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I'm currently eating yogurt and watching Burn Notice and about to catch up on lj, I swear, but first I have to write out my adventures at Con-Con, the Leverage Convention in Portland this weekend.
A very short time ago,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
annerbhp approached me with a wonderful, unique proposition: two days, one night in beautiful downtown Portland with a few other fans and like, the ENTIRE cast and crew of Leverage. I mean, how can you say no to something like that?
This Saturday, she and I drove into the city, checked our bags at the super-swank Governor's Hotel, and picked up our badges--which we never had to show once. So began the insanity and fun!
I think her con report covers the panels pretty well. It was obviously not the best-run con ever, but it was the first for the show, and it was clear that everyone who worked on it was bending over backwards to make sure the fans were having a good time. In fact, I sometimes thought they were being a little too apologetic. Some things are just not going to go according to plan at a con.
Of course, neither Annerb nor I had autograph or picture tickets, so that cut our stress level by at least two-thirds, if not much, much more. We met a couple of nice fans, and were blown away by how many Christian Kane fans there were. I'd say at least half of the people there were there for him. There were lots of sensible Beth and Gina and Aldis and Tim fans, too, and Mark Sheppard totally won over the crowd with his goofy geekiness. He and John Rogers turned into TOTAL fanboys during their panel, and almost seemed to forget the audience was there for a while.
I just loved watching Beth--she's a total natural at the convention game, with perfect facial expressions and timing, and a real sense of not only what the fans want to hear, but how to say it for maximum effect. She and Aldis and Christian were total sibs, teasing each other and generally having a fun time in the panel with ALL FIVE main cast members.
(Also? They are all smokin' hot in person. Just sayin'.)
One of the best parts of the con was that it was a small con, and a very small hotel. Also, I had BRILLIANT timing for needing to go to the bathroom. Every time I left the main ballroom, it seemed, I'd almost literally run into one or another of the cast. It was driving Annerb crazy. Of course, she ended up with a couple close encounters herself. Did I mention it was a small con? The nice thing was that most of the fans seemed to understand that there wasn't a lot of behind-the-scenes space to move the actors around, so they were pretty nice about getting out of the way when needed. I know that some of the fans were upset about the autographs and pictures, which took way longer than expected, but still, I think people were pretty well-behaved.
I ended up staying until the bittersweet end, and the fans were really excited about the con and the idea of having another con next year. *crosses fingers*
I LOVE Dragon*Con, but I really enjoyed myself this weekend and liked the intimate nature of the panels and the con. The only thing I didn't like was the tiered seating, because there were a few panels where we could have collapsed down into the first few rows and had an even closer interaction with some of the minor characters, guests, and writers.
OH! I actually asked a question, too. I asked the writers what kinds of things they looked for/avoided when writing victims. They said that they had to walk a fine line between making you care about the victim and making the audience depressed, because Leverage is a light show. It's kinda what I figured, but they had a nice example about a family that lost their home, and they ended up taking out the young boy from the scenes because it was just a little too heart-rending.
Annerb and I ate dinner Saturday night at a fab seafood place, and shared a bottle of wine that went STRAIGHT to my head. Totally awesome, although I'm a very sleepy drunk, apparently. *g* It didn't stop me from checking out as much of Annerb's fic folder as I could persuade her to let me see (which wasn't much--she's very secretive).
I have some tweets from the con. I'm going to put them here in a cut, too:
At the con con with annerbhp. FBI guys are hilarious. They have shared haiku with us. :)
OMG random almost-bathroom sighting!
Annerbhp is trying to woo me with expensive French wine. I think I'm now a kept woman!
John Rogers on Sterling in space: "Here I am solving crime on the International Space Station." they're total fanboys
Mark Sheppard on whether Sterling has a kryptonite: "None of your fcking business." ;)
@Courser01 both of them. :) seriously, John Rogers and mark sheppard is like the ultimate fanboy combination.
Jonathan Frakes just ran through the Beth/Gina panel. I love this con.
Close encounters at the elevator: jus Beth, Gina, me, and about twenty security guards. Annerb walked w/in 3 ft of j Frakes & didn't faint.
Frakes jokes about Patrick Stewart being on leverage: a "6 episode arc." Proceeds to impersonate Stewart and refuse.
John Rogers lets the audience in on the secret of his slash fiction. Con the con, how I love thee
timothy hutton: "let's go steal us a convention!"
That's really about it! Fun times, good food, close encounters of the celebrity kind... what could be better? *grins*
A very short time ago,
annerbhp approached me with a wonderful, unique proposition: two days, one night in beautiful downtown Portland with a few other fans and like, the ENTIRE cast and crew of Leverage. I mean, how can you say no to something like that?This Saturday, she and I drove into the city, checked our bags at the super-swank Governor's Hotel, and picked up our badges--which we never had to show once. So began the insanity and fun!
I think her con report covers the panels pretty well. It was obviously not the best-run con ever, but it was the first for the show, and it was clear that everyone who worked on it was bending over backwards to make sure the fans were having a good time. In fact, I sometimes thought they were being a little too apologetic. Some things are just not going to go according to plan at a con.
Of course, neither Annerb nor I had autograph or picture tickets, so that cut our stress level by at least two-thirds, if not much, much more. We met a couple of nice fans, and were blown away by how many Christian Kane fans there were. I'd say at least half of the people there were there for him. There were lots of sensible Beth and Gina and Aldis and Tim fans, too, and Mark Sheppard totally won over the crowd with his goofy geekiness. He and John Rogers turned into TOTAL fanboys during their panel, and almost seemed to forget the audience was there for a while.
I just loved watching Beth--she's a total natural at the convention game, with perfect facial expressions and timing, and a real sense of not only what the fans want to hear, but how to say it for maximum effect. She and Aldis and Christian were total sibs, teasing each other and generally having a fun time in the panel with ALL FIVE main cast members.
(Also? They are all smokin' hot in person. Just sayin'.)
One of the best parts of the con was that it was a small con, and a very small hotel. Also, I had BRILLIANT timing for needing to go to the bathroom. Every time I left the main ballroom, it seemed, I'd almost literally run into one or another of the cast. It was driving Annerb crazy. Of course, she ended up with a couple close encounters herself. Did I mention it was a small con? The nice thing was that most of the fans seemed to understand that there wasn't a lot of behind-the-scenes space to move the actors around, so they were pretty nice about getting out of the way when needed. I know that some of the fans were upset about the autographs and pictures, which took way longer than expected, but still, I think people were pretty well-behaved.
I ended up staying until the bittersweet end, and the fans were really excited about the con and the idea of having another con next year. *crosses fingers*
I LOVE Dragon*Con, but I really enjoyed myself this weekend and liked the intimate nature of the panels and the con. The only thing I didn't like was the tiered seating, because there were a few panels where we could have collapsed down into the first few rows and had an even closer interaction with some of the minor characters, guests, and writers.
OH! I actually asked a question, too. I asked the writers what kinds of things they looked for/avoided when writing victims. They said that they had to walk a fine line between making you care about the victim and making the audience depressed, because Leverage is a light show. It's kinda what I figured, but they had a nice example about a family that lost their home, and they ended up taking out the young boy from the scenes because it was just a little too heart-rending.
Annerb and I ate dinner Saturday night at a fab seafood place, and shared a bottle of wine that went STRAIGHT to my head. Totally awesome, although I'm a very sleepy drunk, apparently. *g* It didn't stop me from checking out as much of Annerb's fic folder as I could persuade her to let me see (which wasn't much--she's very secretive).
I have some tweets from the con. I'm going to put them here in a cut, too:
At the con con with annerbhp. FBI guys are hilarious. They have shared haiku with us. :)
OMG random almost-bathroom sighting!
Annerbhp is trying to woo me with expensive French wine. I think I'm now a kept woman!
John Rogers on Sterling in space: "Here I am solving crime on the International Space Station." they're total fanboys
Mark Sheppard on whether Sterling has a kryptonite: "None of your fcking business." ;)
@Courser01 both of them. :) seriously, John Rogers and mark sheppard is like the ultimate fanboy combination.
Jonathan Frakes just ran through the Beth/Gina panel. I love this con.
Close encounters at the elevator: jus Beth, Gina, me, and about twenty security guards. Annerb walked w/in 3 ft of j Frakes & didn't faint.
Frakes jokes about Patrick Stewart being on leverage: a "6 episode arc." Proceeds to impersonate Stewart and refuse.
John Rogers lets the audience in on the secret of his slash fiction. Con the con, how I love thee
timothy hutton: "let's go steal us a convention!"
That's really about it! Fun times, good food, close encounters of the celebrity kind... what could be better? *grins*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 03:45 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:17 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:10 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:18 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 12:35 pm (UTC)From:Ahem.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:18 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 07:14 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 10:16 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:39 pm (UTC)From:And for the record, I'm still a beanpot/trout OTPer in the fangirl shipwars. :-)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 10:16 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 04:53 pm (UTC)From:I love Mark Sheppard and Jonathon Frakes, and this report reminds me why. :-)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 10:15 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 05:41 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 10:14 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 11:08 pm (UTC)From:a similar thing happened to me at dragon-con last year. (first time going) after the supergate panel (or what ever it was) on the way into the bathroom i saw paul mcgillion, on the way out of the ladies' room i saw the back of joe flanigan. at least i think it was him, that hair is fairly unmistakable. then the next day my brother & i saw malcom mcdowell having coffee at this bar-thing they have set up near the starbucks at the marriot. i told my brother at least not all of my "celebrity encounters" happened near the ladies room.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 02:35 am (UTC)From: