Big Con Communication Failures and What I Learned the Hard Way at Heroes Con

One of the more frustrating parts of my first big con wasn’t necessarily the long lines or the crowds — it was realizing that some things were basically decided before I even walked in the door, and nobody really told me.

I had gone into Heroes Con hoping to get a few big names signed, including Scott Snyder (writer of Absolute Batman and Absolute Catwoman). I knew his line would be long, but I figured if I got there early enough in the day, I’d at least have a shot. What I didn’t realize was that spots for some of the biggest creators had already been given out — either through early access, VIP tickets, or early morning distributions. By the time general admission started, those opportunities were already gone.

It would have been helpful to know that upfront. If certain signings were essentially locked behind specific ticket types or early arrival, it would have been nice if that had been communicated clearly. Instead, I spent part of the morning under the impression that I still had a realistic chance, when in reality that ship had already sailed.

The Dragotta Line Situation

Later in the day, I tried to get in line for Dragotta (artist of Absolute Batman). He wasn’t scheduled to start signing until 2:00, but people were already forming a line well before then. I checked on it around 11:00 and the line was still pretty manageable, so I decided to come back closer to his start time.

When I returned, things had changed. A group had formed, but convention staff kept coming over and telling everyone to break it up. They said it wasn’t the official line yet and that we had to wait. At one point there were only about 20 people, and I actually left when staff started actively breaking the group apart.

Later (but still early), when the line had grown much larger, I came back and stayed. By then, most people were ignoring the staff telling them to disperse. The line kept growing, and eventually they started letting people through — but they cut it off at a certain point. I didn’t make it in.

The whole thing felt poorly handled. One staff member in particular was pushing hard (almost uncomfortably yelling and ranting) for everyone to wait until 1:30 to even start forming a line, which seemed way too late. Unfortunately, the takeaway I walked away with was that sometimes you have to ignore what con staff is saying if you actually want to get something done. The people who stayed and ignored the instructions were the ones who ended up getting their books signed. It wasn’t ideal, but that’s how it played out.

Helping a Friend and the CGC Process

Instead of continuing to chase Dragotta, I explored the con. Later I showed a friend the Absolute Wonder Woman Cover A #1 I had just picked up and gotten signed by Hayden Sherman. When he heard the line had been short, he asked if I’d mind helping him get a few (12) books signed while he stayed in another line. (The friend that gave me the Absolute Green Arrow #1 signed by Rafael Albuquerque).

What I didn’t expect was how many times my phone would ring while I was already in the middle of getting books signed. He kept calling because he realized there were actually four books he wanted CGC witnessed, not just the ones he originally mentioned. It turned into a bit of a scramble, because I didn’t know what I was doing.

The CGC witnessing process itself wasn’t overly complicated, it was just a little different than I expected. I had to pay more per signature ($30 vs $10 for Hayden) and track down a witness while they held my books. It quickly became clear that CGC was pretty understaffed that day. I had even heard stories from the day before about it taking up to four hours for someone to get a slab cracked so it could be signed. After having someone paged and no one showing up, I tracked down two witnesses that were both busy. Eventually, a cool guy that wasn’t suppose to leave his table came over and handled it for me pretty quickly. We even chatted a bit about how he got into doing this and what was like. That kind of wait wasn’t something I was prepared for (even though my friend said it seemed like I handled it all pretty quicky).

Hayden Sherman and his manager were really cool about everything. Even though I was clearly a little out of my depth, they were patient and helped make sure we got everything sorted. In the end, it worked out, and I actually found the whole experience pretty interesting — the favor just came with more unexpected stress than I had anticipated.

What I Took Away

That part of the day was messy, but it was also useful. It drove home a few things:

First, big cons don’t always communicate clearly about how limited some opportunities actually are. If spots for certain signings are going to be given out before general admission, it would help if that was stated upfront instead of leaving general admission attendees guessing. They are also not great with communicating signing times in general either, follow the creators on social media etc for better updates.

Second, sometimes you have to be willing to ignore bad direction if you want to get things done. That’s not a great lesson to walk away with, but it felt accurate based on how the Dragotta line was handled.

And finally, being flexible really does matter. Because I wasn’t able to get Dragotta, I ended up helping a friend and learning more about how CGC witnessing actually works at these shows. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it was still a valuable and interesting experience.

Big cons can be unpredictable. The more I can go into them expecting that some things won’t go according to plan — and being okay with adjusting — the better the overall day tends to be.

Read more about the signings that went well here.

Read more about what I wish I knew before going to Heroes Con here.

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