It’s that time! Here’s my annual curated, annotated list of panels of potential interest to industry professionals, educators, librarians and retailers. As always, this schedule is frontloaded on Thursday and Friday, and many of the good business panels are next door at the Marriott. Library- and some EDU-focused panels are, unsurprisingly, down the street at the San Diego Public Library, and the higher-ed Comic Arts Conference runs most of the weekend in Room 26AB.
This list doesn’t include every how-to, censorship or special interest panel and I’ve left off publisher panels, even though they may include some stuff relevant to retailers. There’s also ComicsPRO Retailer Day, which got its own story (see “ComicsPRO to Host Retailer Day at SDCC“). If I still left off one of your faves, sorry, it’s a HUGE program this year!
Thursday
10:30am: How to Get News Coverage (Room 10). Annual panel where grizzled vets like yours truly hand out advice for indie creators looking for press attention.
11:00am: Bud Plant: Fifty Years at the Center of Comics History (Room 4). legend Bud Plant in the spotlight, interviewed by Alex Grand.
11:00am: Graphic Novels for the Next Generation (23ABC). Creators chat with librarians about crafting titles for young readers.
11:00am: Building a Billion-View Franchise (Marriott 10/11). Top online content creators talk about creating new IPs for younger audiences outside the traditional entertainment industry.
Noon: Banned in the USA?! Freedom, Comics and Education (SD Central Library). Free speech and censorship panel of potential interest to librarians, retailers and publishers.
12:30pm: Creators Assemble: Adapting and Pitching Your Game for TV and Film (Room 10). Potentially interesting discussion of translating IP across different media, always a popular topic.
1:00pm: Kidults: The New Toy Economy (Marriott 12/13). Toy experts, collectors and Toys That Made Us producer Richard Mayrick get into what’s driving the current market.
1:00pm: Where All Educators Belong (SD Library). Educator-focused session on turning fan passion into better educational practice.
2:00pm: 10th Anniversary of Hero Within (Mariott 12/13). Focus on the popular fashionable geekware brand and their very smart licensing strategy as a small business.
2:00pm: The San Diego Comic-Con Oral History Panel (Bards & Cards 936 Fifth Ave). Offsite event focuses on the wild and wooly origins of Comic-Con. A fascinating look at how today’s crazy show grew from humble roots.
3:00pm: Blind Bags, Chases and the Psychology of Collecting (23ABC). Deep dive into what makes collectors open their wallets. Retailers probably already know this, but likely an interesting discussion.
4:30pm: Webtoons Have Changed the Comics Industry (24ABC). High-powered critical discussion of the mobile comics phenomenon, its audience and its future (not run by the company WEBTOON).
5:00pm: Mergers and Acquisitions in Entertainment, Publishing and Gaming (Room 9). One of the ABA-accredited legal panels, this one focuses on the timely topic of M&A.
5:00pm: The Future of Collecting (28DE), looking primarily at digital models from VeVe, Neon Ichiban and others.
5:30pm: The Past, Present and Future of Comics Distribution (Room 10). Great lineup for this very retail, distribution and publisher-oriented business discussion.
6:00pm: Manga Publishing Industry Roundtable (29AB). Annual overview of the hottest corner of the business from the publisher perspective, moderated by Deb Aoki.
FRIDAY:
10:00am. Main Scenario or Side Quests? Careers and Hobbies (Omni). Advice on working in the geek culture biz, mostly from a creator/entrepreneur perspective.
11:00am: Dreams Come True: Making the Creator-Owned Comic (28DE). Good advice for creators on various publishing models.
11:00am: Pitching Your Comic to Publishers (Room 4). Good assortment of editors offers advice to aspiring creators.
2:00pm: Breaking into Comics and Staying In (Room 11). Annual panel on maintaining a career in the comics biz.
2:00pm: Female Comic CEOS: Women Making Comics (Mariott 10/11). Spotlight on women in leadership roles in comics and geek culture companies.
2:00pm: Original Comic Art: An Open Discussion with the Insiders (23ABC). For folks playing at the high-stakes table, a good discussion of dynamics in the art market.
3:00pm: So You Want to Be a Retailer? (23ABC). ComicsPRO panel offering practical advice to those special chosen few who want to sell us all comics.
3:30pm: Modern Fanatic: Crowdfandom (29CD). Stacked panel of crowdfunders, publishers, creators and marketing folks on generating fan buzz around projects.
4:00pm: Finance for Creatives (Marriott 12/13). Annual panel with essential practical advice for creators that they could probably use.
4:00pm: So You Want to Start a Comic Book/Entertainment YouTube Channel (SD Library). Panel of content creators sheds light on building a comic-centric brand on YouTube.
5:30pm: Breaking Into Comics Without a Publisher (Room 10). Business-focused panel looking at top-to-bottom strategies for launching a new book or line.
6:30pm: Monstrous Rebellion: Building Monster Stories Beyond the Studio System (29CD). Indie horror publishers and creators talk about strategies to create and monetize scary new IP.
SATURDAY
10:00am: Small Press and Independent Production (Omni). Discussion of new approaches to indie comics creation, publishing and distribution.
11:30am: How to Pitch Your Story for Comics, Graphic Novels, Film and Animation. Another good “how to pitch” panel with strong lineup and broad focus.
Noon: Indie Toy Makers Unite (Marriott 12/13). Practical advice on how to design, create and sell action figures through various channels.
2:00pm: Building a Pop Culture Podcast (SD Library). How-to panel discussing production and marketing strategies for another hot pop culture medium.
4:00pm: The Future of Libraries 2036 (SD Library). Relevant to librarians, but also anyone in the business interested in the practice of scenario planning for long-term strategy.
5:30pm: Crowdfunding in Today’s Economy (7AB). -run panel on practicalities of crowdfunding campaigns in uncertain times, or, if you prefer…
5:30pm: The Future of Kickstarter Comics (26AB). Interesting counterprogramming, likely covering similar ground from Kickstarter’s perspective.
6:00pm: From 0 to 50: Pro Tips for High Speed Webtoon Production and Studio Workflow. Practical advice for creators working in webtoons and mobile comics.
7:00pm: Did Drop Culture Break Comics? Interesting discussion of how drops build fan anticipation and how the model can work for comics.
SUNDAY:
10:00am: Press Start: Building Careers at the Intersection of Games, Tech and Storytelling (Mariott 12/13). Professionals discuss career paths in the highly treacherous gaming industry.
10:30am: How to Work in Storytelling (23ABC). More career advice on creating for different platforms.
1:30pm: Development to Distribution: Thinking Outside the Box (25ABC). Business-focused panel on TV and film production.
2:00pm: AI and the Creative Industries: Where We Stand (32ABC). Inside the organized opposition to AI on the legal, legislative, tech and regulatory front, hosted by moi.
3:30pm: Comic-Con Talkback (25ABC). Annual panel where SDCC organizers address issues with this year’s show. Always a fascinating way to wrap up the Con.
I’ve got a busy schedule of panels all four days and will be around the floor and the usual haunts, so please come and say hi if you see me. Safe travels and good luck to everyone at this year’s show!
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
Rob Salkowitz (Bluesky @robsalk) is the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, a two-time Eisner Award nominee, and a proud longtime contributor to Eisner-nominated ICv2.
Source: ICv2
