[ #ECCC Ramblin' ] #ECCC After Action Report

Well, for those who follow my Twitter/FB/Path feed got a dose of west coast nerd prom by way of Emerald City Comic Con.

Sometime back in September 2012, I decided to visit by brother in Seattle and thought of combining the trip and see Emerald City Comic Con. I have never been to either Seattle or Emerald City so it was win win.
Flash ahead to the tail end of February 2013 and I’m on a non-stop, full, Alaska Airlines Flight going from Boston to Seattle. The services, crew and flight itself was wonderful and even though you’re paying to check bags, food and in flight entertainment I highly recommend going out of Boston since going out of Providence would have meant a three hour layover in Newark or Chicago.
The TSA Agents and Flight Attendants get extra points for recognizing my TARDIS Instruction Manual shirt.
Day 1: Day 1 consisted of waiting in line for two hours of a lanyard and a badge. I can understand why ECCC did this. Checking badges at the door would have been nightmare for the Fire Marshal and anyone with enough Photoshop knowledge could have created their own.
The good news is the weather held and we all managed to get a 3mile walk in while we crisscrossed the convention center. Missed a panel but a quick swing through the dealers room got some stuff.
Day 2: ECCC unlike other conventions I’ve been two were spread up instead of out. Having gone to Kastucon, A-Kon, Chicago, several SDCCs and even a Dragon*Con I barely remember, I’m used to spread out but ECCC took over the entire convention center. All 6 floors of it.
The dealer’s room had good isle space and the dealers were many. Thankfully, ECCC had set up photo areas with an ECCC backdrop so fans and cos players could take pictures. The one downside was there was no roping off the green carpet in front of the cos players so people either went around the horde of photogs or through us.
Back when myself and Paul C used to man the table for Cartoon Frolics we used to try and avoid the horde of fanboys drooling over the booth babes. Now with the booth babes gone it’s the horde of photogs taking pictures of the cos players. A choke point comes up and it’s the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers stopping traffic.
I hadn’t had much time to test out the 6D until now and with a 64 gig SD Card I still have space left over. But it worked out well and the EOS wireless app helped transfer pictures to the iPad. I’m glad I didn’t buy the battery mount since the camera is a beast to begin with. I had brought a Lowpro sling bag with me and found it was the perfect side for the camera, lens, assorted wires and even iPad once I took out the velcro separations. The exterior pockets didn’t have pockets but had a big pocket for a water bottle.
I decided to jump from Instagram and embraced Path for the trip. The filters are less but the app is easy to use. I hope Flickr support is in the future.
For the most part there were a lot of costumes I knew nothing about but the more the con went on the more the Halo ODST, Sith Lords, Doctor Who, Captain Hammer + Doctor Horrible and Red Shirts showed up.
I might try to cos play for San Diego and go as Captain Hammer. When I come back to ECCC next year maybe a Firefly character or Indy.
The book editors panel I went to was an hour and lightly attended. The advice given was good. It was also streamed through Flipon.tv which I thought was second best thing of the con. The photo area being the first. I hope Flipon.tv support continues since the con was sold out and the crew of ECCC had their act together with the AV set up. This streaming service would really help with SDCC.
I passed by the celebrity guests level and the lines were short. The instructions to keep all cameras and cell phones in pockets thankfully was verbal and not taken one step further with bag checks.
The book editors panel was just outside the charity photos with Star Wars characters which look great since they remote control R2-D2s roving about.
The amount of food places in the convention center helped since a small pizza was $8. The amount of chairs on the 6th floor was a godsend and made taking photos easier.
On the way out of the con I grabbed a bag with a t-shirt. After two years of SDCC I was somewhat surprised by the bag costing money instead of coming with the price of admission. The bag was smaller than SDCC’s sleep bag and was perfectly durable to carry things around. I dunno if Seattle’s no bag mentality is there but, really, $5 for a bag?
Lots of options for shirt swag. The Walking Dead Shirts with the Needle looked good.
Day 3+4: Sunday and Monday consisted of going to the Space Needle, the EMP Museum, the Museum of Flight and the Underground Tour of Seattle.
Brunch on the Space Needle is a must if you never been to Seattle and so long as you have a good day for it. The day we went it was sunny and we couldn’t see Olympic or Reiner Mountains but it was clear enough. The food was great and the observation deck reminded me of my Empire State Building trip. The free complimentary table pictures the Space Needle staff was a great idea.
The EMP Museum still have the icons of Science Fiction along with the art of Video Games, Nirvana, Guitars and leather. The icons of Science Fiction was great time, the horror booth was a great idea and is a must. The art of Video Games was a blast from the past with the games, their respective systems and the crew trying to play Myst. The lack of cell reception did not help trying to find the Myst help guides online.
The Museum of Flight covered from the beginning of flight into space and on a sunny day is a great place to go since you can walk through a Concord. The planes inside were wonderful as well. The SR-71 and the first UAV was great to see.
The Underground Tour of Seattle was a nice way to end my time in Seattle since I knew nothing about the fact the entire town burned down in the 1800s. The underground is great place for pictures and they have a couple of copies of Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker on the shelves.
So, how would I rate this con?
I rate it as I’m coming back next year. The prices of tickets are still doable. From what I heard the local comic book stores still had tickets left over. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the overall layout of the con made sense.
I hope the line for badges gets easier. If the cost of mailing is too much or if the someone though mailing would cause more problems that’s understandable. It’s the fact the con opened at 2pm, I showed up at 4pm and didn’t get out the reg line until 6pm.
Flickr will be updated by the end of the week.