Comments on: I'm in!

By: neeb

neeb — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:33:53 +0000

“why isn’t there a more prominent convention already there? It is twice the distance from Los Angeles, but does that affect shipping drastically?”

Katherine Keller can give you an earful, but it boils down to the fact that elements that have tried to get cons going in Las Vegas inevitably end up not knowing anything about either comics or Las Vegas. The promotion is notoriously bad and the fees charged to exhibitors and guests tended to be atrocious.
Such things kill any momentum or motivation to try large scale cons there.
Not to mention, Las Vegas in the middle of summer is… warm. San Diego has had a few hot conventions, but Vegas is usually 30 degrees worse.

By: Christopher Moonlight

Christopher Moonlight — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:21:16 +0000

Anyway, they did a con in Vegas a few years back. It was a bunch of pros sitting around selling nothing. They didn’t do it again. San Diego is a beautiful city. If they moved comic con out of it, I don’t think I’d be happy to go anymore.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:31:34 +0000

Matt H: I don’t think there’s going to be any chance of the Con moving to Vegas. Can you imagine that many sweaty, overweight geeks in one convention center (much less all the casinos) smack in the middle of High Heat?

Also, Vegas ain’t a kid-friendly town no matter how much the Visitors’ Bureau might try to say so. If the show were to move anywhere while retaining the third week in July — or, really, any July or August date, I don’t think that any move would be to anywhere but Los Angeles. The Con occurs a couple of weeks into filming of the traditional TV season *and* it occurs smack in the middle of the TCA press junkets. A large part of the reason, IMO, that the studios and actors put up with the 2-hour-ish commute down to San Diego for the Con is due to the weather. Add 20 more degrees of heat in a move to Vegas and it becomes too much of a hassle for *them.* So I think it’d be Los Angeles or nothin’.

Now watch somebody take this post entirely out of its speculative context and try to start yet another “The Con Is Moving to LA — This Time For Sure!” rumor.

— Rob

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:59:04 +0000

I got a room but had to make some changes when the site crashed. I called the number and got a real nice lady to help me. She was extremely helpful. Plus they picked up almost right away. You all should try calling. I was very pleased.

By: Susie

Susie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:31:28 +0000

My browser’s STILL hung on confirmation.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:14:54 +0000

Travel Planners doesn’t care if people can’t make reservations because the con will be full whether or not their site crashed once, twice, or not at all.

It’s all part of the mystique of Sandy Eggo Con. And for every person who says they’ll never go again, there are dozens who will take their place. (Sorta like “Hail Hydra!”)

By: neil kleid

neil kleid — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:14:23 +0000

Had three browsers open and redial running on the phone for 45 minutes. My wife was hitting redial at home. Got to the billing point twice before each crashed. At the 45 minute mark we gave up and I decided to keep one browser open for kicks, figuring I’d have to do the “wait til someone cancels” thing but luck would have it, I got in, got my number two hotel choice and all is well.

45 minutes for my first year. Not so bad.

By: Tony Lee

Tony Lee — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:04:31 +0000

Utter ****ing joke, Travel Planners. Three times I got to the cc card point, three times you crashed.

Now the closest hotel I have is 5 miles away and across the bloody bay.

This is going to be my last SDCC if you’re still involved next year. I’ll be demanding a full explanation of where my three cc details went, as all three times they apparently went through.

By: Marz Richards

Marz Richards — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:41:49 +0000

You would murder me if I told you the rate that I got, Joe. There is simply no reason to use Travel Plotzers anymore. Online travel sites, personal research, even simply booking your next stay the day you check out will get you a deal close to what you want, if not exactly what you want. Hell, even a personal travel agent would be preferable to the mental exhaustion and malefic bullshit that the jokers at TP put you through. But who ever said anyone in comics listened to reason?

By: maija

maija — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:02:17 +0000

Up until reading this blog entry and comments I was feeling pretty bummed about not going to SDCC this year.

Now I feel much better.

By: Torsten Adair

Torsten Adair — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:11:05 +0000

SDCC may not be moving to Vegas (not to be confused with the city of Las Vegas), but the Diamond retailer conference is.
Given the many reasons for hosting a convention in Vegas (hotels, air service, Star Trek Experience), why isn’t there a more prominent convention already there? It is twice the distance from Los Angeles, but does that affect shipping drastically?

By: Joe Lawler

Joe Lawler — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:10:18 +0000

Convention rates, that’s why people wait.

By: Marz Richards

Marz Richards — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:06:25 +0000

Booked a hotel room in January, no worries. Why wait for Travel Planners when you can just call and book prior to D-Day?

By: Michael Grabois

Michael Grabois — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:06:13 +0000

OK, after 5 hours of the “Personal Information” page waiting for a reply from the server, I’m giving up and going home. I hate to kill the page – what if my reservation for the Doubletree finally goes through?

By: Sean D

Sean D — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:57:00 +0000

We used three phones and got through at 12:00 exactly. After being told that half a dozen hotels were booked (AT 12:00 CENTRAL TIME) when they opened the lines, we were able to secure a room. Not exactly phone but one less worry. I still can’t fathom how these hotels were booked at 12:00.

Well, at 12 Central the lines had been open for an hour. The fact you got through (I was still fighting the processing glitch at that point) is a miracle.