I'm a little concerned.
When I started to pull together some information to help new-comers to the SDCC experience, I came across several third party sites that purport to provide SDCC Badges. However, there are many questions that come up since there is only one site that can give official SDCC badges and that's through the CCI website comic-com.org/cci. As I mentioned in my last bulletin, individuals, whether press, guest, exhibitor, or guest, all need to register with Comic-Con.org to obtain a member ID before being able to purchase SDCC Badges. Click Here for details. These third party site promise to sell you badges without this and that is cause for concern. Any site that promises to do so should be viewed carefully. Any purchases are at risk of providing fraudulent or cancelled passes that would prevent the buyer from entering the convention center. I have heard of people working the system and being able to obtain second-hand badges, but you also run the risk of being caught and your membership could be removed which also would prevent you from attending any future events, including WonderCon, APE, and other convention events produced by Comic-Con International. See the last paragraph here. Once membership is confirmed, however, then you need to wait for the badge purchase notifications that will come through email. In the past, you will be notified about 1 week prior to the date, and then the electronic feeding frenzy begins. Virtual Waiting Room Start time is usually 0900 am PST. This means that all members who want a chance to purchase a badge needs to log in before then. The Virtual Waiting Room is basically one area where all valid members can log in and wait until they start pulling members to purchase badges. The plan is that once everyone is logged in, the Virtual Waiting Room will close at 0900 am PST and then the system will randomly select batches of members who will be given access to the badge purchasing system. Once a certain number of members complete their purchase, another batch of members are allowed in. My Thoughts I've attended SDCC long enough to have seen the evolution of the badge purchasing process. Back in the day, you could purchase same day memberships. When that was too popular, then you could purchase next year's badges in person at the end of the current convention. Then they rolled out the first online format which was a first come, first served process that met lots of complaints. In theory, the current version removes the first come, first served process and instead ensures a more random process, providing everyone in the Virtual Waiting Room an equal chance to purchase badges. Considering the incredibly large number of people that want to attend versus the limited number of badges available, I think this is the only fair way to process this mass of memberships as quickly and efficiently as possible. The question is often asked, whether long-time members have a right to automatically purchase passes for future years? Not if SDCC is interested in growth. Selfishly, I want to always be guaranteed badges, but I also am aware that maintaining a close-knit community limits the exposure to all exhibitors and companies. Keeping SDCC inclusive hurts any chance for growth. This approach has served it well as the convention experience dominates genre publications and is now considered a major pop-culture event worldwide. Keeping it limited to the privileged few separates the event from the general public. I believe this would stifle the creativity and marketability that the convention current enjoys. Of course, there are those that complain that it's no longer about creativity, but for commercial exploitation. There is something to be said for that, but the question needs to be asked on what SDCC represents? Is it limited to just comics and closely related art, shows, and games? Or is it the celebration of the diversity of pop-culture? i prefer the latter as every year, I'm exposed to new artists and projects that would have never crossed into my world if not being included fin this amazing event. So, random memberships put my chances at risk, but for the continued growth of the pop-culture community, it's all for the better. That being said, I really, really, really want to go again this year. There' never a guarantee, but this is such a big deal every year, I think I would be a bit depressed if I didn't make it. That's all for now. More will be posted when new news of the membership process is eventually released. Be Excellent To Each Other, Ravi
2 Comments
With each passing year, I feel less and less confident that I will get the passes to attend this most majestic event. For 2017, the registration has yet to be announced and this appears to be the latest they've pushed it so far. I hope it has something to do with Wonder-Con registration taking up to the site at the moment.
For the uninitiated, registration for the International San Diego Comic Con has three phases: first is to register for membership at the cci.org site. If you've attended the previous year, you will be offered the second phase to register for passes. This usually happens anytime between November and February. If you miss that opportunity, or are a hopeful first time attendee, you will be offered the third phase: general registration which has you up against everyone else that didn't get a pass during phase two. It doesn't sound like much, but with approximately 150,000 attendees per year and several hundred thousand who want to attend, the odds are less than one in five that you will get a pass during phase two, and one in ten that you will get it in phase three. That being said, I've been lucky. SDCC is one of the few events during the year that I genuinely look forward to; it's a time to indulge in my fandom of not just movies and comics, but everything in between including a healthy dose of BBC America programming, video games, television shows, and meeting cos-players from around the world. It is a chance to get the inside scoop on what's going on in the industry, discuss and debate genre-related topics, and meet and catch up with old friends. it is a chance to get away from the world for a bit and for fans to enjoy being themselves. Downtown San Diego does its bit by transforming itself to create that environment where the creative and commercial meet (albeit not always to everyone's liking, but that's a debate better served for it's own page and topic). If anyone has ever stayed after SDCC is over, however, you will see how quickly the sheets are pulled to reveal the real city underneath. It is quite shocking to see the first time, but also made me appreciate how special the San Diego Comic Con event really is. So, I remain hopeful about my chances to attend this year and, no matter what, I promise to dutifully post my progress on my attempt to attend SDCC in 2017. May the odds be ever in your favor. Stay shiny. Never give up, never surrender. And Be Excellent to Each Other! - Ravi |
AuthorWith a couple of degrees under my belt, I have chosen to pursue writing after working in the private sector for many years. It is so refreshing to see how poorly I've retained rules of grammar and other tools of the trade. Good luck reading my blogs. Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|
Web Hosting by Bluehost