The Couch

This was the first year we went to Comic Con International in San Diego and it was certainly a crazy one.  We wanted to share with everyone some of the fun, and not so fun, experiences we had a Comic Con International.

My adventure for the weekend was going to two different Urgent Cares, having a cabbie hang up on me when I asked to go to one, walking a couple miles on the only sunny and hot day in San Diego, and having an old lady cut the line in front of me when waiting to get a prescription.  In the end I did get everything I needed and made it to the last day of the convention (I got sick on Saturday).  I can also say no matter how much you prepare with hand sanitizer, vitamin c tablets or anything else you apparently can’t avoid something like Strep Throat.

The other thing I really enjoyed was working the booth and meeting everyone.  I got to spend an entire day working with Cameron from our community meeting more community members and that was awesome.  I got to hear from people who stopped by because they had heard of us from all sorts of different places.  I’ve worked a few different conventions this year and they keep getting better and better.  Even if I did catch Con Plague at this one.

The last thing I wanted to mention was how surreal it was seeing a goat tied up outside of the resturant we went to the last night.  According to the owners they got it from a Dog pound where there were a few other odd animals as well.  It’s not every day you see farm animals in downtown San Diego.  At least I assume as much with the crowd of people it was getting.

-Jon

My biggest memory from the weekend happened when Jon wasn’t at the booth. He was faking “strep throat”… (kidding, you looked super sick). It all began when Kevin and I showed up with 6 boxes of t-shirts. We had been on the sidewalk in front of the convention center, and had bribed 4 guys to help us carry the boxes into the convention center. 

Upon arriving at the booth, where Audrey was working so hard at pimping our app, we gave our volunteers the promised t-shirts. The crowd around the booth began to ask, “are those free?” We responded with a simple “yes,” and that’s when the madness began. 

Almost immediately a line formed, stretching down at least past Sideshow Collectibles, full of frenzied Graphic.ly fans (or was it full of fans who love free stuff)… Next we know, we were digging through boxes of shirts, searching for sizes. Kevin was managing the line, then Audrey was helping with crowd control, making sure the line didn’t block any one’s booth, as we had already been yelled at by convention staff members. 

The madness lasted for about an hour, until we had run out of t-shirts, except for one small box of ladies shirts.. Hidden under the table. 

Other favorite memory… Watching people play with our app on the iPad. Exclaiming how cool it was, how crisp the images were, and how they needed an iPad to read comics. Because it made them look so much cooler. 

-Adrienne

What were some of your favorite memories from the Convention Floor?  Feel free to share them via the comments or submit them to The Couch.

If you’d like to see more pictures from SDCC that we took check out our Album on Flickr.

This was the first year we went to Comic Con International in San Diego and it was certainly a crazy one.  We wanted to share with everyone some of the fun, and not so fun, experiences we had a Comic Con International.

One of the things that stood out for me the most was the interacting with creators and publishers who stopped by our booth to talk to us.  The feedback we got was useful and positive, being able to discuss our plans and the needs of these creators was exciting and reaffirmed just how much we can help.  It was great to hear the excitement for our bonus material in Irredeemable #1 and how it generated talk about the additional things the creators want to do that can help us push comics into a digital age.  New things which that don’t just replicate the print books but compliments it while adding a lot of extra value, that we are sure fans will love and just as importantly the creators are excited to produce.

I did learn a lesson from Comic Con, that lesson cost us $100 and means that I will always check prices with a pedicab driver before taking the journey!

- Kevin

I enjoyed walking by the Oni Press booth, and recognizing Greg Rucka there; doing a double check on his name plate and walking on over.  We got to have a discussion on Wonder Woman, Queen and Country and all books that he has written.  Got some recommendations from him on other books (either at Oni or otherwise).  Then excitedly got to show off Graphic.ly on the ipad with Kevin to him.  Really hoping he might get involved with some of our extra content in the future.  Overall, with all the creators and publishers I talked to, it was really great having something to talk to them about instead of just gushing about how much I like their work in abstract ways.  Almost everyone I talked to creator and publisher-wise was excited about getting into the digital space: I got to try and convince them that Graphic.ly was the place to be (and it is)!  

Really a theme throughout the entire convention for me was how patient and calm most people were: there was absolute chaos happening all around, but for the majority people were very chill and polite: they were just there to have a good time!

People love them some iPad.  They want to play with them, check them out.  And truly I could see comic fan’s eyes light up when they saw our reader; it was just an “I get it” moment on how great reading comics on the ipad can be.  I can’t lie in that I’m not sure if I sold Graphic.ly to every single one of them, but I think I sold a few ipads this weekend….

Seeing kids play with the special features in Irredeemable #1: seeing the different styles of “coloring in” or “erasing”.  Some went super-fast-race-car and others were very careful to keep in the lines, even though there was nothing they could really do incorrectly.

Meeting the Glee kids…  

Coming to the con this was the one group/panel I wanted to meet.  Due to con-sibilities, I wasn’t able to get in line for either the signing or the panel.  I was disappointed, but I was there to get the good word out on Graphic.ly, not to meet triple-ly talented actors and actress…  However…  as I am sure many a con story goes, I was there at the right time to get in line after the ticketed people for a signing.  I got to gush to each of the actors and actresses about specific things in the show as the security people gave me wary looks, afraid I would kidnap Heather Morris and Naya Rivera to make them sign and dance just for me!  I made the n00b mistake of not recognizing the creator of the show Ryan Murphy.  *forehead slap*  The one person who could have made an all Sondheim episode happen and I walked right by the guy, wondering who the heck this guy between Chris Colfer and Naya Rivera was…  Glad I got my moment of fangirl silliness for Glee!

Running after Felicia Day so fast, my ipod touch flew out of my back pocket! (I personally liked when Audrey didn’t realize Joss Whedon was standing 4 feet in front of her - Jon)

Seeing the con, with cranes and all, getting set-up.  It’s a major undertaking…

-Audrey

What were some of your favorite memories from the Convention Floor?  Feel free to share them via the comments or submit them to The Couch.

Also come back tomorrow to hear from Adrienne and myself.