Apples to...Comic Cons? First Annual Silicon Valley Comic Con presented by The Woz!

You’ve probably heard “The Woz”’s name at least once before. As the second Steve on the founding board of Apple, Steve Wozniak’s name is a common household staple for those of us in the Silicon Valley area. We usually think of iPhones, Macbooks, iPads, and so and and so on when we hear The Woz’s name. But now, we have a new one to add to the“Things Related to Steve Wozniak” list,  and that’s Silicon Valley Comic Con.
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Held from March 18th to March 20th at the San Jose Convention center, 2016 marked the first annual Silicon Valley Comic Con. Sponsored by Apple chairman Steve Wozniak, SVCC absorbed Big Wow! Comic Fest and teamed up with The Woz to create a convention that boasted the “bringing together of two of America’s greatest superheroes; pop culture and technology”. For a first-time three day convention, the price tag was steep; about $100 for the full weekend, plus additional add-ons for photo opportunities, celebrity signings, and VIP access. Was the price tag worth it? Does the Bay Area’s response to SDCC and Wondercon hold up? Let’s find out.

Attendees gear up to head in after the ribbon is cut!

LOCATION, HOTEL, TRANSPORT: Those of us who attend Fanime on the regular will be intimately familiar with the location of Silicon Valley Comic Con. Also occupying the San Jose Convention center, where Fanime has been held for the last 12 years, I found myself navigating the con center fairly easily. I personally haven’t attended Fanime since 2011, so it gave me some nostalgia being back in the center again.
Like Fanime, SVCC offered con rate rooms at the two connecting hotels, the Marriott and the Hilton. From my understanding, there did not appear to be a shuttle provided by the con.

REGISTRATION/ATTENDANCE: As mentioned earlier, SVCC was a pricey con. While marketed as a three day convention at $100 for the full weekend, the first day of the convention felt more like a day 0. Advertised as a “preview night”, the convention was only open from 5pm-9pm. Registration was practically nonexistent this night- for those who pre-purchased early enough, badges were mailed to attendees ahead of time, so no line for us! Preview night was very sparse- we were able to venture into the dealers hall and Stan Lee museum early and skip the crowds, but vendors were still setting up, and some hadn’t even arrived at all.

Saturday was a completely different story. A little dissuaded by the emptiness that was Day 1, I wasn’t expecting a wrap-around line for registration that went from the convention center entrance to looping around the parking lot.

Getting inside the convention wasn’t any different. Newly implemented RFID chips instead of the usual badges created huge traffic blocks getting in and out of the con- think Disneyland pass scanning, but significantly slower, and in inconvenient costumes. Convention goers weren’t very happy with the long lines and chip scanning. Cosplayers were especially bothered, bulky costumes made chip scanning to get in and out a huge pain.

By Sunday, we were back to the fairly empty feeling that I’d experienced on Preview Night. Another half day, the con was due to shut down at 5pm. While the con celebrated a whopping attendance of 60,000 (for comparison’s sake, Fanime averages about 25,000 attendees a year) I felt that a majority of that attendance clocked in on that single Saturday, and for the money attendees paid for a full weekend, I was hoping for a more full-weekend like experience.

DEALER’S HALL: SVCC’s dealer’s hall was definitely a unique experience in comparison to other cons I’ve attended. One of SVCC’s gimmicks was its desire to focus on upcoming technology; instead of just the usual artists and vendors, we also had a section dedicated to upstarting technology, some local to the Silicon Valley, some from across the globe. While an interesting addition to the normal dealer’s hall formula, some of the booths felt odd and out of place, like a commercial in the middle of my shopping extravaganza.

Fully functioning "Dominator" replica from anime Psycho-Pass was one of the many cool tech pieces displayed at SVCC

Spiderman busts on display in the Stan Lee Museum

However, my favorite aspect of the vendor’s hall was the inclusion of the Stan Lee museum. SVCC also partnered with former Marvel chairman, Stan Lee. Displayed in a separate section of the vendor’s hall were all sorts of awesome Marvel collectables; from original sketches from comics like Spiderman and Iron Man, to full bust statues. Footage from the Stan Lee museum can be seen in our video coverage! ​

COSPLAY: As a cosplayer, my favorite part of any convention. This is my first big comic convention since I attended Wondercon on its last year in San Francisco, so I was over-excited to see so many excellent costumes from comics and other western media, as opposed to the anime cosplays I’ve grown used to seeing. As expected, there were many variations of Deadpool wreaking havoc across the con (one even break danced!) along with some incredible Batman Vs Superman costumes, and Civil War cosplayers split between Team Cap and Team Iron Man. Cosplay definitely didn’t disappoint; experience all the awesome and unique costumes of SVCC by checking out the photo gallery!

Marvel Gathering cosplayers strike an action pose for photographers

RECAP: As with most first year conventions, SVCC had its growing pains. Common complaints were overcrowding, the RFID scanning instead of usual badge check, and lines. Lines for registration, lines for autographs, lines for panels, lines seemed to be a theme for SVCC. SVCC had a lot going for it, with its high-profile guest list and interesting panel line up; but for its high price point, I was expecting more doing, and less line-waiting. After the experience, I had almost wished I had just gone for Saturday, instead of investing money in a full weekend. We’ll see if SVCC makes it through its growing pains and remedies its bumps for 2017.

-kasuutan