It was a grand, glorious, amazing weekend in New Jersey. Of course, I’m only speaking for a few of the attendees that told me that, the ones that were actually there for all three days for Creation Entertainment’s Salute to Supernatural in Parsippany, NJ this past weekend. I had a great time too, but ended up only attending on Sunday. The family had come with me this time and the opportunity to sightsee in New York City, the first ever family trip to the area, ended up taking priority. Considering I got to see the famed sets of Saturday Night Live, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (Johnny Carson’s old set), and the set used by David Letterman and Conan O’Brien (now Dr. Oz), plus the NBC control room (a tech geek’s fantasy) I think the right choice was made. I won’t even go into all the fun “Chuck†stuff and Conan O’Brien stuff (on clearance) that I bought in the NBC Studios gift shop.
I arrived there on Sunday morning only to find that the Hilton in Parsippany is quite difficult to find. Even our GPS struggled a little, and my attempts at celestial navigation failed when my guide turned out to be a jet headed for LaGuardia (yes, that’s a West Wing joke). I arrived just in time to stand in the traditional Creation Entertainment long line. There was as usual confusion over the line’s purpose. That confusion grew when a second line formed and people in both lines were left to investigate the supposed purpose of each line. No one really knew. Memories of past Creation cons quickly hit me in the face. I was indeed in the right place.
While I was in line people came around with a petition to get Jared and Jensen to come to the con next year. This is the second East Coast convention ever and they have yet to show up to either of them. Jared was scheduled last year but had to cancel because the con was in March and he was filming at the time the most Sam intense “When The Levee Breaks.” There is a con scheduled for this same weekend next year in Parsippany, July 8-10, 2010. I really hope Jensen and Jared make it next year, but given that it’s the weekend after they go traditionally back for filming the next season, that will be a tough sell. I’m still pleased to see Creation’s commitment though to making this con work. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you East Coast fans!
I found out eventually that I had arrived just in time for autographs for Misha Collins. The line was surprisingly short. Okay, it was long, but considering my yard stick is the hours long wait from the Chicago conventions and last year in NJ, this wasn’t bad. Misha was the guest of honor for two days and I found out the majority of the autographs were done the day before. This line was for people like me, the Sunday crowd that were too shameful to show up the day before to get his autograph or other fans that wanted an additional autograph. Given this rare opportunity of not having to wait hours for a Misha Collins signature, I bought a ticket.
Now, this is the part of the conventions I hate. I also wanted to buy a Rob Benedict autograph ticket. For two conventions now, he’s been the last guest at the con on Sunday and I’ve had to travel back to Ohio both times. I have
a mock needlepoint of his quote in “Sympathy For The Devil” (This sucks ass) that I’ve always wanted him to sign. There was no way I was going to be able to stick around for a 6pm autograph time, especially when I was not a gold or silver ticket holder and had to be at the back of the line. I was already getting into Ohio at 2:30am by leaving at 5:30pm. Hanging around until 8pm when it was my turn was not possible. I asked the person at the desk if there was a special provision for people that had to leave and she said no, I’d have to get a friend to have him sign it. Considering I came alone, sorry Creation and Rob Benedict, you lost that revenue from me for that autograph. Twice now.
Rob, if you do read this (no, I’m not that delusional), I’m willing to give you the $20 for the signature and side step Creation altogether. All pure profit for you. Just tweet me at @Winfambusiness and we’ll work out the details.
So, now it was time to wait for the Misha autograph. I was one of the last ones in line and I only waited a half hour. I had fun talking with people that were waiting in line with me. The people in front of me already went through the autograph line once and bought an extra ticket so Misha could sign a photo op picture from the day before. They were Minions with a capital M. They were showing off their binders of their multiple photo ops with Misha from other cons. They talked about how they have been to multiple cons and met at their first con in Chicago a few years ago. Another multi-state friendship born thanks to “Supernatural.†Yes, that doesn’t just happen in “The Real Ghostbusters.â€
Despite their excitement at seeing their leader again, they were very line weary by this point. So were the Gold ticket holders behind me. The comments about spending the whole weekend waiting in line was something I could relate to well. That’s why I do general admission at these things now, just so I can talk to people and not wait in line.
I got up to Misha in what turned out to be the shortest autograph line I’ve ever waited in. He was looking great. Dark shirt, vest, tie, very nice. I guess he had worn a t-shirt and jeans the day before, so everyone was really impressed. I got up to him, handed him my photo to sign (something that will be offered for either an auction or as a contest prize sometime in the future) and instantly asked him if I was going to see him in two weeks at Comic Con. I’ve met him a few times before, including
the Comic Con press room last year and I think that comment jogged his memory as to who I was. Either that or he faked it very well. He is an actor after all. Anyway, he said I could count on it. I told him I would be there in the press room again and couldn’t wait to talk to him about the upcoming season (he’s been sworn to secrecy currently). He assured he would be talking more about season six then. I then asked if it was okay that I share this info and he said yes. So, guess what my next tweet of the day was?
After that I went into the grand ballroom ready to see the first guest. The entire day that ballroom wasn’t more than half full. I asked another convention goer during the break if they had a better turnout on Saturday and apparently they did. I know the three other people in the mostly empty row I sat in (the first open general admission row) all admitted they were only there for Misha.
Up first was Katherine Boecher, aka Lilith from “The Monster At The End of This Book,†and “Lucifer Rising.†She was actually fun! She put a lot of acting into her answers but it made the panel interesting. I’ve seen so many guests, especially first timers, go up there nervously, go straight to questions, and then give uninspired answers without really interacting with fans. Katherine was lively and answered thoroughly, although she had an intense obsession about Jared’s muscles. They were mentioned multiple times. Considering I ogle over them myself and she actually got to touch them, she got big pass from me for doing that. Detailed transcriptions from all the panels will be in a coming very soon in a follow up article.
Samantha Smith came on next and she looked great. She’s definitely been working out. She hasn’t been doing much acting since she did “Supernatural” in the winter. She’s enjoying being a stay at home mom. Being a mother has certainly made her appreciate her role more of Mary too and what it’s like to be protective of her children. She was as usual nice and charming and gracious to be there. She made a fan feel much better by explaining that married couples fight and she didn’t think John and Mary had a broken marriage. It’s just normal. She apparently has a real ghost in her house and doesn’t seem to be freaked out about it. I guess working on the show must have helped.
In between panelists I did a lot of talking with the fans. The usual consensus was that they were enjoying themselves and had a great weekend. Several had even said it had gone by really fast and they wished it wasn’t over. Many were signing up for next year. I most enjoyed seeing the congregation of fans later in that afternoon in the lobby watching the World Cup Finals match. Even I sat there for a half hour and was sucked in. I don’t watch soccer, even though we have a championship team here in Columbus (yes, The Crew.) It’s nice to see the USA finally catch up with the rest of the world.
I also got to have a long talk with one of the Creation volunteers. Anyone who’s read my reports of these cons knows I love talking with the Creation volunteers. They are always the best people. These are big fans who are just happy to be involved, even though they get a little frustrated at times over the frenzy that happens at these cons. She was trying to talk me into buying one of these gorgeous smoke colored “Supernatural†t-shirts. While it was tempting, I wasn’t sure I wanted to put down $25 on a shirt when they wouldn’t take my $20 for a reasonable autograph request. It was all about the protest at that point. Anyway, none of that matters because once again, we had a great chat about the con and the show in general. The conversation even veered to “Smallville.†She also shared cheap travel tips for the next time me and the fam go to New York City. It was all good!
I also met up with a few fans I met at the Cherry Hill con last year (great seeing you again Patrick!) Talking with the fans like this, feeling the positively energy of the cons, it was so refreshing. For anyone that’s spend a lot of time online this Hellatus, the attitudes again have been pretty negative. They were this time last year too. These cons reinforce my belief that there are happy fans out there that just love their show. They are addicted enough to it to come share that joy in one place with other fans even though few of them imagined they’d ever go to a fan convention. It’s a time to bond, have fun, meet some of the people involved with the show, and come out of it with an overall great fan experience. It’s something more than what you get just watching at home. Sure, there were some there that had done multiple cons and the experience was growing a bit weary on them, but for the first timers and some of the second timers, it was pure bliss. It reminded me why I do this, why I continue to be a big supporter of the show. I’m not alone in my love.
The guest of honor for the second day in a row was Misha Collins. He came on to a rock star greeting and just like with the last con I saw him (Chicago) he had his fun with the fans. Everyone apparently learned from the previous day not to open a question with “I was wondering.†He didn’t come with big spoilers or reveals about season six but he did come with an amusing attitude despite having to do this two days in a row. Just like in Chicago, he had me rolling several times. He put a fan on the spot to do her “best†Alastair impersonation and wouldn’t back down until she did. He is not in the episode Jensen directed, and felt a little sad about that. “It is a disappointment because I really wanted to fuck with him.†He also said that Jared isn’t in that episode a lot either, very likely for that same reason. I’ll have every gross detail that he gave about eating the multiple cheeseburgers in “My Bloody Valentine” as well as how a fan nailed him good with a porn question that he demanded from her in the coming detailed recap.
Rob Benedict was the last on and what a sweetie. I was there for his first con in Chicago and he was considerably less nervous this time. Of course this is his third one so it’s old hat by now. Naturally, he was asked the God question. Considering he’s a smart man he knows how to be prepared, he had already had the talk with Eric Kripke about how to answer that question. Sure, he didn’t come right out and say “I am God.†However by the stories he told, it was pretty common knowledge on the set. The original draft spelled it out a lot clearer too. He does admit when he read the script he didn’t get it at first. He just disappeared and was confused by that. However, it made sense when people pointed it out to him, even his driver! Chuck is Kripke, Kripke is God of “Supernatural,†Kripke is stepping down as showrunner. Time for him to disappear. What’s even sadder is there are no immediate plans to bring Chuck back. It’s possible, but it has to be a moment that’s exactly right.
The day ended with me running out of there very fast, for the family was waiting (They saw The Last Airbender while I was doing this) and we had a long trip back to Ohio. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or thank anyone at Creation for another successful con, so I’ll do it here. Thanks for a great Sunday everyone and I’ll sure we’ll met again in the future. Now bring on Comic Con!
Coming very soon, the detailed breakdowns of all the panels from Sunday. There’s really a lot of good info so watch out for that!
(For other reports of the con, go to the Convention report authority, supernaturalwiki.com.)
I attended the con for the full 3 days with 2 very good friends and the daughter of one of them. It was unbelievable how great it was and how, even though there was a definite age difference, we all connected with the show on the same level. All the guests were amazing, especially Matt Cohen. You should have been there for his first con appearance! His energy was contagious and his love of the fans touching. We all hope he returns next year! If Jared, Jensen, Matt, and Misha were all at the next con, I think my body would simply melt! Too HOT!!!
You should be really glad that you didn’t wait around for the Rob autograph… I had a silver pass and I didn’t get out of there until about 9:30.
But I had a really great time at the convention and I really enjoyed it. I went to RisingCon and I thought the scheduling at this NJ event made a lot more sense. Looking forward to your detailed reports! 🙂
Wow, Alice. It’s sounds like you had a great time. Can’t wait to hear about all the info you got at the panels. I would love a auto and photo from Rob Benedict as well. Hope he comes to more conventions this year!
My first Supernatural convention, stayed the whole three days. I was one of the last dozen to get autographs, the end of the silver……Rob was very hungry, eating some chips and said he would be ordering a big dinner and then crashing. He was tired, but still wonderful to talk with. I thoroughly enjoyed this con and will look forward to attending next years! All the guests were wonderful with interesting insights.
Thanks for the report Alice. It was so refreshing to read after all the negativity recently.
I can’t go to conventions but I still love the show and it is so good to hear about the other folks who do the same.
Looking forward to the transcripts of the panels.