I love when Emerald City Comic Con comes around every year, it’s always super fun and a great way to bask in your nerdiness without feeling weird in public.
One of the best parts to me, at least, are the after parties. Emerald City Comic Con throws their own every year, and now so does the night club Spin (SonicBoomBox). They host multiple after parties for a lot of conventions in the US throughout the year. They even have one planned for the next Seattle convention, which is Sakura-Con in April.
Anyway, they are always super fun to attend because the party normally picks up right after Emerald City Comic Con’s own party on Saturday. The ECCC after party was an all ages one again this year and also had a 21 and up section. They split the room so that anyone who wanted to drink would stay in one section off to the right. They could get in once IDs were checked and then get a drink, they had some space to sit and watch the band or DJ. The rest of the room they had was for dancing, as they could not leave the designated area with their drink (which is a safe idea and practice the convention implemented).
The rest of the room for the party was pretty packed full of people and some families, and they also had a seating area for anyone not wanting to dance and just enjoy being there (and people watching, as many like to do). Also, along the back wall there were lots of different backgrounds with some props for people to pose in front of for photos if they wanted to. This added some fun to the party, even though it was pretty dark to be taking photos.
I think the only big issue people had with this party was that it ended too soon. Getting done right at ten o’clock and not having anymore late night parties people could continue at. But, many seemed to go to the offsite party at Spin, which started at eight (but really picked up at 10 when more people came from the Emerald City Comic Con party).
The SonicBoomBox party was a lot of fun and very different then the ECCC party, as there was only a DJ, less space and not all ages. I know that a lot of people have a hard time letting go at all ages because they feel uncomfortable around younger people and the family groups. Which is understandable, and makes this second after party more fun and needed. There are also a lot of fun things to do at SonicBoomBox parties, for one Spin is a Ping-Pong nightclub/bar. So, there’s lots of tables to play at with friends and they have a huge steel bathtub filled to the brim with Ping-Pong balls that people love to take photos in (it’s really fun to do, and hard to get out of the ball pit).
The club also has a good space for a dance floor and offers free water stations for people to stay hydrated, always a necessity at conventions, cause you know everyone is not getting enough water. There are also different places to lounge and chat with friends in the multiple different spaces they have set up. The biggest draw to these convention parties that they throw (at least to me) is a free photo booth. It is always so much fun to get silly photos with friends, new and old, that you meet at these parties. Everyone is mostly still in cosplay from the conventions, or have switched up their characters to be in party outfits (which always add more fun to the parties). These parties are always a big highlight of the past year at conventions for me because of the people you get to meet and the fun you get to have relaxing while dancing. I can’t wait to see what next year has in store for Emerald City Comic Con’s after party, and I really can’t wait to attend more SonicBoomBox convention after parties this year too!
