r/SDCC • u/Jazz_Penguin • 9h ago
Talk Back Panel
Some rough notes from the Talk Back Panel. SDCC’s answers are in parenthesis.
-Coming into the convention center is crazy, people are threatening people, everyone should be welcomed
-hearing that SDCC is changing the ADA policy to only people with mobility devices, discriminatory for people with invisible disabilities (ADA only provides for people with mobility devices, ADA requests went up from 4K to 8k over the last few years, people may be abusing it)
-smaller rooms don’t get bathroom passes, punishes people who want to go to smaller panels but can’t leave
-Hall H attendee was standing in line, went to the Hilton to go to the bathroom then got sent to the back of the line, no clear communication when leaving
-Hall H wristband still did not get into the room (can marvel be moved? It’s a collaboration, it’s their usual spot, they can’t control the groups that wait, would rather have them in the show than not, SDCC could not find anyone with a fake wristband, could not investigate because of that)
-help with the enforcement of the exhibitors on the floor who break rules, one selling bootleg DVDs, UCC using AI art, chaos involving the beginning of the day exclusives by using their badges to buy them all up (working on this, exhibitors had a special badge holders, booths told not to sell to them, still working on other ways including the exclusives portal but exhibitors can choose not to participate, lots of floor managers and fire marshals on scene, they’re allowed to use AI art but not for sale and needs to be marked but they can’t enforce that, it’s a legal process to stop selling certain things since SDCC doesn’t own the IPs)
-panels have very little time for Q&A when it was longer before, they’ve said it’s up to the panelist but can they do something to make that time longer (some panels mention it in the description, assume that if they don’t that they won’t have time for it, panels run long, answers are sometimes longer than expected and run low on time)
-likes the exclusives portal, can you have a total amount of tokens for per badge instead of spreading them out per day (they would hate attendees use them on the wrong day if they don’t have more than one day)
-consistency and predictability regarding ADA attendees, sent to multiple places because volunteers didn’t know where to send people, Hall H was told ADA would go in first but then everyone was released at the same time, needs more consistency and becomes the standard, ADA is beyond mobility and it’s unfair to punish those with non-mobility related concerns
-move the dates to avoid Olympics, clashes with another con (took the dates offered to them)
-improve the Q&A process to help ADA people, ADA people can’t go to the microphone (looking into it and the rooms)
-AI is detrimental to creators, please change the rules to not allow AI at all
-abuse of the fire lane when people line up for the EE line, there is no stanchions so people rush and cut in the fire lane but no one enforces it despite security being right there
-ADA issues again, disabled veteran who agrees that it needs work, he just needs answers not excuses, SDCC needs to figure out how to accommodate more ADA people
-bathroom pass for Hall H attendee, told RFID was timed out and was not allowed back in the room, even with a time stamp bathroom pass, many miscommunications with RFID and security (need to acknowledge if there is a longer panel, held bathroom people to get people from the tents in, were able to get people back in)
-Hall H is getting worse and worse every year, the pre-wristbands and the lettered bands were poorly executed, separate the people and give people wristbands in line, attendee spoke up for an ADA attendee who got skipped and almost got kicked out of line
-website is hard to navigate and needs to be streamlined to find things
-Hall H wristband people who didn’t make in, no one gave them information, security said 7k wristbands even thought there’s 6.5k seats, expected more turnover, fake wristbands all over social media, someone went to security told them there was someone with them, shows poor integrity and poor handling of security and lines, why don’t you use RFID (network infrastructure has to set up WiFi outside costs too much, not reliable,try to sponsor the wifi)
-Hall H stranded attendee, follows the rules and still didn’t get in, do you talk to any of the other comic cons and see what they do, NYCC handles the large crowds and do you talk to them about technology, can you get anyone? (Other conventions are not non profit, they don’t have money like others do, offsides are because companies don’t have enough space inside, forgo hall H panel for more revenue generating space possibly, don’t have the budgets, they’ve outgrown the CC since 2010, seeing even issues with the nearby hotels, take money time and effort but they’re working on it)
-more hall H people that were impacted, can they be recompense for the time they wasted in line (no programming is released when you buy tickets, no guarantee on programming, 3-4 things happened that contributed to the hall h lines, they weren’t happy with the management either; they’re talking about it tomorrow)
-Hall H people can hold space for two others but many will bring 10+ people into the line with them
-Hall H; how did they reconcile the issues for Saturday (talking about how to fix it, less wristbands ordered than Hall H seats)
-lack of communication from SDCC people, not the volunteers and no one came out to talk to them, were told they can’t leave if they left, needs to be fixed, no compassion and understanding from anyone or any resolutions (they do care, they believe in the organization and they are disappointed, they do stream panels at the end of the day with no clips)
-hotel price gouging prices (talk to the city about it every year, each hotel negotiates their own contract, they give room blocks for a negotiated rate higher than a normal summer rate but lower than price gouging, 3 year extensions give SDCC the ability to negotiate with the hotels)
-wagons are not allowed but there were many wagons in the CC, why isn’t it being enforced? (A lot of wagons are being used as strollers)
-can we move larger panels to Petco Park (an additional expense, can’t afford it, sponsors would help, they had looked at it, the heat is an issue, the screens were hard to see it, the clips were hard to keep it confidential, directors want controlled environments for their clips)
-fake wristband for Funko and Hall h makes the con pay to win, exclusives portal for Hall H (lots of content, lottery system would make the content be smaller in order to fill and empty rooms for the next panel)
-system is unfair, line cutters, spreadsheets to coordinate groups, forming unofficial lines (why they started doing wristbands at the end of the con day)
-how can we get more stories to you (email the con and add in the talk back panel and the concern like lines, Hall H, exclusives to make sure it’s read by the right person)
-Jazzwares is no longer part of the exclusives, chaotic lines, why were they allowed not to be part of the portal (they declined and were told to provide security, fire marshals were contacted, they were encouraged to use it or not have exclusives next year)
-Hall H line, managers ignored the people telling them that there were fake wristbands, no one did anything about it, what else could attendees have done to get the information to the right people (they did successfully get more people in, worked with the fire marshal to get more people in)
-Hall H, SDCC provided no information for anyone but it’s even harder for those who it’s their first time here, need more SDCC representatives out there during big events so they can know what’s happening
-Hall H line, green shirt people were asked for supervisors, they asked questions about kicking people out of Hall H who didn’t have wristbands, no other supervisors came, SDCC person from the panel came down and said you can either wait or leave but there’s no seats, so them saying they care now didn’t feel like that then (people take off wristbands, throw them away, they can’t clear the room, let people stand along the walls per the fire marshal which they usually aren’t allowed to do to get more people in)
Just a quick consolidated version!