The Good: My table in Artist’s Alley was well positioned and I had a chance to see lots of folks who frequent this site, not to mention a number of old friends and even some REALLY old friends. The separate signings that I had were well attended, although I hold no illusions that people were lining up to see me (at the Evil Ink table, they were there for Claudio Sanchez; at my two Marvel signings, they were there for Chris Claremont at the first one and for the Romitas at the second.) But, hey, a line’s a line. And I particularly had a good time on the “Epic Mickey” panel. I decided to have some fun at the beginning by abruptly saying, “I want to do something,” and I watched the Disney reps in the front row blanch as they obviously thought, “Oh God, what’s he going to say, what’s he going to do?” And then I led the crowd in a rendition of the “Mickey Mouse Club” theme song, and the Disney reps promptly relaxed and even sang along. Also had a chance to actually play the game at a display, and it totally rocked. Gonna have to buy a Wii.
The Bad: The lack of names on the badges prompted me to be mistaken for other various comics creators. Also, thanks to construction in the Javits, Artists Alley was at the opposite end of the building from panels, which meant that any panel appearance necessitated making my way through about five blocks worth of crowds. Also Artists Alley was set up at the one section of the Javits Center that had no restrooms; they were at the opposite end of the room. Furthermore people were consistently given misinformation by the information people, including telling them that my signing at Evil Ink on Saturday was 5 PM (it was 3 PM; it was 5 PM on Friday) and being utterly unable to tell fans where my table was situated.
The Ugly: It’s generally good form to send folks home on an upbeat note. To signal the end of the Comic Con in San Diego, they blink the lights and an announcer gently says that the party’s over. Not New York. They signaled the end of the convention by blaring a horn over the PA system that’s identical to the sirens from German police cars. Between that and the guys in colored shirts trying to herd us, my racial memory kicked in and I started looking around fearfully for the railroad cars to transport us to the camps. So they might want to come up with something more soothing next year…like an air raid siren.
PAD
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I had fun at the convention overall, but the construction on the center did put somewhat of a damper on things. It was difficult to get anywhere, especially with how busy it got on Saturday afternoon.
But, I was thrilled to get my beat-up copy of Q-Squared sign and I’m now re-reading it for the first time in a couple of years. I love it just as much as I ever did, maybe a little more now that it’s signed.
I was looking for you to say hi to you! Several people told me the approximate location of your table, but for some reason I just couldn’t find it. I’m glad it sounds like you had an (overall) good time, though!
You know what’s also annoying about certain convention name badges? The ones that have two holes at the top that you run a string through? All too often, they leave JUST enough string so that the name badge hangs at chest level. Or breast level on a woman. And when I’m a guy and the majority of convention goers are young, attractive females, I–
Wait a minute. Why am I complaining?
Personally, what frustrated me about trying to identify table occupants was that if there was just a few people in front of it, you couldn’t see either the sign on the table, or the one on the portion of the table cloth facing away from the table. Fortunately, those artists sitting in front of signs adorned with an image of their art and a label indicating who they were helped, but not all of them had this. This would be far better idea for the cons to implement.
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Even more aggravating was the way the tables were designated: They were letter from A – V, but instead of designated them from left to right, and top to bottom, they were assigned, with respect to the AA map of the tables, from \i{right to left}, and from \i{bottom to top}. And the signs indicating them were mostly posted in the eastern inner aisle running across the ends of the tables, but not the western boundary of the tables, so if you were walking in that latter area, you largely couldn’t tell what table you were at. Navigating was somewhat easier Sunday, because I had printed out a list of the people I wanted to photograph alphabetically by surname, with their table designations next to them, as well as a table directory listed alphabetically by table, but this took me all night to do, and I got little sleep as a result. I had also gotten slightly used to the layout after a while, but not enough to want to do that again. Next time I’m going to print a diagram of the tables themselves, and indicate who’s where.
At least, the badges could be put on the chest. At the UKCAC, they had those clip-on badges. Fine if you have breat pockets, but what if you don’t? Well, many creators wore them on the belt. As I was involved in a fanzine at the time, and was prowling the alleys to find people to interview, there were many times where I certainly looked like a perve trying to see the names on the badges. Looking at chests is acceptable, but crotches… not really.
Peter:
If I can ask, what was the crowd reaction to the announcement about DC’s impending new price policy starting this January?
Did you overhear any comments on it and Marvel’s response that you can share?
I don’t know; I wasn’t with the crowd when it was announced. I know that people at one of the Marvel panels seemed jazzed about the idea…until they were informed that DC was also cutting several pages of editorial content. Suddenly they seemed less sanguine about it.
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PAD
Another problem Artist’s Alley had was that the program didn’t bother to include table assignments along with the names of the artists. So con-goers had to consult one of a handful of directories, similar to those you’d see in a mall, scattered throughout the area. And, just for fun, the directories used a different table-numbering scheme than the accompanying maps (one was a Battleship-style “Row D, Table 8” setup, the other a numbered-aisle-and-booth system similar to the one on the main floor), and lacked a “You Are Here” symbol.
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Apparently, the NYCC truly does believe that getting there is half the fun.
There was a list to that effect that you could print from their site, Michael, but I didn’t even realize that myself until I got home Saturday night. They should’ve made that stuff available at the con. Their program just had the list of artists, but not where they’d be. I can’t imagine whose idea that was.
Funny, I was able to cross the Javits Center in three or four jumps this weekend…oh, wait, that was in the Incredible Hulk video game, not IRL. Silly me.
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(And yes, I stopped and smashed the place into rubble just out of spite for not being able to make it to NYCC. I’m petty that way.)
Hulk smash overpriced concessions!
It was an honor to see you at the con. I hope you had a good time.
I had a great time at NYCC, personally, though at the end of the three days I needed a foot massage something horrible. My boyfriend, Kevin, felt the same way.
Running into you was definitely one of the highlights of the entire weekend for us, though. Seriously, when you asked for our picture we were pretty floored– we were the Layla and Jamie you ran into on Friday. And now I feel like I’m stalking you, great, haha.
But yeah, I’d have to agree about the construction creating distance problems thing. And bathroom placement. And as usual, food prices were nothing short of ridiculous. It was a great weekend though, and I can’t wait for next year.
Thanks for posing for the photo that currently adorns the Infobox in your Wikipedia article, Peter. It’s less blurry and a fuller shot than the one that was in there previously.
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Peter David: They signaled the end of the convention by blaring a horn over the PA system that’s identical to the sirens from German police cars. Between that and the guys in colored shirts trying to herd us, my racial memory kicked in and I started looking around fearfully for the railroad cars to transport us to the camps.
Luigi Novi: Personally, I thought the little girl standing by the wall as the convention-goers were led out of the building, and screaming “GOOD-BYE, NERDS! GOOD-BYE, NERDS!” was a bit much.
Oh, and thanks to you and J.K. for posing in front of that illustration of Lee by J.K. I placed it in the Fallen Angel WP article, in the Publication history subsection on the title’s move to IDW.
I am so sorry i had to miss it this year. I had intended to be there but we had a death in my wife’s family which threw the last week or so into a complete state of higgely piggely.
Hopefully i’ll be able to attend next year, and maybe stop by to say hi.
The artists alley layout was a bit of a muddle – but I’d say overall NYCC has improved over these 5 years.
Thanks again for signing yet another comic for a doofy fan, and bringing miss Sinclair back to the book – can’t wait to see the kid!
Ch’p says “Hi.”
See you next year.
I concur as far as name badges are concerned. Considering my brain is a sieve when it comes to remembering names, it was a shame to have badges that just said ‘press’ or ‘exhibitor’ or whatever. But I do agree with the previous post that indicated this year’s con was an improvement over the last one. If they continue to improve even marginally, I’ll be happy. And considering the number of interviews I had to do over the three days, I’m really glad things are a bit closer and easier to get to, as opposed to San Diego where it was virtually impossible to get from Point A to Point B in less than 20 minutes even at full speed. I know I’m comparing apples and oranges but it was still a relief. Personally, my two favorite moments were A) the beautiful golden lab dressed as Superdog, who was more than happy to pose for pictures, and B) Billy Tan’s 7 year-old son who sat next to his dad happily working on his own sketches. Sometimes it’s little things like that you really remember.