04 JULY 2012
For anyone who didn't get the CCI email, online pre-registration for 2013 will be held in August - but only for people attending the Con this summer.
We knew CCI would hold some kind of attendee-only registration before holding the main registration day. What we didn't know: you can only buy badges for other current attendees.
"Those eligible for Comic-Con 2013 online preregistration will be able to purchase up to 3* badges total. You will need a unique Member ID for each badge purchased. Eligible 2012 attendees may purchase badges for other eligible 2012 attendees, but they will not be allowed to purchase badges for those who did not attend Comic-Con 2012 or for any of the ineligible categories**above."
That's really annoying for those of us whose friends already got left behind this year. Why should we be trapped into going with the same people as this year? But of course there should still be a large number of badges available on the regular registration day. Usually CCI sold off 10-15K badges onsite, and although there's no reason to think those numbers will be duplicated for the online pre-registration, it's likely they'll still limit the badges available.
So there you have it. If you're eligible, you'll be notified after the Con with the time, date, link, etc. And don't be too smug about getting a jump on regular registration day - this could be worse, as it's still a huge pool of people fighting for a much smaller number of badges.
* 3 badges is such a weird number. Somehow the expectation is for multiples of 2.
**The ineligible categories referred to above are professionals, guests of professionals, exhibitors, exhibitor purchased attendee badges, volunteers, staff, and press.
If I tried to get the badge during the pre-reg and failed,could I still do the public badge sale?
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely. Most of us will not get badges during pre-reg, since there will be over a hundred thousand of us competing for probably less than twenty thousand badges.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is whether people who do get a badge during pre-reg can try to trade up during regular registration. They allowed that this year so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue.
I'm not even sure why they changed the pre-reg process after 2010. In the past, the longest I've had to wait in line for pre-reg was maybe 45 minutes. One year, there was no line, and I just strolled up and bought my pass for the following year, no problems. No one seemed to make a fuss about it until last year when they moved pre-reg offsite and set a daily limit.
ReplyDeleteI remember in 2010, I didn't wait at all (granted, I headed right up Thursday morning.) But that year was the first time that pre-registration sold out Preview Night badges on site, and then the regular registration day for 2011 was the one that crashed the system and had to be rescheduled several times.
ReplyDeleteAt that point, CCI knew there would be pure mania for pre-registration at the 2011 con, because obviously everyone would want to avoid the uncertainty and incompetence of online registration. So they moved it off site so they didn't have to deal with the crowds.
Then that failed spectacularly, and now we have this.
Very confused about all this pre- registration talk etc.
ReplyDeleteIm new to all this and am hoping to attend the con next year (2013). i live in the UK and am aware my chances are slim. Was just wondering if anyone can tell me how i go about buying a badge. I allready have a member ID. Any help would be appreciated. thanks
Ben, there will be two registration days for the 2013 Con. Both will be held online. The first is only for people who are physically attending this year's con - that's what we're calling pre-registration. If you're not attending this year, you won't hear anything about it. It's only for a portion of the badges anyhow.
DeleteThe second registration day will be open to anyone with a Member ID. You'll get an email notifying you of the date and time and the link. It doesn't matter where you live - everyone has an equal chance of getting a badge. It's just a matter of all of us trying to get into the online registration room at the same moment and buying the kind of badge we want.
I'd like to tell you when this will happen, but it could be any time in the autumn or winter. CCI changes it from year to year.
Does that answer your question?
Yeah i understand it now. Thanks for your help
ReplyDelete>The second registration day will be open to anyone with a Member ID
ReplyDeleteWhat if we did not attend 2012 and we do not have a Member Id? When and how can we register?
>In the past, the longest I've had to wait in line for pre-reg
Is there somewhere that we can do it in person? I'm in San Diego if that helps.
Thanks!
You can register for a Member ID here: https://secure2.comic-con.org/memberid/
DeleteYou absolutely must have one to buy a badge.
And no, unfortunately, there is nowhere you can buy a badge in person. It's online only these days.
I'll be posting about registration when I have dates and other information, so keep checking back.