WTF Comic-Con?

Posted on | January 15, 2011 | 2 Comments

It’s now halfway through January and they still haven’t sold tickets proper. There’s no news on Comic-Con hotels yet, and you know San Diego gets full-up for the convention by March. Prices for hotels have already skyrocketed for July. Rates for the same hotels I stayed at a couple years ago have jumped upwards of $200 a night.

It’s becoming clear that Comic-Con is getting further out of reach for many attendees. Is this the fault of Comic-Con International? I don’t know. I don’t think so. You can’t blame them for being successful. And San Diego is a beautiful city to hold it in, but it’s simply too small. I fear that even if (in imagination land) they expand the convention center and make all the rooms twice as big so everyone can get into panels without a 4 hour wait, the city would still gang rape my bank account for a decent hotel room. Also, if they expand, they’ll sell more tickets, further compounding the problem of hotel space.

I fear there is no solution but the one I most dread: moving it out of San Diego. There’s only one city I believe can hold everyone, but it’s not a city I would choose for a convention in July: Vegas. Not only that, but it’s not a walkable city. The convention center area isn’t that wonderful. 2 blocks over, you’ve got scumville. There’s no fun awesome Gaslamp district. Oh, and no ocean.

I don’t believe they’ll ever move Comic-Con out of San Diego. If I were in charge, I would fight tooth and nail to keep it there. But I have no solution to suggest for the problem of overcrowding. Does anyone?

- barry

The Truth About Comic-con Leaving San Diego

Posted on | February 28, 2010 | 7 Comments

A candid interview with Comic-Con’s Director of Marketing & PR regarding the rumors about Comic-Con International’s possible change of venue

Barry Robb – www.uglycouchshow.com
February 28, 2010

Every summer for over 40 years, geeks of all walks of life have descended upon San Diego by the tens of thousands to attend Comic-Con International, a non-stop 5-day mega-convention celebrating comics, movies, pop culture and the visual arts. It’s almost a required coming-of-age pilgrimage for any fan of pop culture. And for 40 years, San Diego has proudly hosted Comic-Con and made welcome its 125,000+ visitors, but recent rumors and speculation about the host city of choice being subject to change have left long time convention attendees wondering where they will be going on their yearly vacation after 2012, when the convention’s contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires.

The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Anaheim have reached out to CCI in hopes of luring the convention away from San Diego with promises of more convention space, more hotel rooms, discounted rates for attendees and more. However, San diego area businesses are making their own efforts to keep the massive convention right where it is. Comic-Con organizers are expected to make a decision about the future of the con within a few months.

We asked David Glanzer, PR spokesman for Comic-Con International, to help shed some light on these rumors.

MP3 Audio (.MP3)

Read the full interview transcript

CouchCast 40 – Los San Anaheim Comic-Con?

Posted on | February 24, 2010 | No Comments

Like a one legged monkey butler on a benzedrine high, it’s CouchCast 40. We’re talking about a Doc Savage movie, a Missile Command movie, the A-Team comic, James’ Cameron’s Avatar prequel story, Willow novels, the possibility of Comic-Con moving away from San Diego, Joss Whedon & Morgan Spurlock’s comic-con documentary, Dungeons and Dragons with Porn Stars, DC Entertainment, Shit My Dad Says starring William Shatner, Terra Nova, Doctor Superknives vs. Robot Dinosaurs, Wil Wright, iBoobs, Apple’s iPhone App store, porn on the las vegas strip, “me who can’t stop his right hand and childhood sister” (japanese masturbation video game), starcraft 2 beta keys for sale, civilization 5, the first games we ever bought for the pc, commodore 64 games, bill budge’s pinball construction set, pinmame, star trek: the next generation, gates mcfadden, the naked now, and the big list: more things we learned from playing video games.

MP3 Audio (.MP3)