That Moment When...
I moved to California in July 2001 from Wisconsin. A hardcore tabletop gamer since high school, I was a seasoned veteran of GenCon, the world's largest gaming convention (now relocated from Wisconsin to Indiana - pfft). Even though I had heard of Comic Con, it somehow evaded my radar for a solid 10 years... probably the combination of the struggle to adjust to California lifestyle and then having my first kid about a year later.
They confiscated my cheese credentials at the border...
About 5 years ago, the hype was so intense that I finally made myself a Comic Con ID. If you've ever tried to get tickets to SDCC, you probably know how far I got in my first quest to acquire tickets!
Then came podcasting. With my lady-love Jennifer, we started recording The Kid-Free Weekend, a show whose only direction was, "We love having long conversations and making each other laugh - we should try recording it!" (Plus, I'm deeply obsessed with podcasts). About 6 months into KFW, we decided to launch our second show, Pod of Thrones!
Our first foray as a couple into the convention scene was Star Wars Celebration 2015, around half a year before we started podding. We took the kids to the Anaheim Convention Center for a day and had a nice time, but it was all very frantic, and the kids didn't enjoy the crowds so much.
The family that cosplays together stays together!
Fast forward to Halloween 2016, and Jennifer and I noticed that Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con (née Comikaze) was taking place on a kid-free weekend! We decided to not just go for the weekend, but to also bring some costumes and to seek out awesome things to report about on our shows. Not only did we have a total (if tiring) blast, but we met some awesome people along the way, including Dr. Janina Scarlet, the fine folks from MB Stage Productions, VFX maestro Aaron Sims, and Game of Thrones doppelgänger Con Snow.
Feeling positive about our work at SLLACC, we took a deep breath, braced ourselves, and filed Press Applications for SDCC 2017. We also tried to buy tickets so that we could do reporting from the scene either way, but my luck in the world of lottery-driven waiting rooms hasn't changed since I first tried some years ago.
The moment when I saw a new message in my mailbox regarding our press application... it was almost like getting an envelope from the admissions department at a university - I was both excited and terrified to open it!
In our sophomore year, we scored a solid B+ in Noise Reduction Techniques.
Even though it had nothing to do with an actual recording, seeing the words "you have been approved for a press badge" was the best moment-so-far of nearly 2 years of podcasting and working on building our online presence. We had hoped to find a way into the con anyway (we had one last backup plan through a friend), and we were going to cover the con the same way that we are now anyway, but the idea that someone at CCI took a look at our past work and decided that we should be here? That's an amazing feeling.
With that, I'd like to offer since words of gratitude to everyone at CCI. I'm writing this on Comic Con Friday not long before entering Hall H for the first time ever. As I'll later describe, yesterday was a BAD DAY, and I was close to giving up on the whole "press" thing, but life will move forward. The manner in which Jennifer and I cover the con will definitely be different from our original game plan, but we're going to do the best work we can.
