Well, with 99,000 more four day passes waiting to be sold, I don't think it will be too hard to get tickets when they finally do go on sale (knock on wood!).

That said, I fully plan on paying the extra $20 to make my plane tickets refundable in case I can't get tickets, and -- should I make it there in 2011 -- I will be getting my 2012 tickets on Thursday afternoon.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason00:
Well, with 99,000 more four day passes waiting to be sold, I don't think it will be too hard to get tickets when they finally do go on sale (knock on wood!).

I'm afraid that's nowhere near the number available. Remember, the headcount through the doors is 125,000. I know there are 125,000 attendees, but how many tickets does this equate to? There are already 75,000 spaces taken up with the '4 day with preview night' plus 4,000 sold on wednesday so that only leaves 46,000 spaces. It's still going to be a dogfight.

Only 15,000 tickets with preview night was what I heard.

I heard 10,000 with preview night, so I would say 10-20 thousand is accurate, no way 75,000, Graham!

The Comic-Con organisers said all 15,000 4 day with preview had been sold. This means it is 15,000 x 5 = 75,000 attendees out of a total of 125,000. If one person has a ticket for all 5 days, they would be counted as 5 people as they would have entered 5 times. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm pretty sure that I read that they don't count it that way. 1 four day pass doesn't equal four attendees, it only equals one.

I could be wrong, but I hope I'm not and you are Graham or we'll be in trouble

I'd love to be wrong just to improve my chances of a ticket, but as the Con organisers state that 125,000 is the total attendance over the 5 days, the sold out ticket entry alone would be 15,000 each day. Add in the factor of 1000 tickets sold for the test. This leaves 11,500 tickets for each of the four remaining days.

This is from an interview over at The Comics Reporter. Granted, it's from 2008 but it gives an idea of the numbers:

quote:

SPURGEON: How many people were at the show at any one given time, do you think?

GLANZER: With the exception of Wednesday night, there were probably about 60,000 people in the facility at any given time.

Based on that, I would think that there are at least 70,000 passes sold, but I could be way off.

I was basing my numbers on the idea that there are 150,000 attendees, although I have read anything from 130,000 and up. Say they sell 10,000 per day of the daily/one day passes, that leaves 110,000 four day passes. They sold 11,000 already, so that leaves 99,000. I'm sure my math is way too simple, but I remain hopeful that I will be able to get a ticket when they go on sale. I have been going to Comic Con since 2001, it would really be heartbreaking for me if I couldn't go anymore. But, I can't do anything other than try to get my tickets in January like everyone else.

If I can't make it in 2011, there will be three fewer people attempting to buy tickets (me, my wife, and the friend we go with) in the future. I have already had to take days off of work, and it seems way more stressful than vacation planning should be

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jason00,

Preview night is only one night (Wens.) I have my doubts about your math.
Ace

quote:

Originally posted by Ace of Hearts:
Preview night is only one night (Wens.) I have my doubts about your math.
Ace

I edited my previous post to clarify what I was saying (I never differentiated between four day and one day passes). I freely admit that I suck at math, so I could be way off.

Essentially, if they count each pass sold as one attendee (which I remember reading they do, although I can't find where I read it) then it means they sell 130,000 passes if they have 130,000 attendees. Single day passes count as one attendee, even if the same people buy all four days. So, if they sell 10k per day, that is 40k attendees, which leaves the rest as four days (five counting preview night). Of course, they do not announce how many single day vs four day tickets they sell so I am randomly making things up.

I just don't think they are only selling 20,000 admissions per day -- the main three programming rooms alone hold 11,000 + people and they are always packed. There are way more than another 9,000 people on the exhibit hall floor and around the convention center. Anyway, that's enough bad math from me, I don't want to hold the thread hostage with my ramblings.

Actually I was referring to Graham's math.
I think they figure attendance for a 4 day event.
Ace

quote:

Originally posted by Ace of Hearts:
They claim it was a success. Only 1000 passes were sold as a trial run using several servers. More in Jan.

Any idea when in January?

I'm hoping to come over from the U.K. and there's lots of organising that can't be left to the last minute.

quote:

Originally posted by treksearcher:
Any idea when in January?

When it's least convenient with the maximum disruption to the internet. They will, no doubt, announce the date well in advance to cause heartache to thousands

I saw an interesting story reported on Diamond's Scoop e-newsletter today that came from the San Diego Union-Tribune

Two men plead guilty to selling phony Comic-Con tickets

BY DANA LITTLEFIELD
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 27, 2010 AT 11:02 A.M., UPDATED DECEMBER 27, 2010 AT 2:20 P.M.

SAN DIEGO — Two Los Angeles men accused of selling phony tickets to this year’s Comic-Con have pleaded guilty to theft and were placed on probation for three years.

Farhad Lame, 24, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge Monday. His co-defendant, Navid Vatankhahan, 24, entered his guilty plea in San Diego Superior Court last week.

Each man was ordered to pay a $750 fine, complete 10 says of public work service — picking up roadside trash — and pay restitution to the victims, according to officials in San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s office.

Vatankhahan, who had posted an online advertisement for the bogus Comic-Con tickets on Craigslist, was also ordered not to resell any tickets while on probation.

Both men were arrested in July 2010 on the last day of the popular convention.

Prosecutors said two women purchased two-day passes from the defendants at $120 apiece. The victims were denied entry later when they tried to use the passes.

Prosecutors said the women had unknowingly bought photocopies of an exhibitor’s ticket.

Kristine Lorenz, the deputy city attorney who handled the case, said Vatankhahan posted the ad. He was ordered not to resell any tickets while on probation.

No Comic-Con tickets are transferable, nor can they be resold.

The four-day pop culture convention usually draws more than 125,000 attendees. Officials for the 2011 convention shut down the online purchasing process twice in November when an overwhelming number of ticket requests overloaded computer servers.

Organizers tried a third time in December using a new system they said was more accustomed to handling the high volume. Only 1,000 four-day badges went on sale during the test run.

A Comic-Con spokesman has said the organization is hoping to announce a new sale in early 2011.

The San Diego Union Tribune has reported that two Los Angeles men who sold photocopied badges from the 2010 Comic-Con International: San Diego for $120 each have pled guilty. Farhad Lame and Navid Vatankhahan agreed to theft charges and were placed on probation for three years, the paper’s site reported. Both men are 24. They will be forced to pay restitution to the victims, a $750 fine, and serve ten days of public service.

The faux tickets were sold through Craigslist.

It feels like that is going to be the only way to get tickets

Lets see; 15,000 x 4 days would be 60,000 or about half the total attendance (125,000). That would leave 65,000 tickets available. If preview night was too crowded (with 4 day, full membership passes) most of the rest sold should be 4 day passes without preview night.
Leaving an undetermined number of single day passes (?)

quote:

Originally posted by Ace of Hearts:
Lets see; 15,000 x 4 days would be 60,000 or about half the total attendance (125,000). That would leave 65,000 tickets available. If preview night was too crowded (with 4 day, full membership passes) most of the rest sold should be 4 day passes without preview night.
Leaving an undetermined number of single day passes (?)

Still no sign on the Web Site as to when the remaining tickets will go on sale.

How long does it take to analyze the results as it still states "We are analyzing results" on the Web Site?

I've got a feeling that although it worked with 1000 tickets going in two minutes, the system would not be able to cope with multiple thousands as it has the potential to not only jam up the primary site, but the link as well. As I said before, just put them up for sale unannounced. It's not as though it won't be a sell-out. The hotels must be bracing themselves for some kind of fallout as those who don't book through the CC site can't book in advance without knowing they can get into the show.
I predict the biggest queue of the week will be for next years tickets.

Graham, you are right.