SDCC- The Final Recap (a little photo heavy)

In my previous posts about SDCC, I basically ran down what I did each day I was in San Diego, but there were a few things I wanted to touch on a little more, so I figured I'd do a final recap and add a few pictures that I took with my phone (I really didn't take that many this year. I felt too awful). Also, I didn't get to do any of the off site stuff that's around the convention center this year (except Nerd HQ) and that sucked. There was a lot of cool stuff out there to do and see. But I did get to go to panels and the podcasts, which I haven't been able to do in the past. So while I felt like I wasted a lot of time this year, I don't think I did. It was just a different experience.

The first thing I wanted to write about was House of Blues (like that first post wasn't enough, right?). This wasn't a SDCC sanctioned event, but it happened during that time and I am still sorely disappointed with how they handled, or really didn't handle, the harassment my husband and I dealt with at the podcast. I have been to concerts at other HOB venues and at even the first inkling of trouble, the security guards have stepped in to intervene. So why it didn't happen this time, I don't know. Maybe they figured concerts get violent and podcasts don't? Or maybe they figured geek harassment is not as bad as concert-goer harassment? I mean, the security was lacking, not only in caring, but in numbers too. I think the venue should have known better. Anyone who had been to SD during Comic Con knows what the crowds are like, and they sold a certain amount of tickets, so they had exact numbers. I really enjoyed the podcast, but I don't know if I would see it again if they continue to do it there. 

Next up is Nerd HQ. This was my first year going to Nerd HQ and I was really impressed with it. Located in Petco Park, it was a free event that didn't require a SDCC badge. It had photo booths, panels that didn't cost money, video game demos, couches for relaxing and more. My husband and I were there mostly for the two Conversations for a Cause panels that we purchased tickets to. I really enjoyed my experiences there, although I saw online that some people didn't (mostly angry people wondering what the money raised during Zach's Indiegogo campaign went to since every station at Nerd HQ was sponsored, also some people were upset about not being able to get into the parties there). The only thing that was a little off-putting to me as a first timer was when someone would ask for an autograph or something in a panel, a price would be thrown at them. I get that the majority of what they're doing at Nerd HQ is for charity, but it was still a bit of a surprise. But I will say, that I can imagine running something like Nerd HQ must be stressful, and Zach never looked stressed, which I thought was amazing. He was always smiling, very friendly and polite to everyone. Even the staff and volunteers that were there were all very personable and cheerful, which is an amazing feat at a convention of that magnitude, not to mention a refreshing change of pace from some of the less than friendly vendors inside the convention. I don't regret purchasing panel tickets or photo ops, and I definitely hope that I get to spend more time at Nerd HQ next year. 

Also! The app they had for Nerd HQ was amazing! It is available for Apple and Android phones and was so helpful- in announcing when you could buy tickets to panels, when photo ops were happening....I hope they continue to use it next year. That app made my experience at Nerd HQ possible, not even joking.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was the line situation inside the convention center. If you attended the convention this year, you probably noticed the increased presence of actual police officers walking the convention floor, not just security guards. You may not have noticed the increase of fire marshals walking the floor, but they were there, and constantly harassing the security guards to get the crowds in order. I wrote about my  first experience at the Blizzard booth where they had capped the line due to security and how frustrating that was. When we were walking the floor, I noticed they did that to a lot of the larger booths (think video games or comic book companies), but signings seemed to be exempt from it. There were many book signing lines that went right in the middle of the walkways and nothing was said to them about it. To me, the rules didn't make sense. On Sunday, I wanted to look at the We Love Fine booth that was way in a corner. I couldn't. Why? Because there was a security guard standing right next to the booth saying, "If you're not buying anything, you can't be here." I said,"How do I know if I want to buy anything if I can't stop to look at the shirts?" and he said, "That's not my problem. No standing around. No lingering. Fire marshal's rules." How that booth did any business is beyond me. The regulating of the booth lines and walkways just seemed to add more stress. There were more guards yelling, and I felt rushed in everything I did. I appreciate the fact that they seemed to care about how things were moving this year (I didn't hit too many huge traffic jams on the floor), but at the same time, I think there could've been other ways to handle it. Hopefully next year will be better, and I can actually look at things without being yelled at. 

I didn't get to hit the Hall H line, but I am interested in how that wristband system worked out. If any of you did it, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

=====

And now for some pictures :)

Sanjay and Craig panel.

Alan Tudyk at Nerd HQ.

Norman Reedus, Robert Kirkman 

Skybound Panel.

Old fortune and Hearthstone token.

View from the bathrooms at

the Heroes Brewfest.

Those who arrive.....

(Did anyone else see Glenn hanging off the

 roof or was that just me?)

Felicia Day, Aisha Tyler, Wil Wheaton

at Nerd HQ.

Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton

<3

SDCC- Sunday and Post-SDCC Monday

Sunday was a pretty good day. I actually felt well, it was our two year wedding anniversary (we've been together much longer though), I wore shorts so I didn't melt. Good day.

We started our day off at Nerd HQ. We had an early morning panel with Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day. I was so excited when I got tickets for this panel. Not to mention the fact that we managed to get pretty good seats for it too (third row, right in the middle!). Wil Wheaton was one of my earliest crushes in life, because I was a huge Star Trek TNG fan and I loved me some Wesley Crusher. And Felicia Day is a really good role model for girls I think, and I love The Guild, so I was glad to see her too (my husband was equally as glad, he thinks shes hot). They are the ultimate nerd couple to me. What is it that everyone says? I'd ship them so hard? Yeah. Anyway, the panel was amazing. Aisha Tyler moderated it because Zach had stuff to handle, and she is freaking hilarious. After the panel, we rushed to the photo booth area because we were told that they were doing a Smiles for Smiles photo op. Almost immediately, they said that Felicia Day wasn't going to, but Wil Wheaton would. This bummed my husband out, but the six year old in me was excited to be next to Wesley Crusher. So we stand in line some more and my Nerd HQ app goes off. It announces a photo op with Zachary Levi at the photo booth we are currently in line for. So everyone is like, WTF and the volunteers are like, yeah....Wil isn't going to do it after all. So that bummed me out, but we ended up taking a picture with Zach and he was just so nice. A lot of people started getting out of line after Zach was announced and waited for Nathan Fillion (who had a panel right after Wil and Felicia's), but there was never a Smiles for Smiles announced for him on Sunday, so I am curious if he came out and did one or not.

After the photo op, we ate at the taco stand they had in Nerd HQ. My husband had the nachos and he loved them, I had the Carne Asada tacos and they were alright. The meat was off, not true Carne Asada, and a little greasier than what I'm used to. It rained for a few minutes while we were there, then it cleared up like nothing had happened. When we finished eating, we went to the convention center and got in line for another panel in 6A. This time it was for Sanjay and Craig, the Nickelodeon cartoon.

We made it to the line pretty early, so we got good seats. The lady next to us was there to see an actor that was in Arrested Development, I had no idea he was a voice in the cartoon. We were there because Chris Hardwick voices Craig, the snake. We also found out that Matt Jones (Badger in Breaking Bad) is another voice actor in the cartoon. My kids love to watch Sanjay and Craig, so it was a neat panel. We got to see them table read two episodes, and they performed a version of the theme song made just for SDCC. Plus, they showed us an upcoming episode of the cartoon. I sat next to a girl who's boyfriend works on the show, he'd put together all the stuff they were showing on the screen. I let her know how much I liked it, and how much my kids enjoy the show. I imagine working on something like that must be stressful, so it might be nice for her boyfriend to know that people do appreciate it. At the end of the panel, they mentioned that they were doing a signing at the Nickelodeon booth, so a lot of us went over there. We didn't know that it was a ticketed signing, but because they'd mentioned it in the panel and so many of us showed up, Nickelodeon let us go through the line, which I thought was really nice of them.

I was pretty bummed to find out that the Sons of Anarchy panel in Hall H that was going on the same time as the Sanjay and Craig panel had been begging people to fill its seats though. We wanted to go to that because we love SOA, but we figured that because it was a Hall H event and we hadn't camped for it, there wasn't a snowball's chance that we'd get in. Later on in the day I was checking my Facebook, and a girl I'd gone to school with who was also at SDCC with her finance' had posted that they attended the panel- only because they were approached by SDCC staff. She said that they were begging people to fill the room! What?! Maybe it has something to do with that new wristband thing they were doing, I'm not sure. But if its like that next year, maybe I will attempt a Hall H panel. I would love to see what a big panel is like, even though I am still very happy with the two panels we did get into in 6A.

After that, I think we went back to the Blizzard booth. My husband wanted to get some more of those pins, and that's when we found out that they were trading them. They had a board set up where you could trade, or you could trade with other people that were standing around. I traded my gold Nobu (I think thats how you spell it) for a gold Sylvanas, and I was good. But my husband got all into it, and he was a trading machine. There was this guy there that I hung around with (and I'm horrible socially, I didn't even get his name), and he was explaining to me how things were working, how the people were operating, things like that. He was there observing. He'd gotten all the pins he wanted on Saturday, and was there on Sunday I think to see what kind of deals he could make with his extras, something that could be profitable (if you check eBay, those pins are very profitable right now). He did direct a guy to my husband that had a really rare gold pin (they were sold in blind bags, and then there were regular pins, and then their rarer golden counterparts), which I thought was cool. There was a lady that was frantic trying to get that pin, but she had tried to do a dirty deal with me earlier, and that guy didn't think that was right. I managed to get a rare gold pin from their toy dispenser though, which was awesome. If you bought tokens (they look like Hearthstone coins) and put them in this machine (they look like those machines you put quarters in for bouncy balls or stale candy at the store), you had a chance of getting these little dolls or the gold pin that also came with loot codes. I ended up with a lot of those little dolls, but it was almost closing time on Sunday and I tried the machine again and got my gold pin.

***All photos are from eBay. Search Blizzard Pins SDCC and the listings should come up.*** 

We stayed at the Blizzard booth until it was time to shut SDCC down. That was a strange experience, I've never been there as it was closing. It was a mad house really, and vendors were still selling stuff even after they were told to stop. Aside from being sick, SDCC was good. We stayed an extra night since it was our anniversary (and we didn't want to deal with post-con traffic). We ate at this place called Bootlegger for dinner. It was very good, but the sickness kicked in after I ate, and kinda ruined the rest of the night :(  We had the Crispy Deviled Eggs as an appetizer, then my husband had a BYOBurger and I had the Chicken and Waffles (I'm a sucker for chicken and waffles). 

On Monday, we didn't really do anything in SD. We left the hotel right at checkout time (12pm), then headed to Los Angeles. We stopped at Universal CityWalk to catch a movie and to eat (I was feeling eh that day, and wanted to be close to home before I ate anything). We saw Lucy- I'll review it soon, but eh. After that, he ate at Tommy's (tons of chili on everything) and I ate at the Flame Broiler (something safe for my tummy).  The rest of the trip home was smooth sailing, and I felt relieved to be back in our smoggy, hot mess of a town. The weekend had been exhausting and I missed my children, and our cat. 

Did any of you attend SDCC?  What were your thoughts on the convention this year?

SDCC- Saturday (Our Longest Day)

Saturday, July 26th was my first official day at SDCC and let me just say- holy humidity San Diego! It was nasty. I woke up that morning feeling really, really sick. Maybe it was the lack of sleep (we didn't get back from the Hollywood Babble-On taping  until 2:30am), maybe it was undiagnosed issues, but I was feeling so terrible. I loaded up on all  my meds in the car, but the twenty minute drive to the Campus parking lot hadn't done me any favors, I was still feeling horrible. Stepping out into that humidity was a shock. I'd been hearing from other people how nice the weather in SD was, and that there was even a storm expected for the weekend. So smart girl that I am, I wore jeans. Double ugh. By the time my husband and I had made it off the Skywalk I felt like I was dying, and I don't use that term loosely. Once we made it upstairs in the convention center, I thought I was going to pass out. I was so shaky and could barely walk. Not the way I wanted to start off my convention experience.

My husband and I rushed to the Blizzard Entertainment booth because there were some exclusives and premieres that we wanted. Come to find out, the line had been capped, with no say in when it would be reopened. And we were pressed for time, because we were attending a panel at Nerd HQ not too long after we got the convention center. The Blizzard employee told us that the convention had put a bunch of new rules in place about vendor lines, that they couldn't obstruct the walkways, they couldn't have people lingering around. I will touch on this more in my final recap, but I think that while those rules were meant to be helpful, they also caused a lot of problems. So needless to say, we didn't get our loot before we had to haul buns to Petco Park and Nerd HQ.

By this time, I was still feeling pretty bad, but also feeling a little better. That quickly changed once we got seated for our Conversations for a Cause panel. It was hot in that little area, and heat does nothing for me. I think I spent the first ten or so minutes planning an escape route in case I had to vomit (yeah, it was that bad). Eventually that wore off and I got to enjoy our panel, which was Alan Tudyk with Zachary Levi moderating. It was very funny and it was definitely worth the stress of the ticket sales. I'll talk about Nerd HQ more in my final recap as well, but I was very impressed with what I saw.



I liked that Alan wasn't put out about talking about Firefly. I know some actors don't like to be remembered for just one role and sometimes hate talking about that said role, but he was so enthusiastic about it. And I loved that he answered a question in his King Candy voice. Wreck It Ralph is a favorite here in my house, so that was pretty great. After the panel, he did a Smiles for Smiles photo op, and my husband and I did that. If my scanner wasn't broken, I would share it with all of you :) They even let me hold a sign I made (very last minute, like while standing in line for the photo) that said "Hi Dad", because my dad is a huge Firefly fan.

After Nerd HQ, we went back to the convention center. We went back to the Blizzard booth, and this time we were able to get in line and get the stuff we wanted. I bought the Nether Faerie Dragon and my husband got the Heroes and Villains lanyard. We also got a Tyrael nightlight for our kids and the World of Warcraft Trivial Pursuit. We also bought these really cool pins that people were trading, it was crazy. Our adventures with that happened on Sunday though lol, so thats for another post.

We walked around, looked at a few more booths, then I remembered that there was a panel in 6A that we'd talked about going to see. It was a Skybound panel, with Robert Kirkman and some other guys. But the person we were most interested in seeing was Norman Reedus. Having no previous experience with panels at SDCC, I thought this was a smaller room and that it wouldn't be that hard to get into. So with thirty minutes until the panel started, my husband and I rushed over there to try to get a place in line. We managed to get a spot, but it was like, buildings away from 6A. We almost left the line, we didn't think we had a chance. But we stuck it out, and it paid off. We managed to get seats in the panel, and it was pretty awesome. They talked about some stuff they had going on with The Walking Dead, not the teevee show, but some of its other ventures, and they showed the trailer for their movie Air, which Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou star in. It looks pretty neat.



Once that panel was over, we headed to the Heroes Brewfest. I don't drink, especially beer (it doesn't even smell good), but my husband does, so this was more for him than me. He had a lot of fun tasting all the different beers (there were a ton). I sat under a tree and tried to feel better. It didn't help that a girl at the table near me had like, a mass exodus of everything she'd ingested that day. I can't deal with vomit, especially other people's. She did actually pass out though, which was sad. The EMT that was at the event took his sweet time getting to her, I'm sure just dismissing her as another girl who can't hold her liquor. The event staff didn't bother to clean up her mess (even though a maintenance man had volunteered to, the security guy told him not to), so plenty of people screamed when they saw it (and eventually the sea gulls came.....ugh....).

We stayed at the brewfest until it ended, then took one of those bikes that blasts rap music back to Petco Park so we could get ready to run The Walking Dead Escape. Now, I was still feeling like crap and I really didn't want to do it. But my husband got a little put out with me because he wanted us to do it together (and he also thinks I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, so I don't even think he really thought I was feeling shitty), so I decided to try it. Big mistake. I was still in my jeans, and just wearing Vans, and it was still super humid. So we start, and it doesn't take long before I almost crash into a wall because I feel like passing out and one of the workers called EMTs to wheel me off the course. That was embarrassing. Seeing all those zombie faces pity me was sad. The EMT that treated me was super nice though, and I appreciate that. He didn't make me feel stupid for being an out of shape heatstroke victim, even though thats probably all it was. I wouldn't mind doing the course again next year though, as a walker. That seemed like a lot of fun, and you don't have to run :)

After all that is over, our night still isn't complete! We then have to haul ass to Balboa Theater to see The Nerdist podcast with Chris Hardwick and crew. His special guest was CM Punk, and it was a really good podcast. I feel like I should mention that I've never listened to the Nerdist podcast before, but my husband and I are huge Chris Hardwick fans, and thats why we went. It was not disappointing. There was even a marriage proposal in the audience, it was the weekend of geeky love on podcasts I suppose. Click the link here to listen to the Nerdist podcast from July 26th.

And that concludes my Saturday at SDCC. Come back tomorrow for the Sunday run down!!

Keeping Up With The Cons- The Time Has Come

San Diego Comic-Con has arrived. Last night was preview night and today starts the full on convention. I wish I could be there all four days, but I will only be there on Saturday. And even though I will only be there for one day, I have been reading every article and blog post I can about what to expect and what to bring, where to visit, etc. I have been to conventions before, but not one as epic as Comic-Con.

Planning snacks for myself and my husband is pretty easy, but I also have to plan for my two small children. And not only do I have to bring them snacks, but some forms of entertainment, because I know they will get bored. I plan on packing a small backpack for each of them with their snacks of choice, a small coloring book and box of crayons, a puzzle in a bag and their Nintendo DS's. My backpack will include snacks, water, wallet, pens and a notebook, and my Instax.

I'm hoping to visit the Hello Kitty Wonderland, the tokidoki booth, Blizzard Entertainment's booth,   welovefine and the Nintendo Gaming Lounge. Also I want to see what Nerd HQ is and maybe check out the Geek and Sundry lounge.

Here is a list of my favorite blog posts outlining the finer points of Comic-Con:
*Geeky Glamorous has a great list of things to do outside the Con.
*Mia Moore did a big list of helpful posts peppered with her own experiences, very helpful.
*Holy SDCC Batman! The Nerdy Girlie has so many helpful posts on Comic-Con, you'd be a fool not to check them out. (she's also doing a SDCC photo challenge on Instagram that looks like tons of fun)
*Of course, the official Comic-Con site is going to have crucial info.


Follow me on Instagram (krystellemt) and Twitter (@krystellemt) for updates of my Comic-Con experience. Lets nerd out together!