Comic-Con Registration Issues/Nightmares

[308Mike]

Linkarooni - it just keeps growing and growing and is more popular than ever now!! A victim of its own success.

Lines and pre-registration: the saga continues at Comic-Con

The saga of registering for next year's Comic-Con continued today, as hundreds of fans were reported to have camped out overnight to ensure they'd get into the 2012 confab.

Each day, Comic-Con International is allocating a limited number of four-day passes and single-day badges between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. The pre-registration process, held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt's Douglas Pavilion, has attracted throngs of attendees, some of whom are forsaking time at the convention to wait in lines to get in next year.

San Diegan Craig Jameson, who tried unsuccessfully to nab passes on Thursday, was able to do so today, but only after agreeing to buy breakfast for another person in line who let him and his son jump in line with him around 4 a.m. He said he had observed hundreds lined up overnight and in the early morning hours.

"We got a text from him at 2:56 a.m. saying that security guards woke up everybody in line and told them that they would be moving inside," said Jameson.

"Then we proceeded to hunker down for the remaining three hours before it was to start. My son Evan and I were 9th and 10th in line overall, out of thousands; however we had brokered an arrangement. The line snaked around behind the Hyatt and then spilled out onto the Embarcadero prior to being let into the hotel."

On Thursday, all of the day's allotment of passes were sold out in less than two hours. Many attendees at the time said they were frustrated that the sales closed down so quickly but would return Friday morning to try again.

According to Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer, sales are being cut off after the first 2,400 people, who are allowed to buy one four-day pass or up to four individual badges for themselves and one other person.

Last year, Comic-Con International was forced to halt online sales twice because of overloaded servers and by early this year when sales resumed, badges sold out within seven hours.

Cathy Williams, of Fallbrook, said she's done with Comic-Con after this year. Soured by the long lines for pre-registration and popular panels, she said she will take a break next year from the always sold-out event, which attracts more than 130,000 fans.

"We had to wait 4-1/2 hours for Ballroom 20 yesterday after waiting hours to buy badges," said Williams, 52, of Fallbrook, who has been going to the convention since 2005 with her husband. "Each year it gets more and more crowded. We decided, we’re done, although my son wants to come back."

Glanzer said pre-registration was set up to take place over four days so fans would have ample opportunity to nab passes to next year's convention. But Comic-Con also had to set aside passes for online registration this fall, he added.

Only Comic-Con attendees with a 2011 badge will be able to purchase passes for next year.

"We try to anticipate demand, which is why we spread this out over four days," he said. "We're selling about a third more on site than we did last year. In a perfect world, we'd like to sell as many badges as we can."

Reach reporter Lori Weisberg at lori.weisberg@uniontrib.com or 619-293-2251. Follow her on Twitter @Lori_Weisberg.

[Steamforger]

Only Comic-Con attendees with a 2011 badge will be able to purchase passes for next year.

Well, fuck them. With a chainsaw. Sideways.

Think I'd rather go to Pax Prime or Dragon Con next year anyway.

[TheArmsman]

Would really like to try a DragonCon soon.

Missed this years LibertyCon.

[mekender]

SO... Perhaps they need to pick a bigger venue?

[HTRN]

There may not be a bigger venue, at least in San Diego.

[mekender]

There may not be a bigger venue, at least in San Diego.

SD is the 13th largest convention center in the nation at a bit over 600,000sq ft... the top 10 are all over a million and the top 3 are 2 million square foot.

Again, it sounds like they need a different venue.

Frankly it irritates the piss out of me that events like that and quite a few other things I would love to go to are only held in one location, usually CA, rather than rotating schedules at different venues to give those of us on the other coast a chance to go.

[HTRN]

It seems that the only two close by convention centers in the top 10 are both in Vegas - notably- the second largest in the country - the Las Vegas Convention center, that's like 3 times the size of SD.

Here's an idea - you could split sales both by "first come, first serve", and by "highest bidder" - If you expect 130,000, do half by the first method, and the second, you do by sealed bid. Do a limited number of 4 day passes, that you can do open bidding on, or set some ridiculous price on.