Here's a link to the Friday programming at the Comic-Con International. I was going to make some snippy remark about how there's nothing to see here, move along, since I'm not hosting any panels that day. But the truth is that there's some real interesting stuff and I may get to go play Audience for a change.
I'm getting e-mails from folks who are agonizing about the convention, fretting about parking and where to eat and whether they're going to get into the events they yearn to see. The main worry seems to be about the sheer size of it all; of being in a room with that many people and with so much to choose from. In a general policy that I admit I'm not always able to make work for myself, I try to embrace such situations; to appreciate the fun and the uniqueness and maybe even the challenge of such an environment. It's like any travel situation in that you need to organize and prepare, and also to pace yourself and have some realistic sense of what you can and cannot do. At Comic-Con, you cannot (for example) see everything you want to see, meet everyone you want to meet, buy everything you want to buy.
To go in presuming otherwise is to set yourself up for disappointment. So is failing to appreciate The Art of the Possible. The greatest disappointments probably happen unto those who — and I know people who do this every damn year — think they're going to make some grand career/employment contact that will change if not their lives forever than at least the next year or two of those lives. That does happen at the con. I've seen it happen at the con. But maybe the surest way to make sure it doesn't happen at the con is be too desperate to have it happen at the con.
The convention is like going to Disneyland or Las Vegas…which, by the way, is a strong reason why it should never move to or near either of them. I'm quite serious about this. You can't have one magical place in or around another magical place. (If there isn't a law against that, there should be.) And as in any magical place, there's way too much to see and do…and this is important to remember: It's bigger than you are and not going to change for you or even come to you. Stuff you will enjoy is in there and you have to find it. It's not hard if, as I say, you pace yourself and set some reasonable expectations and do a little planning. Every single year without fail, I get to be part of some wonderful panels and events…and every year without fail, people come to me afterwards and say, "Hey, I heard about that great panel. Sorry I didn't know about it." Well, whose fault is that?
Don't let the whole idea and scope of the convention overwhelm you. It's like being frightened by a banquet. You don't have to try everything. Just look at what's there, decide what you want and help yourself. And — oh, by the way — don't try to eat too much.