AUP - Saturday, July 10, 2005
I didn't get a chance to finish up my con report a couple of weeks ago, so for the sake of finishing my tales, here I go....
Saturday was my earliest start. Because I was a volunteer and was assigned to the photo op room, I had to be down there before 9am. I had never worked in the photo room, but I was really excited about it! I'd get the chance to see as all the guests took their pics with the fans! Or so I thought, anyway. There were about 4 to 6 volunteers working in the photo room with Craig, the photographer. I was paired up with Graysunrise who had done the whole "take the ticket, write down the frame number, give them a copy and point them to the way out" thing, so she was giving me pointers.
I don't remember the line up of guests, most of the few hours that I worked there that morning are a total blur. It was up to me and GS to keep the line moving, so often times we hurried people along. I just really, really hope that we did a good job of keeping things going without being rude or anything like that. It's strange seeing things from a volunteer's perspective because as a fan, you just want to make the most out of those 20 seconds you get to spend with the guest. But as a volunteer, it's your duty to keep things moving; let fans have their moment, but stay mindful of the time. Some fans are in such a haze that you have to remind them of what's going on. It's kinda funny, actually.
Anyway, the photo ops began somewhat late, and the first guests didn't have super long lines, which was nice because I got to get the hang of what I was doing at a rather leisurely pace. Probably one of the guests that stands out most in my mind is Armin Shimmerman. He was absolutely delightful and just came off as a truly genuine gentleman. He was such a chatterbug too! He initiated some form of conversation with just about everyone he took pictures with. He wanted to know about the fans and asked them questions. Really, all the guests were great, always gracious and patient with the fans that seemed to have the most trouble approaching them because they were in such awe.
About the only guest for whom I didn't get a chance to be as observent was James. Perhaps it was because the volume of people who had bought tickets for a photo with him was that much greater, we most likely picked up our pace just to keep things in a timely as possible manner. Like the other guests, he was very kind and attentive to all the fans. Everyone seemed to leave his presence with a wide smile on their face. As for my own photo op, I took mine after all the single James photos were done (he was taking group shots with Jim Butcher and Amber Benson afterwards). Again, with the whole taking it from a volunteer's perspective, I had a "take pic and get out" mentality, that I honestly don't remember anything from my photos. Rushing, I remember that. James was sweet, though. Said hi, asked I was doing, I said something I can't remember, Craig took the pic, and then I went back to work. My James and Amber pic went something along the same lines, except Amber was in the pic too. Hee, I don't actually remember talking to Amber though. *sheepish* I do remember talking to James, who said hi again and asked me how I was doing, again. I guess what's even funnier to me, is that the whole time I was no more than a few feet away from him, but every time I went up to him, it was as if I hadn't just been standing there the whole time he'd been in the room. It was weird, but very funny, IMO anyway.
After the photo ops were all over, I hung out in the photo room, tidying things up with GS and just taking some moments to relax. I don't remember what happened after that. I think we might have gone to check out some of the Q&A's. I think I made a trip to our hotel room to pic up the stuff that I wanted to get signed because I knew that there wouldn't be time after the Q&A's to get my stuff.
I'm not very good at remembering what was said at the Q&As, though I'm sure that by this point, there are transcripts. :o) I took pictures, though! I know that much! I remember staring at James' shoes a lot. They're interesting shoes. Trainers with funky heels. I couldn't figure them out. I'll admit I zoned in and out a lot during his Q&A. I remember zoning back in when he was answering some question about gigs in the U.S./L.A. and he was giving some answer that I don't agree with. *thinks* That's about it. I should probably also mention that it was early in the afternoon, I'd been running around a bit, and I hadn't had any nourishment yet.
After the Q&A's was the auction, and I have to admit that I was blown away by how much people were willing to spend on the items. Granted, all of them were amazing things and the auction was totally for worthy causes, but wow!! Especially when James was auctioning off stuff that he was going to personalize! Heee! spikesgurl bid and won the Spike statue thingie auction! I think a OMWF script went for what, $5,000 or something? Or maybe that was $3,000? Don't remember. And another friend won James' Civilized Man CD, because she wanted to have the personalization. I wish I could afford such a thing.
For the autograph session, I was on duty at Tom Lenk's table. I was a checker! :o) You know, he surprised me a bit there. I expected him to be like Nick Brendon had at Oakland last year, but no, he made genuine efforts to talk to fans and was generally very friendly. At one point, one fan came up with a special insert that had come out in the Angel magazine, the one with the 10 top sexiest men in the 'verse. He was so in shock that he'd made it to the top 10! He'd had no idea, and just couldn't stop looking through the insert (I had a copy of it and he looked through it after the fan left). It was rather cute, actually. Seems to me that the whole auto experience was pretty relaxed. There was no hurrying along, people got to get items personalized, if they so wished, and no one seemed to be grumpy about making lines. Granted, none of the lines got to gigantic proportions. And there was no yelling or bullying around from anyone. It was very pleasant!
The only autographs I got that day were James' and David Fury's. At last year's Highstakes 2004 event, I snagged a OMWF poster that Joss Whedon had pre-signed, and which I had several of the guests at the event sign. I took it to the con to have JM and DF sign it, and they both left very unique um, marks on it. DF signed "Bite Me," his name, and "the Mustard Man" right next to it. Have I mentioned that DF just rocks?! *g*
At Oakland last year, every time I got JM's autograph, there was something that was important to me, that I wanted to say. This year, the only thing I really wanted to say, I couldn't figure out how to say it because every way I thought of, came off as either defensive or possibly insulting. Strangely enough, the wheels in my brain started working while in line and I got to phrase my question in a way that I knew would be fairly neutral. So, armed with poster and my Buffy magazine, I stood in front of James, and waited until he looked up after signing my magazine to initiate conversation. And of course, the con would not have been complete had he not thrown me off course for a second or two. The best part was that he did it on three different fronts so that while my brain was thinking, "what the hell?" my mouth was on auto with the question I had.
James: How are you doing, Yani? Nice to see you again.
Me: *blink* (I'm sure I responded with something)
Brain: Did I just hear him right? Did he call me by my name?? How the hell does he even know my name??? And look! Look at the pretty eyes. He really does look like he recognizes me and it isn't just a generic saying. Awww.
Me: *looks down at the poster that he's about to sign" Hey James, you know, it would be really, really nice if you played in L.A.
Brain: What the hell is he doing? Is he going to sign his name over in that little corner? Does he realize that he has fairly big handwriting? *pause* Oh. He's writing "Why?" right next to Alyson Hannigan. Oh.
James: (paraphrased because lord knows I'd get the word-by-word answer wrong. brain, she no record things too well when it comes to James talking) Yes, he wants to play there too, and has gotten offers, but doesn't think that a one-man show is what "they" want. So he's putting a band together, already knows who he wants, it's just a matter of getting them. But he's been so busy that he hasn't had time.
Me: Yeah, well, I understand that. I'm just saying that it would be cool, plus, it's close and covenient!
James: And cheap!
Me: Hell yeah!! *smiles and says thank you*
*walks off*
Brain: Well, gotta give him credit for the consistency of his answers to my questions about his music. Meh.
And that was just about how things went. And yeah, I was still reeling from his "how are you doing, yani?" thing. I convinced myself that I heard wrong, that it had just been my imagination.
As soon as I was done with my autograph duties, I went in search of a chicken sandwich that I had ordered earlier from someone making a food run. oanimation, who had volunteered as well, and I just sat in the room where the Q&As and autos had been held and rested. Just before taking a bite out of my sandwich, James was passing by right in front of me as he was being hauled off to the green room. I got self-conscious about him passing by as I was stuffing my face with food for the first time that day, so with sandwich in hand, I waved to him as he was leaving the room and he smiled at me and nodded. The moment he was out, I dug into my sandwich, and good lord. Best.sandwich.ever!!!
Our moment of rest as far too short. Because we weren't attending the banquet, oanimation and I were on duty for the event. Fortunately, all it meant was making sure that all the attendees had the little banquet wrist band, which we easily did from our seat behind a table outside the hall's door. There were about 5 or so of us volunteers just sitting there, resting. Many of the other volunteers hadn't had food yet, and didn't dare go into the banquet hall because the food was just too tempting and it was off limits to us. However, as it turned out, they had way more food than attendees, and Jim's table only had a few attendees, and his wife had been asking if anyone else would be joining them. Ginger came out to us then, and told us to go, eat, and have fun. We didn't have to be told twice.
oanimation and I sat at Jim's table, right as he was in the middle of a story. Dude, the guy is hilarious and just really, really amazing. I was too shy to say anything, but I don't think many of us did. Jim just told stories and kept us laughing until it was quiet time. Quiet time consisted of Julie Caitlin Brown taking the stage and gracing us with her musical talents. And she's good, but I wasn't all that interested. And it was a fairly long set, in my opinion. I would have liked the chance to sit there longer just listening to Jim and his wife tell us stories. After JCB finished, everyone dispersed. oanimation headed to our room, too pooped out to go anywhere else. We met up there with _sharvie_ and spikesgurl and hung out with another friend just chatting. I think oanimation and I went to bed fairly early. I had to be up earlier than everyone else again, but not as early as Saturday.
And that was Saturday.
ETA: I forgot to mention that I realized why in the world James would possibly know my name. During JCB's performance, my mind drifted to the autographs and painted a picture of the moment when he said my name. I realized then that he'd been signing my Buffy magazine, which btw, is dedicated to me. *facepalm* At least now I know I wasn't just hearing things.
Saturday was my earliest start. Because I was a volunteer and was assigned to the photo op room, I had to be down there before 9am. I had never worked in the photo room, but I was really excited about it! I'd get the chance to see as all the guests took their pics with the fans! Or so I thought, anyway. There were about 4 to 6 volunteers working in the photo room with Craig, the photographer. I was paired up with Graysunrise who had done the whole "take the ticket, write down the frame number, give them a copy and point them to the way out" thing, so she was giving me pointers.
I don't remember the line up of guests, most of the few hours that I worked there that morning are a total blur. It was up to me and GS to keep the line moving, so often times we hurried people along. I just really, really hope that we did a good job of keeping things going without being rude or anything like that. It's strange seeing things from a volunteer's perspective because as a fan, you just want to make the most out of those 20 seconds you get to spend with the guest. But as a volunteer, it's your duty to keep things moving; let fans have their moment, but stay mindful of the time. Some fans are in such a haze that you have to remind them of what's going on. It's kinda funny, actually.
Anyway, the photo ops began somewhat late, and the first guests didn't have super long lines, which was nice because I got to get the hang of what I was doing at a rather leisurely pace. Probably one of the guests that stands out most in my mind is Armin Shimmerman. He was absolutely delightful and just came off as a truly genuine gentleman. He was such a chatterbug too! He initiated some form of conversation with just about everyone he took pictures with. He wanted to know about the fans and asked them questions. Really, all the guests were great, always gracious and patient with the fans that seemed to have the most trouble approaching them because they were in such awe.
About the only guest for whom I didn't get a chance to be as observent was James. Perhaps it was because the volume of people who had bought tickets for a photo with him was that much greater, we most likely picked up our pace just to keep things in a timely as possible manner. Like the other guests, he was very kind and attentive to all the fans. Everyone seemed to leave his presence with a wide smile on their face. As for my own photo op, I took mine after all the single James photos were done (he was taking group shots with Jim Butcher and Amber Benson afterwards). Again, with the whole taking it from a volunteer's perspective, I had a "take pic and get out" mentality, that I honestly don't remember anything from my photos. Rushing, I remember that. James was sweet, though. Said hi, asked I was doing, I said something I can't remember, Craig took the pic, and then I went back to work. My James and Amber pic went something along the same lines, except Amber was in the pic too. Hee, I don't actually remember talking to Amber though. *sheepish* I do remember talking to James, who said hi again and asked me how I was doing, again. I guess what's even funnier to me, is that the whole time I was no more than a few feet away from him, but every time I went up to him, it was as if I hadn't just been standing there the whole time he'd been in the room. It was weird, but very funny, IMO anyway.
After the photo ops were all over, I hung out in the photo room, tidying things up with GS and just taking some moments to relax. I don't remember what happened after that. I think we might have gone to check out some of the Q&A's. I think I made a trip to our hotel room to pic up the stuff that I wanted to get signed because I knew that there wouldn't be time after the Q&A's to get my stuff.
I'm not very good at remembering what was said at the Q&As, though I'm sure that by this point, there are transcripts. :o) I took pictures, though! I know that much! I remember staring at James' shoes a lot. They're interesting shoes. Trainers with funky heels. I couldn't figure them out. I'll admit I zoned in and out a lot during his Q&A. I remember zoning back in when he was answering some question about gigs in the U.S./L.A. and he was giving some answer that I don't agree with. *thinks* That's about it. I should probably also mention that it was early in the afternoon, I'd been running around a bit, and I hadn't had any nourishment yet.
After the Q&A's was the auction, and I have to admit that I was blown away by how much people were willing to spend on the items. Granted, all of them were amazing things and the auction was totally for worthy causes, but wow!! Especially when James was auctioning off stuff that he was going to personalize! Heee! spikesgurl bid and won the Spike statue thingie auction! I think a OMWF script went for what, $5,000 or something? Or maybe that was $3,000? Don't remember. And another friend won James' Civilized Man CD, because she wanted to have the personalization. I wish I could afford such a thing.
For the autograph session, I was on duty at Tom Lenk's table. I was a checker! :o) You know, he surprised me a bit there. I expected him to be like Nick Brendon had at Oakland last year, but no, he made genuine efforts to talk to fans and was generally very friendly. At one point, one fan came up with a special insert that had come out in the Angel magazine, the one with the 10 top sexiest men in the 'verse. He was so in shock that he'd made it to the top 10! He'd had no idea, and just couldn't stop looking through the insert (I had a copy of it and he looked through it after the fan left). It was rather cute, actually. Seems to me that the whole auto experience was pretty relaxed. There was no hurrying along, people got to get items personalized, if they so wished, and no one seemed to be grumpy about making lines. Granted, none of the lines got to gigantic proportions. And there was no yelling or bullying around from anyone. It was very pleasant!
The only autographs I got that day were James' and David Fury's. At last year's Highstakes 2004 event, I snagged a OMWF poster that Joss Whedon had pre-signed, and which I had several of the guests at the event sign. I took it to the con to have JM and DF sign it, and they both left very unique um, marks on it. DF signed "Bite Me," his name, and "the Mustard Man" right next to it. Have I mentioned that DF just rocks?! *g*
At Oakland last year, every time I got JM's autograph, there was something that was important to me, that I wanted to say. This year, the only thing I really wanted to say, I couldn't figure out how to say it because every way I thought of, came off as either defensive or possibly insulting. Strangely enough, the wheels in my brain started working while in line and I got to phrase my question in a way that I knew would be fairly neutral. So, armed with poster and my Buffy magazine, I stood in front of James, and waited until he looked up after signing my magazine to initiate conversation. And of course, the con would not have been complete had he not thrown me off course for a second or two. The best part was that he did it on three different fronts so that while my brain was thinking, "what the hell?" my mouth was on auto with the question I had.
James: How are you doing, Yani? Nice to see you again.
Me: *blink* (I'm sure I responded with something)
Brain: Did I just hear him right? Did he call me by my name?? How the hell does he even know my name??? And look! Look at the pretty eyes. He really does look like he recognizes me and it isn't just a generic saying. Awww.
Me: *looks down at the poster that he's about to sign" Hey James, you know, it would be really, really nice if you played in L.A.
Brain: What the hell is he doing? Is he going to sign his name over in that little corner? Does he realize that he has fairly big handwriting? *pause* Oh. He's writing "Why?" right next to Alyson Hannigan. Oh.
James: (paraphrased because lord knows I'd get the word-by-word answer wrong. brain, she no record things too well when it comes to James talking) Yes, he wants to play there too, and has gotten offers, but doesn't think that a one-man show is what "they" want. So he's putting a band together, already knows who he wants, it's just a matter of getting them. But he's been so busy that he hasn't had time.
Me: Yeah, well, I understand that. I'm just saying that it would be cool, plus, it's close and covenient!
James: And cheap!
Me: Hell yeah!! *smiles and says thank you*
*walks off*
Brain: Well, gotta give him credit for the consistency of his answers to my questions about his music. Meh.
And that was just about how things went. And yeah, I was still reeling from his "how are you doing, yani?" thing. I convinced myself that I heard wrong, that it had just been my imagination.
As soon as I was done with my autograph duties, I went in search of a chicken sandwich that I had ordered earlier from someone making a food run. oanimation, who had volunteered as well, and I just sat in the room where the Q&As and autos had been held and rested. Just before taking a bite out of my sandwich, James was passing by right in front of me as he was being hauled off to the green room. I got self-conscious about him passing by as I was stuffing my face with food for the first time that day, so with sandwich in hand, I waved to him as he was leaving the room and he smiled at me and nodded. The moment he was out, I dug into my sandwich, and good lord. Best.sandwich.ever!!!
Our moment of rest as far too short. Because we weren't attending the banquet, oanimation and I were on duty for the event. Fortunately, all it meant was making sure that all the attendees had the little banquet wrist band, which we easily did from our seat behind a table outside the hall's door. There were about 5 or so of us volunteers just sitting there, resting. Many of the other volunteers hadn't had food yet, and didn't dare go into the banquet hall because the food was just too tempting and it was off limits to us. However, as it turned out, they had way more food than attendees, and Jim's table only had a few attendees, and his wife had been asking if anyone else would be joining them. Ginger came out to us then, and told us to go, eat, and have fun. We didn't have to be told twice.
oanimation and I sat at Jim's table, right as he was in the middle of a story. Dude, the guy is hilarious and just really, really amazing. I was too shy to say anything, but I don't think many of us did. Jim just told stories and kept us laughing until it was quiet time. Quiet time consisted of Julie Caitlin Brown taking the stage and gracing us with her musical talents. And she's good, but I wasn't all that interested. And it was a fairly long set, in my opinion. I would have liked the chance to sit there longer just listening to Jim and his wife tell us stories. After JCB finished, everyone dispersed. oanimation headed to our room, too pooped out to go anywhere else. We met up there with _sharvie_ and spikesgurl and hung out with another friend just chatting. I think oanimation and I went to bed fairly early. I had to be up earlier than everyone else again, but not as early as Saturday.
And that was Saturday.
ETA: I forgot to mention that I realized why in the world James would possibly know my name. During JCB's performance, my mind drifted to the autographs and painted a picture of the moment when he said my name. I realized then that he'd been signing my Buffy magazine, which btw, is dedicated to me. *facepalm* At least now I know I wasn't just hearing things.