Los Angeles Comic Con Is Moving Forward With A Physical Convention

In July we talked about how Los Angeles Comic Con was planning on a hybrid physical and virtual convention, you can find our article Here. Now as September has come, Los Angeles Comic Con had to make the call in whether or not they were moving forward.

Now they have officially stated that in December they are moving forward with the hybrid convention, including physical options. This wasn’t an easy decision for the convention, as they have literally been pondering this event for six months. They have been talking to the LA Convention Center, the State of California, the LA County Health, and the Mayor of Los Angeles’ Office. All tickets will have a 100% refund, or roll-over guarantee, just in case the pandemic shifts back to a dangerous way.

With all their decisions and communication with appropriate representatives, they feel like they can safely provide a socially distant experience for their fans and attendees. If things change though, and the Mayor, or health officials request them to postpone or cancel the event, they will fully comply and do so.

As we said prior, we created an article to give people an idea of whether or not they should attend physical experiences during the pandemic. So we recommend people check out our article on ”If You Should Go Out” Here. Now that we’ve shared that, as we said in our last article, this is what Los Angeles Comic Con is changing about this year.

More Space. In the past, the convention has not used all of the space. Last year they shared it with a Dinosaur themed event. It made getting into the convention a little… interesting, depending on where you parked. This year however they are taking the entire convention. I imagine they are getting quite the deal with every event being canceled through next year. That means that the total convention foot space will be over 850,000 square feet. More space comes into play with the next feature.

Less Attendees. While most conventions love to brag about attendee numbers, this year for public safety, Los Angeles Comic Con is purposefully lowering their sold badges to the event by over 2/3rds. With only 13,500 max attendees, they have effectively created enough room to give every attendee a 6 foot socially distanced bubble. It may not be accurately played out though depending on what drives the convention floors.

Adjusted Layouts. With the new space, the floor will be adjusted. Over 500 vendors with the entire south hall, and one-way paths, they hope to reduce the traffic jams and encourage safe distancing. Additionally they have moved the epic Los Angeles Comic Con stage to the West Hall so they can accommodate over 3,000 people safely.

Scheduled Appointments. Autographs and convention exclusive purchases will all be scheduled prior to the convention, and people with those signatures and items will get an appointment for their exchange of the autograph, and con exclusive purchases. This will cut down on lines for hard to get, and well-wanted items and autographs.

But Wait There’s More. On top of all of that, the convention will be requiring face masks and providing face masks to anyone not having one. They will be regularly cleaning per CDC and LA County guidelines, so you can feel comfortable with the many surfaces of a convention.

How It’s Changing
The convention is running from December 11, 2020, through December 13, 2020, and they are doing two sessions a day. One session from 9 am through 2 pm, and 3 pm through 8 pm. On Sunday the schedule shifts to 8 am through 1 pm, and 2 pm through 7 pm.

The trick of the two sessions is a great way to give more people a chance to experience the event, but takes time away from the attendees, and increases the people at the location on a given day.

Personally, we are hesitant to make any final decisions of attending since the trends are showing spikes throughout the USA, but we are definitely interested to see how this event goes, and hope that they are able to keep their intentions of protecting their attendees, but as we say, makes sure you are making the right decision in attendance.

Tickets are on sale today, and are being sold only in the VIP and three-session packages, and are being included with special early bird pricing, you can get your tickets here.