The San Diego Comic-Con might have all been under one roof, but there were really five separate attractions going on simultaneously.
* [b]Main Floor, Times Square Mayhem:[/b] The main section of the showroom floor was more the spectacle area. This is where you had the DC comics booth and the Owl Ship from the upcoming Watchmen movie. Where you had banners up for LOST and a massive display for the Sci-Fi Channel. In essence, the most densely-populated, mobbed-out section of the convention The San Diego Comic-Con might have all been under one roof, but there were really five separate attractions going on simultaneously.
* [b]Main Floor, Times Square Mayhem:[/b] The main section of the showroom floor was more the spectacle area. This is where you had the DC comics booth and the Owl Ship from the upcoming Watchmen movie. Where you had banners up for LOST and a massive display for the Sci-Fi Channel. In essence, the most densely-populated, mobbed-out section of the convention hall. It was like the Times Square of Comic-Con. Bright, shiny and the area you try to avoid at all costs. Looks good from afar, but it’s constant mayhem. Our booth is perfectly located on the outer edge of the Midsection. We get the flow, but not the strangling crowds.
* [b]Main Floor, Comics Wing:[/b] On the other side of us was the comics wing, where you can actually find dealers that sell–gasp!–comics. For a show called Comic-Con, there aren’t nearly as many comic book creators and vendors as you’d think, but if you were looking for them, that’s where they are. It’s also the wing where they sell T-shirts and toys, posters and artwork. It’s far less crowded and much easier to navigate. And quieter.
* [b]Main Floor, Artist’s Alley and Gaming:[/b] On the other far side of the convention hall, beyond the Times Square, is Artist’s Alley. That’s where 50 creators, mostly who do their own artwork, have just a table, rather than a big display, and they do signings and sketches. Good buddy Rich Koslowski was over there, doing sketches all weekend. It’s a great spot to get a little one-on-one time with the artists and not be totally overwhelmed by the crowds. The other corner was filled more with gaming–both new video games and gaming (Magic, etc.). Still busy, but not the madhouse of the main section.
* [b]Panels, Main Floor and Second Floor[/b]: Outside the main convention hall are the side rooms and ballrooms, where they have big and small panels alike. Rich, Ray and me sat in on the Watchmen movie panel, which had about 5,000 attendees. Ray also hung out and saw the HEROES, LOST and 24 panels. There were all sorts of other good stuff, like Family Guy, Battlestar Galactica and many others.
*[b] Signings[/b]: Also upstairs is the main signings hall, which is open and well lit, where you have this oddball collection of fading stars doing signings. This year’s batch included Erik Estrada (CHIPS), Erin Gray (Buck Rogers) and Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica), among a few others. It’s amazing how long the line for some of those are. And also up there is the art show, where you can buy statues and fancier comics art.
So that’s pretty much the layout of Comic-Con, in all it’s glory.
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2008/07/30 07:50
