#SDCC: What did we learn on the Show tonight, Craig?
We’ve now had a day or three to recover from the convention, and there are a few things we’ve learned– some particular just to this convention, some that will hold for the year to come, and some that are permanent changes to the way we’re doing business.
- We’ve almost hit the point where we can have a virtual shadow convention alongside the real one. I would argue that this may be the major lesson of the convention, particularly now a few days after the con when everybody is uploading their videos to YouTube and pictures to Flickr. Keith R.A. DeCandido illustrates the phenomenon for his Farscape panel: “
There’s a whole mess of YouTube video from the tenth anniversary panel I moderated: Not enough Twitter love from the nerds? Screw you and your marketing plan. Try talking to your audience for a change. Or even better, listening to them. You think it’s just dumb luck that everybody loved Flynn’s Arcade?
All in all, San Diego is still a good show. It’s exhausting, it’s insane, but it’s still the standard to beat.
I have attended 8 or 9 SD conventions (1975 being the first) and am always amazed how the thing continues to grow. I seem to recall the first companies & publishers that began coming to the cons were particularly approachable and friendly. Now many seem to act as though they are doing the fans a favor by showing up. Hey, who watches your films, or series and buys your products?To be honest, I have noticed that in many cases it is not the folks working the booth, but the people doing "security" as if they were protecting the President. I'm not a violent guy by any means, but twice I came close to slugging one of these guys who grabbed my arm to stop me from going down an aisle. It wouldn't surprise me to hear about a more aggressive attendee who did just that. Frankly, I wouldn't blame them!Of course, I'll still be there next year. :-)