#SDCC letter of the day X for Xyloid

Yes, xyloid is a word. Look it up.   

And yes, it’s a stretch. Really, how many ‘x’ words can you come up with and use in a SDCC setting?

It means woody or wood like.  I’m using it for the paper by-products you’ll be handed at SDCC.

So you braved the mosh pit known as Warner Brothers and got the cool oversized bag that you are dragging across the exhibition floor. Congrats. Hopefully no blood was shed.  Hopefully you are holding it off the ground so I’m not tripping over it.

So now what do you do?  Of course you fill that ‘totally cool and soon to be sold on eBay’ bag with the swag and other stuff you are handed at SDCC.

If you hang out at the corporate booths you will be handed a lot of stuff. Some of it is very cool. Some of it is interesting. Some of it you wonder why it’s sitting in a box a year later collecting dust.

I’m here to talk about that stuff; that stuff that sits and sits year after year.  The stuff that after you are gone your spouse and kids are wondering why you kept it.

Most of that stuff is paper based.

You pass the anime booth and they hand you samplers. Way cool.

Even some of the book publishers will hand out samplers and copies of books of the authors attending ComicCon. Pretty cool. 

Warner Brothers will have special edition copies of TV guide with 4 or 5 different covers.  You HAVE to have each one. It’s an EXCLUSIVE! Hell, you need more than one of each don’t you?  Too cool.

You pass the smaller movie studios and they will hand out temporary tattoos that are theme based on their new release or maybe give you a leaflet about the movie preview later that night or the schedule or panels they will be in. You might get a large or small movie poster from them. You do have your poster tube, don’t you?

Every small press vendor will have something to show and give you.

You leave the convention center and you will be bombarded by cute girls handing you postcards or business cards or leaflets about a short film playing at the ComicCon’s Independent Film Festival. Or maybe they are handing you a discount coupon for a restaurant in the Gaslamp.

At the end of the day you’ll have a lot of stuff in the bag.

It’s mostly paper and it will fill your suitcase when you fly home and it will put you over the weight limit and you’ll end up paying extra.  Been there - done that.

The simplest thing to do is NOT accept it.  You don’t have to take what they offer. Really just say, no. Politely of course.

This way you aren’t lugging it around all day. If you are backpacking like me, you don’t have room.  And if you walking miles and miles every day, that extra weight will wear you out.

I know. It’s hard to say 'no' to the cute booth babe that you just KNOW will give you her number after you accept her handout. That’s the way the world works.  So at the end of the day you have 5 pounds of stuff in your hotel room and no phone numbers.

Before you go to bed; before you plan out your next day's itinerary  – go through the stuff and throw out the duplicates.  Yes, you will have duplicates. Do it now. Now for the remaining crap – figure out what you really need/want. As you do this, keep in mind your poor spouse and kids after you are gone...

It will save you time when you are packing and it gives that nice maid that you are tipping each morning a chance to empty your trash cans.  You don’t want to leave on Monday morning and have a pile of rubbish 5 feet tall. Do you live in a Frat?

You will also find that a lot of the stuff is time sensitive. So why carry it around or keep it the next few days when the topic is already expired?  Also by looking at it now, you might find something to add to your itinerary.

This goes back to Keeping It Simple. Don’t clutter your room with all of the xyloid.

AH