San Diego Comic-Con is less than two weeks away and programming for all four days is now posted on the site. One of SDCC’s many functions is as a meeting point for the industry. For those ICv2 readers attending for that purpose, here’s a quick cull of the more than 400 panels, screenings and events that hold some appeal to business folks, listed chronologically:

Thursday

  • The Business of Creativity: Can Comics Find the Balance? (Thursday 12:30, Room 4). In his long career in comics, occasional ICv2 contributor Paul Levitz has achieved success as a writer, editor, publisher, author and comics historian. In this panel, I’ll be interviewing him about his years as publisher and President of DC, and the special challenges of fostering creativity, experimentation and diversity within a traditional corporate environment.
  • Starting a Comics Creator Community. (Thursday 1:30, Room 2). Best-practices for getting a vibrant comics scene up and running in your city – something crucial to the sustainability of the business – featuring the Los Angeles Women's Comic Creators League (The Ladybugs) and the Portland Comic Creator Meetup.
  • Be a Financial Superhero Even If You Aren’t Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. (Thursday, 4-5, Marriot Pacific Room 24). Despite the scammy-sounding title, this looks like a useful panel on financial management for industry professionals, covering fundraising, taxes, contracts and other nuts-and-bolts topics.
  • Comics PR and Marketing 101. (Thursday, 6:30-7:30, Room 8). Any panel where Chip Mosher and David Hyde, two of the industry’s best PR pros, share their tips on relationship-building, is probably worth your time if you’re at all interested in this subject.

Friday

  • Pop Culture Shark Tank (Friday, 1-2pm, Room 32AB). Sorry, another piece of self-promotion, but I’m especially psyched to host this panel where aspiring pop culture entrepreneurs pitch a panel of experts for tips on how to present their idea, position their company and ask for funding.
  • The Super-Fan Phenomenon in China. (Friday, 2-3om, Room 9). Interested in what’s going on in geek culture in the world’s largest market? Sure you are. Looks fascinating.
  • Marketing and Publicity the Alternative Comics Way (Friday 4-5, Room 28DE). Learn to punch above your weight, marketing-wise, from the team at Fantagraphics (Jacq Cohen and Anna Pederson), joined by David Hyde and Megahex’s Simon Hanselmann.
  • Is The Swag You’re Giving Out Working? (Friday, 5:30-6:30, Room 24ABC). Seems like a good question.

Saturday

  • The Business of Geek Fashion (Saturday, 10am, Marriot Pacific Room 24). Discussion of the fast-growing apparel segment from industry leaders Ed Labay (Hot Topic), Ashley Eckstein (HerUniverse), John Schindehette (ThinkGeek Solutions), and Sara Scargall (WeLoveFine).
  • Comics of Tomorrow: Innovations for the Future of Comics. (Saturday, 11am, Room 29AB). Will new technologies like VR, AR, and geolocation breathe some new life into digital comics storytelling, which seems to have stagnated recently after early promise? Marv Wolfman hosts an intriguing panel exploring that question.
  • I’m in the Nerd Business. (Saturday, 5pm, Marriott Pacific Room 24). The description promises “Entrepreneurs whose businesses cater to a predominantly nerdy or geeky clientele will discuss how these businesses started, how they sustain their service to their clients and compete with big conglomerates looking to capitalize on the geek marketplace, and how they sell goods and market services to a community seeking authenticity, without falling into the trap of pandering or gimmicks.” So, yeah.
  • The Geek Shall Inherit: The Evolution of Geek Culture. (Saturday, 6pm, Marriot Pacific Room 24). Expert panel looks at the psychology and economics of geek culture, including forces driving its growth.

Sunday

Specialized programming tracks for lawyers, retailers, academics and librarians. In addition, here are a couple of overall programming tracks aimed at professionals that thread though all four days of the convention:

  • Comic Book Law School, featuring detailed explorations of topics like creator rights, intellectual property, contract negotiation and censorship;
  • The Retailing and For Retailers Only sessions focusing on best practices for store management, publisher and distributor relations;
  • The Library Programs to help librarians identify appropriate titles and expand library offerings around graphic literature.
  • The Education track, crossing over a bunch of different categories to highlight topics of interest to secondary school professionals or anyone with an interest in using comics to promote learning and literacy;
  • Comic Arts Conference, an academic conference for higher education, featuring discussions of research and applications of comics in different disciplines.

I hope to see you all at the show. If you spot me on the floor, at a panel or at the bar, please come up and say hi.