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Day 3 of San Diego Comic Con definitely ended up my “busy day.” On Saturday I had numerous invitations to press events I was trying to juggle, and due to my FOMO-ish tendencies, I did my best to include as much as I could. By the end of Day 3, I was very grateful that I had a flight home the following day.
There was quite a bit I didn’t get to see and do–missing the Jean-Luc Picard museum in the Gaslamp Quarter is at the top of my list of things I wish I had more time to see–but thanks to the press access I did have, I was able to really maximize my first SDCC quite well. Like with Days 1 and 2, this will be the summary of my day, with more posts coming later, particularly addressing the amazing experience I had with CBS All Access celebrating the Star Trek Universe!
I had my second celebrity encounter during the Brooklyn Nine-Nine escape room event. We were divided into three teams and the team who finished first was deemed the “winner”: while all participants received collectible SDCC exclusive pins after finishing the event, the winning team’s pin was different (and way more cool!) I was put on a team with actor Xolo Maridueña, his sister, and his father. Mr. Maridueña is at SDCC promoting the YouTube Premium series, Cobra Kai, a continuation of the Karate Kid relationship between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. He stars as Miguel Diaz, one of Johnny Lawrence’s students in the newly re-opened Cobra Kai dojo. They were the sweetest family, Xolo’s 11 year old sister was definitely our team’s ringer; I know we couldn’t have won the escape room without her.
After visiting the NBC Comedy Zone I decided to check the feasibility of getting into the 6000-person+ Hall H for the Star Trek Universe panel. This was where CBS was going to be making some big announcements about their two upcoming Star Trek series, Picard and the animated Lower Decks. I had some sources telling me that without special press access, thinking about going 90 minutes before any Hall H event simply wasn’t going to happen.
So instead I visited the exhibit hall to try my hand at the Star Trek Universe “fan experience”, which included peeks at props from the upcoming series Picard, as well as an augmented reality transporter experience.
I changed into my red Star Trek: TOS dress and headed on over. As I had dealt with many times the previous day with other events I wanted to see, the line for the augmented reality experience was (a) spread out in batches throughout the exhibit hall and (b) was “capped”. On a whim, I checked to see if I had made the cut for the press credentials into the Star Trek experiences (I had applied for it a couple weeks prior but hadn’t received confirmation); alas, I had not.
Sigh.
One of the line managers with the CBS All Access booth seemingly took pity on me, since I was standing there with a disappointed face in my red dress. He allowed me into the already-capped line, to the cheers of others in the line, since I was already dressed for the occasion.
Two hours, fifteen minutes. That’s how long the line was for the transporter, but I’d argue that it was worth it.
While I was in line for the transporter experience, someone from the CBS booth came by to tell us that fans interested in signed artifacts by the cast of Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Picard would be randomly selected. That caused quite a stir among us. I was hoping to get chosen, but I was also worried about whether I could make it back for the signing because I had a 1pm appointment for another event.
Well, I was randomly selected, and I managed to just squeeze in the signing event before the 1pm appointment on the SYFY Trivia Trolley. What happened next is worth a post in and of itself, so stay tuned for more!
The below Tweet is actually a thread of three Tweets. Be sure to click through and check it out.
An experience straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I was “randomly” selected to attend the signing with cast members of Star Trek: Discovery! pic.twitter.com/YwJBzsBi9U
— Patricia Vollmer (@vollmerdp) July 20, 2019
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As awesome a time as that was, I needed to head about 2 blocks north of the convention center to hop aboard the SYFY Network Trivia Trolley. That a good time! However, running at full tilt down San Diego’s Fifth Ave. in a long-sleeved Star Trek dress, high heeled boots, and all of my stuff, including a newly signed poster by the cast of Star Trek: Discovery, to get to the trolley at my reserved time, was probably a sight to see!
Other Trivia Trolley guests kindly spared me from having to sit in one of the pedal seats. I was soaked in sweat as it was!
Members of the winning team walked away with crisp $20 bills, and I was thrilled to be on the winning team.
(For those keeping score, my team had also won the Brooklyn Nine-Nine escape room too! Was I instrumental in either case? Probably not…but I did help my trivia trolley team by knowing who played the character Arthur Dent in the 2005 film Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.)
After picking up an inexpensive New York deli-style sandwich (read: it was enormous) at the Gaslamp Quarter icon, the Cine’ Cafe’, it was time to spend the afternoon getting to know the upcoming TBS drama series, Snowpiercer. It was really cool getting to be in the panel where they were premiering the first official trailer to the world. Within seconds of the trailer ending, my Twitter feed lit up with the public release of the trailer. Right after the panel was the Snowpiercer press conference, where we got a little more insight into adapting the 1982 graphic novel and 2013 movie into canon for the TV series. I live-tweeted the press conference via the GeekMom Twitter account.
Work. Honor. Order.#Snowpiercer coming soon to @TBSNetwork. pic.twitter.com/H1DpNakpED
— Snowpiercer (@SnowpiercerTV) July 20, 2019
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Greetings! It’s @vollmerdp GeekMom Patricia waiting for the #Snowpiercer press conference. I plan to live tweet from the event w/ key takeaways! If you haven’t seen the trailer yet (just dropped), check it out at @snowpiercertv. @tbsnetwork @comic_con #sdcc2019 #snowpiercer pic.twitter.com/XoJB9luDS5
— GeekMom (@GeekMomBlog) July 20, 2019
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By the end of the press conference, I was toast! I had been on the go for nearly 12 hours straight on Saturday by the time my very last event approached: a much-anticipated dinner with my fellow GeekFamily writers. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it — but I’m certainly glad I did!
Where did @GeekMomBlog and @GeekDads writers converge for an SDCC wrap dinner last night? Of course we had to try @ShakespearePub1! It fills my heart knowing that folks I’d known online for many years are just as wonderful in person. Thank you for a wonderful week, team! pic.twitter.com/SZf5j7CNse
— Patricia Vollmer (@vollmerdp) July 21, 2019
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That’s a wrap with my 3 1/2 days with San Diego Comic Con. This was my first trip, and I hope it isn’t my last. My big regret–as is the case with many things I get to do–was that I couldn’t share these great experiences with my family. My sons are currently hiking at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico this week (they’re in the middle of Itinerary 28 as I write this, for those who are familiar with the program), and have no idea the great gifts I’ll be bringing home for them.
Stay tuned to GeekMom for continue wrap-ups of our week in San Diego. I have so much more to share and I’m going to send this out and immediately cracking on my next post! TTFN!
Click through to read all of “GeekMom Patricia at San Diego Comic Con: Day 3” at GeekMom.If you value content from GeekMom, please support us via Patreon or use this link to shop at Amazon. Thanks!
