Autograph Hound's Blah Blah Blog

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Overview SDCC 2017



Sy Fy was very active in promotion this year.
Very nice to see
If you remember, last year, I said ‘no mas’ to SDCC.  I was tired, in pain, mentally beaten, and frustrated with the results. I slept on the side walk at 9 PM and was still too far back in line to be successful the next morning. I was dehydrated and limping and had a lot of pain in my feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back. Our game plan for SDCC success met a fiery demise as soon as the battle was joined.

Yes, they were doing karaoke.
I could not think of another strategy to succeed. The people we were competing with to get autographs were groups and teams that didn’t care about the experience. Their goal was to get the signed poster and then sell it. If you doubt that statement, why do all 5 members of a family need a Game of Thrones poster? Especially when the kids are under 10 years old and the show is not age appropriate for them to be watching or be fans.

However, after receiving the Siren Song email about the badge sale, I repressed all memory of the pain and dutifully dived into the murky waters of registration, the anxiety of hotel registration, and the ‘joy’ of the 5 day marathon called SDCC.
This was about 10AM.


I still had ups and downs. The hotel was only secured (at the SDCC rate) about 10 days before the convention. I missed out on a bunch of cast signings. I did some things differently. I was still dehydrated and had back pain. However, I wasn’t nearly as dehydrated as last year. I rested more. I took breaks during the day that caused me to skip some signings but I ended up in less pain.
4 and 5 are sadly too true.

While every year I plan on walking long distances in the Texas heat with a heavy back pack, I never do.  This year, I started using more stairs at work.  I reorganized my backpack. In the past, I carried everything I could possibly need for a day away from the hotel.  This year instead of carrying a whole package of cough drops, I carried a few. Instead of a dozen hand wipes and lens cleaner packets, I carried 2. I dressed cooler. I normally wear my UofA golf shirts. While they are light weight, they are not as cool as a tee shirt. This year, I wore light workout tees. I forcefully drank more water and made myself sit more. While I still ‘wanted’ everything, I marked less things are a priority. Over the years, I have attained less and less swag. This year I avoided it. I only received a few items and that was because an effort was made to give it to me.

The lows: Getting in line at 8:30PM the night before and it’s still not early enough.

I probably walked more but the phone was
turned off to save the battery.
I feel I walked a lot LESS than last year.
This does not take into account
the hours standing on concrete.
After dozing off, I found 2 people in front of me that should not be there. I had to argue with them about leaving and cutting the line.

Winning the Adam Savage raffle but not being able to attend the signing because of my own scheduling conflict.

Waiting for Alison Haislip before a panel and not seeing her until she entered the room.

Missing out on Justice League raffle (but at least I was in the line before it was over). that is the second year in a row I missed Gal Gadot. Because I attempted that, I missed out on had a chance for the Ready Player One signing that had Steven Spielberg attending.

I never saw Amanda the Warner Brother Bag lady.  

I missed having Sunday dinner with some long time SDCC friends.
The highlights of the trip will be in the next set of posts.

AH
 

2 comments:

  1. Not that this will probably make you feel any better, but I got in line at 2pm Friday for the Saturday signings (knew Justice League would be insane, but was hoping for Flash), and by the time I got to the front of the WB line, Westworld, Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Riverdale, and Ready Player One had gone. The line management was atrocious.

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