Another Emerald City Comicon has come and gone but this one was extra-special for an important reason – it was my first! I’m foreign to Seattle just like the horse of a different color isn’t native to Oz. Living here for just over a year, I’m mostly familiar with the wacky Seattle sights and ECCC weekend is no exception. Short of going to the convention center itself, behind the counter at Raygun Lounge might be one of the best places to experience the con. I was granted a front row seat for the nerdtastic conversation and costumery that punctuates any good Comicon.

Curious newcomers and returning friends descended on the Lounge Thursday evening for a multimedia trivia contest hosted by Raygun regular Andrew & his friends. Special guests from Comics Chat with Gat, the Nerdhole, and A Podcast For All Intents and Purposes took turns hosting rounds and stumping teams with obscure knowledge. Eight teams participated during the event and prizes were raffled off between rounds. After the dust settled our first place team was Alternative FAQs, second place went to Ronald Raygun Lounge and third place was claimed by Indiegogo presents Wendigo: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go: A Tale of Vertigo.

Friday night was a more low key gathering featuring a Queer Comics Mixer hosted by Northwest Press. Sharing the space with our monthly Hearthstone tournament, everyone enjoyed another exciting raffle of prizes and plenty of good times. The easy-going vibe from Friday night was a nice lull before the main event on Saturday – NW Nerd‘s annual costume contest! The Lounge was transformed into a cosplay runway where all the best ECCC costumes strutted their stuff for the masses. Prizes were awarded for a variety of categories pitting fantasy and sci-fi characters against each other for the top spot. Check out the highlights on the .

After a super hectic weekend of comics and community building I have to say ECCC is a blast – and I haven’t even been to the Con yet! I am already looking forward to our next big weekend celebrating Sakuracon April 14th-16th. Stay tuned to our events page for info about parties dedicated to anime and 20 successful years of this unique convention.

That’s right, we’re just a short walk from the convention center and we’ve got food, drinks, swag and events all weekend long to make it worth your while when you do. We’ve even got espresso from 10am on if you want to coffee up on your way down! It’s glorious around here these days, I tell you. Just glorious.

And it all starts on Thursday, March 2nd with our annual Comicon Trivia Night hosted by all of your favorite nerdlebrities from a podcast for all intents and purposes, nerdhole & .

Then, after your amazing first day of the con on Friday, March 3rd, come out for our Queer Comics Mixer with the editors of the Northwest Press and Jetspace Magazine!

But our (if not THE) biggest party of this year’s comicon is definitely going to on Saturday, March 4, when takes over hosting duties for our massive annual cosplay contest & all night party!

On Sunday, March 4 we recover from hangovers with our Geek Girl Brunch.

And on Monday, March 5 we’ll be OPEN ALL DAY from 10am – 10pm for all of your last chance gaming, comics and pop cultural needs on your way back out of town.

To learn more about any of the events I listed here (or the bunch, like our Comicon Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering and Android Netrunner tournaments, that I didn’t!) head on over to our Events Page and see what we have for YOU this very special Emerald City Comicon weekend!