How Adam Rogers Can Save Comic-Con -- with Math

Hey it's Adam for Wired.

I am super excited because I have figured out a way

to make sure that San Diego Comic-Com

is no longer too crowded

and it will never have to leave San Diego

and you can have as much of it as you want.

Here's the trick: ban letting people take pictures

of other people in costume.

Now, I know, we like to take pictures of the cosplayers.

But I did a little bit of math.

Figuring that it takes about two seconds

to take a picture with your phone or with an older camera,

counting, you know, shutter lag

and the time it takes to let the thing spin up again

and to spin up your photo app, right?

Figure it's about 260,000 pictures at the 'Con,

roughly half of the 130,000 attendees take pictures

and they take 40 pictures over the course of four days,

that ends up being, you know,

260,000 pictures times two seconds,

144 hours.

You could have five more days of convention.

And, when you take those pictures what do you do?

You stand in the middle of where people are walking

and you get a five-foot-distance

between subject and photographer,

that ends up being 60 square feet of bubble.

Multiply that times 130,000 pictures,

you end up with 7.8 million square feet of space.

The whole exhibition space, the convention center,

is only, I looked this up, 615,000 square feet.

I've just given you three more convention centers.

You can thank me later nerds.

For more coverage of the 'Con, Wired.com.