ECCC Day 3: Entering the Convention Center Proper, and Cosplayers
I didn’t get breakfast for the morning, and parked at what turned out to be the worst spot. On the other hand, I had an awesome conversation with Tuan. If you are visiting a buddy’s house, and you don’t actually see him while there, it is a disappointment.
When I walked into the Sheraton that day, things were now a routine. I knew which escalator to take, and where to walk. I had left at what I hoped was an early enough time to help set up. I was wrong, they had everything set and ready.
I sat and chatted with the girl who had set it all up. It was an interesting tale as I heard about how the Next Generation Pinball machine was specialized. The owner had added parts, and changed the lights to make the game better.
The entire place was set up perfectly. Even the VideoGame Score people.
They had a game of Marvels Legos out for play. At first they had set it up for a high score, and then slowly stopped caring. You really can’t set a high score on the game. On the other hand, it was a great way to take a break.
After the chat, the head of the NWPASS showed up, and told me to use my pass to see the convention. I had a 3 day pass, but hadn’t used it yet. I was sort of worried about the crowds, but decided to forge ahead and try it.
I basically followed people around when I got in. There were stairs, and escalators, and crowds everywhere. Eventually I found the main hall, and saw the area for just the line.
When you realize that giant empty spot would be full later does it start to kick in how full the Emerald City Comic Con would be. With a room so empty, it became a shock to see what it was like inside of the comics area.
In fact, it was so full we were told to not stop for anything. Areas where people were signing autographs had people out with signs telling fans to come back.
The exhibits themselves were fairly empty, and easier to pass through. In fact, there were whole hallways that were easy to get through. So, I chose the less trodden paths.
The Cyanide and Happiness folks arrived to sign autographs, and the line for them formed within minutes. There were three lines for it. Literally there was a line to get into the line to get into the line to get an autograph. The people in green shirts were trying to stop others from going into the line as fast as they could. This megaline would have blocked an entire section of the convention.
The entire place was designed like Sim City, while the walking ways was basically Phoenix. There is no way I could take a picture of every booth, set up, and cool thing. There was simply too much. I did try to take pictures, but it had to be rare.
I had to really like what was displayed, and have room to stop. This went on for every giant room on that floor. Where there was room, cosplayers posed for people to take pictures.
I had the weird feeling that this was designed and thought of as a visit to Mecca. I felt somewhat awful for even thinking about it that way. The people dressed up were personages of the deities which everyone was following. The most heralded of course were the oracles or prophets of comics and shows.
I did find places that were empty, and along those areas were people eating.
The next floor showed how powerfully people felt for their oracles. There were lines to listen to the Question Answer sessions with actors.
This was for the line to the Whose Line is It Anyway cast which was about to finish. Yes, those blue lines tell you how to stand in line. I spoke with a Minion about her duties. She gave a great interview, so expect to read more about it later.
The area around the QA sessions was more open, so there were more people eating food.
I was able to grab a picture of the escalator on the next floor down.
You caught it right, there were two going up, and only one going down. This meant the entire area was getting more, and more packed. What I saw would be nothing later in that day.
There was a guy dressed in black clothes, and wearing an awesome black cape. I wanted to take his picture, but didn’t know how. The area was not full at all since it was the second to last floor. I am not kidding, there was an art exhibit with no one looking at the art.
This was also the floor to take care of special guests, a UW bookstore, and the Minion lounge.
I honestly thought that this was everything to see. So I exited, and saw people taking pictures of various Cosplayers.
Then I saw a big sign.
It was to the other part of the convention. The first floor was entirely Legos on display, and for sale.
It was a really hard choice to make here, but my family is Borg, and my brother loves Legos. So, Lego Borg it is. You had to get into a line to take close up pictures of everything, but after the first line I couldn’t handle it anymore. I have a phobia of being in crowds, and it kicked in pretty hard right then.
There was a basement floor, and it was entirely models.
Models were one of the very first geeky things to do. The visitors were pretty slim in the room, but what was on display was really impressive. I took pictures of the area just so my family get squeal at the various sci fi offerings.
On the top floor, there was another big convention area. It was quite packed. There was a woman who stood at the entrance and told everyone to keep walking. They could not stop. It took three tries to get her face because most people did as she said. In fact, on thinking about it further, I realized I was breaking the rule to get her picture.
This area was just like the jam packed Convention center, only a little more laid back. There were cool things on display, including a charity for comic books. The group collects comics, and gives them to kids.
As I walked out, I saw some really amazing Cosplay.
Also, Lego R2D2 broke. Everyone within sight of it made a disappointed groan. 
Coming down the escalator were three guys dressed as the Flash. They spotted others dressed as the Flash, and began cheering.
They wound up running behind each other at random times to create the running effect. It was quickly decided that they needed to be called the Flash Mob.
As I left, there were guys trying to collect money for charity. I thought they were doing cool stuff, but honestly, I don’t have the money to spare. A guy chatted me up, and then another one did, and then another one. Sort of awkward.
When I got back to the arcade display, everything was going well. They told me to go to lunch. So, I went to the Subway that was closed the night before. I didn’t want to at first. So, I went to the nearby Gameworks, and it was full. Then to what I thought was a restaurant eatery area, but was a really big movie theater.
So really the best choice was the Subway. The line moved at a pace that I barely realized I was moving forward. The people there were moving as fast as they could, and looked really tired. Half the bread was gone, as was a lot of my selection. Still, I got a nice sandwich, and sat down.
The random guy I sat down with talked a bit. We chatted about his job, calling people up to see if they could sell their business. He made a great point about arcades in the 1930’s and 40’s. There was a drop in arcade use as the Great Depression left, and his response was that Arcades were good if you were broke. It only cost a penny, or nickel to play, and then you went home. When people had more money, they could spend it on more expensive things, and arcades suffered.
Getting into the Churro line was the Steampunk Mario Bros. as I left.
I got back to the display, and let others go to lunch. For the next few hours, I listened to my fellow exhibitors talk about what all they saw. One of them showed a drawing by his favorite comic book artist. He said the artist basically drew his childhood. They chatted about how some of the really amazing artists, and writers were there and no one noticed. It made me want to go back, and see what I had missed.
I didn’t get the chance, but it is something that hit me.
A kid got addicted to Asteroids. His Mom finally found him, but he came back later. He then played some Galaga. When I saw him playing with the Marvel Legos game, I asked where the spaceship was. He was really eager to talk about games, and life, but I really couldn’t understand him.
A Steampunk murder mystery show was being set up down the hall. MUT Mech Pup was not feeling up to snuff at the time, so I let them store him near our display. They told me that the place was now so full, you couldn’t breathe. It would be hard to take everything they had through the crowd, and to the hotel. Apparently it was on display somewhere at the convention. They were a really nice group, so I want to make sure to drop a link or two over to them.
As you can guess from most of this essay, I didn’t really know how to act around Cosplayers. One of the Minions had a brilliant idea as a costume. The Minion T-Shirt has a cape design on the back. She cut out her shirt, and left the cape dangling. The rest was covered by a courset. Needless to say, I was impressed and made sure to tell her so. Then I had nothing to add. I joked that I should hang out with her more, and she said sure. Then I blanked.
When I saw her talking to the head of the Gaming area, I realized I had misstepped. I remembered all of the signs, and what have you about being respectful. So, I decided to be better at talking with Cosplayers. This was a great thing because right before I left to dinner, I met a girl dressed as a comic book character.
There was also a Ghostbuster, and the Staypuffed Marshamallow man.
I did an extra tour of the gaming area at one point, and found a Lego RPG battle game.
Finally, after talking to people, figuring out how to talk to Cosplayers, and getting into a really amazing groove, it was time for dinner. I asked for the best directions they could give me, and still messed up. Luckily, where I ended up had a bookstore with Wi Fi. It was the first bit of internet I saw while in Seattle.
It was an extra swanky mall, and it had a food court. I went to a place called Johnny Rockets.
I show you this picture just so I remember it exists later on. They had delicious burgers, and even better shakes. There was a shake made of rootbeer syrup. I don’t know how to explain it any better, and I assure you it really was a shake. The place was packed that night, but I saw old turnstyles, and nickel machines while there. I toured the book store, and found some books I thought were cool. I also laughed at the tour guides for Hawaii.
The rest of the night was fairly basic. I did my spiel to some unknown amount of people, and handed out as many cards as I could. The head of the NWPAAS called me in, and asked what I wanted to contribute for the show. I told him about the timeline I am working on, and the idea of displaying it for next year.
I also got to talk to the guy who assigned me to do the timeline. I had not been able to get ahold of him since the very first meeting months ago. So I finally got some of the insights I needed.
The crowd began to thin, and it was just me and another guy near the end. I saw one more amazing Cosplayer.
She just made up the character, and it simply amazed some people. In fact, I made sure a photographer ran to catch her. My iPod is great, but it is not a professional level camera.
Finally, it was time to close. I worked quickly to grab stuff, and move it. We tried to warn people as much as possible about turning things off. The night before there were people that got really bummed when we pulled the plugs. Because it was two guys, the organization was not as solid that night, as the one before. Still, it was done, and locked in the arcade quickly enough.
One the walk back to my parking spot, I got into the wrong place. They all look like parking garages so it was hard to tell. This is especially true since I had been working all day for somewhere around 14 hours. I chatted with the folks in the elevator, and then looked at the floor buttons. It was not the same. I waved goodbye to them all, and gave them a laugh at my mistake.
There had been a fundraising banquet on the Second floor of the Sheraton, so people in business suits were next to Princesses.
I finally found my parking garage, but forgot which floor I was on. So I wandered up, and up and up the floors until I found my van. The garage was really convenient, but they charged me $40 for being there. Needless to say I had a bit of panic when I paid. I had budgeted for $20 a day, with a little extra for random stuff. In one day with all of the food, and parking I had spent $80. That was with a 3 Day pass.
I got to Tuan’s, and he was still awake. We chatted, and he talked about telling his kids that Santa did not exist. Then he was off to work, and I slept. It was a really good contented sleep.
