Comic Con 2007

Are you sick of Comic Con yet? Well, here's year number two (2007). Because we were so successful the first year, more of the non studio properties were included this go round. I also worked closely with Hasbro for our Transformers Animated presence and with Andre' Benjamin's company for his appearance as well.



This year, the both was twice as large as it was the previous year (20 x0 40), which you would assume is twice the work. If you were backed up against another booth, it might only be double, however, not only did I get a larger booth, I also got an island. This means that you have people coming at from you 360 degrees. If you are going to be exhibiting at comic con for the first time, do yourself a favor and don't get an island booth the first year.



So, what does a booth look like the first day of setup? Well, pretty much like this:





Here's the floor padding being placed over the electrical that's installed before anyone is even allowed on the floor. Part of the package that comic con sends out includes a grid for you to plot out where you need outlets, etc. Planning for the actual layout of the booth usually starts in January (for me it did anyway) since what goes where plays not only a factor in aesthetics and cost, but things like this as well.



We were also fortunate to get a booth near not only a docking bay, but also the restrooms and snack bar.



The main lights in the hall are kept off for the first two days of setup (hence why some of the pictures are so dark) , but it still gets seriously hot on the floor after the first couple of hours on day one.



Blue carpet is standard in most booths, and you have to pay extra for any other color. We choose black because of our booth scheme, but while I was called away to fill out paperwork for the administrators, blue carpet was laid down, but not secured. Thankfully, I was back in time to correct the error.





All of the containers with the booth elements have to be on wheels. Here's the first container with the walls and doors for our booth.

These are also some of the boxes of swag for 2007. There were more to the right of this picture. Happily, we got "backstage" storage, so we didn't have to unpack it all in under an hour, the way we did the previous year.

The first order of business was to assemble the sign that hung over the booth. It had to be lifted by crane (in case you ever wondered how those got up there) so we had to wait for the lift to come before we could start construction on the rest of the booth. (Pictured on the phone is John Hall from Beyond Image. John is awesome, and did a great job with the construction.) Anyone you see in a "Freeman" shirt is union labor, and is a requirement for any kind of assembly.

The sign is together and ready to be hung.

And there it goes...everyone does a last minute check on the electrical and the carpet before we dive into the actual construction.



There goes the first wall!



Then there's the second.




The entire front wall

The construction on this section of the booth took around six hours total (which is pretty darn fast). The brackets on the right and left sides are there for the tvs that will be attached, and playing CN content. Each show has it's own reel for when each creator is signing. The area with Ben and Heatblast is also where the banners for each show will go for the signings.

Look, more boxes!

Here's a shot of the back room. All of the A.V. equipment there is just for the tvs on the front of the booth.

Not much in the front yet

The DS stations are installed in the front for people to pass the time playing games while they wait in line. The big purple thing is from the Sci-Fi booth, and to the left are the kiosks for playing Warcraft from the booth next door.

It's actually starting to look like a booth!

However, there's still a ton to unpack and assemble. If you take a look to the left of the screen, you can see there's a space next to the booth that has to be kept clear. There are constantly forklifts and cranes zooming back and forth down the aisles from the time the floor opens for setup, until it closes at night.

The back of the booth

I was fortunate that once the back section of the booth was finished, it was being handled by the Fusion Fall crew. They did walk-throughs of the games, and signed people up to beta test. If you are interested in playing, it's now live at http://www.fusionfall.com/

I know that the pictures above give the illusion that this all took place in a matter of hours, when the truth is, this took a few days. I believe I arrived on Monday morning, and we worked straight through until the doors were about to open on Wednesday. A few hours before we opened up, I had reinforcements arrive to help with the setup.

About half an hour before opening, everyone scheduled to work that night arrived to discuss the game plan and make sure we were all accounted for. Around this time, people from the smaller booths start walking around and getting swag (I'm talking about YOU, guy with the WB bag) since once the doors open, there's no way it's going to happen.

Five minutes before the doors open



As they're making the opening announcement

Also of note, I had countless people ask me where I found black pylons. I didn't. I spent an entire weekend in July up on the roof of the studio spray painting them until I was dizzy. Also, the poles are pvc, and that's actually rope connecting them. Who says you can't be creative? Also, the studio logo is facing the inside of the booth for people to see while they are waiting to get inside.

"It's all about the follow through"

The picture above is just five minutes after the doors opened. For the opening night, we decided it would be best just to play games and give away prizes. Kids under five were allowed to look forward while they tossed, while anyone over five had to toss with their back to the mat. Some of the prizes we gave away are there on the table.

We rock!

Speaking of free giveaways, this year we did something a little different. We made a messenger bag out of recycled paper, featuring original art by all of the creators. It was a huge hit, and was one of the big "must gets" of the convention. I didn't even know there were reviews of the best swag on line, but we were on pretty much every list. My favorite is above. In case you were wondering, the word after free was *ahem* "Stuff". No, really. It totally was.

People would come for one signing, but while they were they, we told them they could bring the bag back again and get other people to sign it. (The above was their first signing)

I had to snap this picture when I saw how exuberant they were about the whole idea. We had countless people coming back again and again.

People actually started selling them on the con floor for $20 a piece. I was floored until I got back home, and saw them going for even more on ebay!

Yes, I tweaked the colors on purpose.

One of the other highlights of the booth were the greenscreen photos we did. By the end of the weekend, we had taken hundreds of pictures and placed people into their favorite shows. The most popular was Ben 10. I'm posting an altered image above, so if you ever see this on anyone's mantle or desk at work, you know where it came from. I'm not posting the original because I want to make sure all the images out there are "from the source" so to speak.

2007 was the first year for two new shows: Transformers Animated and Class of 3000.

Each posed unique situations, but it was so great having them both there! Here's a picture of the hour and a half (!) long transformers panel, including Derrick Wyatt (Character Designer), Matt Youngberg (Director, Prodcuer) and Mary Isenberg (Writer).

Later, we had the whole crew come by the booth and sign autographs for fans. We even let them take extra time to do sketches.

We had a ton of giveaways this year, including more of the sketchbooks (since they were so popular the year before), Toonami yoyos, Starhawks foam planes, and just a ton of other stuff. It was great being able to promote the entire CN lineup, and to have the chance to work with so many different people I wouldn't normally get a chance to.

This guy totally loves his fans.

The people at Andre's company were great, and we were able to not only get him for a signing, but we got copies of the Class of 3000 cd to give away.

We actually had to turn people away from the line because he would stop and take a picture with each person who asked. He was such a pleasure to work with, and his staff is awesome.

However, by far, this was my favorite moment during the convention:

One of the girls who came to the booth the previous year and met the creator of Ed, Edd and Eddy came (with her friend) dressed as characters from the show. Not only did she get to meet her favorite voice actress, I just happened to be talking to a photographer from the LA Times, and pointed out the scene to him. He snapped this picture and it was online and in the paper the next day. It also got picked up by the AP wire, and was published across the country. Yes, it is probably the fan girl in me, but I just have to say...AWESOME!