A different way to do San Diego Comic Con

Photo courtesy of Gordon Sodetani

SAN DIEGO - Thousands upon thousands of collectors, geeks, nerds, and pop culture enthusiasts returned home after the conclusion of this year’s installment of the phenomenon known as San Diego Comic Con.

With another successful con under his belt, one of those making the trek back was 23-year-old Downey resident Gordon Sodetani.

A lifelong enthusiast of science fiction, Sodetani had long wanted to step into the pop culture mecca known as San Diego Comic Con. However, roaming the sacred halls of the San Diego Convention Center is easier said than done.

“I tried for many years to get passes, and the general sale for comic con passes is extremely difficult,” said Sodetani.

Difficult is an understatement. In what many “geeks” and “nerds” alike find to be an increasingly difficult, exhausting, and often times frustrating process, hopeful con attendees are held in an online holding area on the day of sale opening. When tickets go live, they are then randomly slotted into a virtual queue.

For the lucky ones, a golden ticket awaits. But for many – if not most – they can do nothing but desparately watch as weekend and single day passes disappear one by one, taunted by a continuously refreshing computer screen.

It is not uncommon for tickets to completely sell out in less than an hour, if not within minutes.

“I kind of gave up on that,” said Sodetani.

Fortunately for him, his sister Kimberly offered up an alternative route.

“She told me about one of her good friends Linda Haines…She said ‘try volunteering,’” said Gordon. “She emailed me some information, and I said ‘Okay, I’ll give this a shot. Who knows, it might increase my luck.’”

After several unsuccessful attempts at general sale badges, Sodetani was able to get a volunteer badge on his first try.

“I kind of lost my mind when I realized I was finally going to this convention,” said Sodetani. “That was in 2016.”

And it may not have had anything to do with luck. Sodetani says it usually takes one to three days for volunteer positions to fill up as opposed to the almost instantaneous general sale sellout.

“I tell people who really want to experience [the con], I really recommend they [volunteer],” said Sodetani. “Some people have a negative idea about volunteering at Comic Con…I think the thing people say is ‘I might not be able to see everything I want to see…’ The nice thing about it is they are very flexible; you can choose when you want to work. It takes a little more planning on your part, but as long as you look through the schedule…then you can figure out blocks of time and when you want to volunteer.”

As a volunteer, Gordon is required to work one three-hour shift per day. Once that shift is completed, the rest of the day is his to spend however he sees fit. Usually for him, that means sitting in on a panel or two.

Better yet, Sodetani’s badge is complementary, free from the hundreds of dollars’ worth of fees that other con-goers have paid before even stepping into the building. Volunteers also have access to all the same benefits and opportunities that regular badge holders possess, including the hotel lottery.

Returning volunteers also have priority access to the next year’s volunteer opportunities.

Volunteering also doesn’t necessarily mean getting stuck with a boring job either.

“There’s some volunteer shifts that put you in Hall H,” said Sodetani. “My first year I got to work in the Marvel booth, and it was when Stan Lee was still alive and he was doing an autograph signing. I was helping manage the line…so I got to be within 20 feet of legendary Stand Lee, which is really cool.”

“Cool stuff like that happens.”

Having worked several years as a volunteer, Sodetani was invited to be a “full-fledged staff member” in the volunteer’s department.

However, more than the perks, Sodetani says that working as a volunteer “gives you an appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes of Comic Con.”

“Someone once told me that Comic Con runs on volunteers; that Con would not happen without volunteers,” said Sodetani. “There’s probably 4-5000 just general volunteers, and they help out with lines, crowd control, they help out with panels, every job at the convention would not be possible without the volunteers.”

“It gave me a really amazing appreciation for what it takes to put on a massive event like Comic Con,” said Sodetani.