Silicon Valley ComiCon 2017

Silicon Valley ComiCon was in April this year, and we had a chance to go for all three days.

If you recall from my previous blog post on SVCC, there were some issues that SVCC had to contend with last year, and I think they did an outstanding job in fixing many of their issues from last year:

• Crowd management --- they did a lot better in terms of crowd management. The lines for getting tickets / registration seemed to be better managed. Personally, we got our "badges" ahead of time (so much better than last year), and friends reported that getting their badges went without a hitch.
• Signage was a lot better this year and with the added functionality of their SVCC app for your mobile, it was easier to find things!
• Food options were now plentiful. SVCC reserved the local nearby park, closed it off, and had a plethora of food trucks available. This was good for the SVCC crowd, the Science March crowd, and any locals in the area. 
• Panels -- there were lots and lots of panels this year, and they were easily accessible. The app made them a lot easier to find.
• Badging in & out --- For whatever reason, SVCC is still enamored with the concept of "badging" in and out of the convention center. (Nearly all tech companies require employees to use a badge to get into their buildings, so I suppose they are emulating that.)
• They also did a bag check before you could badge into the convention (which I don't remember from last year). At the main entrance, this caused a back-up when trying to enter (with the additional badge check).
• Badging in/out (especially in the main entrance while trying to leave). Sometimes the scanner/tablet didn't read the badge correctly, which caused further delays. 
• LUCKILY, there were other small entrances (if you knew where they were) so you could get in/out without the crowd, but by Sunday, you were only able to badge out of those locations.

There were some pretty cool things they did this year.

They had a big tie into the Science March -- they had keynote speakers, provided the aforementioned food trucks, and reserved areas. Not only did them have a lot of STEM/STEAM panels, they had lots of interactive science exhibits for kids to do. They had hands-on exhibits from the SJ Children's Discovery Museum & Libraries, NASA ,and the SJ Computer Museum

The SJ Computer museum was particularly fun because they had a lot of "old school" computers from old Atari 2800s to Apple IIes, projectors, and the first mobile phones 

For all ages, there was an entire area of free arcade games (e.g. Pacman, DigDug, Qbert, Joust, etc) for anyone to play. They also had old school console games -- older SNES, Ataris, and PC games.

 

And a lending library for a variety of board games!

Of course, there was a slew of panels to attend, ranging from specific STEM/STEAM related d panels (hosted by NASA scientists, the SETI institute) to cosplay to comic book related topics to Star Trek/Star Wars and other media panels. It was all sorts of awesome. There were definitely a few panels that I wanted to attend that were conflicted by others I wanted to see!

 

The Over 30 Cosplay Panel

Key note panels...boy, were there key note panels. Buzz Aldrin, the whole cast of Star Trek: the Next Generation, SETI institute, Adam Savage, and Tori /Kary from Mythbusters & White Rabbit.

TESTED filmed some of their episodes with a few of their hosts. It was neat to see them work, as well as many of the props they've built.

Overall, it was a vast improvement over last year; we were very happy with how things changed. Of course, there are small things here and there that can be improved upon, but that's true for any convention. We had a blast and are looking forward to next year!

Silicon Valley Comic Con Report

Last weekend, my Viking and I attended the first Silicon Valley ComicCon that was presented by Steve Wozniak and Stan Lee. Sufficed to say, we were extremely excited to go.

Overall, we had a lot of fun. There was some good stuff AND bad stuff. Most of the bad stuff primarily had to do with issues that you could say was due to it being a first-time con. Issues such as:

• Crowd management --- the lines for a lot of things such as getting tickets and badges (for both the paying and pre-registered crowd) were insanely long.
• Lack of signage directing people to the correct areas. And some  volunteers often didn't know what was happening.
• Inefficient methods of dealing with badges --- We had to stand in line to get our pre-registered badges, which then arrived IN THE MAIL on SATURDAY EVENING. Also, as an attendee, you had to "badge" in and out of the actual ComicCon area. This made for some confused attendees and bad crowd management trying to get in and out of the specific ComicCon area.
• Lack of food options in the convention hall -- There were only 2-3 food vendors for the insane Saturday crowds, which resulted in 20-60 minute waits for food. However, on Sunday, they learned their lessons and opened the concession stands inside the center.
• Insufficient number of panels to attend -- For the sheer number of people that attended, there weren't enough panels. And of the panels that did exist, the lines to get into them were long or confusing -- as lines for tickets and some of the panels were in the same area. However, the panels were quite interesting and they tried to meld technology and comic books with some success.

Part of this can be attributed to it being a first time convention and some can be attributed to merely poor planning on their part. But, I'm willing to cut them slack and to see how they address issues for next year.

On the flip side, we had a lot of fun. They had various groups from the 501st legion, Rebel Legion, a Star Wars memorabilia museum, and Madame Toussads wax museum! A few technology companies, such as Occulus and other VR firms were there. And the line to see them was long.

However, by Sunday afternoon, we'd pretty much seen everything we wanted to see...twice over. So, we hoofed it home to relax for the rest of the afternoon. Given all the number of limited available panels, etc., it probably worth it for most people to only come one day. For a budget conscious comic book fan, one day would have been more than enough.

Here's a few photos of the things we did see:

We popped into a few of the panels, which included Steve Wozniak and Stan Lee. These were hilariously fun. Unfortunately, we missed a few other panels due to the aforementioned long lines. However, just like San Diego Comic Con, they had big screens for the one large room so you could see what was going on stage.

There was some large movie poster/props that were on display in several areas. (This bird is bigger than me, and its wingspan is at least 6 feet long)

More than a few prop groups were there. Some were for show, and some for sale. The Star Wars museum had an interesting collection of memorabilia.

Insofar as cosplayers, there were a LOT of costumes from a variety of science fiction and fantasy genres. It was a lot of fun to see many of them.

Surprisingly (or not), there was a lots and lots of Star Wars costuming, especially with members of the local 501st garrison there.

Of course yours truly was also in my Star Wars costume. I ran into a lot of femme Han Solos over the course of Saturday, but alas, only one male Slave Leia and only one Wookie, not counting Peter Mayhew, who was one of the guests of the convention (and one that I had wanted to meet!)

It just wasn't the adults. We saw a lot of kids as well. And they were adorable.

There was also a costume contest consisting of 100+ cosplayers (which was a bit much). Some of the costumes were good, some were okay, but everyone had fun.

Sufficed to say, we enjoyed ourselves, despite the issues that occurred. Next year, we'll be a bit more prepared to deal with the crowds, lack of available food issues, and whatnought. I really hope they solve this year's problems and really up their game for next year.

Because, it would be awesome to have an annual comicbook convention in Silicon Valley again!