Last weekend, our team sipped some delicious cocktails from around the globe at WhiskyFest, partied for a cause at Winter Party Festival, celebrated the 15th anniversary of the crown jewel of fandom events – Emerald City Comicon, and joined the horde in London for Walker Stalker Con.
Join us in reliving some of our favorite moments with our team’s recaps below:
WhiskyFest – Amy Kline
I had the honor to be asked to work at WhiskyFest DC 2017 and I had a great time. WhiskyFest is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and is happening in four cities across the country over the next few months. This second annual outing in DC was 
attended by over 1000 whisky fans. Connoisseurs had the opportunity to taste whiskies from distilleries around the world, talk to the distillers and sample amazing food that was offered at stations throughout the floor.
We were so excited when WhiskyFest allowed me and two of my colleagues to share in that experience! They provided us with gorgeous crystal tasting glasses and off we went! We sampled many amazing whiskies and had two unique cocktails (one perfect highball from Suntory Whiskey Toki and a delicious tequila cocktail from Don Julio.) It was a total pleasure spending time with Kathy and Joan from WhiskyFest and I hope to see them again at a future date. Â
Winter Party Festival – Jim Rice
Last week, I had the pleasure of traveling to Miami Beach for the annual Winter Party Festival, which supports the National LGBTQ Task Force. This is 
my second year being on-site for the festival, and I am still amazed to see the wide range of hosted events associated with the festival.
While on-site, I assisted with on-site ticket sales, as well as wristband fulfillment in the event’s Welcome Center. While it was a busy week, I did manage to make it out to a couple of the hosted events to see everything in full swing!
Emerald City Comicon – Allison Taylor
This year marked the 15th anniversary of Emerald City Comicon. The Washington State Convention Center was packed with comic & pop culture lovers along with tons of cosplayers. This year the show also added some guests that are not your normal “Comic Con” celebrities, like some cast members from Outlander. It was so great to see people outside the typical con demographic come to the show, and be SO excited to be there.
We handled ticketing in the Box Office as we have in the past, but also added some more this year. Our ticketing system was used to pre-sell autographing tickets. Normally, fans had to wait to get on-site, get in long lines, and hope to get an autograph from their favorite celebrity. This year, we offered the opportunity to purchase autograph presales for select celebrities on our platform, and scanned people when they arrived in the autographing area located at the Sheraton Hotel. This worked well and allowed fans more time on-site to see all the other things they wanted to see. We also managed two pre-show lotteries for Funko Exclusives & the Image Founders Signing that worked really well.
The energy of the fans at this event is amazing. I love to see so many parents introducing their young children to the world of comics. Seeing all the little kids dressed as their favorite character walk around completely overwhelmed and excited about everything they see is definitely my favorite part.
Walker Stalker London – Nathaniel Minto
This past weekend, I had the privilege of leaving on a jet plane and heading east over “the pond” to the United Kingdom for a London edition of Walker Stalker Con. First, let me say, that if you ever end up in London, make sure you partake in a Full English Breakfast. I don’t know why we all don’t start our day with 2000 calories of eggs, bacon, sausage and beans, but it’s the right thing to do, and this is the 
place to do it.
Walker Stalker London is in its second year and fans were excited to be back and see their favorite cast members in person. I will admit that it was a little unnerving seeing so many people walking around with their own copies of Lucille though…
The event takes place at the Olympia Grand in Kensington, a great old venue built in the 1880s and when completed was the largest building in England for a time covering four acres. It has been the site of many fantastic events over the last century and it was really fascinating to see the juxtaposition of the Victorian architecture and the zombie takeover.
One of the things that makes a great event is the attitude and excitement of the team hosting the show, and the Fan Fest and Celeb Photo Ops guys and gals are some of the best. All smiles and fun while doing the hard work to make sure that each and every fan got to experience all of the shivers and shudders of The Walking Dead in person.
It rained off and on, as you might expect in the winter in London, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits while waiting in line, and once inside it was all excitement at the chance to get to meet a favorite character for an autograph or photo. And there were quite a few shrieks generated by the amazingly costumed zombies creeping around the floor.
If you have the chance, and you like The Walking Dead, Walker Stalker Con is a must experience. See you all at the next one!