There’s a party going on and if you’re reading this you’re probably not invited. So apparently there’s a group of people who aren’t happy about the annual San Diego Comic Convention. This doesn’t come as any real surprise as those of us in the nerd/geek community have dealt with this part of the lifestyle. However, this kind of event seems absolutely hilarious.
The event is called “Geeks Be Gone” [sic]. It’s taking place at The Smoking Gun, a bar located in downtown San Diego. The event and the establishment have already been met with the disdain from those both inside and outside of the nerd community. The event, misspelled named and all (begone is and always has been one word) just reeks of someone who feels as if the five days that SDCC takes place is just the worst thing that could ever happen. So bad that some genius decided that having a party that didn’t include the group of people who would’ve probably gone to the establishment to spend money.
From what I can understand, this event is being put on by those who feel left out of the fun. SDCC is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, nerd parties of the year. It’s also one of the biggest contributors to the economy of the city of San Diego. With that said, it seems rather petty that someone is throwing a party that doesn’t cater to this five day event. An event that attracts people from all walks of life from all over the world, with disposable income.
The event has since been deleted from the Smoking Gun San Diego page and the general manager issued an apology via reddit:
“I’m the GM there. It was a huge verbiage mistake on our behalf. Being a San Diegian veteran, I love comic Con and all the attendees. We were simply throwing a post Comic-Con party for all those who work downtown tirelessly by offering a half off the bar night for them. I apologize to anyone who is offended, our whole bar concept is a nostalgic them with peechy folders even being used as our cocktail menu. Our apologies San Diego, we never meant to cause harm or offend anyone.”[sic]
The real problem here is that this “party” takes place after SDCC is over. There are plenty of different name choices or themes that could’ve been decided on, yet this is what a marketing budget was made for. Then when called out on it, the backpedaling and ‘splaining began. I’m not here to say you should boycott the Smoking Gun in San Diego due to their ignorance and impulsive need to geek shame. I am, however recommending that if you’re looking for a place to party in San Diego for Comic Con weekend, go to pretty much anywhere else.
