Only this morning we were congratulating actor/entrepreneur Zachary Levi for setting up Nerd HQ, a Comic-Con offsite that’s essentially a mini comic-con in itself with panels and signings with major nerdlebrities — with proceeds to go to charity.
Well, it turns out that running even a mini-comic-con gives you major comic-con sized problems: when tickets for the event went on sale this morning, it resulted in complete server meltdown. Here’s a bit of the increasingly desperate tweet trail:
Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
Nerds, do not try to order before 9am PDT. Give us until then to make sure everything is working properly. #nerdhqNerd Machine @thenerdmachine
The ticket page is not up yet nerds. It will go up at 9am. Please do not try and order before then.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
You nerds are relentless.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
Its up,nerds are ordering.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We are not down, but it is running slow. We are working on it.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
I am sorry nerds,we really thought we had it ready. We are working on it. #FAILNerd Machine @thenerdmachine
Nerds, we are going to stop the orders for now.The server is not loading the tickets properly. Will be back soon.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
Really sorry nerds but way,way,way more people hit the site thane we were ready for.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We will work it out, but please stop trying to order.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We are making the corrections to resume. Hang tight.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
I think you nerds actually blew up the server building. We are rebuilding it now.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We are going through all the tickets now to see where we are. WIll update as soon as we can.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We are going to shut down the entire site for upgrades now. We will let you know when we are back.Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
As I said, we are going through the tickets. If there is a problem we will let you know. DON’T FREAK OUT.
And then a final, resigned sigh of exhaustion:
Nerd Machine @thenerdmachine
We will not be coming back for a while today. Doing a major upgrade. I will give you a few hours notice before we resume sales.
Oh, the lengths people will go to to see Stan Lee.