It’s that time of year again when thousands of fans, nerds, and celebrities descend on San Diego for one of the biggest conventions in the world … and those of us who can’t make it huddle in front of our computer screens, waiting for anything and everything coming out of the San Diego Convention Center.
Attending Comic-Con International in San Diego is a bucket list item for many fan*s while, for others, it’s an annual pilgrimage. I have friends who go every year, and every year I promise myself next year will be the year I go … it just hasn’t worked out yet (but I haven’t given up hope).
While I haven’t had the fortune of attending SDCC, I have had the experience of attending a fan convention. Back in 2009, I traveled to Vancouver, Canada, for a three-day Supernatural Convention, where I met some of the cast of The CW’s horror/fantasy series, as well as some really great fellow fans. For something a little different this week, I thought I’d share some excerpts from my journal of that weekend.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I got into the hotel around 10 p.m. last night and, after a long day of traveling, I was ready to crash. My roomie for the weekend finally made it around 3 a.m. She had taken a flight into Seattle, then rented a car and drove up from there so we could have a car to drive around in the city. We talked briefly, but as it was 3 in the morning (and I could barely even sit up in bed to greet her), we went to sleep pretty quickly. To be honest, I’m not even entirely sure I had been fully awake, as I cannot remember any of that conversation.
We woke up around 9 and arranged to meet some fellow fans in Fort Langley, a small town outside Vancouver. The convention didn’t officially start until Friday, so we spent the afternoon traveling around the area, visiting locations that had been used while filming the show. For lunch, we stopped at a little café that had stood in as the exterior of a health clinic for an episode in season 2. It was a great day of sight-seeing, not only visiting the places where filming has occurred, but getting to see so much of Vancouver itself, which is beautiful.
While we were exploring Canada Place in Vancouver [the building that housed the Media Center for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games], one of my friends received a text message from another friend who knew where the show was filming RIGHT NOW, and if we were interested, we could head out there. There was no argument from anyone in our group. Of course we were interested!
It was dark by the time we got to New Westminster, the site of the shoot — rather fitting, since half the show takes place at night. The actual filming was taking place inside the garage, so we couldn’t see any of the scenes being shot, but the crew was extremely friendly and answered all our questions. We spent a lot of time chatting with a production assistant who told us tomorrow was her day off from the Supernatural set, but she would be working as an extra on the latest Twilight movie.
One of my favorite moments of the night was when I walked away from the group a little and looked around the corner of a building — and there I saw it: The Metallicar, the 1967 Chevy Impala that’s as much a part of the cast of the show as the actors themselves. I nearly shrieked in excitement and quickly got the attention of the rest of my group. This was the dream come true and proof we were really on the set of a location shoot for Supernatural.
Shortly after we got there, some of my friends got really excited and said they had just seen Jared Padalecki get into an SUV and leave. I was so disappointed I had missed him. However, a little less than an hour later, we overheard the crew members’ walkie-talkies announcing, “That’s a wrap for Jensen.” Words I never thought I’d actually hear in person.
We quickly turned our attention from the car and gathered where we could see the garage door. Sure enough, not long after, Jensen Ackles came out (dressed in a suit — presumably, his character, Dean, was pretending to be an FBI agent today). He quickly got in the waiting vehicle, then leaned over from the passenger seat to smile and wave at us. Our night was officially complete.
If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew I would be getting much closer to Jensen and Jared in a couple days, I could have left Vancouver right then and there a happy girl. Every fan dreams of seeing his or her favorite show filming live and seeing those favorite actors on set; while we didn’t actually get to see any filming tonight, we still had what one of my friends referred to as the “Holy Grail of Fandom,” and I’m inclined to agree.
Friday August 28, 2009
The convention kicked off today and, after attending a few panels during the day, tonight was Karaoke Night. My friends and I managed to get spots down near the stage, which was a good thing because some of the cast members decided to drop in as well! Alona Tal sang Radiohead’s “Creep,” while Aldis Hodge joined a group of fans singing “Don’t Stop Believing,” and Gabe Tigerman sang “Proud Mary” as a duet with a fan. Before the end of the night, I was able to get my picture taken with Gabe, which made me happy because I wasn’t able to purchase a photo op with him. He was such a nice, friendly guy.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
So, apparently we’re staying in the same hotel as the cast of Psych while they’re filming. On our way out to dinner tonight, we bumped into Dulé Hill. Have I mentioned this is the best weekend ever? Seriously.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Today was also Misha Collins day, and the man did not disappoint. He is hilarious in person and the exact opposite of the almost humorless angel he plays on Supernatural. Last night, he sent out a tweet telling attendees to come prepared with eggs, construction paper, and a pen. He started out by asking who had brought their supplies and then went around collecting all the eggs people actually brought (and I suddenly found myself wishing I had taken up the girl behind me on her offer to go out and get a carton of eggs the night before). I can’t remember the exact count, but there were a lot of eggs.
Other guests today included Jake Abel, who will soon be starring in the Percy Jackson movie; he was a lot funnier on stage than I expected as well. I really enjoyed hearing his stories about working with Jared and Jensen, even though he was only on one episode (though we’re all hoping he can come back). Aldis did his Q&A, as well as Travis Wester and AJ Buckly, the infamous Ghostfacers. I love these guys. Even on stage during the Q&A, you couldn’t tell when they were Travis and AJ and when they were playing their Ghostfacer characters. It was hilarious. I’m really hoping they make another appearance soon as well.
On the way upstairs for our photo ops, we walked with Travis and he talked to us the whole way; he’s another extremely friendly guy who doesn’t mind hanging out and spending time with the fans. I love how much everyone who has been a part of this show and participates in the cons — even if they’ve only done one episode — really becomes a part of the family and embraces the nature of this fandom.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Today, the last day of the convention, was the day all of us fans had been waiting for: we got to meet the main stars of Supernatural, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Last night, I was about as successful at sleeping as a four-year-old on Christmas Eve. Jared and Jensen are really great in person, and so gracious with their fans. I loved just standing in the photo op line, watching them interact with each other and the fans. I’m sure spending their days off meeting a bunch of starstruck fans isn’t always ideal, but they really make the most of it and make it a great experience for everyone who came out. I must have practiced what I would say to them a hundred times, but when it was finally my turn to meet them, the only word that came out of my mouth was a very shy sounding “hi.”
Jim Beaver was the last Q&A session of the day, and I’m currently waiting in line for his autograph. I read his book, Life’s That Way, and sobbed all the way through it. He is such an excellent writer, and that book is just so raw and honest in dealing with his wife’s cancer diagnosis and death. He even commented on my review of the book on Facebook and thanked me, which totally made my entire week at the time. So now I’m really excited to meet him and get him to sign my copy of the book.
Monday, August 31, 2009
I finally got my book signed by Jim around midnight last night. Jim’s autograph line took the longest of the entire weekend because he was last and he insisted on being allowed to talk with the fans, give them hugs, and take his time, which really says a lot about what kind of guy he is and how much he appreciates all of us. It was totally worth the wait. I thanked him for taking time to read the review I had written and he personalized my book with a thank you as well. I got a hug from him before leaving, and that marked the end of my first convention experience.
It was one of the greatest experiences of my life to date, and I definitely do not regret anything about this weekend. Looking back over the weekend, one of my favorite memories will be meeting my fellow fans — those whom I met for the first time and those whom I’ve been chatting with online for years. I even bumped into a friend from college whom I didn’t know was a fan. Getting to meet the cast was awesome, but interacting with my fellow Supernatural fans was definitely the best part of the weekend.