Gaslamp

SDCC Watch Day 3: Marriott Marquis Expansion and SDCC Implications

In yesterday’s SDCC post I mentioned the Marriott Marquis’ expansion, set to debut in June 2016.

You can read more about it here.

If you’re attending SDCC this year you’ll see the construction zone, which will no doubt impact traffic, as the site is butted up against the sidewalk. 

With the amount of conference and meeting space being added, it’s natural to assume that there will be implications for SDCC. Currently the Marriott hosts gaming central, featuring RPGs and LARPs, along with the Con Suite.

Will this expansion aid SDCC by providing more space?

Only time will tell.

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SDCC Watch: Day 2 (June 9th)

In case you haven’t noticed, lately I’ve been making a daily trek to the Gaslamp Quarter and Convention Center to keep an eye on SDCC preparations. It’s early, of course, but I figure why not do it when I’m so close to the action?

Here’s what I saw today. (The Cisco convention is still going, and the weather is muggy and warm with lots of muggy humidity)

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No line yet at Hall H!

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Construction underway at the Marriott Marquis. The renderings look amazing and this will provide a ton of new space for SDCC in 2016.

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Sky today…

Sky yesterday…

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Keep watching for more SDCC prep sneak peeks!

SDCC Badges…May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Are you sitting in the waiting room trying to get tickets for SDCC 2014?  Comic Con badges are fast becoming the most elusive ticket around. 

New this year–you get into the waiting room and then you are randomly assigned a number.  You can wait for hours or you might wait for minutes.  Either way, no one is guaranteed a badge.

What this means is that the San Diego Convention Center absolutely needs to expand.  As a San Diego native, the expansion is the only major construction project I support.  Screw the Chargers stadium. We need more room for SDCC.  The folks at SDCC also need to start thinking outside the box…and outside the Convention Center.  Frankly, if they utilized the surrounding hotels and the Gaslamp more, they could have a world class venue.  And why not transfer Hall H activities to Petco Park? Think about it–what a great way to increase the size of the venue and stop the awful lines.  Why not require tickets to the big panels…no charge, just pre-registered, so that people can do more than just spend their time in line.  Less time in line means more people out spending their money, after all.

But these are just random musings.  What do I know?

Good luck to the people in the Waiting Room this morning.  As they say in Hunger Games, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

Too Early to Stress About Comic Con?

It’s only January and I’m  wondering what’s going to happen at SDCC this year.  Badge prices have increased, and the ever-changing maze to purchase badges has added a whole new series of hoops to jump through.  Will I get in?  Will my family get in?  Will my people get in?  Will I be stuck wandering the Gaslamp without a badge? 

It’s only January, and I’m already stressed about SDCC.

Silver lining: You don’t need a badge to donate blood.  And the San Diego Blood Bank has all the True Blood goodies I need. 🙂