Author Topic: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?  (Read 4159 times)

Offline alyssa

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #15 on: December 10, 2020, 07:25:44 AM »
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I was never one for the big movie  panels, so that doesn't really matter to me.  My thing was always the smaller panels.

SDCC2021 may be closer to how it was in the early 2000's, and that would be ok with me. 
i agree
more of a san diego comic fest vibe

I really think it would be good to gather, *regardless of the scale* of the convention. Assuming it's safe of course.

The point of returning to the "pre-pop_culture boom' state is an interesting concept. We've long talked about when the pop-culture bubble would burst.
maybe the bubble will/has popped.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2020, 10:30:23 AM by alyssa »
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Offline perc2100

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #16 on: December 11, 2020, 11:40:45 AM »
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Excellent question You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

A *huge* component the the idea of sdcc2021 would have to be
What do comic companies bring?
What do studios bring? Given the condition of the entertainment industry, i can not see them bringing much.
etc

I would think the tone would have to be one of, camaraderie & passing through the gauntlet. Less about blockbusters and making money 'cuz face it there's not as much money out there. I for one am not really craving big move panels but meeting up with folks from my tribe
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I was never one for the big movie  panels, so that doesn't really matter to me.  My thing was always the smaller panels.

SDCC2021 may be closer to how it was in the early 2000's, and that would be ok with me. 
I've been going to SDCCI since 2000, and the Hollywood presence was still pretty big back then: Hall H didn't exist yet (and neither did Preview Night in 2000, for that matter), but I still remember all sorts of big movie panels.  I remember the SPIDER-MAN panel in particular summer of 2001, where we got really cool teaser posters (that were recalled when released in theaters due to the twin towers featured in Spidey's 'eyes,' IIRC).  I remember all sorts of Hollywood panels ever since first going in 2000: in fact, I think that in, say, 2008 there were far more Hollywood panels than there were the last few years of Comic-Con (Hall H started way earlier and they packed more panels in during the day).

I get what you're saying though.

As for what Alyssa said, I think kind of the opposite.  Hollywood in particular has been sitting on quite a bit of product waiting for theaters to open: stuff like GHOSTBUSTERS or BLACK WIDOW, and the James Bond movie, for example, were ready to roll in the spring and have been shelved for at least a full year (same with horror films like the HALLOWEWEN & QUIET PLACE sequels).  LOTS of stuff was either in mid-production, if not almost finished, in the spring (stuff like THE BATMAN film) that would also be able to be screened to some extent.

I think the industry by that point will be practically BEGGING folks to come out to theaters in droves, and/or subscribe to streaming services.  If we learned nothing from the big Disney shareholders announcements yesterday, there is still a plethora of money to be made on genre properties and the bigger the audience, the better

I kind of think in this regard a better question may be "with Disney's huge splash, and WB's big think in the fall, are studios learning they don't need the huge investment in Comic-Con?" but that's a different thread.  ;D

Personally, over the years I've realized I like the 'vibe' and the people of Comic-Con more than the panels or the footage.  I love the panels, and I really love the footage, but as I've gotten older and attended 20 Comic-Cons I think I like the atmosphere and the folks chatting in line or during panels more than actual panels.  It's like the dopey no-jokey saying: "The real Comic-Con is the friends we've made along the way"  :P

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #17 on: Today at 07:32:33 PM »

Offline chocolateshake

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2020, 01:21:08 PM »
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Personally, over the years I've realized I like the 'vibe' and the people of Comic-Con more than the panels or the footage.  I love the panels, and I really love the footage, but as I've gotten older and attended 20 Comic-Cons I think I like the atmosphere and the folks chatting in line or during panels more than actual panels.  It's like the dopey no-jokey saying: "The real Comic-Con is the friends we've made along the way"  :P

Do you go to comic-fest?  It's much more about that.  Some of the panelists that you would have to wait in line or win a lottery to meet and greet at comic-con are just hanging about at comic-fest.  If I could only go to comic-con or comic-fest, I don't know which one I would pick.

Offline daudino

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2020, 10:41:44 PM »
I think one of the first questions of what Comic Con can or should do will be how many people actually asked for a refund already.

Let's say it was a very small number, maybe 10%. I have a hard time believing that Comic Con, even one at 90% capacity can exist in July even as the country/world move towards some semblance of an end to this with the vaccine.

If I were running the show, I think my next step would to re-open the option for refunds again to those that may not feel comfortable in a couple of months, maybe even with the promise/guarantee that they can get a ticket in 2022.

Hopefully that would further lessen the crowds at the 2021 event, maybe to a more manageable number.

The problem is they simply have no way to do without a significant crowd reduction in my opinion.

If people are still not willing to give up their tickets, I think at that point there 3 options are:

1. Reduce the number of attendees by "force" by refunding until they get to a number they feel comfortable with. They can mitigate some blowback by rolling those they cancel to 2022, but the question would be how would they even be able to choose who gets to go or not in a fair and equitable way.
2. Push the Comic Con into as far as possible in 2021, late Q3 or Q4, to allow even more time for the vaccine to take hold.
3. Cancel the 2021 Con and return to full sized normal in July of 2022.

None are great options and maybe things will be significantly better by July and it can go on as normal, it's just hard to see that right now. I'm sure they will wait as long as possible to make the call.

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2020, 10:04:17 AM »
I was talking about this with a friend, and we came up with another option: cut capacity in half. This would mean that everyone who has a badge has to pick HALF the number of days to attend. So if you have a 4 day badge, you can attend Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

This isn't ideal, but if it means that we can have a Comic Con, and that everyone who has a badge can go, I would do it.

Offline alyssa

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #20 on: December 13, 2020, 07:07:52 PM »
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I was talking about this with a friend, and we came up with another option: cut capacity in half. This would mean that everyone who has a badge has to pick HALF the number of days to attend. So if you have a 4 day badge, you can attend Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

This isn't ideal, but if it means that we can have a Comic Con, and that everyone who has a badge can go, I would do it.
I really like that option
it fair and everyone still gets to attend
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Offline stl_ben

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #21 on: December 14, 2020, 09:20:16 AM »
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I was talking about this with a friend, and we came up with another option: cut capacity in half. This would mean that everyone who has a badge has to pick HALF the number of days to attend. So if you have a 4 day badge, you can attend Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

This isn't ideal, but if it means that we can have a Comic Con, and that everyone who has a badge can go, I would do it.
Think almost everyone would pick Friday and Saturday.....

Offline perc2100

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #22 on: December 14, 2020, 11:09:03 AM »
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Do you go to comic-fest?  It's much more about that.  Some of the panelists that you would have to wait in line or win a lottery to meet and greet at comic-con are just hanging about at comic-fest.  If I could only go to comic-con or comic-fest, I don't know which one I would pick.
I've never been; IIRC it's at a bad time of year for me schedule-wise (late summer-New Years is incredibly hectic for me, as are many weekends in winter & spring).  I've wanted to check it out, but it's never worked with my schedule.
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I was talking about this with a friend, and we came up with another option: cut capacity in half. This would mean that everyone who has a badge has to pick HALF the number of days to attend. So if you have a 4 day badge, you can attend Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

This isn't ideal, but if it means that we can have a Comic Con, and that everyone who has a badge can go, I would do it.
This is an intriguing option, especially if they break up Friday & Saturday.  Obviously a problem would be those who _only_ have badges for, say, Thursday and/or Sunday or something, which would limit people's options heavily.  BUT, I think if CCI did this AS WELL AS making big panels a lot more accessible (say, badges holders for Saturday get emailed a single-use code where they can zoom or live-stream panels, get all the footage + maybe even swag) then this could work I think.  Good idea!

I also agree with daudino that CCI will almost certainly need to open up Refunds again.  I know the chances of my wife, for example, going to Comic-Con this summer are at best slim, and likely zero and would almost certainly request a refund of her 4-Day w/PN badges (I dunno about my oldest kid with the same badge, and I would likely hold on to mine and attend in some capacity).  I suspect there would be more who go for the refund, especially if CCI sweetens the pot with guaranteeing them the same badge for 2022.  I think CCI will issue another refund opportunity as we get into the new year, though I'm just speculating

Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #23 on: December 14, 2020, 12:09:09 PM »
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Think almost everyone would pick Friday and Saturday.....

Agreed. They would have to break them up. Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

Online sessionka

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #24 on: December 14, 2020, 03:58:18 PM »
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i agree
more of a san diego comic fest vibe

I really think it would be good to gather, *regardless of the scale* of the convention. Assuming it's safe of course.

The point of returning to the "pre-pop_culture boom' state is an interesting concept. We've long talked about when the pop-culture bubble would burst.
maybe the bubble will/has popped.

Even if the bubble 'bursts', it might not mean that much of a shrinkage to the con. 

My first year (2015) I had no expectations, because I did no research (long story).  I spent most of my time on the exhibit floor, and only went to a few panels.   Even so, I still had a blast.  Every year, since, I've had new experiences, none of which had anything to do with Hollywood.  I suspect that may be a similar experience for a lot of attendees.  Hollywood gets the bulk of the attention thru the media, but if you look at the numbers, it's probably maybe 20% of what goes on at the con.  Think about it.  There are up to 130,000 attendees at the con.  Hall-H holds 6,000 max.  If you believe the media, you'd think everybody was there for the big panels, but that would mean 124,000 people are devastated they can't get into Hall-H.  But we all know that's not true.  There is so much to do, that every year, hard choices have to be made.

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Offline perc2100

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #25 on: December 16, 2020, 08:51:51 AM »
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Even if the bubble 'bursts', it might not mean that much of a shrinkage to the con. 

My first year (2015) I had no expectations, because I did no research (long story).  I spent most of my time on the exhibit floor, and only went to a few panels.   Even so, I still had a blast.  Every year, since, I've had new experiences, none of which had anything to do with Hollywood.  I suspect that may be a similar experience for a lot of attendees.  Hollywood gets the bulk of the attention thru the media, but if you look at the numbers, it's probably maybe 20% of what goes on at the con.  Think about it.  There are up to 130,000 attendees at the con.  Hall-H holds 6,000 max.  If you believe the media, you'd think everybody was there for the big panels, but that would mean 124,000 people are devastated they can't get into Hall-H.  But we all know that's not true.  There is so much to do, that every year, hard choices have to be made.
Right, especially when we know historically SDCCI has _always_ been a hub for Hollywood and pop culture.  I mean, the original Star Wars made it's first promotional push the summer before its release at Comic-Con in 1976 (giving away incredibly rad poster that was the art of the Marvel comics SW issue #1); Francis Ford Coppola was at SDCCI in 1990 promoting BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA.  When I started going in 2000, there was no Preview Night or Hall H, but there were a plethora of big movie events and stars.
I think we've already seen the 'golden era' of Hollywood exploiting Comic-Con, and it was around 5 years ago when Thursday-Sunday were jam-packed at Hall H, when the panels started around 10am and lasted well into the evening.  Studios have already scaled significantly back and IMO Comic-Con is still thriving.  It's plausible that the pandemic that has forced studios to be more creative with their big rollouts (WB FanDome event; Disney's latest investor event that turned into marketing thing) will cause studios to realize they don't have to come to San Diego in order to get the big attention they want: they can hold their own events, have 100% control of it all, and do it when they alone are the sole focus.  But I don't think that will dampen the excitement of Comic-Con much.

It _COULD_ radically alter the Comic-Con experience in 2021, if a lot of these bigger studios skip SDCCI and choose to do their own online thing: maybe have no Hall H or Ballroom 20 or Indigo Ballroom big panels in-person and instead shift it all virtually while having "reservation only" times for Exhibit Hall attendees and social-distanced panels in other areas (they could utilize the space [adult swim] has used for big outdoor panels maybe; instead of all of the marketing stuff in the parking lots, Petco Park, behind the Convention Center, etc. they could set up stages and have panels outdoors for a safer environment)

Offline darqamin

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #26 on: December 17, 2020, 11:42:48 PM »
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I was talking about this with a friend, and we came up with another option: cut capacity in half. This would mean that everyone who has a badge has to pick HALF the number of days to attend. So if you have a 4 day badge, you can attend Thursday & Friday OR Saturday & Sunday.

This isn't ideal, but if it means that we can have a Comic Con, and that everyone who has a badge can go, I would do it.

Agreed, would have to cut capacity at least in half. Probably more than that, to the point that it isn't a real Comic-Con experience anymore.

Comic-Con is full of massive crows, lines, sweat, stink, and germs. Take that way and it becomes close to the generic "comic cons" or expos run by other cities, particularly if there are less actors, artists, panelists etc showing up due to COVID-19.

I am hoping that the 2022 event will be back to normal.

Offline perc2100

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #27 on: December 18, 2020, 09:38:22 AM »
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Agreed, would have to cut capacity at least in half. Probably more than that, to the point that it isn't a real Comic-Con experience anymore.

Comic-Con is full of massive crows, lines, sweat, stink, and germs. Take that way and it becomes close to the generic "comic cons" or expos run by other cities, particularly if there are less actors, artists, panelists etc showing up due to COVID-19.

I am hoping that the 2022 event will be back to normal.

It seems entirely plausible that 2022 will be much closer to "back to normal" (note: I sincerely believe the entire world will be in a 'new normal' as opposed to 'exactly the way things were pre-pandemic' but that's another convo).  At this point, I think it's say WonderCon will not happen in any form again (maybe something akin to July's "Virtual Comic-Con"), and SDCCI is a toss-up at best.  I saw that CCI received PPP money so they should at least be in a not-super-dire financial situation, at least.  Like last year there is so much "wait and see" and lots of boxes that likely have to be checked in order for CCI to cancel or postpone again (maybe try to push the event back a month or two).

As a teacher who is getting very close to having a having to shift to a hybrid-style curriculum, it's gotten me thinking a bit: maybe CCI can have some sort of synchronous (in person/live) type of events AND asynchronous (online/done away from in-person + maybe at attendee's own leisure, sort of like last year) Comic-Con.  It's possible they may try a 'hybrid' type of event with the exhibit hall open to very minimum capacity with virtual panels that can be enjoyed at home with MAYBE some outdoor panels (if CA is allowed to do that by summer) in large spaces that can accommodate sizable crowds w/social distancing.  Petco Park has an off-the-hook video scoreboard nowadays that could make, say, a Marvel panel a blast (albeit a very different feel than the comparatively 'intimate' confines of Hall H): imagine seeing Spidey 3 (something something HOME something  :P ) footage on a ginormous screen at Petco Park!
« Last Edit: December 18, 2020, 09:44:38 AM by perc2100 »

Online sessionka

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Re: 2021 Comic-Con: how do you thin it would (or should) work?
« Reply #28 on: December 18, 2020, 09:11:19 PM »
Interesting video...

Odds of dying from covid 19 vs other corona viruses

The delivery is very dry, but educational



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