GeekMom Patricia at San Diego Comic Con: Day 1

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Greetings from San Diego Comic Con! I still can’t believe I’m here experiencing this! I’m taking a break between events so I can give you a summary of the amazing day I had during Day 1 I did attend the preview night too, and I will share some of those experiences with you too. For many of my experiences, I promise more in-depth coverage. Be sure to follow me at @vollmerdp on Twitter and Instagram, as well as @geekmomblog!

Preview Night

Only a limited number of attendees can get the full event badges, which includes the preview night. By my observation, this is when you see mostly the hard core collectors: those who are interested in the convention exclusives from retailers such as Funko, Hasbro, and Hallmark.

I personally took advantage of the smaller crowds to get a lay of the massive convention center, which is 100% dedicated to SDCC. I could see first-looks of the Con exclusives, even though I didn’t want to wait in the lines to buy them. I waited in one line: the Hero Within booth to pick up a t-shirt.

I got to see the massive exhibits by the big-ticket outlets such as television networks, large comic publishers, and toy companies. Having been to my share of trade shows and conferences, it always intrigues me how companies can cram so much content to such a small physical space.

Day 1

Covering SDCC isn’t necessarily all fun and games. Unlike those who are truly there to have a good time and take in all of their geeky passions, we press outlets do schedule some events to be sure to help spread the word about upcoming television, comic, gaming, and book news.

My first stop was the Nickelodeon press room, where I had the chance to meet with some of the legendary cast and crew of SpongeBob Squarepants, celebrating 20 years of the iconic animated series. I was shocked that Bill Fagerbakke started out by interviewing me about the future of teen relationships in an era of internet and online gaming. We ended up discussing what it’s bene like working together for 20 years, inspirations for their episodes, and I learned all about Automated Dialogue Replacement!

On my way out of the Hard Rock Hotel, I had my first celebrity encounter! Colton Dunn of the NBC comedy Superstore!

After my interview (and celebrity encounter!), I zipped right over to the line for the SpongeBob Squarepants Birthday Bash panel, where the full voice cast and producers would be present. Alas, I didn’t get into the panel. I think the event should have been held in a venue that accommodate twice as many people.

With my tail between my legs in disappointment, I decided to see if I could get into the Superstore cast panel. I did! It wasn’t the most graceful of moves, but I was able to walk up to the NBC representative managing press access and ask, “Did anyone not show up?” And it turns out many press members didn’t show up.

This was the cast and producers’ first appearance at SDCC and they had a great time! I was thrilled to see how well this diverse team works together, even off-screen!

My day wasn’t done yet! My next event was a special press preview to see The Orville Experience, which was in a building a couple blocks north of the convention center.

This. Was. Amazing! I had the chance to see original costumes, sets, makeup (such as for the Moclans), storyboards, and props! This will definitely deserve its own post later this week!

Was my evening done? NO! From The Orville event I headed straight over to a lovely reception hosted by Penguin Random House. I had a chance to mingle with several dozen of their authors, including two of my personal favorites, Randall Munro of XKCD and Chuck Wendig of the Del Rey imprint. I was definitely fangirling meeting the two of them!

Then we were done! Therefore, last night, I was a bit too tired to summarize my first day. So there you have it! I promise more in-depth discussions of these events later this week, especially the delightful conversations during the Superstore panel and SpongeBob interview.

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