SDCC 2022 Pro Registration

[semigeekgirl]

I can definitely see both sides of this. It is unfair for CCI to penalize people for not registering in time, given that the stated registration window was still open when the event was cancelled, and that CCI offered no guidance/communication to those people about what their status would be. On the other hand, this problem will probably only affect a small percentage of people, so CCI may not feel that they need to invest time and effort providing a pathway for those people to have their status resolved.

I hope that they do find a way to make it right. If I were you You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login I would keep reaching out to them in hopes of reaching a real live person to discuss the problem. Although, in my unsolicited opinion, you might also try to take a very calm and polite tone with them? There's still time to get this resolved before the con; I wouldn't give up hope yet.

[xavier2518]

It's my recollection that SDCC SE Pro badges had nothing to do w/SDCC badges (especially since many Pros had to pay for SDCC badges, whereas they were free for SDCC SE)

your correct i had to pay for my pro badge and my guest also , first time pro badge holder, thank god i had pay mine off when i first got selected. don't waste time , jump on it quick

[scottydizzy]

I would keep reaching out to them in hopes of reaching a real live person to discuss the problem. Although, in my unsolicited opinion, you might also try to take a very calm and polite tone with them? There's still time to get this resolved before the con; I wouldn't give up hope yet.

I plan to keep reaching out so that it stays fresh and hopefully a resolution is found. It's funny, I thought I was being calm and polite (with the exception of my all caps call to action) because how I feel is extremely angry and I'm doing my best to choose PG rated verbiage with anyone who responds, but I appreciate the reminder that some might not see it that way

~S

[Transmute Jun]

I am not a pro and have never had a pro badge at SDCC, but I do know that CCI tries really hard to be fair and help people out if they are in a legitimate predicament. If you get in contact with a real person and they are able to review your situation, I would bet that they would help.

[sin86a]

Issues above notwithstanding, I do wonder if they change the window for pro credentials. I was fortunate to be able to work through the pandemic, but I know a few pros who were due for verification in '20 and some of the things they would have used for credentials would have expired by now. I hope for their sake CCI allows some older material to be used. Not sure if that was a widespread enough problem though.

[Roshawn]

So trying to piece it together 11/8/19 You were given the green light to buy your badge.
4/17/20 they cancel the convention (and I assume block you from applying at that time?)
5/6/20 was your deadline to register.

Did you try registering in those couple weeks between when it was cancelled and the deadline?
But overall I'm guessing they will lean more towards the people that signed up in the 5+ months it was open over those that missed it in the final week.
Cut offs suck sometimes but they have to draw the line somewhere and I can see where they say that now 2 years later is too late.

This was taken from the email  the pros received on 11/18/19:

"Remember, your badge allotment is guaranteed until professional badge registration closes on May 6, 2020, and will not be on a first-come, first-served basis! You do not need to register today; take your time and register at your earliest convenience."

We were not applying to be pros. We were already approved as pros and guaranteed badges. 11/8/19 we were guaranteed badges for registration/purchase until 5/6/20  AND told Pros not to rush registering. 4/17 convention is cancelled and registration/purchase is taken offline.

Between 4/17 and 5/6 we could not register because the page was blank(offline).

[Roshawn]

I did not try to register to a convention that was cancelled, that would be ridiculous. And there was no indication given that by not doing so would mean the next available 'real' convention meant a shutout. This is totally unacceptable for people still within the registration window. There was no cutoff provided and saying 2 years is too late is shortsighted since no one knew when the world would open up enough to the point of having a full convention.

I know you're super excited to have less people on the floor because of the unfairness, but you're totally missing the point.

I tried. It was a blank page.

[perc2100]

your correct i had to pay for my pro badge and my guest also , first time pro badge holder, thank god i had pay mine off when i first got selected. don't waste time , jump on it quick

Yeah 2020 would've been my first year as a Pro. I was joking with friends that I disrupted the mojo by coming a Pro & threw the whole world off its axis with that designation (I'd been going to Comic-Con since 2000, have been teaching music in San Diego since 1999, and never thought to apply to be an Educational Pro until post-2019 SDCCI). 

Turkey-Con was my first CCI experience as a Pro, and after 20 years of attending SDCCI & WonderCon over the years I've gotten used to that "_IMMEDIATELY_ jump on buying passes as soon as you can!" mindset; it's been weird thinking that my 'first' Pro Badge has been sitting unused since 2020 

[perc2100]

I plan to keep reaching out so that it stays fresh and hopefully a resolution is found. It's funny, I thought I was being calm and polite (with the exception of my all caps call to action) because how I feel is extremely angry and I'm doing my best to choose PG rated verbiage with anyone who responds, but I appreciate the reminder that some might not see it that way

~S

This is a good idea, and in my experience both for myself and friends, CCI is really good working one-on-one with folks resolving issues.  I suspect things are incredibly hectic between WonderCon prep (in less than a month!!), SDCC prep getting back to normal, etc. and continuing to voice your frustrations/concerns is integral.  I hope CCI can resolve the issue for you (FWIW I will likely be requesting badge refunds for two friends of mine that I purchase Sunday for as they've recently moved and won't be attending so there are likely at least SOME refunded badges out there that CCI could "regift" if necessary).

[perc2100]

Issues above notwithstanding, I do wonder if they change the window for pro credentials. I was fortunate to be able to work through the pandemic, but I know a few pros who were due for verification in '20 and some of the things they would have used for credentials would have expired by now. I hope for their sake CCI allows some older material to be used. Not sure if that was a widespread enough problem though.

They pushed back/extended Pro registration so folks wouldn't miss anything due to their 'window' expiring during COVID, at least.  I can't imagine the legit headaches of working through the Pro application process for industry creatives who likely had projects pushed back dude to COVID.  That will take some crazy logistics work to get that straightened out; luckily in my experience CCI is pretty awesome with customer service for reg. attendees & I'd like to think they go the extra mile for the Pros that make the industry work.

This was taken from the email  the pros received on 11/18/19:

"Remember, your badge allotment is guaranteed until professional badge registration closes on May 6, 2020, and will not be on a first-come, first-served basis! You do not need to register today; take your time and register at your earliest convenience."

We were not applying to be pros. We were already approved as pros and guaranteed badges. 11/8/19 we were guaranteed badges for registration/purchase until 5/6/20  AND told Pros not to rush registering. 4/17 convention is cancelled and registration/purchase is taken offline.

Between 4/17 and 5/6 we could not register because the page was blank(offline).

Of course, the entire world shut down March 2020, SDCCI canceled April 2020, and may not have 100% solidified a "what do we explicitly do next from here?" plan by May. While I realize I'll never get an answer, I wonder how many folks like the OP were impacted in this way

[MarvelGurl]

For some reason this whole thread is now clarified for me. I thought it was only about renewing Pro Credentials and it took a post from SDCC Unofficial Blog to realize what was happening. I will also be sending an email to CCI about the whole registration snafu. This is my last year as a pro before I have to reapply, but it appears that I’ll only be able to go to Wondercon. Since I have to pay for my badges I wasn’t in a rush (per the email) to get them. Also why would I register for a 100k attendee event in the middle of a raging pandemic when no one knew how dire this thing really was. I became unemployed and didn’t want to risk having my refund withheld until the next viable year that they could host SDCC.

[scottydizzy]

For some reason this whole thread is now clarified for me. I thought it was only about renewing Pro Credentials and it took a post from SDCC Unofficial Blog to realize what was happening. I will also be sending an email to CCI about the whole registration snafu. This is my last year as a pro before I have to reapply, but it appears that I’ll only be able to go to Wondercon. Since I have to pay for my badges I wasn’t in a rush (per the email) to get them. Also why would I register for a 100k attendee event in the middle of a raging pandemic when no one knew how dire this thing really was. I became unemployed and didn’t want to risk having my refund withheld until the next viable year that they could host SDCC.

The more voices the better! Yeah, it was never about applying for Pro Status (even though that has gotten kind of a pinch in it as well) but rather not allowing those of us that waited to register for SDCC 2020 before it got axed and now can't get access to 2022 when we are fully and clearly eligible to do so!

Do you happen to have the SDDC Unofficial Blog post about this? I tried looking quickly, but didn't see anything and the site is saturated (for good reason) with WonderCon news.

I am also planning to go to WC if for the only chance to try and get to a human decision maker or contact info to one so I can continue to raise this issue.

~S

[Roshawn]

For some reason this whole thread is now clarified for me. I thought it was only about renewing Pro Credentials and it took a post from SDCC Unofficial Blog to realize what was happening. I will also be sending an email to CCI about the whole registration snafu. This is my last year as a pro before I have to reapply, but it appears that I’ll only be able to go to Wondercon. Since I have to pay for my badges I wasn’t in a rush (per the email) to get them. Also why would I register for a 100k attendee event in the middle of a raging pandemic when no one knew how dire this thing really was. I became unemployed and didn’t want to risk having my refund withheld until the next viable year that they could host SDCC.

Even if you tried to register, the webpage was taken offline.

[MarvelGurl]

The more voices the better! Yeah, it was never about applying for Pro Status (even though that has gotten kind of a pinch in it as well) but rather not allowing those of us that waited to register for SDCC 2020 before it got axed and now can't get access to 2022 when we are fully and clearly eligible to do so!

Do you happen to have the SDDC Unofficial Blog post about this? I tried looking quickly, but didn't see anything and the site is saturated (for good reason) with WonderCon news.

I am also planning to go to WC if for the only chance to try and get to a human decision maker or contact info to one so I can continue to raise this issue.

~S

I tried looking to see what post it was that started putting the pieces of the puzzle together for me but couldn’t find it. Might have been a mixture of reddit and Twitter posts tbh. I think the blog had answered someone who was lamenting about not being able to go to SDCC 2022 as a pro because they never got to register for a 2020 badge. I’m trying to figure out if I should send something now or right after Wondercon.

[rickythump]

I tried looking to see what post it was that started putting the pieces of the puzzle together for me but couldn’t find it. Might have been a mixture of reddit and Twitter posts tbh. I think the blog had answered someone who was lamenting about not being able to go to SDCC 2022 as a pro because they never got to register for a 2020 badge. I’m trying to figure out if I should send something now or right after Wondercon.

Wait until after Wondercon in a couple weeks. I've also seen two people on Facebook groups with the same situation, and someone on Twitter. I think this is more of a widespread issue than they think it is.
Their registration page was removed the day they cancelled the convention, without warning and their messaging before cancellation was "Don't rush to register!!!!".

This is absolutely unethical on their part, especially considering professionals working in the industry are getting shafted due to their mixed messaging. I don't think this is "see both sides" issue at all, their Professional page was taken down prematurely.