It’s about to begin. Comic Con, the biggest pop culture convention in the world where Hollywood and cult fandom collide. Last year, the convention broke attendance records (well over 100,000 attendees) while San Diego simultaneously baked in a near record heat wave.
It was … incredible and difficult and miserable and here I am again, a glutton for punishment.
This just dropped into my email box - a press conference w/ Jenna Jameson on Saturday. She’s in town on Saturday to promote her new comic book, from Virgin Comics. The series, titled Shadow Hunter, debuts in comic shops and online comic retailers in December.
“Shadow Hunter is the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul," says the press release. The comic is intended for mainstream audiences.
Oakland Airport: a zoo this morning, with security lines snaking around and about the terminal.
Time to pass through security: one hour. (Only two of the four security terminal/x-ray machines were manned - at 9a.m.) But considering the number of people, security personnel manage to keep things moving.
The terminal is full of fan boys. "What do your read?" asks a fan girl?
“What don’t I read?” he boasts, just a little. He says he consumes a lot of manga but he writes now and is hoping to land a deal with Tokyopop.
We sit on the tarmac for an extra 20 minutes and lose our departure slot because so many people board with “carry-on” luggage the size of steamer trunks and hold up the boarding process as they try to mash their bags into the overhead bins. Southwest Airlines does nothing to control the problem.
We’re late getting into San Diego, naturally.
Everything goes smoothly at the Hyatt until … it’s times to access the Internet. The best reason NOT to stay at the Hyatt is their archaic, third-party wireless system which requires users to juggle a laborious re-registration process every 24 hours. Really, really a hassle. Plus, it’s almost impossible to extract tech answers out of personnel. Tech support finally admitted there WAS something that the Hyatt could do - the hotel will reluctantly provide a password and user name and charge it to the room - but you have to know about this option and ask the front desk ….bit of catch-22 there.
So - now you know - if you don’t want to go through the daily re-registration hassle, ask the Hyatt to fork over a user name and password.
Best reason to stay at the Hyatt: proximity to the convention center and the club floor. The club floor is a near survival necessity when covering Comic Con … because you can stumbled down the hall in your jammies after five hours sleep and…grab breakfast!!!
How a network and/or studio could get a lot of press attention: sponsor a press room. Unless things have changed this year, there is no press support at Comic Con. None. Zero. Zilch. This is a philosophical choice on the part of the organizers. Comic Con is for the fans; the convention is organized first and foremost to serve the fans. However, from a press standpoint, it’s a tough gig. There is almost no food or water, electrical plugs for recharging equipment are scarce, and Internet access is expensive.
Anyway — if a studio or network sponsored a press room, with some food, water, electrical plugs and wireless access, a lot of press would hang out there.
