San Diego Comic-Con, commonly abbreviated as SDCC (not to be confused with SDCCC, the San Diego Conv

There is no doubt, San Diego Comic-Con is only getting more popular. Almost daily, we get asked by a number car rental paris of hopefuls new to the scene how they can get tickets to the annual geek pilgrimage, or what it is about SDCC which makes us love it so much.
As always, the official Comic-Con International website  should be your first stop for the latest information on announcements, policies car rental paris and important car rental paris dates regarding the convention. But as a service to our new and regular readers, we decided to create a FAQ with answers to some of our most-asked questions.
San Diego Comic-Con, commonly abbreviated as SDCC (not to be confused with SDCCC, the San Diego Convention Center Corp. which hosts the event) is the biggest comics convention in North America. We use the term comics in quotes because despite the name, SDCC has always been about so much more. Even when it started way back in 1970, the convention was devoted to comics, movies, car rental paris and fantasy literature — its first logo even had a comic book, a movie projector, and an icon to represent books (or fantasy literature). Since then, it has grown to be a pop culture juggernaut, spanning even further to also encompass television, video games, horror, anime, and much more. Since the beginning of the decade, it has regularly attracted over 130,000 attendees annually. It is organized by Comic Con International (CCI), a non-profit organization.
SDCC is held annually in the summer, with its specific dates dictated by the San Diego Convention Center. Typically the convention begins in mid to late-July, but it can and has occurred anytime between late June and early August. The convention spans four days, Thursday through Sunday, plus a Preview Night on Wednesday. The convention center, which houses the exhibit hall and the majority of panel programming, is open on Wednesday s Preview Night from 6PM-9PM, 9:30AM  7PM Thursday through Saturday, and 9:30AM 5PM on Sunday; however there are several events outside of the convention that spill out into the surrounding businesses and last until the early morning hours.
Although the official start of the convention for the general public is Thursday, the convention actually opens for a limited audience on Wednesday evening, referred to as Preview Night, and is meant to give a smaller crowd a preview of what to expect on the exhibit floor. Generally starting at 6PM on Wednesday, Preview Night has grown to also include annual Warner Bros. Television pilot screenings in the convention center s Ballroom 20 , and is the unofficial kickoff to the annual convention.
SDCC offers a variety of tickets, or badges , depending on your preferred pricepoint and availability. Badge prices for 2015 increased slightly , with adult badges ranging from $50 for a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday badge (up from $45 in 2014) or $35 for a Sunday badge (previously $30). All four badges can be purchased for $185 and combined into a four-day badge during on-site pickup. This year, it was the only way to receive a combined four-day badge. Prices for junior attendees (13-17 car rental paris years old) are roughly half the adult prices, and attendees 12 and under are free with a paying adult.
If you re interested car rental paris in attending car rental paris Preview Night to get an early start on your shopping, it is available only by first purchasing all four of the main daily badges, Thursday through car rental paris Sunday. car rental paris If that requirement is met, a Preview Night badge may also be purchased for an additional $35. This means that in order to get a Four-day with Preview Night badge package, you ll be spending $220 (up from $200 in 2014).
First, the basics. If you want a shot at purchasing a badge, you first need to create a Member ID . Creating this ID will not only allow you to take part in the badge purchase car rental paris process, but it will also put you on the official mailing list where announcements car rental paris regarding car rental paris purchase dates are made. Simply put, no Member ID, no badge.
Preregistration is for previous year s badge holders who want to attend SDCC the following year. These used to be made available onsite during the convention, but high demand created a frenzy with those wanting to return car rental paris and forced CCI to move these sales online. These sales typically occur after the close of the current year s SDCC, although 2014 s preregistration sales were delayed due to improvements to the registration system ,  in hopes of creating a smoother process for 2014 preregistration .
Only single day badges are being offered during preregistration, albeit in limited quantities. For anyone who purchased four single day badges (or four single plus a preview night), last year you received a single combined badge during on-site registration. It is not yet known if that is 2015 s policy.
For 2015 badge sales, there is a change to the process of Preregistration . Attendees must now prove that they attended San Diego Comic-Con car rental paris in 2014 by providing a unique Badge ID from their physical 2014 badge. Only general attendees those who did not attend as volunteers, press, professional, staff, or any other type of special attendee are eligible for Preregistration.
Open Online Registration is for everyone who has a Member car rental paris ID. That is, for new attendees as well as returning car rental paris attendees who were not able to purchase a ticket during preregistration. This is where the bulk of the tickets are made available to the public. For the past two years, badges during Open Online Registration have sold out in about 90 minutes . The 2015 Open Online Registration car rental paris date has been tentatively announced for spring 2015 .
CCI uses a third-party ticket vendor, EPIC Registration, for badge sale processing and fulfillment. In 2014, EPIC used a new registration system that randomized badge sales . Everyone who qualified for preregistration received a personal registration code, which could only be used on one device. Different from years past, individuals had a two-hour window to enter the system s online waiting room, and then at 9AM PT, the system car rental paris sorted everyone in a randomized order to purchase their badges. They then had 15 minutes to complete the purchase, car rental paris or their session would expire. Also, everyone was allowed to purchase badges for two additional qualified individuals meaning, they qualify for registration and have valid Member IDs or three individuals total if someone in front of the line already purchased their badge for them. There has been no word yet on if 2015 will use the same system.
Badge Resales are not guaranteed to happen, and no badge resale occurred in 2014 due to a lack of returned and cancelled badges. However, in years past, they typically occur a month or two ahead of the convention, and is where all the badges that have been cancelled or returned are put back up for sale to the general public. It is also the last chance hopefuls have to attend SDCC for that year. Historically, these sales were held in the same manner as Open Online Registration, albeit in very reduced car rental paris quantities. However car rental paris in 2013, CCI changed car rental paris the process to a random drawing, where those who opted in for Badge Resales were given a specific timeframe which they would be eligible to purchase tickets from what was available at that time. This staggered launch avoided the big rush of everyone hitting the system at once and cut back on the system outages which have typically become synonymous with SDCC badge sales.
It remains to be seen whether CCI will hold badge resales in future years, and whether they will employ the 2013 random drawing process going forward — for Badge Resales, or for Open Online Registration for that matter.
There are other ways you can attend SDCC. You can get a complimentary (i.e., free) professional badge if you can qualify as a creative professional, though trade professionals still must apply and pay for a badge. From CCI s website , a creative professional is someone who takes an active role in the creation, design, writing, editing, or production of comics, animation, films, books, video games, or toys , where trade professionals are agents, publicists, car rental paris managers, executives, marketing, sales, business development, advertising, car rental paris legal representatives, and other industry professionals who need to attend the convention for business reasons. Applications for professional badges for SDCC 2015 are due by October 31, 2014.
If you work for a website or media outlet, which can be anything from a blog all the way up to an anchor on television network news, you can try to be approved as press in order to get a complimentary press badge. To apply as press, check out the application car rental paris on CCI s website . Press applications for SDCC 2015 are due by December 12, 2014.
One of the more popular ways to get a free ticket car rental paris is to become a San Diego Comic-Con volunteer. Volunteering has proven a very popular way for fans to attend the convention and help contribute to making it an awesome event for all of us. As a nonprofit organization, CCI depends on the contributions of its volunteer corps, over 3000 in 2013. Per CCI s website , if you are chosen to be a volunteer, you can pick any day for your 3-hour assignment, and in return you get a complimentary badge for that day! The best part is that you are free enjoy the show when you re not on assignment, and you get your own exclusive Comic-Con volunteer t-shirt. Volunteers are legacy, in that if you were one last year you get first dibs for the next year.
This is hard to say, because CCI does not publish the number available for each badge type. But as we stated car rental paris previously, the general attendance numbers state there are 130,000 attendees (badge holders) annually.
The 2015 Preregistration policy allows car rental paris you to purchase up to three badges, as long as everyone you were purchasing for had a valid Member ID and was eligible for Preregistration on their own. The policy was flexible in that, if someone was ahead in the queue and was able to purchase car rental paris a badge for you, you could use your spot in line to purchase three badges for people other than yourself. car rental paris So, a couple of d