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San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Open Registration Recap: Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Will we see your smiling face at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023?

For the vast majority of potential attendees, this question can now be answered.

And for every happy, successful badge purchase, there were many more unsuccessful folks, whose hopes were dashed during Open Registration, which took place earlier today, on Saturday, November 5. Last month’s Returning Registration was fraught with issues, including a delayed start, Members ID that could not be found, cart errors and multiple cancellations due to use of what CCI calls a “web exploit”

Was it too much to ask that these issues be fixed in time for a smooth Open Registration?

Since the last Open Registration (November of 2019, which ended up being for the July 2022 event) Comic-Con’s Member ID system has shifted over to Configio, and away from Expo Logic, though both are Community Brands products. Instead of logging in directly to a waiting room, attendees were directed to the Member ID portal to enter a QueueIt waiting room.

THE WAITING ROOM

At the stroke of 8AM, attendees started pouring into the QueueIt waiting room. There was some initial confusion for many because the new system allows you to enter to waiting room without logging into your Member ID.

 

No matter what time you entered the waiting room, from there, it was only waitin’ and wishin’ and hopin’.

THE SALE 

Once the clock hit 9AM users pages were automatically refreshed and those in the waiting room were randomly assigned places “in line” and given both an estimated time as well as the Walking Harbinger of Fate, the little QueueIt Walking Guy. This process was mostly instantaneous with no hiccups.

Compared to Returning Registration, reported wait times seemed to be a bit higher, with dozens of folks lamenting a wait time of “more than an hour.” 

But the system was lucky for some as after a few minutes we began to see reports of badges being purchased almost immediately, with some users not even having time to Tweet their wait time before it was their turn to purchase.

From there, it was a steady, but a little slow, plod towards selling out.

At 9:32am, Preview Night was officially sold out. This is faster than Open Registration for 2020/2022, which sold out in 32 minutes. It’s also less than Returning Registration for 2023, which took 41 minutes last month after the sale finally kicked off.

Next, Saturday badges sold out in 44 minutes (compared to 2020/2022 which sold out in 38 minutes and Returning Registration in 71 minutes) with Friday following at 53 minutes (compared to 2020/2022 in 43 minutes and Returning Registration in 80 minutes.)

Traditionally, Thursday and Sunday sell out at roughly the same time, and that was still true this year. Thursday sold out in 75 minutes (compared to 60 minutes in 2020/2022 and 96 minutes in Returning Registration this year). Sunday sold out just a moment later at 76 (compared to 66 minutes in 2020/2022 and 95 minutes in Returning Registration).

OVERVIEW & NEXT STEPS 

Well, after Returning Registration’s hiccups and errors, Open Registration seemed like a walk under the tents. With a little bit more explanation and information from CCI – specifically about prefixes and suffixes and their importance – most badges were purchased without significant difficulty.

One complaint we saw more than once was wait times jumping up for some, putting them at a longer wait time. This could be attributed to the system letting people in at a slower rate in order to not bog down the system. 

A few people reported being randomly kicked out when their wait time hit zero, but these seem to be isolated and not indicative any any widespread problem.

Certainly the largest problem was (and always is) that everyone who participates simply cannot be accommodated. The convention center has a maximum capacity and the San Diego Fire Marshals are not about to look the other way.

If you were ultimately unsuccessful and are currently empty handed in the badge department, don’t give up all hope. If you signed up for the Volunteer Interest List, registration is still open. Comic-Con has also auctioned off badges closer to the convention date in support of the Comic-Con Museum, though these will be above retail price. And though 2022 didn’t see many of them, historically there are also several contests, so keep your eyes peeled.

So, you might be doing the “Snoopy happy dance” right now, or you might be doing the “Sad Charlie Brown walk”. Comic-Con Registration never fails to run the gamut of emotions.

Were you able to get what you wanted today? Let us know in the comments.

 

 

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