Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con: Party Roundup

By Liz | August 14, 2012

Probably my favorite thing about San Diego Comic Con is the parties. While I love doing the press rooms and gabbing with talent, it’s more fun to catch them in a relaxed and casual atmosphere, preferably with a drink in my hand – their hand – drinking a beverage.

This year, Nice Girl Melissa and I covered the coolest of the cool parties. Warner Bros., Wired, NBC, Syfy’s Haven party and HBO’s True Blood/Playboy party were all on our list of “Must Do’s” for the week. We met “the TV people”, friends, other digital media representatives and industry professionals and came home with many a memorable moment to share.

The highly anticipated Wired Cafe was one that I look forward to, more for the cool products that are demonstrated there than anything else. Yes, I’m a gadget geek and Wired usually has all the best and newest toys right out in the open for me to fondle and drool over. I was hoping for someone to say, “Aw Liz, you’re enthusiasm is so cute, we just want you to have one of these to take home for your very own!” One of the items I coveted was a pretty laptop sleeve crafted by the folks at Caseable.com. You’ve got to check out their merchandise, especially if you’re heading back to classes in the coming weeks. From Kindles to iPads, Caseable has got you covered, and they cater to your whims by offering custom made covers made to order.

Also there, and I really, reeeally hope they read this and tell me who they were, was a service that offered to engrave your cell phone with your own personal logo. I didn’t grab their business card but man, I wished I had! I’m kicking myself for missing the opportunity to have my shiny new Droid Razr engraved with something cool.

Attending the Wired party were Anna Kendrick, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Chris Daughtry, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Guillermo Del Toro, Jaime King, John C. Reilly, Morgan Spurlock, Rick Malambri, Stan Lee, Sarah Silverman, Tom Arnold, Lucas Till and Danai Guira. The theme for the party this year was Game of Thrones, so of course the decorations were awesome as were the cocktails. My personal preference? A White Walker. It was yummy!

Nice Girl Leah and Eric Balfour at Syfy’s Haven party

Melissa and Nice Girl Leah hit up Syfy’s Haven party on Thursday night with just one goal in mind: get Leah’s photo taken with star Eric Balfour. They skipped the (jammed) red carpet in favor of visiting with some friends and securing a spot near the door. It paid off with an adorable photo opp; mission accomplished. They also had a chance to visit with Haven‘s lead actress, Emily Rose, who was cheerfully taking photos with fans and answering questions about the upcoming season. Syfy President Dave Howe was also there, a familiar face from last year’s Syfy press tour in Orlando, and it was nice to catch up with him.

On Friday night, Melissa was flying solo at the Warner Bros. rooftop party. Packed with stars from returning and new series, it was one hoppin’ shindig! Here are the highlights: Steve Amell (Arrow) is gorgeous and very sweet; the cast of The Vampire Diaries get along really well together (and Nina Dobrev and Zach Roerig aren’t afraid to bust dance moves); Billie Burke is really excited about his upcoming series, Revolution, and has every right to be; Matt Davis is excited about his new series, Cult, but misses his Vampire Diaries colleagues (he spent a lot of time hanging with Julie Plec and getting hugs from various cast members); Katie Cassidy is freaking gorgeous and has terrific chemistry with co-star Amell; Dave Annable (666 Park Avenue) is also freaking gorgeous and quite adorable; Melissa is now one degree from Kevin Bacon (The Following).

Meet Crystal, NBC’s newest star.

Next up, the NBC Digital Network Party on Saturday night. NBC gives back to digital media by throwing an awesome party for us while inviting talent from their hottest television series’, both new and returning. So most of the cast from Grimm showed up as well as Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Hannibal, Mockingbird Lane). What fun to catch up with Bryan again! And chatting with Grimm’s Russell Hornsby was interesting and lively, once again exuding that enthusiasm for the show that saturated the press room only hours before. And we made a new friend this year. Her name is Crystal and she will star in NBC’s Animal Practice, coming this fall. Melissa and I had our picture taken with the new rising star and they were kind enough to put it in our very own photo flip book.

Hanging out there with friends like Amrie and Courtney (My Take on TV), Kurt Warner (Chicago’s Red Eye), Kenn Gold (Media Blvd.) and Cody Deal (Almighty Thor, The Girl’s Guide to Depravity), always means ~~trouble~~ fun for all.

Following the NBC party, Melissa and I headed over to the HBO True Blood/Playboy party where we caught up with Alan Ball and his assistant, Gianna Sobol, saw Abri Van Straten heading over for refreshments, and found Darren Darnborough who told us what he’s been up to lately. Stephen Moyer, Michael McMillian, and Seth MacFarlane were also wondering around. HBO transformed a parking lot into various drinking establishments from the show: Merlotte’s, Fangtasia and Hot Wings, the new fairy night club. Hot Wings was so beautiful, it was as if they took the real set and transported it to that parking lot, pole dancers and all. Sadly, the cast of True Blood only had time to show up for the photo wall and then had to buzz off to another party. Those kids are in such demand at Comic Con! We stayed until the wee hours, though, catching up with friends from HBO and making some new acquaintances among the other attendees. It’s a good thing our lodging was only a block away.

Now you partly why Comic Con is so exhausting for us. But it’s all worth it when you can meet new people and start new friendships, as well as have fun with the friends you meet with there. Only eleven and a half more months until the next Con!