Road Journal: New York Comic Con

  • By David Kennedy | Thursday, October 12th, 2017
Road Journal: New York Comic Con

Each year, our Event Ops team’s largest onsite undertaking is the one and only New York Comic Con. Our event experts work for months preparing for this massive event, and spend the days leading up to the event helping to prepare the Javits Center for the four days of pure fandom bliss to follow. Read on for some of our team members’ favorite moments from this year’s NYCC!

NYCC 2017- Nick Childers for ShowClixTaylor Gustafson – Client Success Manager

As a newer member of the ShowClix team, I was extremely honored to be asked to work at NYCC this year. Though I’ve been involved in many festivals, I have never worked onsite at a comic convention before, and I was excited to see what the hype was all about. I worked as the Crystal Palace South Gate Manager, which was both an entrance and an exit for all patrons, exhibitors, artists, and staff. It was great to see the incredible cosplay popping up all around the event. I think that may have been my favorite part; I couldn’t believe the amount of time people spend hand-crafting so many unique costumes! Also, since I’m a remote employee working out of Denver, it was really nice to spend time with my Pittsburgh-based coworkers and get to know everyone a bit better.

NYCC 2017- Nick Childers for ShowClix

Ryan Hizer – Creative Manager

Last weekend I was lucky enough to travel to New York Comic Con to document the event for our marketing team. NYCC has grown into one of the world’s elite fandom events, providing attendees with a rich and varied four-day comic con experience. The hallmarks of a great con – celebrity panels, cosplay, sneak peeks at exclusive content – are all here, but perhaps my favorite aspect of NYCC is the way it provides celebrities, artists, and fans a chance to come together and show their genuine appreciation for one another. The sense of camaraderie at NYCC is tangible, and it does not only exist among attendees. Artists and celebrities are also genuinely excited to interact with those who appreciate their work, and it isn’t uncommon to see recognizable faces on the event floor, taking it all in as fans themselves.

NYCC 2017- Nick Childers for ShowClixKyle Wetherald – Production Support Software Engineer

As our van drove through the Lincoln Tunnel, Alicia Keys blared through the speakers, “There’s nothing you can’t do. Now you’re in New York!” Such is the attitude of the ShowClix onsite event operations staff. After days and weeks of preparation (shout out to our Event Operations Manager, Katie Smith, for all of her hard work), we were ready for our biggest event of the year.  This year’s event was the smoothest I’ve been to and I couldn’t be prouder of our team. New York Comic Con is a fun event to work because you get to see passionate people getting together to celebrate the things they are passionate about, and scanning a badge on a ShowClix RFID scanner is where the entire fan experience begins. Want to go to a panel? Scan in at Madison Square Garden or the Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. Want a way to commemorate the experience? Snap a photo on our photostations at the Javits Center or Hudson Mercantile. Working NYCC means long hours and miles of walking, but it’s all worth it knowing that we’ve been a part of one of the greatest event of the year. We’ll see you next year, NYCC.

NYCC 2017- Nick Childers for ShowClixJessica Merritt – Client Support Representative

I was so incredibly honored to be asked to work NYCC my first year with ShowClix! Our team puts months of preparation into this event, and it’s amazing to be able to see the final product in person. I was in charge of helping out with registration as well as manning Madison Square Garden when special panels were taking place there. At Madison Square Garden, people were eager to scan-in their badges and claim their seat for the highly anticipated Walking Dead panel. They checked back out as they were leaving the venue so they could head over to Hammerstein Ballroom or back to the Javits to enjoy the rest of the event. At registration, we helped fans, artists, speakers, and press pick up and register their badges so they could enjoy all the benefits of the event. The excitement, by fans and those on our team, was through the roof! This year’s event was smooth and all the fans I encountered had a great time!

NYCC 2017- Nick Childers for ShowClixCara Hoover – Human Resources Coordinator

This was my second year working onsite for New York Comic Con, and I’m so happy to have had the chance to return! It’s really fun to get together with some of the team members from the office in the Big Apple and work this massive event. I think the part I enjoy most is witnessing how passionate and devoted the attendees of this event are. The hours are long, but the enthusiasm of the attendees really inspires me and keeps me going at full throttle. One of my favorite sights at NYCC was a huge “Bumblebee” cosplay from the movie Transformers that must have taken months to create. In what free time we had, a few of our team members were also able to explore Central Park and some other cool NYC sights. It was a definitely a week to remember and I look forward to returning in the years to come!