So! Without further ado, my visit to the Z2H Headquarters!
The backstory: I was on vacation on Vancouver island, the place where I grew up, which is only...
So! Without further ado, my visit to the Z2H Headquarters!
The backstory: I was on vacation on Vancouver island, the place where I grew up, which is only a hop and a skip and a ferry ride away from Vancouver proper where I thought I would stop by and see how this whole... "operation" runs.
ChiefZero sent out a call and a few of us gathered at the office itself where we were then treated to a fantabulous lunch of sushi and other Asian culinary delights. Personally, I thought it was great meeting not only (most of) the staff of Zeros 2 Heroes, but fellow Zeds as well!
So for those of you who aren't familiar with the layout of Vancouver, you should know about a section of town called East Hastings. In a nutshell, it's the wrong side of the track. A fantastic place to meet highly questionable people and sample a few of Vancouver's finer stabbings!
The Z2H office happens to be about a block on the wrong side of the track. Not far enough to reach the free-stabbings booth, mind you, but definitely far enough for you to realize you shouldn't wander too far. So I checked the address and came up to the building where this whole operation has been stashed. This was the building from outside:

It was fairly well-camouflaged among the other similar buildings. The address number I had matched, but even a look at the entrance door offered doubts:

Can you find the Z2H symbol in the above picture? At this resolution, I don't think you can actually see it very well. Here, I'll save you the trouble:

So this was the right place after all! I was glad, because I really did not feel like wandering East Hastings more than I had to.
So, in I go, and am almost immediately greeted by this:

Hooray! I made it, with no stabbings!
... And looks like I'm taking the stairs!
So although the building itself isn't exactly confusing in its layout, the little sling-slinging icon led me through all the right doors and passages, like so many bread crumbs:

And behold! The shining beacon of the Zeros 2 Heroes office opened up before me:

So pretty! I was first greeted by Seb, aka, Sebzilla, and then later by Matt, aka, ChiefZero. I got to meet the crew, all except Jessica who was feeling under the weather that day.
Eventually, the Zeds began pouring in and, for some reason, there began a "let's compare cell phones" game, starting with the Chief himself:

Greg, aka, Mekikas, would not be outdone:

"But wait!" said Tanya, aka, Sheakoshan, "I also have a cell phone!"

"Foolish mortals," replied John, aka, DoctorNaberius, "My cell phone was made from the souls of the damned!"

He wasn't kidding. I could hear the screams of the fallen from the deepest bowels of Hell. Great reception, too! Perfectly clear!
So then for some reason I stopped taking pictures for a while as other Zeds rolled in until it was time to grab some grub. Good times were to be had, as is evidenced by Jennica, aka, Yen, and... and, uh... Kate? I'm so bad with names (sorry, Kate! ... If it's Kate). Anyway, some of you will know her from NSI:

There was also Carmen, aka, MariahTheDreamer, having a great time seated beside Greg:

And then seated beside me, apparently having way too much fun, was Seb, aka, Sebzilla, with Ryan in the background, aka, Ryan:

And sitting at the end of the table, happily saturated with food, is our very own Morgan, aka, MorganJ (with Ryan again!):

Stuffed and happy, a few of us then proceeded to raid the local comic book store of several of its wares (leaving behind monetary compensation) before I eventually said my last good-byes and sailed back to Vancouver island:

Until next time!
Comments
01:34 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
My #1 appeal towards the West Coast would be to satisfy my epicurian tastes.
If I can combine this with my #2, meeting the Z2H staff, man, all I can say is that you guys had it good! ;)
03:12 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
My visit to the Z2H HQ was exactly like that, except without all those people (Sebzilla and Ryan were there), there were no cell phones, no sushi, no stabbings (that I could see), and I was entertained by Julian and a troupe of Reservoir Dogs action figures formerly belonging to Jessica (who, coincidentally, was also away that day).
Thanks for the report, Tom, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet so many of my fellow creators that day. Maybe next time.
And didn't Chief Zero used to be Matt, not Dave?
Finally, you're quite right about one thing: this is the place to be!
09:13 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
... Matt! Of course! What the hell is wrong with me?!
Also, yes, the beard has grown to dangerous proportions and I suspect is becoming sentient.
As for pictures of me, I know Matt took some! I think he's saving them for the little shrine in the back of the office, though.
09:19 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
Somewhere, a disembodied female voice is pleasantly intoning: "Warning. Beard has reached critical mass. Please evacuate the area immediately."
11:25 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
The sushi restaurant is actually an all-you-can-eat buffet place (where I would stay within the confines of veggie sushi and stick to the cooked meats personally). It's in the surreal shopping mall that is Tinseltown here in downtown Vancouver.
It was great to have everyone visit the office! If more of you come out west, be sure to let us know you're on the way..
14:40 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
Hm... Jessica was absent *both* times you guys visited? I think she doesn't really exist...
19:32 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
Hmmm....Jessica hasn't been there either of the two times I have been there either. I think I mentioned to Ryan that I was beginning to suspect if she was real or not. Those pics from comiccon could have been faked.
19:38 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
Could have been faked? It's obvious that whenever any of us decides to visit the Z2H HQ she disappears into a tesseract or a time portal so she won't have to interact with us mere mortals.
Or maybe it's all just a big coincidence.
. . . .
Nah, I didn't think so either.
21:30 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
Very accurate description of walking up to the building... a bit freaky, especially the woman pacing around in the wedding dress. At first, I thought address matched with a condemned building a few doors up... and I did eat the salmon sashimi, survived that, and made it home without getting stabbed.
Thankfully, Mr Irony's beard was not sentient during lunch.
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Fetternity
01:22 Fri Aug 8th, 2008
That's a sweet pimpin' sushi restaurant youze gone to guys!
I really want to discover Vancouver. I've seen the Maritimes, I've seen central... Let's Go West next time!
Thanks for the photo-report, Tom! well done!