CBR: Fabletown Vs. San Diego

[CBR News]

"Fables" creator Bill Willingham and Comic-Con's David Glanzer talk to CBR about the problems fans encounter at the increasingly media -focused San Diego show, where many Vertigo readers were denied entry to the "Fables" discussion panel.


Full article here.

[DrewTheXenocide]

I don't see why they don't just empty out the panel rooms before letting the new one start. That way, the best way to strategically get prime line real-estate would be to hop on line right as the panel before the panel you want to see starts.

[nweathington]

I don't see why they don't just empty out the panel rooms before letting the new one start. That way, the best way to strategically get prime line real-estate would be to hop on line right as the panel before the panel you want to see starts.

The problem with that is that the hallways, most of which aren't all that wide, would become jammed up with people camping outside the rooms. The fire marshals would never allow it.

Also, I would be one of those people who would actually enjoy both the Fables panel AND the Venture Bros. panel. For people like me, emptying out the rooms would mean I'd only be able to see one of the two.

[Slam_Bradley]

Maybe it's time to acknowledge that the event has outgrown the arena. So one of the two needs to change.

[grphxkindaguy]

What I don't understand is, what kind of LOSER camps out in a room for FOUR HOURS to see a panel?!? Are they giving out the golden apples of immortality or a million dollars at this panel? WTF?!?

SDCC really is incompetent in letting these jerks camp out for so long in room like that. How many other fans for panels before the Fables one were denied entrance b/c of this?!?

[JimmyDee]

Interesting report. Based on other reports I've read of this experience on The Beat, it sounds like this got kind of ugly. I've only been to Comic-Con once, two years ago, and I had quite a few issues with the security guards there. A lack of a cohesive voice (one security guard would tell you one thing, while another would come along acting totally differently) and general confusion made it difficult to find panel rooms at times or gain access to them (my favorite was the security guard who told me I had to go to the other side of the room to gain access, only to discover once I got to the other side of the room that I was actually at the right entrance).

I just listened to Willingham's panel from the DC Comics site and I have to say it sounded like he really kept his cool publicly. He sounded rather light hearted about it all once the panel began. Hopefully a few Venture Brothers fans were won over by the presentation.

[jessecuster3]

Maybe they need to go back to being a COMIC convention.

[Dave H]

Why not instate a ticketed panel policy?

Give tickets to the panels away at their respective booths or a designated booth for panels, and clear the room when it's over.

[grphxkindaguy]

Maybe they need to go back to being a COMIC convention.

I think those days are looooong gone, my friend.

[apoehler]

It's clear that ticketing and clearing the rooms in between panels is inevitable. They need to be proactive and implement it sooner than later.

[Fabian]

I believe this was a result of last year when the Venture Brothers panel was held before the MST3K re-union. I showed up a little under an hour to get in line for the Venture Brothers but found out that people have been in there for at least 5 hours to see the later panel. I never got in the room.

[Michael P]

If nothing else, The Beat comparing Venture Bros. to Joseph Heller is the best laugh I've had all week.

[StoneGold]

The problem with that is that the hallways, most of which aren't all that wide, would become jammed up with people camping outside the rooms. The fire marshals would never allow it.

Also, I would be one of those people who would actually enjoy both the Fables panel AND the Venture Bros. panel. For people like me, emptying out the rooms would mean I'd only be able to see one of the two.

Except you can't see either, because you can't get in. So pick one.

[_OM_]

...We've been discussing this off and on over on Bleeding Cool since the first reports of the Twi-Tards smelling up the place first got tweeted out, and the issue of clearing each meeting room between panels, and restricting lines from forming until 15 minutes before each panel were met with either of two responses:

1) "This is a great idea, and only an idiot or a dipshit lazy hire-a-pig would be against it. Which is obviously what happened."

2) "This is how it's been at SDCC. It's a tradition. If you fuck with it, we'll beat the living fuck out of you, so shut the fuck up!"

...Believe me, I actually got tweets like 2) above in the middle of all the Twi-Tards trying to harass me over my BC comments regarding their reported bovine lack of appeal and presence of stench. I guess some retards really get off standing in line for hours. Maybe SDCC should create a Line Ride like we saw in South Park and charge extra for it!

[mgs]

Interesting report. Based on other reports I've read of this experience on The Beat, it sounds like this got kind of ugly.

According to one of the links from Heidi's site, the problem was that the line security got mixed up and ended up rerouting the line for the hall which messed things up.

And I don't care about all the snarkiness of Willingham and the Venture fans, cause I see this really as a problem of the way the con is set up.

IMO, a lot of the problems people have, is because the organizers let people stay for as long as they want. Moving people out of a panel would allow those more interested in one or another better access, even though it would take more time to get people in and then out, periodically. SDCC needs to fix this before it gets worse.