New app lets you meet SDCC attendees, find parties

14 JULY 2014



Admit it, you want to reach out and mingle with your fellow attendees. All those strangers passing you by in the Exhibit Hall, on the street, sitting next to you at panels - who are they? What parties are they going to? Now you can find out.

We all meet people at San Diego Comic-Con but it's usually through happenstance. Someone's in line behind or ahead of us, or sitting in the hotel sauna when we walk in, or they commiserate with us over the price of nachos in the Exhibit Hall. But now you can meet attendees who specifically share your interests through a social media app called ConnectiKon.

ConnectiKon promises to "give people the power to engage each other, in the real world, based on their own interests and passions, regardless of how unique or quirky those might be." In other words, it helps you connect with Comic-Con people, panels, parties and other events. This is not about making online friends, but about real-life, in-person encounters. I don't mean that in a Grindr/Tinder sense of the word. I mean in the sense of enjoying a more social experience at Comic-Con. Despite being surrounded by 130,000 people, it's quite possible to go all 4-5 days speaking only to your friends - which is a terrible waste of an opportunity.

The app was developed by Jesse Singer, a  former Yahoo executive. He claims to be one of us: “We chose to launch ConnectiKon at Comic-Con because these are our people. They are super active folks who love to engage with each other live and in-person. That’s perfect for us because CKON is all about finding that great after-hours poker game, the Yoda beer pong party, the Storm Trooper breakfast. It’s not about sharing something with old friends, it’s about doing something with new people and having fun together.”

Here's how it works:

• Download ConnectiKon from the App Store.
• Add your events, using San Diego as the location tag.
• Browse existing events and profiles to connect with people who have similar interests.
• Connect.

You can get as creative as you want, entering any three words you want to ‘tag’ activities. Those tags appear on a word cloud where other users discover and tap them to find out more about the activity and the person who posted it. And it's not just for San Diego Comic-Con - you can use this globally.

This is a ginormous opportunity, considering how often you find out about parties the day after they happen. Because that's how people usually use social media at the Con: to post pictures and brag. ConnectiKon can help you connect with people who share your specific collectible passion, or point you to a cosplay party, or find a meetup of fans from your favorite show. I'm sure you can use it to meet people one on one too. (Don't pretend you weren't wondering - people ask me all the time how they can "meet someone" at Comic-Con.)  

Basically, this is a way to ensure you don't miss out on something fun and unique. Don't just spend Comic-Con with the same 3 people you hang out with every weekend. Reach out and stir the social pot. There is no other opportunity in the world quite like this one.

Download ConnectiKon from the App Store.

Watch the ConnectiKon video.