Yesterday, I received my 4-Day Pro badge for New York Comic Con, where I’ll be speaking on panels and signing copies of my newest novel, Star Trek: The Next Generation — Cold Equations, Book I: The Persistence of Memory (assuming copies of the book actually show up in time for the convention).

The fine folks at NYCC were sure to remind me in the letter that came with my badge that it is “non-transferrable.” In other words, it’s not for use by anyone but me. There’s just one problem: the 2012 NYCC badges don’t have a space for the bearer’s name. So how will they know if people loan them out?

This is also kind of annoying for another reason. When I’m doing book signings at big events like comic cons, it’s helpful to see fans’ names on their badges when I’m trying to get the inscriptions right on their books.

I understand why NYCC can’t print customized badges for each pro attendee, but it would have been nice if they had left us some place to write or paste in our own names. Ah, well. Another con, another gripe.

Now, if we can just get NYCC to actually list me as a guest, and realize that I’m the David Mack on the Saturday 4:45PM panel, “More Than Just a Book: Expanded Universes from Page to Screen”, this might turn out to be less than a total fiasco of a weekend.