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CCI has just released the exhibitor list and floor plan for this year’s show. How you can figure out your escape route, and where to pose, and how long it will take to go from the Corey Feldman autographing session to buying a an exclusive Mini-Mate 7th Bounty Hunter from the left action figure.

We’ve made our own EXCLUSIVE annotated map with some regions of note. Click to embiggen.

Otherwise, the set-up looks fairly similar to last year’s. Sony, Disney and WB have booths — Fox doesn’t but they haven’t for a while. Paramount and Universal are also not exhibitors. But there will be a big Lucasfilms pavillion, and Marvel and DC will be almost within hammer-throwing distance! Good times.

1 COMMENT

  1. So feeling that panic zone. Comic-Con is one of those special places where you can experience agoraphobia and claustrophobia at the same time. Also nerd-induced rage-oholism.

  2. I think the panic zone should be closer to the wb booth based on last year. Between g4 and wb I hardly had room to breathe. Though I guess less Olivia munn may lighten that area.

    Old town is where I expect to relax. Lots of people who know comics, good deals, cool books and the heritage booth.

  3. Great, another year where they put all the major booths together to create a traffic jam that makes Interstate 5 look like the autobahn.

    If they would just spread them out throughout the con it wouldn’t feel nor be as bad. But no, they have to continue to mimic a sardine can.

  4. Jake — sure, it’s rough in the middle, but the sides with the artists and dealers is always a fun time and not usually so packed.

    I only need to spend time in the middle a few times during the con, so having traffic concentrated there helps. :)

  5. Okay. Little different than the 2009 floor. (and 2010 as well?) Interesting with the placement of Artist Alley where a lot of the smaller toy/game companies and sellers had been. Closer to where folks will be coming in at the “Hall G” doors to avoid crowds as opposed to being stuck in the corner.

  6. Trev: Yeah, I know, but its just a tad frustrating you know. Oh well, as busy as it is, it should still be fun. Want to meet up for lunch? Rei Del Gado on 4th Ave is a killer all you can eat Brazilian BBQ, pricy at $16.50 for the lunch special, but well worth it. JakeOrionATgmail.com

    Matt: sent you an email.

  7. Torsten,

    The lounge areas are where you can sit and eat at the few dozen, unkempt tables they’ve setup in front of the over-priced* “cafeterias”. They usually offer salads, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, water, juice and sodas.

    (*Bring your own food.)

  8. I’m set up in “Old Town” which is rapidly gentrifying into “New Illustrator’s Alley.” I’ll be at booth 1221 with Epic Props T-shirts, and next to us is The BLVD (Tommy Lee Edwards, Bernard Chang, JP Leon, Sean Chen, and Trevor Goring) and across from us in booth 1320 are Jill Thompson, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá, Rafael Albuquerque, and Gustavo Duarte. There’s lots of cool art, limited editions and merch in the area.

  9. Nice try, Heidi, but the entire convention is the “Agoraphobic Panic Attack Zone.” And the “Social Phobe’s Panic Attack Zone.” And the “Aspergian Panic Attack Zone and Visual Overload Badlands.”

    For me, it’s B & C

  10. OMG—the area around WB was a NIGHTMARE –especially arounf True Blood-Vampire Diaries and Supernatural/Smallville signings !!

  11. ROTExhibitHallF!

    Fox doesn’t but they haven’t for a while?

    I guess those helpful poster tubes I’ve picked up the past two SDCCs, and that sweet TCF 75th Anniversary ALIEN poster from last year… must’ve been from LIONSGATE?

  12. redsonja1313 is right. The worst mistake I made last year was thinking navigating through the back of the hall would be easy — and then I the gauntlet between G4 and WB and could feel myself being sucked into the vortex. Luckily I eventually made it out, but it’s the only time I’ve ever looked around and thought that I couldn’t find a way out.

  13. Another newbie here. This is actually my first Everest US con. Any advice you cN provide, like, how can I get Art commisssions, do I need to orden them very early on Thursday? How much are they usually?
    How long do I have to stand in line to get a Mike Mignola autograph for example, or if I want to get into a Marvel comics panel? What about the Hilton, is it close by so I can go see Penn and Teller Thursday night?
    Thanks for the advice!

  14. Ruben,

    You could go to the Mike Mignola panel on Friday: http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_search_results.php?strShow=30&strRec=3447

    The Marvel panels are popular, but you should be able to get in if you wait in line.

    The Hilton is nice stroll from the Convention Center. Be sure to give yourself enough time to get there, esp. since you might be tired after a long day…

    Plan a schedule and be sure to bring cash, comfy shoes, snacks, water and a smile.

  15. Thsnkd Savage,

    For example, in the Mike Mignola panel, would there also be autographs signed?

    Thanks again,

  16. Ruben:

    1) Panels aren’t autograph sessions. They most typically happen after the given panel at a table in the autograph alley or at an artist or actor’s booth down on the dealer’s room floor. You more or less have to choose between seeing a panel or getting the autograph of the person on that panel unless they’re doing multiple panels or multiple signings. Sometimes raffle tickets are given out at a panel for swag and/or a place in the autograph line, but it’s a far from universal practice and depends entirely on the panel.

    2) Art Commission details vary from artist to artist depending on whether they even do comissions or not. Adam Hughes announced recently that he no longer does convention commissions due to being pressured do them by too many idiots who would immediately flip ’em on eBay and Mike Allred stopped doing commissions at the Con because he decided he liked doing the Con better without the extra hassle. You might want to check a particular artist’s website about whether or not they’ll do commissions at the con.

    3) The Hilton is close by — it’s basically AT the convention center. However, keep in mind that even at that proximity “close by” is a relative term. The Convention Center and its surrounding hotels that carry events is a *huge* area of land several football fields in area, and that’s before you take into consideration that the panels are mostly on the second floor of the Convention Center, which itself is quite a bit larger than the Dealer’s Room on the first floor. It can take upwards of a half an hour just to walk from one end of the Dealer’s Room to the other *if* the major toy and studio booths aren’t too crowded, which rarely happens.

    4) While the con’s ability to manage the lines to get into panels and other activities has greatly improved over the last 3 years or so, the lines are still incredibly, insanely long. For any TV show panel, I’d recommend getting in line no later than an hour before the panel starts unless it’s the first panel in the morning, in which case, you should get there no later than two hours early. I’m not kidding. For Penn & Teller, I’d recommend getting there 90-minutes-to-2-hours early.

    5) The best way to maximize your time regarding going to stay in any given panel room for as long as possible. For instance, if you want to see shows A and C in Ballroom 20, you should stay in Ballroom 20 to see show B.

    Most movie panels are in Hall H on the first floor, most TV show panels are in Ballroom 20 right above it on the second floor, most of the comics panels are in the numbered rooms on the opposite side of the second floor (divided by the “Sails” pavillion in the middle. So any time you leave a room to go to one across the sails or down to Hall H, you’re going to miss at the very least half the next panel in the room that you’re going to.

    6) Also, regarding hydration:

    If you’re going mostly to panels or autograph lines, don’t start out the day really hydrated. Nurse a water bottle slowly for the first couple of hours (four hours if you get there at 8am to get in line for a Ballroom 20 or Hall H panel). That way, you can delay bathroom breaks for as long as possible. I’ve been to four-five panels straight in one day in Ballroom 20.

    If you’re going to be mostly in the Dealers’ Room, whether you’re in an autograph line or not, be vigilant about staying hydrated. It’s a lot of walking and standing around in a large space among a crowd so large that it creates its own weather system inside the room.

  17. Rob J.
    Thank you very much for the info, your comment was much note helpful than hours spent searching for info on the net. Your help is very much appreciated

    Regards
    Ruben

  18. If you aren’t bringing a case of water with you, then The key to staying hydrated is knowing where Ralph’s supermarket is located. It’s only a few blocks from the con and the place to go for essentials and snacks.