Convention Orchestration

David Glanzer

by Lee Atchison and Karon Flage

David Glanzer is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for San Diego Comic-Con International, the largest event of its kind in North America. Every summer, fans from a broad variety of pop culture mediums gather in San Diego to partake in the near sensory overload that includes creators, publishers, vendors, dealers, panelists, and much more. One part of being a Director for SDCC is to help organize the massive amounts of people and volunteers that help make this non-profit event such a success. Mr. Glanzer speaks with Tarts Lee Atchison and Karon Flage on his role with the convention and where the future of SDCC lies.

Sequential Tart: When was the decision made for San Diego Comic-Con International to be a non-profit organization or has it always been that way?

David Glanzer: The organization started out as just a group of fans getting together to share their love of comics and film. The decision to become a non-profit was made in the mid seventies and be officially became non-profit in 1977.

ST: How did you get involved with running the con? Have you always been a comic fan or did you come into this from a business management standpoint?

DG: Well, first of all, I am only a small part of running the event. Besides the board of directors, the committee heads and committee members, we utilize between 500 and 700 volunteers during the entire expo and public portion of the show.

My involvement actually began back in 1984. I had been to the convention many times before, but in '84, I was working on a political campaign and a friend asked if I wouldn't mind writing press releases for Comic-Con. I said sure, and each year I got a bit more involved. Finally as the convention grew, the job did as well. It came to the point where it could no longer be handled by a volunteer and someone would have to be hired on a full time basis. They asked me if I would like the job, and, well, I said yes.

My background actually includes film. But that's another story.

ST: What is an average day like for you during Comic-Con?

DG: Ahh, hmm, well. It depends. First of all I must say here that I have a very dedicated and talented staff who quite literally enable me to do my job. Were it not for Eddie, Brent, George, Joel and other volunteers it really would be impossible to handle the tasks that come with my department.

I must be prepared to answer interviews and be aware of goings on during the show. Typically we have live feeds for morning television shows, since they go on the air at 7:00 am, we usually must be at the center at 5:30 or 6:00 to greet the news crews and make sure they have access to the center and to guests to be interviewed. We've actually had a few instances where we've had live East Coast feeds, which means we must be at the center as early as 3:00am.

Once any morning interviews are over, we prepare for print and other electronic journalists. We offer insights, vantage points and information they may not know about our event and typically this will last until the doors to the center close at 7:00pm. From there we must attend whatever evening events take place. We try to make sure that everything runs smoothly (all department heads take part in this. We all want to make sure that everyone has a good time and that there are no problems)

Hopefully by midnight or 1:00am we can turn in for the evening, and prepare for the next day's events. If (and this is rare) we have no live morning television shows to worry about, we can sleep in until about 6:00am. At 7:00 we must be at the convention center for our daily staff meeting.

ST: How much sleep do you get over the long con weekend? (grin)

DG: Well, as you can see, I don't believe anyone running this show gets very much sleep during the event. But it only happens once a year, so we're getting used to it. (grin)

ST: What is your best Comic-Con memory?

DG: Wow, there really are so many. I think, however, one of the best memories must be when William Shatner came to our show. We had all heard a great deal about him, some good, some not so good, but he was a gentleman. The audience was enthralled with him. He did an interview for Good Morning America. I asked if he could mention our name, and he was very good about giving us a plug. After he was gone, it occurred to me that I had just spent an hour or so with the actor who played Captain Kirk. I had always been a fan of Star Trek and only after he left did it kind of hit me that I got to see an early hero of mine up close. I know the story sounds a little cheesy, but it really does stand out as a wonderful memory.

ST: What comics do you read?

DG: Ahh, great question, but one I'm going to have to avoid answering specifically. There are a variety of comics I enjoy, some main stream and some not.

ST: In what direction is the Comic-Con moving? Are there long range goals in effect?

DG: The convention is constantly moving forward. In fact when we adopted our new Comic-Con Eye logo we felt that it was a statement of looking forward to a bright new future. We still feel the event can continue to grow and become an event better event. With our mission statement as our guide, Comic-Con International can continue its mission to bring comics and the popular arts in general to a wider audience still.

ST: Which outreach programs is SDCC involved with throughout the rest of the year?

DG: Comic-Con sponsors industry think tanks and industry summits from time to time. We also sponsor the Alternative Press Expo. The APE is an opportunity for independent and self publishers to exhibit their work in an environment where they aren't overshadowed by bigger publishers.

ST: What is the process for deciding on Guests of Honor?

DG: As a non-profit organization we don't really have the funds to invite as many people to our event as we would like. However, we have a list of categories in which one guest, from each category, can be invited to the show. A committee comprised of members of Comic-Con then puts names forward and after much discussion guests are chosen. The process can take up to a year.

ST: How much of the budget goes to bringing in Guests of Honor?

DG: Some people may not realize is that we also welcome industry professionals as our guests. So we actually have over 6,000 professionals from various industries who attend our event and graciously sit on panels, workshops and the like for us. It is only our official invited guests for whom we can spend money. Typically we cover transportation and housing, and a small food allowance. We do not pay appearance fees.

ST: How much of an effort is made in bringing in foreign guests such as this year's Rumiko Takahashi and Lewis Trondheim?

DG: There is an international guest category, and therefore each year we try to bring in a guest who may not normally attend a US convention, or a guest who has contributed a great deal to the various popular arts. In the case of Ms. Takahashi, she is actually a sponsored guest. Meaning a company (Viz in this case) pays for her appearance at our show, and we include her in all our advertising, etc. Needless to say, this helps us out a great deal, and we are very grateful for sponsored guests.

ST: How do you get the city involved? The Wonder Woman posters on the sides of the city buses last year and the banners all through the Gaslamp area were fantastic.

DG: Well, I truly wish the city were more involved. Truth be told, however, is that we must pay for that participation. We pay for over 100 buses throughout San Diego County to carry our advertising, and a fee must also be paid to have those banners which appear throughout the downtown and harbor/convention area during the convention. Banners are usually sponsored, in part, by companies whose images appear on those banners.

ST: How does the Comic-Con find volunteers?

DG: We try to include information in our publications and website about volunteering. As we welcome more and more people to our show, many people enjoy volunteering and getting to know the inner workings of Comic-Con better. I think it may also be an incentive that they can receive free membership and a coveted collectors volunteer T-shirt as well.

ST: Is there anything that you would like to see happen at the Comic-Con that hasn't yet?

DG: Actually, as the industry seems to expand into different areas, so has our event. There are still a myriad of ways Comic-Con can still improve and I'm hoping that the next 30 years will be a good reflection of that. Is there any one thing in particular? Nothing that I can think of at this moment.

ST: There's a very wide variety of panels and presentations at the Comic-Con. What sort of effort goes into the managing of these panels, and how are the topics decided?

DG: That's a great question. We get over 6,000 professionals from all areas of comics and the popular arts, and it is the task of the programming department to ensure that those who want to sit on panels can and that their panels don't conflict with other panels their on. This is obviously no easy task. The programming department is headed by Gary Sassaman who oversees a committee of programming personnel who come up with each years programming topics. It is their duty to make sure that the many levels of programming, panel discussions, workshops and other highlights go off without a hitch. They're job is daunting, but one they perform admirably each year.

ST: Can you tell us a little bit about the relationship between the Comic-Con and the Eisner Awards? How long have the Awards been in residence at the Comic-Con?

DG: The Eisner awards are actually part of Comic-Con International. The awards were started in 1988 have been with our event ever since. Some people are unaware that Comic-Con foots the bill for these awards. The awards have become the "Oscars" of the comics industry and are overseen by Jackie Estrada and a blue ribbon panel of judges which changes from year to year.

ST: Does the attendance at the Comic-Con seem to reflect the state of the industry?

DG: Because Comic-Con encompasses so much, I don't know if it is fair to say that our attendance is a reflection of the state of the industry. Even though comics sales may have its hills and valleys in terms of sales, our event has been lucky enough to experience continued growth. It's amazing to remember that our event started with just a few hundred people 31 years ago and now attracts well over 45,000 over our four day period.

ST: The Art Auction is a fantastic place to watch artists create pieces right in front of the audience. Other artists have mentioned how much fun it is to do. How did the Art Auction come about? And what programs does the Art Auction benefit?

DG: Back in 1979 some $12,000 in receipts were stolen from Comic-Con. It took a few years to rebuild the convention after that. Volunteers David Scroggy and Jackie Estrada solicited art contributions from generous professionals and conducted an auction through CBG that helped raise the much needed operating capital. To this day this auction helps to subsidize some of the many services Comic-Con offers. Including, but not limited to, interpreters for the hearing challenged, disabled services, and other services. Though we are a non profit, we still must pay for the use of the convention center as well as shuttle service and all things associated with putting the show together. It's a fun endeavor, but hardly an inexpensive one.

San Diego Comic-Con International

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