Praised for her work on the covers of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Season 8, Jo Chen is a well known name in the comic book realm. Now, her art work is gracing the Firefly ‘verse, too!

Set to hit shelves on June 2nd, “Float-Out” will be a beautiful addition to the Firefly/Serenity cannon and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

Even more spectacular is the shiny donation bit: the original cover art is being donated to Can’t Stop the Serenity!  From all of us here at CSTS, we’d like to say thank you for the support.

So, what will we be doing with this donated piece of treasure? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!

However, we can only have one “winner” here and that winner is: #5 by Don McMillan from Ottawa, ON Canada. You might remember Don’s work from last year’s promotional art. Congratulations Don, and thanks to all who entered for the hard work they put into their entries.

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Please visit our Host an Event! page for all the details about the registration process.

Stay shiny!

We’re delighted to share that Salem has added to their total, which is now $1,552. Phoenix has also boosted their total, which is now $6,088.06, and Salt Lake City has donated a confirmed $850. The Facebook Cause has brought in $314, and the Last Hurrah Auction raised $4,407.23 for Equality Now.

This brings the “Almost Final” 2009 Grand Total to $136,701.47!

Of this, $123,946.11 has been donated to Equality Now, and other charities have received cash donations of $12,755.36 (as well as goods such as food and warm clothes).

We’re still waiting on a few cities to finalise their 2009 donations so that we can lock in the Grand Total. The outstanding cities are Dublin, Memphis, and Auckland. Sadly, we’ve heard that the following events lost money – Las Vegas, NV, Logan, UT and Launceston, AUS.

Thank you to each and every single person who attended an event, supported online and made Can’t Stop the Serenity 2009 an overwhelming success!

~ 2009 Global Team

Do you love all things Serenity? Do you love doing good works? Do you have mad artistic skillz?

Then there’s probably no power in the ‘Verse more compellin’ then a request for you and your awesome creativity.

Calling all Big Damn Artistical Heroes… We’re putting the signal out to those of YOU with the guts and artistic skills necessary to create the Official Promotional Artwork for CSTS 2010.

One lucky winner’s design will be featured on t-shirts, posters and promotional material and only one can achieve world fame.

Should you accept this mission and seek to become an artistic part of the CSTS 2010 crew, you’ll have to follow the basic guidelines listed below. The reward is shiny, the cause is mighty and we’re sanguine (as in the hopeful sense of the word) that the competition will be mighty fierce… what with all the amazing and compelling art you’ll be sending in.

So saddle up, release your inner muses and submit your artwork to us today! We look forward to seeing all that positivity and creativity we know all you Browncoats have stored inside you.

Keep flyin’ shiny!
Christine (via Anne’s perfect 2009 prose)

And now, we’d take it as a kindness if you’d read up further on the competition guidelines. For more information please continue on to our forums.

This is the (a) call for the CSTS 2010 Global Organising Team, join us to support our brilliant world wide Local Organisers and give to Equality Now and our other causes.

See this post for details about available positions.

A custom made Serenity glass plate signed by Jewel Staite, Gina Torres, Summer Glau and Adam Baldwin, donated by Tami Lankford
Winner: M. Writtle (CSTS Phoenix)

A voice acting role for ‘Firefly Between The Lines’, donated by Between the Lines Studios
Winner: C. Smith (CSTS Minneapolis)

A Dollhouse poster signed by Joss Whedon, donated by Buffyfest
Winner: E. Cavallo (CSTS Nashville)

$75 Visa Gift Card, and a donation in your name from the Kids Need to Read Foundation to an under-funded school/library of your choice (approximate donation value of $500, click here for details), donated by The Kids Need to Read Foundation (KNTR) (and an amazing anonymous angel)
Winner: J. Thursfield (CSTS Nottingham)

A Super Secret Basket of Firefly and Serenity goodies worth over 250 credits, including a script signed by Jane Espenson, an “Earth that will be” Poster, a Steve Anderson Custom Art Piece, QMx Money Pack, 3 Silicone Browncoat Bracelets, Dark Horse PVC set, Set of Comic Books, Soldier T-Shirt, a Independent mug and a small tea, 2oz Inara, donated by the Austin Browncoats.
Winner: D. Wolford (CSTS Los Angeles)

Winners will be contacted via email.

Says Christine:

I’m Christine Mooney (aka cbglacier) and I’m a Browncoat. Whenever I fill out an ‘about me’, I list myself as ‘Mama, RN, Browncoat, Scaper, genre fan’. I am immensely proud of what those labels say about me and what they are coming to mean. Not only are genre fans followers and collectors but also we have become organizers and givers, using our collective passion for causes to come together and do good deeds. Those causes range from Can’t Stop the Serenity, Kids Need To Read, providing copies of the Farscape DVDs to libraries and troops overseas, to Buffy blood drives, and the many other projects that Browncoat groups get involved with in their communities. I have seen my genre groups come together to help each other out through fire, flood, and the loss of loved ones. The opportunity to be the 2010 Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Organizer is a challenge, but I’m excited for the adventure to create another wonderful year for CSTS and to benefit Equality Now.

I have been a member of PDX Browncoats since 2005 and a volunteer at Portland’s CSTS events every year. Due to finishing my Bachelors of Science: Nursing (with a part time job and kids) I’ve only now been able to move further into the organizing side of our group. I was involved with the Browncoat Ball organizing committee this year and it was our Work Group that suggested I apply for the 2010 Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Organiser position. I accept their faith in my abilities and the faith of the 2009 Local Organisers who have voted for me, and I consider it an honor to have been selected as Global Organizer for 2010.

I have a number of goals for 2010:

• I’d like to work on more and earlier PR and advertising. We’re all volunteers and no working budget so there’s a lot of room for brainstorming new ideas. I noticed increased promotion in 2009; a lot more podcast interviews with Global, Broadwave emails and Twitter. We need to spread the word earlier and across more genres, more podcasts and social networking; ‘fans’ unite for good works.
• The 2010 Global Art Design contest is beginning in January, so local groups going to conventions & events can begin to promote early and often with a shiny 2010/5th anniversary design. By releasing the winning design online, allows local organisers the opportunity to save money on t-shirt and poster printing, shipping, and taxes abroad.
• We need to continue to cultivate the outstanding sponsorships of our past genre partners and we should also continue to develop relationships with other brands that are known in the Browncoat community. This could include musicians, artists, writers, and merchants who create and sell Firefly and Serenity merchandise, as well as merchandise from other Joss Whedon productions.
• I would like to see Global look for more cross advertising/sponsorship from conventions; Emerald City Comic Con, Wonder Con, Creation Entertainment, Dragon*Con, and NYC Comic Con. These conventions represent places where concentrated groups of fans gather to revel in their enjoyment of Science Fiction, not least of which is Firefly and Serenity. By working with the cons, we will have the opportunity to communicate directly with these fans thereby raising the awareness of what we are doing and the work Equality Now is doing.

To achieve this and more, I need to build a team. The 2010 Global Team. This team will ensure that local organisers are supported, and that the 2010 fundraising efforts build on the successes of past years. The 2010 Global Team will consist of a Communication/Logistics team and a Financial team. The Communication/Logistics team will include Communication officer (Team Leader under Global Organiser), PR officer, Registration officer, Mentorship officer, and Web guru. The Financial team will include Financial officer (Team leader under Global Organiser), Asst. Financial officer, Merchandise officer, and Sponsorship officer. Please think about joining me and being part of making 2010 a success!

We welcome Christine and look forward to another outstanding of Can’t Stop the Serenity events.

The Global Steering Committee also welcomes new members. This committee is responsible for guiding our events from year to year, and ensuring that our goals stay true. The Global Steering Committee consists of Anne Barringer (Past Global Organiser, from Memphis, TN USA), Jen Cummings (Asia Pacific Representative, from Melbourne, Australia), Marg Grady (North America Representative, from Phoenix, AZ USA) and Amanda Sullivan (from Equality Now). The position of Europe Representative has not yet been filled.

From now until December 31, $5 from the sale of each Laser Engraved Metal Firefly Serenity Schematics will be donated to the Equality Now in support of Can’t Stop the Serenity.

This wonderful design is not a poster – it’s a very shiny engraved piece of aluminum! Photos do not truly convey this stunning piece of art. The coated aluminum etching measures 12″x24″ and is mounted on black foam core ready for framing. This design is limited to 250 pieces.

Thank you Avitech Graphics for supporting Equality Now and Can’t Stop the Serenity!