|
|
 Every event organizer knows they'll be subjected to Murphy's Law at some point. For me, it happened when I got a call from Jane Espenson at noon Central. "My plane broke."
Turns out the plane lost all hydraulic pressure, and there was a big puddle of hydraulic fluid below the plane. United pulled everyone off the plane, and worked to fix it. In the meantime, I called United, who put her on the next available direct flight from LAX to DFW, which would land at 6:08 pm. The book signing at Border's was scheduled to start at 6:00 pm. I made calls, got everything situated, let Border's know the signing would start late, and everything was fine for the time being.- Cedric (glorious human that he is) offered to perform at Border's while we were waiting for Jane to be delivered unto us, and it was the perfect decision. Border's estimated there would be 30 people at the event -- by my count, there were 130. They sold out of their entire allotment of "Finding Serenity." I think they'll return my calls next year.
- Jane did get to Border's at 7:00 pm, and did a mini-Q&A along with the signing. She said later there were more people at her signing last night than at last year's Comic-Con.
- During the pre-show, between Cedric's set and Jane's Q&A: "There's someone else I need to thank tonight -- my wife. She's been an absolute saint, sharing me with Can't Stop The Serenity while we were planning our wedding and honeymoon." (I walk off stage, up the aisle with a wireless mic) "I mean, you have to be crazy, insane to even attempt something like a wedding around an event like this. Hell, even... proposing to someone in a setting like this is madness. Who would be so bold and brash as to ask their girlfriend to marry them at something like this?" At this point, I'm standing right next to Matthew DeKrey, who is there with his girlfriend. We've been asked to help out Matt, who wants to propose to his girlfriend at the event. She thought he would pop the question at the (very nice) dinner he took her to earlier, but didn't. I turn to Matt, and he drops down to one knee. I hold the mic in front of him. "As long as you love me, no power in the Verse can stop us."
She said yes.
- This year's Big Damn Bag auction -- where we basically have one of everything -- was different from last year. In '06, we had two screens, and two BDBs that auctioned for $300 each. This year, with one audience and one BDB, we stepped it up a notch. Along with the prizes we listed, like copies of the box set and DVD, books, shirt, poster and so forth, stuff kept getting added in. Autographed photos of Nathan Fillion and Ron Glass. Chance added in an iPod Shuffle from his Best Buy location at Lincoln Square. A pair of suite tickets for an upcoming Rangers / Orioles baseball game. The Jayne hat from WearWithStyle.com.
Final auction price for the Big Damn Bag: $1100.
- I have no idea what our final take will be, but I can tell you this: we have at least $5500, and that number may go up significantly once we can tally everything.
Great Buddha, what a night.
Tara, you're a goddess. This event simply would not have happened had you not stepped in to help me out when I went on honeymoon. I can't thank you enough.
Ali, Nate, Kari, Monet, Mike G, Lacee, Cindy, Bo, Heidi, Tim... you're the best event staff anyone could hope for. Everything ran as smoothly as possible, and I had a LOT of comments from people who complimented the way you guys ran the event. You are a crew of ninja.
For everyone who was there, and finally got a chance to see the scope of what we've been working on for the last six months, thank you for your support. --Devin Pike
Coordinator, Can't Stop The Serenity: North Texas
|
|
