San Diego Comic-Con Officially Kicks Off

This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Superheroes sci-fi and comical -- comic book fans are in San Diego for Comic-Con. It will bring 130,000 attendees through Sunday. Beth talked with the spokesperson outside the convention center about what is new this year. It is coming up on his 50th anniversary pretty soon. Before we talk about the convention I want to ask you do you remember the first convention you ever attended and what that was like? I do. It was 1978 and walking through the doors I could not believe everything I saw. Much smaller than today but at the time it was incredibly huge to me. Something that got me was how many things that had to do with film and comics obviously. Movie posters and all of this I was like a kid in a candy store. The biggest impression was the fact that I met people that weekend who were into the same things that I was in you more about this stuff. It just didn't happen at school or monks my friends at home. This is now your 48th for Comic Con. Is anything new? The water is always there so I think we will see different things this year. There are great returning people. This year we are excited we have a lot of international presence. We have people from China, South Africa, France, chilly, a pinball lounge at the Marriott Hotel. A tech lounge that's going to have virtual reality. I think the convention is ever evolving. You mention having something outside the convention floor. What are you tapping into this year as additional space? What are using around here that still part of the is -- Comic Con experience. We are very happy. We extend your contract. We were able to do that because some of the hotels allow us to use our meeting space and agreed to try to keep the hotel room rates at a reasonable rate and be able to use park space. A lot of this -- we want it to be a bigger event but we don't have the physical space but having access to the meeting rooms it allows us to have breathing room. When people come down here, there is a lot of stuff outside the convention but not all is Comic Con sanctions. What is part of Comic Con that people can use her batch for? If you go to our website, you will find a list of a lot of the events and those that work with those are the ones that we help promote. They are free to attend if you have a badge. They are interactive and they are a lot of fun. It is a way for people who want to take a break from the floor to come outside and do something fun. It really helps out a lot. In the past you were using the library's. Will you be using those again? We are. The library has programs is here. I believe that has started before the convention so that is going on right now. It gets a lot of attention. You can see them from across the street and down the road. If people don't want to hit that line and spend time waiting for a big panel what are other things that they offer. There is a lot. We asked them to look at the events guide. It is the going on for the entire weekend. We always say if you want to visit something, look at different options. A lot of people want to be first in line and as close to the stage as they can. You can still walk into panels. There's a ton of stuff to do. Not only exhibit floor, a lot of different panels. You may be here for movies but there might be an interesting comic panel. There's a lot of -- I would say take advantage.'s -- What can you say about the size of the convention. How because it grown and how much space is it taken up these days? We use the entire convention facility. We are branching out into the hotels. The show started out with 300 people in 1970 and last year we had 135,000 people. It has allowed us to grown in other ways as well. This year we have over 57 invite a guest. We have a lot more programming and panels and workshops. It has allowed us to focus on the variety of things. We have over 3000 members of the media from all of the world. Not only do they cover show they also cover San Diego. I hope it serves as a -- Changes something that occurs here and people who come in terms of the exhibitors, other big changes on the floor this year? Not every exhibitor returns. Same thing is true for presenters. There's movie studios that have opt out and then have come back. The show is evolving., Connie 2017 is very different than 2007. Something that I think we always try to do is try to put on the type of event we want to attend. I think that has proven to be really successful for us. The show is not for everybody. I have friends that come to the show and I don't see them all day. Have friends that come in and then there was a good job. It's an experience. You see something that you guys put on because you guys are putting on a show that you want to attend. Is there something this year that you are interested in even though you may not be able to get away and see it. Yes, it is really geeky because it covers two passions. I like film but I also like politics. There is a panel that we have that's called who cleans up this mess that is going to talk about what happens when the city suffers the devastating effects of a superhero battle. The panel participants or elected officials and city Council members and some state level guests on the panel and i don't know it will be for everybody but something that I hope I will be able to see. When I saw the panel description I thought I can't believe no one has ever done this and kudos to the elected officials who have decided to sit on that. That was David Glantz are talking to Beth Accomando.