Revisited San Diego ComicCon 2011 Wednesday

Badge Pick up Day (Wednesday the 20th): My very first time in San Diego and wow what a show. 42nd Annual Show.  I'm impressed.  Overwhelmed even.  It all started off when badges went on sale, and then proceeded to sell out within hours.  I was able to score two day passes and felt disappointed I wasn't going to be able to truly experience this event.  Then I applied for a Professional pass and was approved.  I was now in for all four days.   My Professional counterpart and best friend and I walked up to the San Diego Convention Center after dumping our suitcases in our hotel room Wednesday afternoon.  I was delighted with the huge building displays on the Marriott and Hilton Hotels that flank the Convention Center.   Blue skies and awesome nerd-dom in sight!  Wednesday is the notorious Preview Night that everyone talks about, wants in for and almost never gets.  As Professionals, we were allowed to pick up our badges on Wednesday, and as we walked the length of the Center, looking for our specific line, I wondered how this many people were going to get handled - and this crowd was nothing compared to what it was going to be!  However, as it turns out, there is an art to those who wield the desk of badge pickup and these guys have it down.  As soon as we walked up to the line, we were in and showing our IDs.  Within a minute, I was standing outside the line  with my Justice League San Diego Convention swag bag, an event program  and souvenir booklet wanting to look through it all but also wanting to catch a glimpse of what lay beyond the Exhibit Hall doors .