Con Cuisine

I actually brought a camera among all the other conference paraphernalia I carried to last month's PNWA Summer Conference.  However, it remained buried in my back pack throughout most of the event. 

One afternoon I accidently pulled it out while rummaging for a water bottle to wash down my lunch, pictured above.

Normally, I don't take photos of my food.  However, I thought this would make an interesting blogpost about typical "con cuisine." 

Such fare usually consists of a pre-made sandwich, a side dish choice of candy, chips, or fruit; along with a small drink.

This isn't a complaint, but merely an observation.  Conventions and conferences are packed with so much activities that meals, primarily lunches, are often an afterthought by everyone involved. 

Convention "Survival Guides" regularly remind attendees about the importance of good nutrition and staying hydrated to keep your energy level up--so you can participate in even more activities.

Bon Appetit!

GeekGirlCon 2014: Crowd Surfing at the Con

(GGC Logo)

 

It's been three years since I attended my very first GeekGirlCon (GGC).  That year, it was held in the Seattle Center, which was fine, but the activities were spread from one end of the park to the other. 

Shortly after that maiden voyage, GeekGirlCon found a new home at the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC)


Getting to the WSCC parking garage is easy coming off I-5S.  But once I made my way out of the labyrinth, I found the main building practically deserted.  Fortunately, I blundered into another GGC-bound couple wandering around looking for an entry portal.  We felt like muggles trying to find Platform 9 3/4.

 

But before we sprinted into any walls, we found a Convention Center employee who pointed across the street to the smaller, annex building--the one with the line of people wrapped around it.

Despite losing our urban bearings, we arrived just as the doors were opening (9 AM, or 0900 hours for us military types).  Signing-in was a much smoother and easier process than during my last visit. 

The speedier in-processing allowed attendees to attend the first activities of the day (10 AM/1000 hours).  Having the convention housed in one building helped too.  Events included:  Panel discussions, gaming, and connections (professional, club and educational booths). 

Some of the connection booths had representatives from the following:

Microsoft, Amazon.com, and the Girl Scouts, etc.   (Not a complete list, just the ones I noticed).

I didn't do any gaming, because I was more interested in the panel discussions and hoped to do some shopping in between venues.

For those interested in gaming, here's a look at The GGC Gaming Dungeon:

(Looking down into The Gaming Dungeon)

(An overhead view of a role playing game in-progress)

(Down at The Gaming Dungeon Floor)

But it wasn't all Fun & Games.  There was Fun & Science Experiments for kids to participate in: 

(GeekGirlCon's Science Lab)

 

Before lunch, I attended three panel discussions:

1. Hiring in Gaming.

2. How to Be a Nerd for a Living.

3. If You Can Write You Can Make Games.

By the time the last panel ended I was tired and famished.  The sausage & egg sandwich, with the compressed hashbrown patty I picked up en-route at McDonalds had ceased providing my body with any fuel.  The caffeine from the large coffee I drank wasn't any help either.

So I cancelled whatever panel I was planning to attend and embarked on a quest for lunch.  The line outside the Subway down the street was much worse than this...

(I took this photo about an hour after lunch.  The line was three times as long at one point)

...so I opted for the Wild Rye Café, inside the convention complex. 

The line was much shorter than the one in front of Subway, but everyone remained stationary, as if Medusa was the hostess. 

 

After about fifteen-to-twenty minutes the line began moving at glacial speed and I got my much-needed food.

My mid-day refueling consisted of a Rueben sandwich with some chips, drink and a double-chocolate brownie.  The sandwich was good, but the crust a tad extra dry and crispy.  But I was hungry enough to chomp through it anyway.

I was surprised that for an event this size, while smaller than the Emerald City Comicon, the convention center didn't establish additional food stands, with ready-made sandwiches. 

Of course, packing a nutrition bar would have helped too.  One of many convention survival guide tips is:  Pack snacks and water, so you don't get hungry or become dehydrated.

Anyway, after lunch I had enough time to get some shopping before the last panel discussion of my time-constrained day:

Ethics in Comics.

I hated leaving early (about 5 PM/1700 hours), especially since there were three additional panels I wanted to attend, plus an after-con concert featuring the following bands:

The Doubleclicks

Sammus, and

Thundering Asteroids!

But alas--I had a long drive and had to work first thing in the following morning.  But despite cutting my stay short, I had an enjoyable and productive time.  GeekGirlCon 2014 was definitely worth the price of admission, parking and gas.

 This was just an overview of my convention experience.  I have six more GeekGirl-related posts in-the-works; which will cover cosplay, merchandise and the four panel discussions I mentioned earlier.

So stay tuned!

The Studio's First Restaurant Review

This being a wargaming and writing blog, I never thought I'd be doing a restaurant review.  That is, until my sister Roxanne (aka, Rox of Spazhouse) and I went to eat at AFK Elixirs & Eatery. 

AFKE&E, opened a few months ago, and is associated with The AFK Tavern in Everett, WA.

We discovered AFKE&E last week during Rox's visit, thanks to my friend Daryl, who works for Wizards of the Coast.  Which by the way, is just a few blocks away from AFKE&E.

So with highly placed recommendation in mind, we stopped-in for lunch.

Normally, themed restaurants tend to be heavy on the theme and light on the eats & elixirs.

Not so with AFKE&E--who's clientele aren't known for their normalcy.  Gamers want good food, and lots of it.

Rox had The Hatchling, and I ordered the Cucco Panini.  Both came with more tater tots (Hatchling) and French fries (Panini) than either of us could finish off.  Rox washed down her meal down with a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster...

 

...which she must have liked since she took a picture of it. 

 

I'm not a drinker, so I can't comment personally on the quality and quality of AFK's alcohol-based elixirs. (You can see my "muggle cola" in the background).

 

Of course a good meal at AFKE&E is only part of the experience.  Rox and I spent several minutes taking pictures of the sci-fi/fantasy decorations adorning the tavern.

 

Here's Rox next to a stand-up of her "Tenth Best Friend."

 

 

I had a bunch of photos I was planning on including in this post, but I lost my camera somewhere between the tavern and home.  I'd love to blame my loss on too much Gargle Blasters, but I was sober, and Rox's chauffeur for this outing.

Anyway, lost cameras aside, AFKE&E isn't just a place for geeks & gamers to eat & drink.  It's also a refuge for gamers to game.  Events are posted regularly on the AFKE&E's Facebook page.

 

Their website is currently under construction, and from reading other reviews; this isn't the only teething problems this new restaurant has had, or may still be having. 

 

Rox and I had a solid 4-star experience.  But to be honest, since we haven't actually seen each other in several years, we were focused on catching up on "life, the universe and everything."  So if anything was amiss, we didn't catch it.  Our elixirs and eats arrived in a timely manner, and our waitress Nikki was professional and pleasant. 

 

Reviews on sites like Yelp are however, awash with "critical hits and fumbles," regarding every aspect of the tavern.  Comments on Foursquare are about 80% positive, while on Trip Advisor and Urban Spoon, it's a 50/50 hung jury. 

 

The only difficulty I experienced occurred when I tried calling the tavern back to inquire about my lost camera.  My initial salvo of phone calls, at about 6 PM, went to voicemail.  A couple hours later, I tried again and got one of the staff members.  The following day, shortly after 11 AM, I contacted Nikki on my first attempt.  She remembered us, even after three days, but didn't recall seeing a camera left behind.  (I didn't realize my camera was missing until a couple days later when coming home from work).

 

So there you have it.  The next time you're feeling adventurous for your next meal, give AFKE&E a try.