My Very First San Diego Comic-Con Experience

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Sorry if this turns out to be complete gibberish, I am exhausted. For the last two days the Mister and I have been down in San Diego for Comic-Con. We had the amazing opportunity to volunteer on Saturday which was interesting. We went from standing in a line to await out fate as volunteers to policing said line. Let me just say that there were some volunteers there who were not happy at all. I got some down right dirty looks from people by simply saying “good morning” to them as they walked into the volunteer registration center. Me personally, I was ecstatic because I was getting into the convention for free by lending a hand for a few hours. I guess some people just didn’t appreciate the awesomeness of volunteering like I did. Anyways, after a few hours of volunteering we were finally able to go into the convention center and partake in the festivities. While we weren’t able to get a slot for the Outlander signing because they handed out the tickets while we were volunteering, we were able to get into the panel.

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It was a lot of fun. It was great getting to see them in person versus on the TV screen. Afterwards, the Mister and I walked the exhibit hall and checked out the vendors. That place is huge and I was always confused as to where I was on the map. I got really lucky and just so happened to walk past Sherrilyn Kenyon’s booth (I thought it was on the other side from where I was) and a guy handed me her book and told me she was doing a signing. So, over to that massively long line I went. I loved that as apposed to some others who do signings, Sherrilyn did not cap off her line. She was a champ and signed until there wasn’t a person left. She also didn’t just sign books like a robot. She actually engaged her fans and chatted and took pictures with them. Again, there were some artists and others who would barely even look up from whatever they were doing to take money and then quickly sign something and then turn back to what they were doing before. So, I loved that she took the time to make every person feel special.

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Needless to say that because of my lack of directional skills and the Mister not wanting to spend hours going from publisher booth to publisher booth, I didn’t hit any signings except for Sherrilyn’s, which was pure luck. Oh, and I tend to get side-tracked easily. For instance, we were on a mission to some booth and all of a sudden I saw VAMPLETS off to the side and just bee-lined it right over to it, leaving the Mister to weave his way over to me. I had my heart set on their ghost pony and thankfully they had three left when I got there. Ghost pony will go perfectly with the Death Pony the Mister got me a couple years ago when he went to Comic-Con.

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That was all day one. Day two was the day where we got to partake in the festivities all day long because we were able to purchase tickets for Sunday. I dressed up as a modern female Link from The Legend of Zelda. There was a slight mishap behind me when we were waiting in line to get into the convention center, where a kid’s Dr. Pepper exploded which of course got on my white leggings, but stuff happens and you have to kind of roll with it. *Just in case anyone is wondering, Dr. Pepper does in fact come out of clothes with a simple wash* I spent an hour and a half waiting in line for a Star Wars dog toy that they had 100 of. Guess what number I was in line… 101. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I had a “Are you kidding me?” look on my face when the chick told me that was it. However, my spirits were soon lifted when Del Rey publishing started passing out free books left and right as if they had a crap ton of books that they didn’t want to have to ship back with them. Which is probably exactly why they were passing them out like fliers. This girl right here was not complaining because it made me feel a lot better about our not so great morning. It was a nice pick-me-up after our rocky morning of running late to get there, not finding parking, me forgetting the camera in the car, and then the soda and dog toy fiasco. Getting those books put me back in the zone. The Mister has a field day with it. He kept saying that I reminded him of Will Ferrel from Elf where he walks up and down the street accepting fliers from the stores, except that I was dressed up as Link walking up and down publisher booths going, “Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thanks.” HaHa I think he will be holding onto that story for a while.

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Let me just say though that I’m sorry to anyone who called out to me and I ignored you. It was not intentional. There was just a cacophony of chatter, yelling, screaming, plus I was kind of paranoid about getting trampled, that I was pretty much “in the zone” while in the exhibit hall. The Mister would tell me once we got to safe ground along a wall or up against a booth that someone yelled out for Link or tried asking me about my hat and I just didn’t hear them. I honestly thought my low-key outfit would fly under the Comic-Con radar and that people would be more interested in the people who bought flashy costumes. Oh, and kudos to the chick who thought outside the box to get my attention. Instead of just calling out to me she caught up to me in the mass amount of people, walked along side me, and chatted with me about my hat. She was a pretty cool chick and I’m glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. In all honestly I definitely was not expecting to get attention for my outfit and certainly was not expecting a guy to run up to me and ask to take a photo with me holding a replica of Link’s sword that he’d just purchased. That was both cool and really awkward for me. I think I asked him like 3 times if he was sure he wanted to take a picture with me. Yeah, I would not make a good celebrity at all. I wish I had some amazing pictures of me in my Link outfit but due to forgetting my camera in the car the only good photo of me is the one the guy took with me. Unfortunately, all I have is one of me at home after 12 hours of driving, walking, and sweating my way through Comic-Con. Not the best photo in the world but it will have to do. 😛

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Okay, I think I’ve babbled on enough about my first time at Comic-Con. It was both insanely overwhelming but really fun. Since it took me so long to finally make it to Comic-Con and I know how incredibly hard it is to get in, I’m giving away some books, swag, and my Comic-Con bag! So essentially it’s like you were there without ever needing to leave the comfort of your home to deal with the mass amount of people that I had to deal with. 😉

You’re welcome 😛

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*Due to the size of the package this is a US only giveaway*

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24 Thoughts on “My Very First San Diego Comic-Con Experience

  1. Austin Baroudi on 13 July, 2015 at 5:28 pm said:

    Unfortunately I’ve never been.

    • 🙁 It’s really tough getting in. I’ve been trying to get in for a while now and the Mister’s been able to get in the past two years. Hopefully luck is on your side next time you try to go.

  2. erinf1 on 13 July, 2015 at 7:42 pm said:

    I haven’t but it’s on my bucket list 🙂 Thanks for such a fun post! Glad to hear that you had fun!

    • Ya know, when we went down on Friday to register I was overwhelmed and a little frightened of how Sat (with volunteering) and Sun was going to go. We were only there a total of 2 hours and my feet were throbbing, I had a headache, and I was already miserable. Thankfully that was not the case the two days were were there the entire time.

  3. Glenda on 13 July, 2015 at 8:11 pm said:

    Unfortunately, Comic Con is still on my wish list of places to go and experience. 🙁

    Sounds like you had an amazing time!!

    • Hopefully you’re able to go. It’s definitely an experience. We got lucky because the Mister’s job is about an hour away from SDCC. So, we didn’t have to worry about airfare, hotels, or food. We just packed the car up and drove down there.

  4. Looks like you had so much fun. The costume is awesome! Yay for free books!

    • Thanks, Jenny. My friend wouldn’t let me go without dressing up but I refused to be totally decked out and uncomfortable the entire time. So, I went down to the mall and looked for clothes that resembled Link. Which works in the end because they served their purpose for SDCC but I can also wear them every day as well. 😉

  5. I can’t believe you got to go to Comic-Con! It is my dream to go one day!!! It looks like you had a blast. 😀

    • I hope you get to go, Kay. I’d only ever been to a really tiny book convention a handful of years ago. It was the first one, no one knew what they were doing, and not a lot of people were there. However, this was the complete opposite. If it wasn’t for the Mister getting on me about checking times for events, making sure I was up and moving to hit the road on time, and preparing lunch for the following day… I would have been a miserable mess. LoL I had no idea what I was getting into but you definitely need to go in there with a plan.

  6. Ah that’s so awesome that you got to Comic-Con. I saw a ton of pictures from Cora Carmack but I’ve never been to any kind of convention it is definitely on my bucket list. I would say I’d be the same as you very in the zone and not really listening to the yelling etc.. Oh I loved your Link costume by the way!

    • Thanks. I’m pretty proud of it considering I found all the pieces at the local mall. The hat I got on Etsy. So, in the end I can wear everything again. I’m definitely breaking out the Link hat come winter time. 😉
      Hopefully you get to go, Tina. It’s overwhelming but fun as well. I will be honest that I probably talked to and walked next to a lot of authors or other semi-famous people without realizing it. No offense but no one ever looks like their promo photos. So for all I know I asked Richelle Mead if she knew where the bathroom was. Ha!

  7. I am sooooo jealous! I always wanted to go to Comic-Con but just can’t afford it. You had some great experinces.

    • The last two years the Mister was down in the area for work and was able to squeak in and get a ticket. However, I was never able to purchase one. Then this past year we moved into the area and I finally got “pulled” from the online waiting room to purchase a badge. It’s a crazy process. If we didn’t live in the area we probably wouldn’t have gone. If anything, you can try to get in to volunteer. You’d still need to save for hotel and airfare but with volunteering you get a free badge into comic-con for the day after your 3 hours of helping out. 😉

  8. Oh how fun! Sounds like a pretty amazing experience and how cool you got to volunteer!

  9. I would so love to go to a Comic Con but there is never any close enough to me. 🙁 One of these days though I am going..lol.

    • I know what you mean. I have never been close to anything before. Except the past couple of years when the Mister got to go. :\ That definitely sucked. Hopefully something swings your way soon.

  10. Janie McGaugh on 16 July, 2015 at 7:26 am said:

    I’ve never been to ComicCon, though I’d love to do so! I have been to DragonCon and loved it until it got so big that it was extremely hard to get into the panels you wanted to see.

    • That’s pretty much SDCC. I was shocked that I got into Outlander but I think that’s partly due to the fact that there were other panel rooms going with bigger shows in them. Still, half the room sitting in there for Outlander were actually there for the next and last panel, Hannibal.

  11. Heather R. on 17 July, 2015 at 5:05 am said:

    Thanks for telling us about your awesome trip and giving away cool stuff!

  12. Heather R. on 17 July, 2015 at 5:06 am said:

    I have never been to a ComicCon. The closest thing to that that I have been to are Renaissance festivals.

  13. Texas Book Lover on 20 July, 2015 at 1:53 pm said:

    We happened to be vacationing in San Diego a couple of years ago and got there the last day of Comic-con. We didn’t go in just walked around outside and took a few pictures of what we could see outside. That by itself was pretty fun!

    • That’s what we did on Friday when we went down to register for a volunteer spot. There is a lot that goes on outside that I had no clue about.

  14. Linda Henderson on 9 August, 2015 at 11:53 am said:

    No, I’ve never been to one or to a book convention. I definitely wish I could go though.

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