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We only caught the last 15 minutes, but it sounded like the bulk of the complaints were about Saturday’s Hall H NDL and the ADA line for Saturday Hall H. It seems logical to me to cap the ADA line (with maybe a small handful of standby) because they know how many wristbands they are going to give out. I don’t know how they can figure out the Hall H stuff because people will game the system no matter what they do.
Did anyone happen to go to the panel this year? I was unable to, but _really_ curious to hear anything from CCI regarding the Saturday Hall H line (or anything else), which was a MONSTER cluster bus this year. It seemed like logistically Hall H was problematic all week, or at least Saturday & Sunday. Having the metal detectors at the beginning of the tents seem to REALLY create a massive bottleneck in the line, particularly crossing the street from Bayfront Harbor. Hopefully CCI will look into improving this greatly for 2023 and beyond; I never had many problems with Hall H lines before (besides the reality that they are indeed unwieldy, they are manageable with planning and friends - this year they were seemingly borderline unmanageable), but this year felt incredibly problematic - almost like CCI and whomever completely forgot how to manage a huge line. Did they change companies and the new company just dropped the ball; does anyone have any information from the Talkback panel?
After a two-year pause for the pandemic, Comic-Con wrapped up its return as in-person extravaganza on Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.And based on the feedback from attendees, there was some rust in the gears after the hiatus.About 150 people let organizers of the pop culture extravaganza know what worked and what didn’t on Sunday at Comic-Con Talk Back, the convention’s traditional feedback session for fans.There was a long line of speakers — so long that not everyone could be heard in full before time ran out. That mirrored what happened on the ground at times during the convention itself, especially as people lined up for popular events staged in Hall H.Attendees were delighted with the return of an in-person convention but frustrated by line cutting, accessibility shortfalls and communications problems.AdvertisementCatherine Murray, who has been attending Comic-Con for 22 years, traveled from New Mexico this year and waited six hours in a line designated for people with disabilities before being turned away. She said others that she knew waited 10 hours or more.“I think they didn’t have enough people who knew what was going on,” said Murray about the convention staff. She suffers from severe arthritis, making the long wait painful. She would like to see a system to reduce the necessity of waiting in line without a guarantee of getting in.People with disabilities have long criticized Comic-Con for discourteous treatment and insensitivity. One speaker pointed out that operators of large venues such as Disney and Universal have figured out how to accommodate people with disabilities without subjecting them to long lines and other difficult situations.Yoshi, a Los Angeles resident who didn’t want to give her last name, has been attending Comic-Con since 2010. She got in line early, with just 50 or so people ahead of her. But then hordes began showing up to join those in front of her who were apparently holding their places.“Hundreds of people cut in front of us throughout the day, in addition to it being hot and miserable,” she said. “I have been to other conventions where they put up tents along the line area” but security would not allow individual pop-up tents brought by those waiting.Mixed messages also frustrated convention attendees, particularly contradictions between Comic-Con staff, volunteers and contract security personnel.“You can talk to three people within a 15-foot space and all three will tell you something different,” an attendee told the panel.While there were plenty of gripes, nearly everyone who spoke Sunday prefaced any criticism with praise for the in-person return. Several cited the enforcement of mask requirements and use of an app to streamline proof of vaccination procedures. They were happy with the in-person content, with none complaining that the panel sessions or exhibit hall displays came up short.Meanwhile, organizers were putting on an event where most of the tickets had been purchased in 2019, said David Glanzer, chief communications and strategy officer for the convention.The 2020 and 2021 conventions weren’t held in person because of the coronavirus pandemic. A majority of the attendees purchased tickets for the 2020 show. About 135,000 tickets were sold. Organizers sought to put on a flashy return this year with a 2019 budget — at least in terms of ticket sales.“It is not an excuse, but it is an explanation as to why this year was a little rougher than it has been in the past,” Glanzer said. “It really is like holding dough and when you squeeze it, there’s a hole here or a hole there, and we are trying to patch those things up.”Even so, the feedback is important, he said. It keeps up a tradition at Comic-Con of giving attendees a microphone to say what they would like to see improved.“What really helps with this is people bringing to our attention stuff we might not be aware of or wouldn’t be aware of until sometime afterward,” Glanzer said.
They didn't seem to treat some ADA people well this year. It seems ridiculous to push out them in the sun in the overflow line for Hall H. It shouldn't be too hard set up a tent over where they are or just line them up under one of the normal tents. Also on Saturday, they screwed up the ADA overflow line for the Everything Else line in the morning. A fellow group member went to join the regular Everything Else line in the early morning for Ballroom 20. A security guard noticed his ADA sticker and told him to join the ADA overflow line downstairs. Then some time later when the doors opened and they released the Everything Else line, they completely forgot about that ADA overflow line. He was stuck there when B20 already opened up and it became walk-in. I ended up going to B20 about 90 minutes after he arrived and was able to enter B20 easily while he was still stuck in that overflow line downstairs. Ridiculous.
True. Sorry to say, but a lot of these issues are bred from rude entitled attendees. That is never ever going to change. I don't blame volunteers or minimum wage workers for not wanting to deal with it after more than a directive and warning.
Did anyone talk about the lack of carpeting in the exhibitor hall?