly, and then half the tickets are on eBay for a thousand dollars.
Yes, it is absolutely frustrating to sit in front of your computer for an hour and a half watching a load screen only to find out that everything's sold out. There's not really anything else I can say to that. Sometimes things are frustrating.
There a few ideas I've had on how to alleviate the congestion, and most of them are band-aids at best.
- Some people have suggested switching to a lottery system. This would certainly solve the problem of sitting and staring at the load screen, but I don't think it would do much alleviate the issue of people who don't get a ticket feeling they've been treated unfairly. There are already complaints about the random nature of the process as is.
- The convention could be extended. More days would at least give people who only want to go for a few days a better chance of getting in. Again, really just a band-aid.
- Split up the convention. Have one for Movies and TV, one for Comics, maybe even a separate Video Game and/or Anime convention. This would certainly allow people who are mainly interested in one or two aspects of the convention a better chance at getting to see what they want to. However, I've always felt that one of the most positive aspects of the convention was the idea of exposing people to media they wouldn't normally encounter. People who are attending mostly for the movie panels brushing up against the comic book fans, for example. Splitting up the convention would kill that aspect.
- A similar option would be to have two conventions a year, and I don't even know if that would work. But if you can;t make the summer one, maybe you can make the winter one.
- Move to a larger convention center. San Diego's is big, and even if they could move to a larger one the demand for tickets is rising every year, but it would at least ease some of the pressure for a few years.
- Spread out. The convention is already beginning to engulf surrounding hotels, and even some of the nearby parking lots. If they moved more of the more popular attractions, panels, etc, to other areas they could probably sell more tickets. They'd still be limited by the convention center's capacity, and keeping track of who's inside and outside would be a logistical nightmare, but it might be worth it to explore that option.
My real suggestion, not for the convention, but for potential attendees, is simply to go to other conventions. Sure SDCC is the big multimedia event, and most other conventions are mostly about comics. But there are dozens, and the more people attend, the better they'll get. I did Baltimore last year, and had a great time. I've been the Pittsburgh (my local convention) a few times. This year I'll be attending Heroes Con in Charlotte, and hopefully NYCC (which dies have a touch of the multimedia coverage, but is still mostly comics). I might even try to make it up to Toronto for Fan-Expo. There's also C2E2 in Chicago, Emerald City in Seattle, Comikaze in LA, and even Planet Comic-Con in Kansas City. There's plenty others that I've forgotten or don't even know about, but those are the more well-known conventions. They're all great fun, and you don't have to deal with nearly the amount of congestion and long lines of SDCC.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Probably a bit rambling, but whatever. (I'm such a good blogger)
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