Comic-Con panels work on a first come, first serve basis and fans line up for hours for a chance to see their favorite creator or catch a first glimpse at a new movie or TV series. Waiting in line itself is an awful experience, you get herded around by the functionally illiterate forces of Elite (lol) Security, there's not a lot to keep you entertained for hours and, despite your dedication to comic books, Star Trek and Everything Geek Pop Culture™, the person next to you is always TOO nerdy to talk to you. So what do you do? You grit your teeth, take a nip off your flask, hurry up and wait. When you finally make it to your seat, next to the mouth-breather who forgot deodorant, your expectations for the panel are through the roof but sadly, they quite often disappoint. Here are some tips for executing a successful Comic-Con panel.
Exclusives: Wait to announce your big project or show new footage until the panel itself. You can announce that you will be making a legitimate announcement prior to the panel, but don't spoil your own performance. Also, don't release your exclusive footage or news to the public the same day. The press and Twitter will take care of that in hours, but its a cop-out when the artist or company gives the exact same info they gave to the fans who paid and waited as they give to the general public within hours.
Have something to talk about: I know this seems like an obvious one but unless you're an icon like Stan Lee, you need to have projects you're working on and general announcements. I attended the “Spotlight on Gerard Way” panel this year and the only aspect of the panel that can be regurgitated in article form a quote on his own inability to host a panel: “We didn't have a plan, we didn't have any books coming out… I was getting nervous about this panel, like, I don't know what to say.” This is a panel that many fans, albeit more fans of his music than comics, waited in line for and he didn't even show them enough respect to come up with a few conversational bullet points.
Work the crowd: There are several sure-fire indicators that a crowd is enjoying themselves. Be it clapping, response, or interaction. It is easy for speaker to play off the crowd and make the majority happy. This may mean alienating the minority, or even a single fan who took the time to ask an obscure (or obvious) question that nobody wants to sit through the answer of. You're there to ultimately sell books and people are more willing to give you their money (as opposed to simply stealing your product) if you are likeable, relatable and clearly putting effort into their enjoyment.
Give something away: For a lot of Comic-Con attendees, freebies are the highlight of the convention. Rather than handing out 10,000 fliers that cost 20 cents to random people, hand out 1,000 exclusive giveaways that cost two dollars to the people who care about (and financially support) your product. Everyone needs to take a long, hard look at Adult Swim's marketing and do their best to replicate it.
Finally, here's an image that I made that I couldn't quite figure out how to work into this article:
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