How to Survive Conventions, Part Two: Second Con
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
I suppose that it is possible that two great conventions can happen in a row...however, that's not what happened when I attended the 2000 Orlando Xena convention. Due to the poor guest line-up and the big 2001 Pasadena convention looming in the horizon (touting appearances by Lucy Lawless (Xena) and Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle), many of the people I had met the year before didn't go.
The guests this year were Claire Stansfield again (Alti, and one of the reasons I went), Ted Raimi (Joxer...and one of the reasons I wish I hadn't), and Tim Odmondson (he played Eli...I have no feelings either way about him).
Whenever I go anywhere, I go prepared for a bad time. I suppose that's pessimistic, but I look at it like I'm optimistic I'll get some work done. <wink>
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I needed all of what I brought with me... Here are some tips and suggestions of things you should bring, just in case the con sucks rusty hose water:
1.) Take film and batteries anyway for pics of the guest you want memories of. You may find that you like the other guests enough to take pictures of them. I didn't, but you might.
2.) Bring notebooks, laptops, books...something to occupy your time. When Ted Raimi took the stage, I went to the side of the convention room and fired up my laptop. I wrote two fan fiction ideas in that time and one of them looks VERY promising... Just need sometime to work on it...and more Alti episodes. Inspiration and all that.
3.) Make new friends. This really helps. I didn't buy the Gold or Preferred because I knew the room was small. I got Ted Raimi's autograph anyway, but it's not among my treasured autos.
I had all these things (except my laptop) with me the year before and I considered not taking anything with me...oh BOY am I glad I did. Besides the fact that not too many MacConnors or KiwiKewlians showed up that year, Universal, in their "Infinite Wisdom," dismantled the Xena and Hercules attraction in their theme park.
No more gawking at Gabrielle's BGSB (Bilious Green Sports Bra)...no more mocking our friends who dressed as Centaurs...no more Xena...
Evy (the Queen of Tribe KiwiKewl), Barry (one of three creators of the Ultimate Fan Fiction Directory http://www.xenafanfiction.com), and myself arrived on Friday night and had to check into a different hotel because the one holding the con was full (go figure). We then headed to the bar of the convention's hotel and met up with a couple of MacConnors, played pool with them, then Barry and I got up on the stage and performed "The Time Warp." That was VERY fun.
The first day of the con was kind of the same as the first. We located more KiwiKewlians, found some seats in General Admissions, and settled in for the first guest, Claire Stansfield. She was just as funny and engaging as she was the first time I'd seen her. Thank God!!
We stumbled around the dealer rooms some more, bought some pictures, then Ted Raimi got on stage. Ick. I'm a big Sam Raimi fan...he's the whole reason why I started watching Xena (he's co-executive producer with best friend and Lucy Lawless' husband Rob Tapert) and I had always loathed the Joxer character, but I thought, "Gee, Ted can't be that bad." Let's just say, yes. To me, he was that bad.
The wonderful Christine, a MacConnor and person I was up against in an auction for an autographed Renee O'Connor picture (which I ended up buying ;), gave me a picture she had printed out of Claire from her official website (http://www.clairestansfield.com) which is what I had signed. I had Ted sign a picture of him as Jace, Joxer's flamboyantly gay brother.
The con day ended and our little group went to a restaurant and ate, then headed back to our rooms...and SLEPT. What a bummer. No one went to a bar - that I know of - and I heard nothing the next day about Claire getting jiggy with a karaoke machine singing "I'm Too Sexy" so I suppose nothing happened. =(
Second day was bad. It was just Ted and Tim. Tim was funny, but he was no Kevin Smith, he was no Danielle Cormack, and he certainly wasn't Claire Stansfield, who wasn't scheduled for the day. This was the day I started two of my fan fictions so I had something to occupy my time.
During the autograph session, I sat and waited for my friends who wanted Tim's signature. I did not want another Ted and I had no passion for Tim. What a bummer.
Barry, Evy and I started back home that night after a brief get-together with the friends we met up with. On the whole, that convention was a letdown, although it was worth it to see Claire Stansfield again and to be with my friends...and for the fan fictions I had started that weekend. Even though the convention dragged, I was still pretty happy with my experience.
The guests this year were Claire Stansfield again (Alti, and one of the reasons I went), Ted Raimi (Joxer...and one of the reasons I wish I hadn't), and Tim Odmondson (he played Eli...I have no feelings either way about him).
Whenever I go anywhere, I go prepared for a bad time. I suppose that's pessimistic, but I look at it like I'm optimistic I'll get some work done. <wink>
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I needed all of what I brought with me... Here are some tips and suggestions of things you should bring, just in case the con sucks rusty hose water:
1.) Take film and batteries anyway for pics of the guest you want memories of. You may find that you like the other guests enough to take pictures of them. I didn't, but you might.
2.) Bring notebooks, laptops, books...something to occupy your time. When Ted Raimi took the stage, I went to the side of the convention room and fired up my laptop. I wrote two fan fiction ideas in that time and one of them looks VERY promising... Just need sometime to work on it...and more Alti episodes. Inspiration and all that.
3.) Make new friends. This really helps. I didn't buy the Gold or Preferred because I knew the room was small. I got Ted Raimi's autograph anyway, but it's not among my treasured autos.
I had all these things (except my laptop) with me the year before and I considered not taking anything with me...oh BOY am I glad I did. Besides the fact that not too many MacConnors or KiwiKewlians showed up that year, Universal, in their "Infinite Wisdom," dismantled the Xena and Hercules attraction in their theme park.
No more gawking at Gabrielle's BGSB (Bilious Green Sports Bra)...no more mocking our friends who dressed as Centaurs...no more Xena...
Evy (the Queen of Tribe KiwiKewl), Barry (one of three creators of the Ultimate Fan Fiction Directory http://www.xenafanfiction.com), and myself arrived on Friday night and had to check into a different hotel because the one holding the con was full (go figure). We then headed to the bar of the convention's hotel and met up with a couple of MacConnors, played pool with them, then Barry and I got up on the stage and performed "The Time Warp." That was VERY fun.
The first day of the con was kind of the same as the first. We located more KiwiKewlians, found some seats in General Admissions, and settled in for the first guest, Claire Stansfield. She was just as funny and engaging as she was the first time I'd seen her. Thank God!!
We stumbled around the dealer rooms some more, bought some pictures, then Ted Raimi got on stage. Ick. I'm a big Sam Raimi fan...he's the whole reason why I started watching Xena (he's co-executive producer with best friend and Lucy Lawless' husband Rob Tapert) and I had always loathed the Joxer character, but I thought, "Gee, Ted can't be that bad." Let's just say, yes. To me, he was that bad.
The wonderful Christine, a MacConnor and person I was up against in an auction for an autographed Renee O'Connor picture (which I ended up buying ;), gave me a picture she had printed out of Claire from her official website (http://www.clairestansfield.com) which is what I had signed. I had Ted sign a picture of him as Jace, Joxer's flamboyantly gay brother.
The con day ended and our little group went to a restaurant and ate, then headed back to our rooms...and SLEPT. What a bummer. No one went to a bar - that I know of - and I heard nothing the next day about Claire getting jiggy with a karaoke machine singing "I'm Too Sexy" so I suppose nothing happened. =(
Second day was bad. It was just Ted and Tim. Tim was funny, but he was no Kevin Smith, he was no Danielle Cormack, and he certainly wasn't Claire Stansfield, who wasn't scheduled for the day. This was the day I started two of my fan fictions so I had something to occupy my time.
During the autograph session, I sat and waited for my friends who wanted Tim's signature. I did not want another Ted and I had no passion for Tim. What a bummer.
Barry, Evy and I started back home that night after a brief get-together with the friends we met up with. On the whole, that convention was a letdown, although it was worth it to see Claire Stansfield again and to be with my friends...and for the fan fictions I had started that weekend. Even though the convention dragged, I was still pretty happy with my experience.
