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San Diego Comic-Con: Hotel Hell?

As Shirley Ghostman might say, I feel your pain, I feel your shame, but you're not to blame.

Despite the fact that San Diego Comic-Con isn't for several months, the always frustrating hotel reservation process began yesterday, which lit up Twitter with horror stories of reservations gone horribly awry and guests being given none of their twelve top choices--a new feature this year--and instead being placed miles away from the convention center.

(Personally, after several years of frustrating experiences that left me nearly ripping out my hair, I ended up landing my first choice this year and didn't have as much of a madness-inducing experience as several people I know.)

While it's not a television-related topic per se, I am wondering who at this point is still going to Comic-Con 2010, who has thrown in the towel, and who is still on the fence. Plus, if you are going, where did you end up in the hotel lottery? And did you find the reservation process this year improved, the same, or worse?

Discuss.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Got one that was about 10 miles from con center. Thanks but no thanks. Not going now.
jen said…
Totally still going, even though we ended up with a hotel that wasn't in our top 12. Thank goodness we have a non-convention hotel as a backup. But we're still gonna keep checking as the time gets closer to see if a convention hotel we like opens up.
Kristal said…
This is my first year booking a hotel room for it (I usually crash at a friend's place or only go for Saturday) so I can't compare it to the previous process. But, it is frustrating that I put in my request at 9:06 and ended up getting placed 6 miles away from the convention center. There's got to be a better way to do this.
Unknown said…
This is actually my first year going to Comic-Con - though I've been dying to go for years. I'm going to cover the event for work and have to say, I'm super excited!

Not Exciting? The fact I put in a reservation request within the first 5 minutes yesterday and STILL haven't received a confirmation...so I don't know if I a) actually got anything or b) didn't get something and have to work on Plan B.

I'm guessing from your post that it is always this frustrating...but with the added pressure of going for work, I have to admit to being quite stressed out right now.

Is anyone else still waiting on their confirmation email?

Does it normally take this long?
Unknown said…
I didn't do the reservation process, but a friend did (we are sharing a room) and it was horrible for her. They didn't give her a room at any of the 12 choices she picked instead put us in a hotel 3 miles away that isn't on the shuttle bus route. This is just ridiculous. We're looking at other options just to make sure we get a room at a closer hotel since the hotels we really wanted to stay at our "completely booked" now. Still going to the con no matter what, but not happy with the whole process at all.
wompwompwomp said…
This is supposed to be my first time going to the convention and it's the day after and I STILL haven't heard anything back regarding my hotel reservation. It's really frustrating. I know people are pissed that they didn't get any of their 12 choices and are 3+ miles away from the convention center. How bout not having anything at all! Every time my Blackberry buzzes, I hope and pray that it's them telling me my reservation, but alas it's just college basketball updates. Truly Madness, lol
Jace Lacob said…
Emma,

This is the first year they've done it this way with 12 choices and confirmation emails so there's no real rule as to how long it will or should take. Sit tight and know that there are always rooms that open up closer to the convention itself!
thinkwatchthink said…
I'm coming, but we're staying at the youth hostel and sorted our reservations out months ago. (Though I did call to double-check yesterday, just to be sure.)

Also, I'm close enough that if I can't get a place, I can drive back and forth. Tiring by Sunday, but not as bad as it could be.

It's going to be interesting to hit Comicon w/Twitter this year. I was always completely oblivious to the hotel woes. So much going on that I never knew!

Best of luck to everyone. Hope it sorts itself out!
Anonymous said…
I had my request in by 9:04am yesterday and I still have yet to receive any notification. I ended up reserving a room on my own last night at one of my preferred choices, at a ridiculously inflated price. So, I'm still going but I'm not a happy camper right now.
Unknown said…
Jace,

Ah...totally missed it was the first year for the whole process (12 choices AND the emails, etc.). The confusion is making more sense now!

I'll sit tight here with my fingers crossed and come up with a Plan B just in case!

Thanks!
Unknown said…
All of my "12 choices" were in the downtown area, and I was assigned a hotel 5 miles away. I will probably not go unless I can get a downtown hotel. This process sucks, and the hotels suck for not opening more of their rooms at the con rate. Expedia can still get you a downtown room if you are willing to pre-pay $400 a night for it. San Diego deserves to lose the con to Anaheim unless they can fix this in a significant way -- e.g., making at least 80% of their rooms available at the con rate. If they can't do that, they obviously don't need the con's business all that much. It's not like the con rate is $50 a night.
Wildkarde said…
Been going for 12 years with a group of friends. Last year, a good hotel within walking distance. This year, nothing so far. We got on and signed up in the first 15 minutes.

There are 2 major problems with this here:

-Travel Planners has never been able to handle the load and gotten progressively worse each year. This year is especially hilarious. Did they honestly think they were going to be able to shutter out all those reservations and people were going to be all happy dappy that they got a hotel practically in Arizona instead of...horrors...actually in the city? Why the hell is a place in New York doing West Coast Travel Planning anyway...you know a bunch punched the clock at 5 EST and left us with a bunch of WTF.
-Manchester Grand Hyatt - One of the biggest if not THE biggest hotels were all fine to reserve until, whoops....we forgot to tell you we are having another convention inside the hotel so no rooms for you guys. The Hyatt has always had a beef with Comic Con for some reason and this was a direct salvo that practically screamed "WE DON'T LIKE YOU AND WISH YOU WOULD GO AWAY." from them. There is no way around it simply because some jerk in power does not like the 'weirdos' and keeps forgetting that SDCC brings about 60 MILLION dollars to the city in a week.
ted23 said…
Got my 8th choice. Not too bad seeing as others ended up with worse. Shuttle can get me there.
denisem said…
I've always wanted to go but after listening to one of my fav podcasts talking about the mass amount of crowds and the lines. I no longer want to go, I 'll just follow the tweets, etc.
tezero said…
This is my second year attending Comic-Con and my first using their Hotel Reservation System. I was done within 5 mins - the page was down for a couple of mins - and still have heard NOTHING from them. It's frustrating to have to wait so long for a response. I would rather know immediately that I have been screwed over, rather than have to wait days to find out I have been screwed over.
The other thing with Twitter: I saw several people who sent in their requests later than I did, that have already heard back. Some got their first choice, but most people have not even gotten ANY of the top 12. To say this system is flawed is a HUGE understatement.
Unknown said…
I got a hotel that wasn't on my top 12. At least there will be a shuttle as we are 9 blocks away. This process was terrible. This will be my second time at Comic Con but my first with a hotel. Comic Con has really changed over the years and not for the better. I have a friend who was dealer 20 years ago. He won't step foot in to Comic Con.

Remember earlier in the year, there was some talk of Comic Con leaving SD? Man, it would be nice to have it here in LA!!!
Wildkarde said…
@denisem

It used to be good...a lil crowded but overall fun and pleasant. then it became this unreal monster.

Yea...god you should have seen it like 10 years ago. Open walk ins, easy to get hotels, good times. Hell, one year in early 90's convention I not only met Ian McKellan but drank beers with John Carpenter and shot the shit with Tarentino....ON THE CON FLOOR. It was an actual comic convention with some nice lil extras now.

For the most part, a lot of old timers come down to see their friends nowadays. We visit the con, maybe see 1 or 2 of the presentations but avoid almost all the movie crap since it will show up on the net within minutes.

The funny thing is that no one has thought about actually recording the panels and presenting them directly on a hotel beam so that people don't try to stuff themselves into Hall H to get a look. Even better a small subscription fee and you could put it out nationally like a PPV.
Remy Lane said…
I have passes to go for my first time ever, but sadly I'm going to have to give them up. After doing the math, my friend and I realized our finances aren't stable enough to afford the trip. :'(

We'll try again next year, but my soul still cries for what we'll be missing....
Mysterious Guy said…
Anybody try using this link for the Manchester? $230 / night.

https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=1482101
The Girl said…
Sent in my form at 9:07, got an email five hours later booking me into a hotel 3 miles away not on my list. I'll be canceling it today and hoping something becomes available later. I have a backup hotel booked but I hate the idea of paying almost $300/night for a Holiday Inn. Just feeling screwed in general.
Wildkarde said…
@Mysterious Guy

I did, got my 3 days without a problem...but I foresee a ton of trouble with them requesting more info because they want to make sure the 'right people' get in. I suspect the usage of 'creative bullshit' may come into play.

Whatever the case, I am holding on to the reservation until I see what Travel Planners has cooked up for me. If I get set up in a hotel in North Dakota, I supposed I can always get through to it.

Besides, its not like they were declaring I had to attend the AHA conference, did they?
tezero said…
@Remy Lane - We can't afford it either. I am taking 4 teenagers from Alabama this year. They are holding their 2nd yard sale tomorrow to raise the money. They have about 10 more planned through the summer. They are DETERMINED to go.
Anonymous said…
I Put in my "reservation" at 9:15am. Didn't get a reply till 8pm that evening. I was given a room that wasn't on my 12 choice list and conveniently located 7 miles away! Lame!

To Mysterious Guy... I did as a back up. Staying there instead of a SDCC room. The rates are a bit higher than I wanted to spend but considering my other options its good. Plus it's right next door to the convention center!
dan said…
i was going to book the hyatt one and was told on twitter someone who booked last night got a email canceling they are intent keeping people out for the SDCC what a train wreck i went to bed last night saying if by Monday its not fixed will will write my refund letter funny thing now if i want a refund i get it in late august or September crap i might be dead by then what a epic waste of time

Jack

oh no word from the fools from travel planners yet 24 hour later
Snapper said…
I booked my hotel months ago through expedia, and got a pretty decent rate, but a couple of my friends went through the nightmare reservation process...and still don't have a hotel. They called them, and now the SDCC people are saying they won't know for another WEEK if they can get her a room. Given all the problems, I'm not optimistic about the con finding a place for them. And they can't find an available room anywhere, now, that isn't like 3 times as expensive. Rumor is, using firefox and/or chrome invited glitching. I don't know if that's true, but in any case, it sucks big time and is complete BS.
Tonya said…
Whoa after reading all these horror stories I'm afraid my luck was too good to be true. My friend and I submitted our request within the first 20 minutes and I received an email back within 2 hours stating that we had gotten our first choice. It's our first year going so I don't really know what to expect, but although scrambling to pick 12 hotels when we really only had one in mind was confusing, I guess we have nothing to complain about. I'm almost afraid of getting an email now saying our reservation somehow got cancelled.
TKSnake said…
@Mysterious Guy,

When I didn't receive an email confirmation after waiting for five hours, I booked on that link, but felt kinda wonky doing it. If I end up doing cosplay like I like to do sometimes, and I'm booked under the code, someone might raise an eyebrow.

Now we're finding out that the Manchester had a block of SDCC rooms that sold out... but I didn't see them on the online form at all, meaning they probably booked to exhibitors well in advance of the public bookings. Kind of a cop-out :/

Fortunately, after I poked the cci-info@comic-con.org email, Travel Planners got back to me within minutes confirming my room at the Bayfront. It's more expensive, but I don't have to worry about paranoia. Just one of the lucky few who got a decent hotel nearby (pick #4) instead of getting pick #12 or getting stuck at a hotel I didn't even choose (like many did).
Steve said…
I called and got through at EXACTLY 12:00 EST (9:00 PST). (I know because I got through 3 minutes before and they told me I had to wait 3 minutes more.) The reservations agent, who was very polite and helpful, and told me that reservations would be handled in the order in which people called in; not the order in which we were finished and not in some random order determined by some faceless back room person. So I figure that by calling within 60 seconds of the lines opening up that I should be able to get 1 of the 12 hotels I asked for. At worst, *maybe* my fourth or fifth.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email last night giving me a hotel that was not even on my list and NINE MILES away. By being one of the FIRST people to call in! I cannot fathom what possible reason would have 12 hotels' worth of room blocks would be sold out in the 50-odd seconds before I called. I would have rather been told rooms would be given out on a lottery basis. At least then I could have chalked up the actual results to bad luck.

Even more frustrating was how their customer service has been all but shut down. I can't speak to a human by calling your phone number; only leave a message or send an email into a black void.

Unbelievable.
Anonymous said…
Dan...

Interesting I hope mine doesn't get cancelled. But the Manchester was one of hotels listed in the SDCC hotel PDF AND It's where DC has their headquarters? This hotel registration system has been a complete crap shoot. Last years system was slow but you knew if had a hotel or not.

In any case I'll download the AHA conference PDF and brush up on my hospital management jargon.
Anonymous said…
@ Tonya Within 20 minutes and you got your first choice? I'm sorry, that's great for you, but that hardly seems fair. Myself and my friend had ours submitted with 5 minutes and didn't get any of our 12 hotels and ended up 6 miles away.And the same has happened to other people who have posted here that applied within the same time as us. Sorry, clearly its not your fault and you seem alot luckier than other people (and it seems like it was just pot luck), I'm just slightly bitter. At least some people can travel back and forth - myself and my friend are coming from Ireland so we don't really have that option. Travelling that far we don't want to spend more time every day doing more unnecessary travel. And the hotel we got landed with doesn't even have a shuttle. This seems like a bit of a joke. Clearly, we still want to go to Comic Con and will but this is causing alot of hassel which we could do without.
Jace Lacob said…
Star,

It's worth noting, however, that what might have been one person's first choice may not have even been on someone else's top 12. There's a strange and complicated rubric at play here because while we all had to pick 12 options--in order--the placement and selection of those differ wildly from person to person.
Anonymous said…
Jace,
Yeah that's true. I guess my thought process is slightly clouded at the moment. But I was just guessing most people preferenced the closest ones to the con. I'm really happy for everyone that did get their choices but there are so many people that have been seemingly messed around by this that it seems a little silly.
Anonymous said…
Oh! And they screwed up the actual dates that we tried booking for. They only gave us like half the dates or something which isn't helpful either. Did that happen to anyone else or were we just very unlucky? Maybe the system just doesn't like Irish people lol - At least this should be a good talking/ breaking the ice topic at the con "Oh your reservation was screwed up? Mine too!" :D
Got my reservation request put in within 5 minutes of it being live and have yet to hear anything either. Glad to know I'm not the only one, but irritated that they've failed their "3-5 hour" response window by such a large margin.
Wildkarde said…
Updates:

-Manchester Grand Hyatt tweeted they had rooms open for the SDCC but were taken (omitting that they were taken before any attendees got them by ONE exhibitor). Then said they could reserve them out of the Travel Planners. I called them a minute after this and got this quote "Don't know what they are looking at but all rooms are sold out". Now tweeting they are all sold out.

-Now a 24-48 hours backlog for 'processing'.

-People are tweeting that some people won't give confirmation for a week.

-Still waiting for mine.
Unknown said…
Booked online within the first 10 minutes and as of today, still haven't received a hotel confirmation. They said many are still being processed. A friend of mine booked online at the exact same time and received a confirmation last night - at a hotel 7 miles away from the con and not one of his top 12. This is my 6th Comic Con and by far, the worst hotel experience.
Ricki said…
A small group of friends who I plan on staying with all put in their requests to see which would get the best hotel. My husband and I are the only ones who plan to stay Wed - Sun, while everyone else is just Thurs - Sun. So I'm wondering if pick depended the amount of nights you planned on staying too since my husband got his 4th pick and all my other friends didn't end up with any of their top 12.

A few of my friends got responses within a few hours but my husband's didn't show up till 4:48 PDT
Wildkarde said…
In case you feel the need to file a complaint on BBB:

http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-reviews/hotels-reservations/quikbook-inc-in-new-york-ny-4138/

Quikbook, Inc is Travel Planners

While I would just wait for them if you have not received any response, I would suggest hitting their 'A' rating if you got screwed over
Steve said…
@Ricki My request was for Tue - Sat, so the same # of nights as you, but I still got the shaft, unfortunately.
Wildkarde said…
Update: Here's a laugh

Registered 5 minutes apart for 2 different bookings for the same hotel rooms:

Original booking gets this

"Comic-Con Guest,

We apologize for the long delay getting back to you. We want to let you know that we do have an official Comic-Con hotel for you, but we’re still working out the details. We’re asking that you extend your patience until early next week, when we will email your confirmation to you.

Please note these important items:

-Once you receive your confirmation, you will need to provide the deposit no later than Thursday, March 25th.
-If you no longer need this room, please let us know via comicconres@tphousing.com."

Second one gets this:

"Thank you for submitting your request for Comic-Con 2010 hotel reservations.

While we’ve not been able to process your request yet, we will continue trying to place your request in one of the official hotels in the coming days. With this year’s new deposit requirement, plus the higher than usual number of duplicate requests submitted, we anticipate an increased amount of inventory coming back into our system, which will allow us to continue processing many of the outstanding requests.
-If we are able to get your request into one of the official hotels, we will notify you via the email address that you provided.

-We cannot guarantee that we will be able to fulfill your request.

-If you no longer want us to try to fulfill your request, please notify us by sending your name and email address to comicconres@tphousing.com.

We’re sorry that we’ve not been able to process your request yet. As many of you know from the past few years, the discounted rates offered in the Comic-Con hotel blocks means that they tend to sell out almost instantaneously. Yesterday was no exception. But we will continue working hard to get your request into one of the official hotels."

Ladies and Gentlemen, something is rotten in fuckin Denmark!
tick22 said…
Been going to ther Con since 93 and each year since 2005 gets worse. The last 3 years have been the worse so me and the group are forgetting going this year. Just too many people, rooms are impossible to get and the PRICE!!! sheesh, $100 bucks. can you say RIP OFF. The piping of the panels would be a great Ideal but, no way the CC people will do that. It has become more Moviecon than comicon now a days anyway...Nope we are not ever going again. We plan to hit Dragon Con which is how Comicon use to be but more people friendly and still a great deal.
Anonymous said…
I actually got confirmed for my first choice but I can't log onto the site to confirm the reservation!! FRUSTRATING! Anybody else having problems?
Anonymous said…
It's been a nightmare-ish 24 hours of Comic-Con hotel-hell. This will be my 9th year attending and never has it been this miserable getting a hotel room. I was able to log-in to the Travel Planner's systems within the first minute yesterday, and then it took 5 hours to get my confirmation and to my shock and horror it was NOT one of my top 12 hotels, it was the hotel I would have selected as the absolute last option. So imagine my further shock, indignation and outrage as I saw that 10 hours AFTER I got my confirmation, that people were just getting their confirmations to my 1st choice hotel. Clearly, my 1st choice was still available at the time I was given my hotel confirmation, yet Travel Planners opted to give me the worst possible hotel -- which was 7 miles away from the convention center. Upon getting my offending confirmation, I called and spoke to a Travel Planner's representative, who was very nice, but not helpful. He merely recommended that I attempt to get into the "cancellation/change" screen when it was posted in a few hours to select another hotel. Low and behold, a few hours turned into all night and when the "change" window at the Travel Planners site was available, there were NO AVAILABLE hotels. While I had attempted to locate a hotel outside of Travel Planners yesterday, all were double or triple the Travel Planner rates and all required PREPAYMENT in full of the entire hotel stay -- which is outrageous. So hoping that a room would free up this morning, I re-checked and found nothing through Travel Planners. Then compounding the nightmare, all the hotels that were offering exorbitantly priced rooms yesterday were now booked up. That left only one hotel with one room at 3 times the Travel Planner's price -- yes, 3 times the rate!!! So being a desperate Comic-Con attendee, I did what I had to do: I booked the room at 3 times the rate and PREPAID for the privilege of staying there at that price. Unbelievable. Suffice it to say, I learned a valuable lesson: NEVER use Travel Planners. You'll get screwed.
Anonymous said…
Submitted my request within 5 minutes. Got assigned a hotel that was not on my list and 6 or 7 miles away. Immediately started checking my top picks directly and was able to get a reservation at what was my #3 pick. Rate is higher, but at least I won't have to rent a car. I think some others might have been doing the same b/c rates went up significantly at one place while I was in the midst of checking it out. LESSON LEARNED: Book a back-up on your own before official bookings begin.
Anonymous said…
They NEED to move the Con to Las Vegas. The Convention center in Vegas is almost three times the size as the San Diego one and the hotel issue would be a thing of the past. (20 of the top 26 largest hotels in the WORLD are in Vegas)

Comic Con is getting less and less fun and more and more irritating as years go by. Last year, I stood in line for hours and hardly got in to see any panels. We also had a ton of theft at our booth (crowds are too large to keep an eye on).
If they had more space, it would really help. Both for exhibitors and the crowds.
SinceCC1995 said…
I have been a CC attendee since 1995 and these days I am considering to actually no longer attend the convention.

The hotel fiasco alone is aggravating and a pretty good reason to not go. Travel Planners have been doing this for years and some how they still weren't prepared for the massive onslaught of reservations. How can it be that they weren't prepared when they KNOW it's going to be crazy? Will it kill them to hire more CSR to process the reservations?

I was at work and could not get to submitting my reservation request until 9:45am. It took Travel Planners 48 hours to send me an email saying that they were not able to reserve a room for me but that they will still continue to try. I also called them to clarify and the reps were not able to give me any timelines and their excuse for the fiasco this year was "we did not expect thousands of people to submit requests at once at 9am". This is complete utter bullshit and Comic Con needs to find another vendor to handle hotel reservations because clearly, Travel Planners just can't do it right and have had years to perfect it but the experience only has been getting worse every year.

We're paying too much money for these hotel rooms and paying a lot to even attend the convention to have to deal with the extra aggravation of just getting a hotel room.
arbitrary said…
If I could cancel my flight from the UK, I would not go to Comic Con 2010. Last year we easily got a hotel in walking distance. This year I submitted within the first 5 mins and have yet to have an answer.

The stupid hotel people say they might get back to me by 26th March. But seriously, it's not like I can ring up from the UK and see how I'm doing. There's no hope.


I guess we may end up spending a FORTUNE to get a room. But I've already spent a lot just to get to the US.

I'm really sick of it all, and this will be my last Comic Con, because right now.. I don't want to go at all. This has ruined all my excitement.. and even once I get a room it'll be a sour taste in the mouth.

I was always a proponent of San Diego for Comic Con. But now I'm thinking they may as well move, because I won't play this lottery again, or watch as people get replies when I get nothing at all, no explanation email, no apology for the cluster****, and a system not open to scrutiny for fairness.
Trevor said…
I booked into the Hyatt through standard reservations in Jan, but was hoping to get a better rate through Travel Planners. I was completely thrown by Hyatt not being a choice after they were listed on the pdf a week ago.

In any case, I submitted like 3 hours after the site opened and didn't get anything.

I'm actually a little disappointed being at the Hyatt now, but maybe with the AHA convention I'll get better service. I love the con atmosphere at the bar and being close to the convention center. If that part doesn't change, I'll be ok.

My guess is that the main after con scene moves to another hotel this year after how pissed everybody will be at what the hyatt did.

otoh, maybe this new con will tank and a bunch of rooms will open up for cheap in June. :)
Unknown said…
I submitted my request for a hotel at 9:08 am PST on the 18th. Here it is on Saturday the 20th and I still have not been contacted. I feel bad for their phone lines come monday morning.

I was trying to plan a family vacation around that whole week, but if I can not get a hotel on the buss route I may have to change my plans.

It is hard to believe that this process is so cumbersom this many years after Travel Planners has been doing it.
Tim said…
I never have an issue as I live in SD. What is funny is that people think that moving to LA or Anaheim will make things better. It won't. No hotels here, no hotels there.
Anonymous said…
The problem is not San Diego, it,s the promoter and still having Trav Planners do work for them. They have known for years that this is an issue and still doesn't look like they won't to make an effort to correct this.

Why didn't TP do a beta test before hand. Clearly they knew the responds would be overwhelming. It happens every year.

IMO his makes the SDCC look very bad. they need to get others involved to do the job that TP obviously isn't do right.
Anonymous said…
I submitted several minutes after it opened and I STILL have yet to hear from the idiots at TP and it's already MONDAY NIGHT. I even sent them an e-mail over the weekend and nothing. Absolutely ridiculous.

And to think I thought I really had a chance at getting a hotel really close to SDCC...
Anonymous said…
Copy / Past the last two posts.
Jack Gregson said…
if anyone is still looking for lodgings, I've got space in my hotel room for two people. My e-mail is grossepblank@hotmail.co.uk just send me a message if you are interested.
Nadine said…
If you are willing to prepay, I got the Loews Coronado Resort on Priceline for $125 a night, and Hotwire has it (I'm pretty certain it's the same place) for $145 a night right now. It's the kind of place that you have to take a car across the bridge or a taxi to the ferry at the Marriott on Coronado, so it's a hassle, don't get me wrong. But it's cheap and a 4 star hotel. Might be better than Hotel Circle.
Anonymous said…
Here's one more reason on how "Hotel Hell" happened:

"Will Al Gore Ruin Comic-Con?"

As thousands of hapless Comic-Con attendees discovered yesterday when they tried to register for their hotels, one of the biggest San Diego hotels, and one of the closest to the San Diego Convention Center, has pulled out of Comic-Con. The bayfront Manchester Grand Hyatt will not participate in this year's Nerd Prom. The reason? Well, it has something to do with environmental activist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. And it could be the beginning of the end for Comic-Con as we know it. More info after the jump.

According to The Beat, the Hyatt will, instead of Comic-Con, host the 2010 AHA Health Forum Leadership Summit, the guest list for which includes Newt Gingrich, DeeDee Myers, Ken Burns and Freakonomics author Steven D. Levitt, as well as Gore.

Needless to say, this has created much more than mere frustration that a popular, geographically desirable hotel had pulled out of the mix, it's also a harbinger of Much Worse Things to Come, when, in July, gridlock traffic will flood the streets of San Diego's Gaslamp District, along with dramatically increased crowds (as all of this year's sure-to-be-record-high number of Comic-Con attendees combines with the full occupancy of the Grand Hyatt, with its AHA Leadership people).

For years, people have complained that Comic-Con has outgrown San Diego, as the convention that began in a nearby hotel's basement swelled to take over every room and hall of the convention center. Now, with increased overcrowding making the situation significantly worse, Comic-Con could be forced to abandon San Diego, and head north for Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

As longtime attendees of Comic-Con, some of us will be disappointed to see Comic-Con leave the still quaint Gaslamp District, with its almost New Orleans French Quarter feel. But some of us are hoping for the excitement of Vegas to join with that of Nerd Prom. The saga continues...

LINK:
http://www.fearnet.com/news/b18526_will_al_gore_ruin_comic_con.html
Ben S said…
Just skip the official process and grab a nearby room in SD. http://bedmap.com/map?e=ComicCon2011

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Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj