While usually the throng of people and the lines and the lack of sleep eventually cause me to hit the “con fatigue” wall sometime on Saturday of Comic-Con International, today it set in early.
Arriving two hours early, I walked around the building — and around — and around — seeking the end of the line for Hall H, which is hosting the “Heroes” and “Lost” panels this morning. The hall seats 6,500. There were possibly twice that in line. After walking for maybe 30 minutes just trying to locate the end of the line, I decided “Heroes” and “Lost” weren’t in the cards.
I thought it’d be a good plan to work on the blog, so I walked up toward the retailer lounge in room 21, where I’ve been able to do some work the last two days. A security guard stopped me two yards from the door, and said I couldn’t proceed any further. He said I could, however, walk around the building and come to the room from the other side.
“You need me to walk a mile to go two feet?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
So, I walked around the building again, and came to room 21 from the other side. (Along the way I bypassed the official press lounge, 28. I was involved in retailer programming this year, so I got my pass as a retailer. I’ve never found that getting a press pass at Comic-Con gets you anything; you have to wait in line like everyone else.)
I pulled on the door to finally get to work — and the door is locked. Several security guards couldn’t tell me why the door is locked, and their best solution was to scurry around the building several more times asking for someone to open the door for me. Instead, I am sitting on the floor across from room 21, trying to recharge.
On the positive side, I’ve seen a ton of cool stuff, much of which I haven’t been able to type up yet. (Last night was a late one, and the internet where I’m staying has been spotty.)
I hope to get more reports up today from the convention. Overall, Comic-Con is still a lot of fun — but man, it is a madhouse. And a little humanity and compassion instead of strict rule-following would go a long way to soothe the long line-waiting and mile-walking.
– Matt Price