Camping
If you want to see any panels in Hall H or Ballroom 20, you are probably going to need to camp out. What does this entail? Well, it does mean that you will be sleeping on the ground in downtown San Diego (no problem for the more adventurous among us). If you are going to pull this off, you're going to need to know a couple of things. Let's start with what you need to bring.
- Personal hygiene supplies
- Sleeping Bag
- Soap/Face wash
- Everything you want at the Con the next day/days
- Extra Clothes
- Food and Water
- Sun Screen
- A buddy (if you can't bring one, make friends)
Of course this isn't everything, but it is the essential supplies that everyone should bring. It's really important to have a buddy to watch your spot during bathroom breaks or food breaks. Next, have fun in the line. Everyone there cares about what you're waiting to see so strike up a conversation and you might just make a couple of new friends (always a good thing). Essentially, the only thing left to do is wait in line. It's not bad at all to be honest and I will probably spend all four night this year on the ground in downtown San Diego.
Schedule
Personally, I'm not the planning type. However, to make your Comic Con experience the best it can be, I really recommend reading their schedule and planning what panels and/or events you want to attend. It doesn't take long to sift through (especially if you know what you're looking for). If you really don't want to make a plan and prefer to wing it, I don't blame you at all and if I didn't have my sister to tell me what the good panels were and plan my Comic Con for me, I would wing it every single year. Here's a link to this year's schedule. SDCC has actually added a little program on their site called "My Sched" that allows you to create a schedule on their site and then print it out. This is incredibly useful. I have also heard that their is a free app available.
The Floor
My personal favorite part of Comic Con is the Exhibit Hall, more commonly known as: The Floor. This is the main room in the Convention Center where there are thousands of booths set up and everyone wants to give/sell you awesome stuff/useless junk. I definitely recommend having a large bag and a poster tube with you if you plan on capitalizing on the "free stuff" element of the Comic Con experience. On one end of the convention center, there are huge, elaborate booths that are home to the pop culture section of Comic Con. Most people spend their time on the floor over there but don't be fooled! The other end of the floor often has the best give-aways. For instance, the book booths towards the middle of the floor are always giving away ARCs and getting them is easy. Simply go up to the booth and either say "what are you guys giving away right now?" or if you're not comfortable with that you can tell them "hey, I'm a blogger and I was wondering which books you recommend I review on my blog next? Do you have any ARCs that I could review?". This way, you don't have to feel like a jerk who only wants free stuff (although asking for free stuff at Comic Con never hurts) but you still get tons of free books! The far end of the floor is home to all of the comic booths! Most of the booths in that area act as shops and rarely give out free stuff but are still cool to visit.
Free stuff
Alright, don't lie. You're excited for the free stuff. That's my favorite part of Comic Con, not gonna lie. However, it is possible to go about the "free stuff" wrong. The key is: don't go crazy. There are so many years where I've come back with bags and bags of free stuff and I throw away 99% of it. If it's not something you want and it's not something that will sell for decent money, don't take it.
Outside the Con
Comic Con is held in downtown San Diego, right across from the Gas Lamp quarter which is one of the coolest spots in San Diego. If you get tired of exploring Comic Con (you won't) or you just want a break from the massive crowds, go explore. There are always loads of events and parties all around Comic Con that are either free or pretty cheap to get in to. Comic Con turns San Diego into a huge party for five days, so don't just stay inside, make sure you go check out what San Diego has. If you don't want to go far, at least check out the Marriot right next to Comic Con. They are constantly holding events over there. And believe me, their video game room is unbelievably cool. Go try out video games that haven't been released yet, it is totally worth it (for the bragging rights if nothing else).
I'm not saying this is all there is to Comic Con, but it's such a huge event that it would be impossible for me to cover everything (or I would end up writing a novel that no one would read). Anyways, those are the basics. See you at the Con!
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