Prepping for Returning Registration

25 OCTOBER 2017

It's almost here - our next rollercoaster ride through hell. Are you ready for Saturday?

By now you know the drill - you'll get an email with your unique registration code, you'll log into the waiting room and begin your agonizing wait. You'll be taunted by a blue spinning circle and tepid dad jokes from CCI. You'll keep checking Twitter to see who's getting badges. Your heart will drop when you see the message "Preview Night badges are almost gone."

Or maybe not! Maybe your screen will suddenly transform into a door to Comic-Con heaven, and you will be ushered into that transformative screen where you type with shaking hands your Member IDs and last names and pick the badges you want.

It can go so many ways - all four days, three days, Thursday-Sunday, nothing at all. And if you've been around these parts for a while, you know that the second chance offered by Open Registration is a slim one indeed. To illustrate: last year in Returning Reg, out of the 8 sessions I handled for people, 2 got picked for Preview Night. In Open Reg, my group had 30 sessions - and only 1 got picked for Preview Night.

So yes, this Saturday is pretty important. I can't pretend it's not.

How You Can Prepare

• Get your finances in order. If your credit cards can't accommodate you and whoever you're buying for, borrow someone else's. Transfer money in your accounts around. Ask your richest relative for an early Christmas present.

• Finalize arrangements with your friends. Who has to work and who doesn't Saturday morning? Who wants which days? Which days will they settle for if they can't get that?

• Don't party too hard Friday night. Sorry to sound like your mom, but I know most of us are planning on some kind of occult costumed decadence this weekend. Save your Halloween all-night shenanigans for Saturday/Sunday - to celebrate your new badge, of course.

• A word of advice for non-West Coasters: remember your time zone. Usually badge sales don't happen in Daylight Saving Time. This one does. So make sure you understand what 9 am PST translates to in Cleveland, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv or wherever you are.

I was going to post on buying groups, but decided it was more necessary for Open Reg than Ret Reg. Anyone in the running for Saturday is probably already working with people, after all. But I will post after Returning Reg to help people looking to connect with others for Open Reg.
 

Three more days. Stay positive and try not to let your anxiety ruin the rest of your week. I'll talk to you Saturday.