Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: comic con, Comics, san diego

Geek Girl On The Street Reports: A Girl's Guide To Surviving San Diego Comic Con

Kate Kotler writes for Bleeding Cool;

Over the course of 41 years in existence, San Diego Comic Con International (known to most simply as #SDCC) has grown from a modest sized comic convention to one of the largest multi-genre entertainment expositions in the world.

These days the comics of the con are almost overshadowed by television, film and the celebrities those mediums draw into the Gaslamp District for the four-point-five day duration of the conference. Where once SDCC was the "con of cons" for hardcore comic book readers, creators and retailers – these days you're likely to find programming and exhibits for any kind of geekery one can imagine. And, further, as geeks are considered the plumb demographic which Hollyweird and other excess centric businesses (toys, video games, etc.) wish to market to, lots and lots of money is spent each year coming up with a "SDCC marketing strategy" for new, key products which will be released at the same time as, or shortly after the convention wraps up on Monday, 7/25.

All this effort and attention has turned what started in 1970 as a modest little comic convention into a three ring circus which draws over 125,000 crazed super-fans into San Diego.

In short: SDCC is utter and complete madness. You won't get out alive unless you go in with a comprehensive survival plan. While I -personally- am not attending SDCC this year, I have spent the past several years covering the convention for esteemed publications such as Geek Girl on the Street.com, BitchBuzz and the Geek Girl Network. With each subsequent year I've attended SDCC, I've further refined my strategy for the weekend, honing into practical science…

As I'm a nice person (yes I am, shut up!) I would like to share my top five tips on how to survive San Diego Comic Con International in one, semi-sane piece:

1. Bring a Backpack, But Ditch Your Shit: You'd be amazed at how heavy one seven pound MacBook can feel after eight hours of running around the massively big San Diego Convention Center. Avoid backaches* and try to limit your technology to what is absolutely needed. The wifi at the con will be for shite, anyhow – so why not save yourself serious back pain and set that mobile phone so you can Twitter/Facebook/check email from it – because, let's be honest, that's all you were going to do with your laptop, anyhow.

2. Pack Your Own Food/Water: Convention hot dogs are disgusting and over priced. Lines at "real" restaurants will wrap around the block and have waits up to two-to-three hours. Save yourself the aggravation and take a tip from the pros, make a sandwich at your hotel and/or throw some granola bars into your backpack, along with a Sigg and a protein shake type thing and you'll be good to go for eight hours of comic and sci fi craziness. SDCC is one of the only events in the world where I, personally, advocate the drinking of 5-Hour Energy shots. They are cheaper than coffee – you end up having to pee less – one keeps you running at full speed for half the day = win.

3. Pick a Potty: This sounds weird, but on the first day of SDCC I usually spend about an hour roaming around trying to determine which bathroom will be least used during the convention. My diligence has paid off, as three years in a row SDCC and I've never-ever-ever had to wait in line to pee. Picking a potty you ALWAYS go to is also good for groups, as if you get split up you can always rendezvous back at the bathroom you've selected.

4. Don't Buy Stuff Until Sunday: For many reasons this is a comic con truism. First of all, SDCC is resplendent with swag and free shit. It's very likely that you may not end up needing or wanting to buy anything at all. Second, on Sunday around two or three in the afternoon, vendors start dropping prices and giving deep discounts on merch in attempts to avoid having to ship stuff back to from whence it came… patience pays off, young grasshopper…

5. Be Nice to People: No matter who they are, what they're doing or how annoying they're actually being – be nice to people at Comic Con. Here's why – the pros/staff/journos/vendors/celebs are all working their asses off to provide you with an awesome time. Acknowledge that. Creators/celebs are as geeked out about meeting you guys as you are about meeting them: Also, keep in mind that it is possible you might not recognize someone you find to be important upon first glance – key example, at the end of a particularly long day, I stood next to James Callis (aka, Dr. Gaius Balter from BSG, Trevor Grant from Eureka, Tom from Bridget Jones Diary) having idle conversation with him about my quest to interview David Tennant while we both smoked a cig** until finally some gushing fan ran up to him and said "Are you Gaius Balter?" I had not a bloody clue who the man was out of context of the show and I as I was hot, tired and in pain (from carrying around a laptop and camera equipment on my back all day) I could have been a complete tool to him when he asked me for a light. But then I wouldn't have had an idle conversation with DOCTOR GAIUS BALTER… Finally, be nice to your fellow conventioneers – don't line jump, smile and pose for the camera, if someone asks you if you want a "free hug" either take the hug or be polite in declining… try to be as friendly as possible. It's the whole "treat others how you want to be treated" – SDCC is a massive cluster-fuck and it's likely that tempers/frustration levels will be high and hot at more than one point in the weekend. Do your part to disarm tensions and make the weekend geeky fun and rainbows for everyone. Be nice, if for no other reason than to avoid getting stabbed in the eye. Because it's all fun and games until someone gets stabbed in the eye.

*Cosplayers: Bring a pair of tennis shoes or flip-flops to change into when your back starts hurting from wearing stripper heeled platform boot thing-a-majiggies. I personally do not cosplay, but I have it on good authority from a friend who does that this is the smartest move a SDCC cosplayer can make… alternative footwear.

**I quit smoking three years ago, Mom… shhhh…

***Bonus tip: If you can, hit the con floor on preview night to see all that you want to see and avoid the massive body crunches which will exist down there during the weekend.

Kate Kotler is the founding editor of Geek Girl on the Street.com and a freelance writer/editor/marketing hack and full time geek girl who lives in Chicago. She loves Doctor Who, Frank Miller, Wonder Woman, knitting, puppetry and she used to be a professional fire eater. See her full resume on katekotler.com. You can Tweet at her @adorkablegrrl on the Twitters.

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