Citizen Producers and Citizen Marketers Join Citizen Journalists at Comic-Con

I saw them at virtually every session I attended during Comic-Con: Fans armed with digital video cameras, collecting content for their own Internet shows or social network pages. These citizen producers were everywhere, just like their previously established brethren, the citizen journalists.

If one walked along the back area and looked toward the stage in the rooms and auditoriums in which the Comic-Con presentations were held - some with seating for only a few hundred people, others for several thousand - one saw dozens of small screens held high, recording introductions, question and answer sessions and other moments of interest, such as the brazen interruption of the Supernaturalpanel by the Ghost Facers, goofy reality show producers who appeared in one episode of the series last season, or the surprise appearance by an unscheduled Matthew Fox at the session for Lost. The more serious citizen producers had their personal video recorders mounted on tripods or poles to reduce any hand held shaking.

How interesting it is that professional journalists and producers must sign away rights to their first-born children to capture similar content in a civilized manner, but the citizen journalists and producers are permitted to run amuck. Or perhaps they are simply an unstoppable force. (Certainly, professional publicists are powerless in their midst.) The only difference between the two camps is that content processed by the professionals is apt to look more, well, professional. But I digress …

The citizen producers were also out in force on the floor of the Exhibition Hall and in the massive entry area to the San Diego Convention Center itself, capturing clips of celebrities in action and interviewing convention-goers, costumed characters and countless other interesting individuals, like the folks who were there promoting HBO's upcoming vampire series True Blood. (As I approached the convention center on the opening day of the Con, a young man stopped me, identified himself as a volunteer for the American Vampire League, and asked me to sign a petition calling for equal state and federal rights for vampires. When I exited the Con later that afternoon I collided with someone from the opposing camp, Fellowship of the Sun, an organization that supports human rights and asserts that vampires are immoral. They were both HBO operatives.)

Not to be undone, the citizen journalists who were out in force at the 2007 Comic-Con -- busily im'ing, texting, e-mailing and blogging after panels for their favorite movies and television shows -- were back this year. There was much talk of Twittering this time around, something I do not recall noticing last year. (Curiously, the hundreds of people feverishly typing away on various devices seemed almost traditional or old-fashioned compared with the determined video hunters and gatherers around them.) After every panel presentation, screening, autograph signing session or product giveaway at the Con, one could sense a mushroom cloud of fresh information rising from the San Diego Convention Center into the ether, where it would be passed around and shared by millions. Destination: Everywhere.

One need only Google virtually any movie, television show, video game or other media property featured at Comic-Con to find some sort of video or text coverage. YouTube is loaded with so many clips from so many sessions that much of the Con may be watched (or attended) in a virtual manner. Of course, as with any fan or business convention, the act of attending it in person far surpasses the experience of watching or reading anything about it on a screen. But at least there are exciting new options for those who cannot be there.

Amid all the excitement that digital media brought to the Con, Warner Bros. repeated something it has done in previous years that now seems almost old-fashioned: It handed out thousands of giant bags that literally served as walking billboards for a variety of properties, including the television series Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Smallville and Supernatural; the upcoming feature films WatchmenandWonder Woman, and the company's new online effort, TheWB.com. These eye-catching bags were carried by Con-goers everywhere, creating hundreds of thousands of impressions. And, in a move that surprised even the marketing executives at Warner Bros., some particularly clever folks actually turned the bags into clothing, further extending their promotional value. I suspect that, at next year's Con, Warner Bros. will actually hire people to wear them and walk the floor, inspiring others to embrace billboard-bag geek-chic. (Meanwhile, these bags are now turning up in droves on eBay and other sale sites, where their reach is further extended.)

Fans turn promotional bags for the movie Watchmen into geek-chic.

I wonder: Is it accurate to refer to those who willingly carry signage and turn promotional material into clothing as citizen marketers? Certainly, the combined promotional power of the citizen producer, citizen journalist and citizen marketer is a mighty force, and one that corporations can continue to tap into at little cost in the right environment. As always, there is much to learn and much to ponder at Comic-Con.