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A Map of One Section of the 2006 CCI Exhibition Floor, With Names of Exhibitors
posted June 26, 2005
 



This is a small section of the larger exhibition for the 2006 Comic-Con International in San Diego. In fact, it's the section of floor that includes the major arts comics publisher, so it's probably the section I'll walk around the most in the course of a weekend. Seeing it like this brings to mind a few things.

1. They try to put stuff together, but it's never going to be perfectly assembled. For one thing, nobody will agree on what's perfect. For another, booth requirements and the like make it really difficult to put every publisher you're going to want to see right next to one another. It's a tough job.

2. Having stuff spread out is a good thing for the consumer. If everything you wanted was in one place, you'd never leave the one or two rows featuring your pals and idols. It's nice to have a little circuit to do -- maybe up through the Global Hobo/Buenaventura aisle, visting a few people that you like in the small press area that's going to be above this area, over to see if Steve Rude is drawing anything, by Giant Robot to look at t-shirts, and so on.

3. Standing in Any One Place Long Enough Upsets the Booth People. Be considerate. If you're up close to the table you're blocking business. If you're planted firmly away from it, chances are the security guards will walk up and mumble at you to get out of aisle so that movement can continue.

4. Always ask around if there are other cool booths, particularly for those "in the boonies." Someone always gets put into an odd place; it's not the con's fault, it's a statistical probability. I've found that most exhibitors are happy to talk up a friend of theirs that isn't as close by as they might want to be, and that most of the people attending sniff this out by the second day or so as well. I've even been directed to original art dealers off the beaten path. Anyone put in a place where their foot traffic may not be as natural as it might have been closer to like-minded exhibitors is going to be really happy to see you if you track them down.