The climb continues and the struggle is real…

Travel Planners started sending their hotel notifications on Thursday- and the emotional roller coaster began. It was win, lose, or draw as many were excited with the results, while some are preparing to camp out in Hall H for the week. Yet even in the calamity of Hotelpocalypse, I saw the very best of our community as extra reservations were swapped and given out to those in need. The generosity of our tribe was commendable and I was proud of how we rose to the occasion and overcame the odds. Not everyone got what they wanted but after a couple of days, at least the atmosphere is a little better. My hope is that the remaining homeless will find a place soon.

However, it was not without it’s blood shed. It wasn’t before long that the blog-o-sphere started firing away with articles recounting the events of the week in excruciating detail. Frankly, I’m a little over it. I get it- clearly Travel Planners was not prepared for the deluge of registration that hit on March 24 at 9am. I was victim of it and walked away empty handed on Friday. They need to learn some hard lessons and make it right for next time. But the negativity that emerged, was to me, nothing but needlessly stating the obvious. Perhaps it’s cathartic in nature for some but in a lot of ways, I think it just adds fuel to the forest fire. In fact, stating that an organization ‘doesn’t care’ about their fans is just plain ignorant. Sure mistakes or underestimations were made- and there needs to be accountability, but to accuse a team of hard working people of apathy is irresponsible. Inflammatory articles like these just give bloggers like us a bad name.

Life is a choice. You choose to to either believe the best in others or you choose to assume the worst. I choose the former unless I KNOW otherwise. I am far from perfect and I say/write/tweet the wrong things all the time- but the vitriol of the past 72 hours has been off-putting. You know, I’m mad too, but I communicated my concerns to those that can ACTUALLY change the future not just anyone that has an internet connection. Honestly, because of our past pain of crashing badge sales or all night Hall H lines, I think some of us have gotten a little prejudice towards Comic-Con. As soon as something goes wrong, the anguish of our past resurfaces and it is hurled towards Comic-Con (and her partners) like a cannon shell of fury and cynicism. I’m not down with that. It’s immature and frankly a waste of my time. Many of you reacted well and collectively, we worked together to solve problems (special thanks to the Friends of CCI Forum too). So with pride I am thankful we got through this difficult final phase of registration. So with all that said, it is no doubt that problems will arise again before the show or during it in July. The question is, how will you choose to react? I’m celebrating my 10 year anniversary with Comic-Con this July. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly- and hate to break this to you, the ugly side tends to be us. I think we can be better. I may write about SDCC tips and other related topics but I also want to provoke us to rise above our circumstances instead of acting like victims.

To end on a positive note, I thought it would be fitting to remind all of us of why we go through the suffering by what we have to look forward to in July. So I asked you to tweet me with the hashtag #FavSDCC or e-mail me your favorite Comic-Con moments of the past. I loved the memories you shared and it got me fired up for what will happen 100 days from now. This is what we have to look forward to so let’s keep our focus on the positive and allow for the best to come out even in the worst circumstance. Agree or disagree, all comments are welcomed below.

“So many, but there’s one: meeting John Romita, Jr. last year. 🙂 Big fan of his work, esp. w/ Spidey. So cool!”

-@Ed209C

“Meeting Pedro Pascal unexpectedly in my Daenerys cosplay!”

-@xoMiaMoore

“#FavSDCC moment? High fiving Paul Rudd, Mike Tyson, and the cast of the Hobbit”

-@heymsd

“Meeting & getting an autograph from @josswhedon while waiting in line for Firefly 10yr anniversary panel!”

-@kalichica12

“Swimming in the pool at @HiltonBayfront while watching everyone burn in the sun.”

-@N3rdlink

“Playing Uno with strangers at SDCC ’08 while waiting for preview night to open. That was so much fun”

-@MGShogun

“Meeting @GRRMspeaking on preview night!”

-@SamanthaMaybe

“#FavSDCC sleeping on sidewalk outside of Hall H for Heroes panel in 2008”

-@ilaam

“Can’t think of just one but those few times I came across a signing in the main hall and there was hardly a line!”

-@bunster10

“That was the Epic Tennant/Barrowman kiss of ’11 AND Every moment of TORCHWOOD in Blrm 20. =)”

-@Cos2mwiz2

“Got to meet Conan O’Brien at Flaming C art gallery on 5th St while he filmed a segment for his show in 2011.”

-@accelerate

“fave #sdcc memory was approx 1995. David Prowse (Darth Vader) came unannounced. We RAN to his booth to meet him.”

-@darthmaul1309

“1st #Favsdcc I badly wanted to see the #Chuck panel. Thur night I ran into @Y_Strahovski who was gracious enough for a photo”

-@eosiecki

“FavSDCC when my 8 year old cosplayed as Shazam and Dan Didio invited him to sit at the panel table on stage ”

-@barbaramorden

“#FavSDCC peeing alone next to Noah Wyle after FS panel. very odd, very quiet”

–@The4List

“Our annual Harry Potter panel, and watching @neilhimself fanboy over @MarkDoesStuff”

–@travelingheidi

“Being given a pair of tickets to the Avengers signing last year!”

–@princesscharlie

“Meeting cast of Nikita @ sdcc 2011.”

-@Casual74

“I’ve been an avid SDCC attendee for many years now and I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and greet with several celebrities. These include Mindy Sterling, Clare Cramer, Brendon Nicholas, the cast of Big Bang Theory, the cast of of Falling Skies, Gerard Way, Gabrielle Union, Stuart Townsend, Nathan Fillion, the cast of Legend of Korra, the cast of Hawaii 5-0, the cast of Archer, the cast of Wilfred, etc. The most memorable moment would have to be meeting Buffy creator and Avengers director Joss Whedon. I won a raffle to meet him at SDCC 2012 and I geeked out so much, my words were incomprehensible. I think I muttered something to him like, “Big fan.” He was very generous and kind. But because I’m such a huge fan, it’ll always be a memory that will stay with me forever.”

-@MikeyCruz