Thursday Afternoon Comic-Con Update

Well, some mistakes have already been made, but overall, things are going well.

I started the day with a "comic-con for beginners" panel, which was pretty informative, then took my first walk on the show floor around 11pm. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. Imagine a typical convention--booths, booth babes, street marketers handing out bags, pins, posters, etc. Video screens everywhere, minor celebrities signing autographs, product demos going on, contests and competitions being run.

Now imagine that convention five to ten times larger than you'd previously envisioned. Now, you'd really have to pick and choose what you wanted to see, right? Otherwise, you'll never get through the place with your sanity intact. But what if everything on the floor is something you want to see? What's your strategy now?

And what if it's not just the people working the floor? What if most of the attendees were also worth seeing? All of them in crazy costumes, dressed up as characters from your childhood or from your favorite shows, books and movies? Then, how would you be able to focus enough to see everything you want to see?

But wait, that's not all! At the same time all of this is going on, elsewhere, there are panels giving sneak peeks of your favorite shows and guest starring your favorite celebs. But if you go to those, you miss the giveaways, events and people on the exhibition hall floor. And often, there are two panels going on at once covering two of your favorite pop culture phenomenons. How do you fit everything in?

The secret is that you don't. The fact that everything is going on at once is intentional. It's a sort of crowd control. If they only had one panel at a time, or the panels didn't conflict with the big events on the floor, you'd quickly find that all 125,000+ attendees were falling all over themselves to attend each event. By putting the Chuck screening and panel opposite the Pushing Daisies panel (which is exactly what's happening on Saturday), you force the crowd to choose, hopefully ensuring neither room gets too overcrowded. It makes sense, but it still sucks.

I have to admit, I love the exhibition hall floor. I'm a people watcher and I don't mind crowds. And I LOVE to window shop, which is pretty much what you're doing down there--looking at new games, toys, comics, shows, etc. as you walk around. I think there was actually a point where I stopped blinking--it was causing me to miss to much. Of course, my addition to the floor meant I skipped a couple of panels I was interested in. I sort of regret that. Not just because they would've been fun, but also because if I'd have gone to the True Blood panel like I'd intended, I wouldn't have had to wait in line AT ALL for the Dexter panel (which was the biggest event of the Con so far, thus had the largest line).

Now, I'm finally back in my hotel room, having returned to drop off my bags and get something to eat. But I'm doing so at the expense of one of my other intended activities--I'm skipping out on Robert Smigel's Comedy Central TV Funhouse. And I would've had second row seats for that, since it was in the room I was already camped out in for Dexter. But I haven't eaten anything but a pretzel and some water since I woke up this morning, and I figured I'd better get my blood sugar back up before I go to anything else. I have a camel-like ability to go long times without eating or drinking, but even I have my limits.

Wow, look at the time. I think I stayed up here just long enough that I missed my chance to see a sneak peek of the new Punisher movie, which is a shame, since the panel featured Julie Benz, who I was lucky enough to see earlier in the day, and who has already won my award for hottest person at the con. And if I stay another minute or two, I'll miss my chance for the Saw 5 panel.

Oh well, life is full of trade-offs. I think I still have a chance to get a burger and then make it to the world premiere of Lost Boys 2, starring not only a much older Corey Feldman, but Keifer Sutherland's half brother, Angus Sutherland. I'd rather go to the Star Wars fan film awards, but like I said, life's full of trade-offs.

I'm uploading some pics from day one right now. I'll have more tomorrow, along with another report. Goodnight, everyone on the east coast--I'm off to find some food.