The friendlier, kinder con?
It's finally here!
We're one day away from the main event and I feel like this year is different. I walked around the convention center this morning searching for the die hard Hall H line or those ready to be first in the Exhibit Hall, and I couldn't find anyone. Strange.
I asked a CSC staff member who was building the fencing barriers of the Hall H Line tents if he had seen anyone line up or shooed them away. He pleasantly responded that no one had come by, "But they'll be here soon." Smile on his face. Odd.
You can't tell from this pic but these guys are sweating their balls off.
Trying to resolve my badge situation this morning was a stressful endeavor (it was not mailed to my Member ID address - twice.) I encountered a few volunteers in the Registration Lobby that genuinely did not know how to help me. So I did the obvious attendee thing to do: went back through my Comic-Con emails to find the appropriate email contact and sent a short "What am I supposed to do?" that could have been interpreted as asshole-like. But then the impossible happened. I got an email response that said, "We apologize for the inconvenience. Here's what you're looking for." AND it was there. Then when I went back to the Registration Lobby I told a volunteer my name and he remembered it and said, "Hi, my name is Chris. I sent you that email. Sorry again. I can help you tomorrow first thing." He had a name.
Inconceivable.
It's fun for all of us to bitch and moan about how crappy Comic-Con can be. (I personally have a fun time making comedy videos out of it.) But the truth is it's the biggest event of it's kind in the world. We're talking about a staff that works year-round to pull of this 5 day spectacle, containing 130,000 attendees, hundreds of vendors, promoters, professionals, press - all of which is spread out over more locations than ever before at dozens of off-site events, over 4,000 volunteer staff and somehow they're supposed to care when you tweet your disgust at having to wait in a long bathroom line.
Some Comic-Con attendees have a bad reputation (I hate to admit it) of being rude and obnoxious. That's why smaller like SD ComicFest tout themselves as "the friendlier Con." It shouldn't be that way.
So while you're out there waiting in line, or discussing an unmailed badge issue with a volunteer, or just interacting with other staff and attendees, please remember that we are all people. We are all here because we love it. And that depends entirely on you!
Happy Comic-Con!
Make it a great one!
