Comic Con

Oh, Comic Con, I didn't think I was going to like you and yet surprisingly, I did.  Even with the mass amounts of people, I enjoyed walking around through all the booths and seeing all the clever and not so clever costume designs. There were a few things that are definitely worth highlighting.

Briona, Me, Adam Baldwin, Charles and Ian

One. All of the celebrities that we talked to were so nice! We had pictures taken with Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Adam Baldwin and Sir Patrick Stewart. Each one of them was smiling and happy to be there. I mean I know that celebrities get paid to be there but they were just nice people. Each photo shoot went about the same, we stood in line for an extended period of time, finally got in to take our picture, spent a split second shaking hands and saying hello before we were whisked out for the next group of people. I was not thrilled with the way the lines were set-up but more on that in a bit.


Two. While Ian (my brother) was getting a signed photo from Marina Sirtis, we got a chance to really talk to her. She asked us our names and when I told her that my name is Hawaiian she got a confused look in her eye before she stated that I didn't look Hawaiian, I looked like a "haole girl". I think I kinda went into shock. I wasn't offended or anything, I mean I am approximately 67% Caucasian, so I do have fair skin. The part that was shocking was that she knew the term. It's not widely used here in Utah.

Three. The last really great experience worth mentioning was watching how happy Charles (my husband) and Ian were when they got to have their picture taken with the Back to the Future DeLorean. They were beaming! Charles stood on the hover-board hanging on to the side of the DeLorean while Ian sat in the driver's seat. I took a lot of pictures while Briona (my sister in law) videoed the whole thing. They even got Official DeLorean Time Machine licenses. They were so proud.

Being that this blog is called "Rantings of a Hapa Hawaiian", it would be remiss of me if I didn't point out the things that I did not like/enjoy about Comic Con. There were quite a few things that I could have lived without and there were simple solutions for all of them. I am only going to list a few.

Problem: The costumes. So many of them were clever and obviously someone put a lot of thought and effort into them, like Elsa from Frozen or the Black Knight that kept jumping out at people. Then there were the ones that were like a train wreck that I could not look away from. The worst of these was the girl that was hiding in a booth because I am fairly certain her "costume" violated the Comic Con Cosplay rules. She was literally wearing nothing. Everything was painted on her body. She had a couple of pasties and a sheer thong covering up her girly bits and NOTHING else. Now I am sure many people appreciated her willingness to walk around basically naked but I did not. She looked like she belonged in a strip club. It was seriously ridiculous. I mean come on. There were children present.

Solution: Put some clothes on!

Problem: The lines. I don't mind waiting in line. I have probably waited in one line or another for about half my life at this point, but I do not like waiting longer than I have too because of someone else's incompetence.  There were a lot of lines but the ones that caused the most problems were the ones for the photos. These lines were split up so that VIP pass holders had their own line. The next line for non-VIP started in the front next to the VIP line and more lines were added for more people, each starting at the front. Once all the VIP made it through, the next line started and so on and so forth. The problem with running lines like this is that the people who were rude and inconsiderate of others kept tacking themselves on the end of the first lines making it take 20 to 90 minutes longer than it should have. Who thought that was a good idea?!

Line waiting for photos with Sir Patrick Stewart 

Solution: Serpentine lines. When we got to the Con we waited in a serpentine line. There were lines taped on the ground creating a magical barrier that most of society has been trained to follow. Everyone followed the person in front of them and we all got into the Con without anyone feeling like they should have gotten before the ten people that tacked themselves onto the line next to them. 

Problem: ComicCon Staff. The last major thing that really cause irritation were the people working the Con. Not the vendors or anything but the actually Comic Con crew. There were Czars (Golden Rod Shirts), Team Leads (Bright Orange Shirts), Volunteers (Faded Orange Shirts), Security (Red Shirts), etc. We learned very early on in the day that only one shirt color could be trusted for information, Golden Rod. The rest didn't know what was going on. They gave out wrong directions, moved lines back and forth for no reason, let other people go first because they couldn't remember where they had put the line they weren't supposed to move. They were rude and snippy and surprised when people got angry about it. I had a person, who was not in any of the color coordinated shirts but was a Comic Con employee, pester me trying to get a response. She thought better of it when Charles snapped at her. I don't think she would have appreciated the reaction that was brewing under the surface. I am pretty sure I would have ended up in jail had she pushed. She was half my size. I could have easily knocked her over and slammed her head into the ground a few times before anyone stopped me.

Solution: Train your people better. We PAID to get into this convention. We PAID to get our pictures taken with the celebrity guests. We are PAYING customers. Treating your customers like garbage is bad for business. There would be less fires to put out if your people knew what to do. Instead of standing around mouthing off at people, teach them to treat the customers with respect. If it weren't for the paying customers, conventions wouldn't exist. There have to be customers to make money, so how about treating them with some respect. Now I am not saying you should take abuse or anything but when you screw up, take ownership of it. Don't say things like, "Well, we were going to shut it down because there were too many people so you should be happy that you are even getting a picture". I can tell you with certainty. This attitude does not go over well. Especially since you were unwilling to give refunds. 

Aside from those things, Comic Con was an exciting, agreeable experience. I plan to attend again in September.