Karma’s First Time…

My intro into geekdom started with my obsession with pop culture as a whole and the love of comic books. Being an 80s kid, I had the pleasure of video game arcades and Saturday morning cartoon lineups. As I got older, to hold onto those great memories, I wear their brands on girly tees and collect thier images made into Funko POP! vinyls. I am a geek. And in 2011, I had my first San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).

I did a lot of research and read the social media outlets on just how to attend SDCC. In the fall of 2010, me and a group of 3 friends planned on making the dream of attending come true. Now to try to get badges. Oh yes…trying to get badges. Us geeks broke the servers twice in 2010. So that’s when I and one of my friends decided to sign up to volunteer. And we both got picked to volunteer for SDCC 2011! We even got to volunteer on the ever-so-popular (rumored not an easy to get volunteer day) Preview Night. One thing I really enjoyed about volunteering is knowing that that was my way of giving back to the geek community. I so appreciate what CCI and its staff does to put on an event so big each year. And to learn they are a non-profit organization! The challenging side of volunteering is that it took up much of my Con time, but it was a good experience never-the-less. I managed to attend the one panel I had to get into on Sunday…The WB’s Supernatural. Loved perusing Artist Alley and the Exhibit Floor for picking up my exclusive pre-orders too.

I am happy to say my first San Diego Comic-Con, I was a volunteer and I’ve got the shirt to prove it. And I even got to be a hero to an attendee…I handed them the Warner Bros. SDCC bag theme they really wanted, after I asked my shift supervisor of course. A hero to me was the Travel to SDCC Checklist I found online. Without one I would not have been so organized. Yes, SDCC is THAT serious.

There were many highlights of my first time. My favorite was scoring advanced screening movie tickets to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) with a live in-person intro from Chris Evans, Fright Night (2011) with pre-party and Colin Farrell in attendance and Attack the Block (2011) which had a Q/A after the film with the director and lead actor. I also dug all the cool, free swag from outside and especially inside the Con. I got everything from South Park t-shirts to Reel Steel USB Drives to KRE-O toy figures to Collectible TV Guides to FOX poster tubes. I love swag…especially SDCC swag!

Thanks Karma for not only sharing your story but volunteering during Comic-Con! You can follow her at Twitter: @28savagedays or on Tumblr: http://bigbamboomblog.tumblr.com