You have never been to a convention before?!

All weekend long I kept hearing, “This is the first convention I’ve ever been to.”  Being an old hand at conventions, I had to ask why this was the one that finally got them to try a convention.  Supernatural, that was the answer every time.  So, welcome to the convention world my new friends and enjoy, it just keeps getting better!

Let me tell you a little about this convention and the wonderful group that hosted it.  The Supernatural, Smallville, Buffy and Angel Convention was held on November 9 and 10, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg, Illinois.  Normally these conventions are held at the Wyndham O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois and are for three days not just two.  This convention was presented by Creation Entertainment, founded by Gary Berman and Adam Malin, two great guys that will take the time to talk with you no matter your concern.  I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Creation, but they have been around for a long time and I think they’ve got it down to a science.  Hey, nothings perfect, but they come pretty darn close!  They have all kinds of tickets packages to fit your budget.  We’ve always purchased the Gold Weekend Packages, which include: reserved seats, autographs, celebrity dessert party and Sunday morning breakfast and charity auction and much more.  Another option that everyone loves is the photo ops with the celebrities taken by photographer Chris Schmelke, another great part of this wonderful group!  And I can’t forget all the other Creation people and all the volunteers that I’ve got to know over the years, great job guys!

One of the highlights of the convention for most, if not all, was the surprise presentation by Army Master Sgt. Kevin Wise, Special Forces just out of Iraq, with Special Forces coins and a letter from General Petraeus.  The show is the most popular DVD requested by our troops!  These coins, which are rarely given to civilians, were presented to Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki with their names engraved on the coins.  You could see how moved they were by this honor as were those watching.  I thought that the house would be brought down with the cheering and standing ovation!  Another surprise was the presentation of coins to Adam Malin, co-founder of Creation Entertainment and photographer Christopher Schmelke.  What a great honor to all on this Veteran’s Day weekend.

I must say that all the guests at this convention were so entertaining.  Samantha Ferris, who plays Ellen Harvelle on Supernatural, was amazing.  I told her at the dessert party how wonderful it was to see a women like her on this show and not one of these young chicks that people like me at forty-eight just don’t want to see anymore.  We need strong women we can relate to.  She was very glad to hear that and discuss it at great length with us, she was great.  I also told her that I was nice and let my husband have his picture taken with her by himself.  She told me I was a good wife.  Funny, Jeri Ryan told me the same thing years ago!   

Mark Lutz (pronounced Loots), the Groosalugg from the show Angel, was so funny.  He showed us a clip from his upcoming movie “Victor”.  Victor is based on the true life story of Victor Davis, Canadian Olympic and World Champion swimmer.

Fredric Lehn, who played the yellow eyed demon on Supernatural, what can I say, he brought the house down by coming on stage and singing “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, what an opening!  What a great guy he is!  When he came around to our table at the dessert party he was seated next to me, lucky me, and I turned to him and said, “Sympathy for the Devil huh?!”  He said, “Yah.”  I said, “What an opening, it was amazing!”  He talked about how nervous he was in singing it and how he was having trouble because he could only hear his voice and not the guitar he was playing.  Anyway, I told him I was waiting for the line, “Or I’ll lay your soul to waste.”  He said I skipped that verse and I said I know because I was singing along with you, it is one of my favorite Stone’s songs!  Shush, don’t tell my pastor!

Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is always good to see him, although I don’t think a lot of people get his humor?!  I just love him!  I met him at a convention in Chicago years ago when Buffy was still on.  I reminded him, while I was getting an autograph from him, about how these Irish dancers attacked him at the hotel where the convention was held at.  He said, “Oh yah, I remember that.”  I probably shouldn’t have brought it up since it wasn’t a good memory; he almost left the convention before it even started.  Anyway, I don’t know what it is but I seem to have this thing about running into Nicholas during conventions.  The first convention I think I ran into him at least a couple of times, once looking at a poster of Sarah Michelle Geller and at this convention I got on the elevator and turned and was face to face with him.  I told him how we missed him at the dessert party the night before and he told me why he wasn’t there.  I think we’ll just leave it here!

Saturday night there was a concert with Steve Carlson.  I had never heard of Steve before this convention, but I sure am glad I know who he is now!  Wow, he was great!  His songs have been heard on Supernatural.  And guess what, he told me his Mom and I have the same first name!

Of course we were all waiting to see Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and the wait was sure worth it!  In case you don’t know, Jensen plays Dean Winchester on Supernatural and he also played Jason Teague on Smallville and Jared plays Sam Winchester on Supernatural.  These guys were great, to say the least!  It was nice to see them each by themselves, but to see them together was pure gold!  They sure seem like they should be brothers!  I remember seeing Jared look at Jensen several times during the coin presentation mentioned above, just like a younger brother would look at his older brother.  It was too bad that we didn’t get the chance to personally talk with them, but there just wasn’t time.  We were just glad they were both here.  I just want to say that my husband let me have my picture alone with the guys just like I did for him with Samantha.  Boy that was nice!  Check out my pictures with this article. 

All in all I think this was one of the best conventions that I’ve been too.  I look forward to many conventions in the future, although we won’t be in the Gold ticket section any longer.  My husband and I have gone though a very ruff year financially and we’ll come back from it, although it will take a long time.  So you guys keep those seats warm for us okay?!  We will be back one day!  In the meantime maybe you’ll see us in the General Admission seats with a big smile on our faces and having a great time!