GenreCon 2012--Day 2

7am came early and, thanks to the poor choices I'd made the night before, I wasn't quite feeling my best.
But the show must go on, and I soldiered through!

I arrived at the hotel at 9am and met with my co-line manager for the day, Jody. She was also a big Buffy fan, hooray!
I introduced her to bossman-Nick and showed her around, and then it was time to start our day.

Nicholas Brendon's Q&A was first thing that morning, at 10am. Thanks to it's early time slot, I was given permission to sneak away to watch some of it.

Nicholas and his con manager, Jacqi
during his Q&A

This reunited me with Liz, Chris and Mike, my Staff Infection mates from the night before. We all looked a bit tired. ;)

Nicholas was funny and sweet and, yes, a bit racy. He talked about Joss and his cast mates and possible spinoff series and his other projects.
He said he misses Xander (so do we, Nick...so do we!) and that he'd come back for a reunion show or movie in a heartbeat.
As his panel concluded, yes, he did his famous Snoopy dance. And yes, I got it on video.
To see that live? Yeah, dream come true. :D

After that, it was back to my post in the dealer/signings room. I didn't spot any cosplay on day 1, so I was very excited to see lots on day 2!
There were ponies and Assassin's Creed and Predator and Mass Effect and Jessica Rabbit and Supergirl, and a Cardassian, and, yes, even I got into the spirit with my Jayne Cobb costume!

Nicholas on the end, Tom in the
leather jacket.

The signings were in full swing, and this was when I got my first glimpse of Tom Lenk (Andrew, Buffy/Angel)!

It was busier, but still much more quiet and intimate than a large con like Fan Expo.
I stayed busy and when Michael Biehn and Jennifer Blanc's handler asked me to find them some Diet Coke, I sent Jody to the green room for some.
Little did I know that the hotel was a Pepsi-only venue.
So it was Christina to the rescue!
I ran out, in the cold, without a jacket, in my Jayne costume--complete with gun in a leg holster--across the street to the drug store to purchase Diet Coke for our guests.

It's a horrible pic, but it was
taken just after Nick
hugged me

They were grateful--and then I found out that Chris, my fellow Staff Infection member--had a FULL CASE of Diet Coke in his room upstairs. ARGH!

Since it was pretty quiet, I figured this would be a good time to get my autographs.
First up was Nicholas.
He gave me a BIG hug, and the rumours are true. He hugs so tightly and pretty much just envelops you. He makes you feel like you're his favourite fan ever, just in that one hug. Thank you for that, Nick!
I showed him my tattoos and told him about my disappointing James Marsters meeting at Fan Expo. I thanked him for being everything I'd hoped he'd be and told him Xander was my favourite Scooby.

I got my autograph and sighed happily. He was sweet and handsome and funny and it was just an awesome, awesome experience.

I chose this photo because
it's my favourite Andrew
moment

Next was Tom Lenk, who's adorable and beautiful and smart and gracious.
I showed HIM my tattoos and we talked about how big Buffy still is, and how he doesn't think about that often.
I told him it changed my life and that really surprised him. He told me that his boyfriend is a child psychologist in an ER and that he often comes home after experiencing such disturbing things feeling helpless.

Tom signs something
for Liz

He said that all he does is read the lines on the paper provided for him. He doesn't often see the side that I see--the possibly of Andrew--especially season 7 Andrew--as a life-saver for teens even today. Teens that are bullied and close to giving up might see Andrew being accepted and loved and even becoming a hero and realize that it DOES get better.
I think he appreciated hearing all that. :)

Julian Richings
plays 'Death'
on Supernatural

After that I got back to work...which really wasn't much work at all.
It was very laid back and so much fun.
I pretty much just circled the room, answering attendee questions, making sure the vendors didn't need anything, seeing if the talent was okay--so I was able to take a lot of pics and talk to a lot of people. It was pretty amazing.

Julian Richings (Supernatural, Cube) is SUPER nice and spoke to each fan for at least 5 minutes each!

Tom Grofton. The man, the
myth, the legend

Tom Grofton, the man who made the con happen, did a quick interview. I swear he was like a ninja!
I barely saw him all weekend, but, POOF, he'd appear suddenly out of nowhere and then disappear again just as quickly! Hahaha!

Mark Lutz Q&A

I was also able to catch a few minutes of Mark Lutz's (Angel) Q&A. Wow, is he a hilarious and engaging speaker! It was an awesome panel!

Nick and Tom reconnect

Back in the dealer room, it was truly great to see old friends Tom Lenk and Nicholas Brendon reconnect. When they weren't signing, they were talking and laughing, reliving memories and making jokes.
Nick even defaced one of his own photos in an, er...adult kind-of way and signed it for Tom. Hahaha!

Robert Maillet (300, Sherlock Holmes) was a huge hit with attendees (pun intended) and Connor Stanhope (Smallville) was a huge hit with us, the volunteers! ;)
Robert made time for every single fan, and then some! He always had a smile, a nice word and a hearty 'hello', and his manager was pretty cool too!

Connor was a pretty amazing kid.
At only 14, he's at least 4 inches taller than I am! He spent the day creeping people out while wearing his Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta, showing off his plethora of card tricks, and grossing everyone out with his double-jointed hands. Yeah, I could NOT look when he did those weird things with his fingers!

I'm seriously honoured to have met them both and when Connor is rich and famous one day, I'll be able to look back and say I knew him when. He's a really, REALLY brilliant kid. :)

By this time, the night before was finally catching up to me and I took a ten minute break to recharge in the green room.
Thank God for oranges and granola bars!

Then it was back to the 'grind' (it was totally not a grind) for a bit, and 6pm came fast.
My shift was done and I was VERY excited because I was about to meet friends!
I'd been speaking to George for a year or so on Facebook--we 'met' on the SPACE channel FB page!
George is from Guelph and made the trek down to the Holiday Inn with his adorable girlfriend, Kitty, just to meet me!

We sat in the lobby and chatted...and we got totally lucky in the celeb-spotting department!

Tom Lenk waits for his limo

You see, many of guests were slotted to be at the Saturday night party that was being held off-site. As they waited for their limo, they sat in the lobby and talked--right where George, Kitty and I happened to be!

Since I was off-duty, I could now act as a fan, and I did, just for George and Kitty.
You see, they're BIG Supernatural fans, and who just happened to be in the lobby?
Why, Death, of course!

George and Kitty chat with Death

I took it upon myself to say hello and introduce him to the couple. They chatted as I took pics. I'm pretty sure they were stunned and a bit tongue-tied, but they did fine and Mr. Richings was ever-gracious and kept the conversation going. It was REALLY amazing to see and I'm so glad that I was able to do that for my
friends!

The Masquerade was about to begin and my co-volunteers tried their best to get me to stay and watch.
Sadly, I knew I had to get back to my moms and get some sleep--and judging by their faces the next morning, it's a good thing I made the choice I did. Apparently they partied all night! Hee!

George, me, Kitty

By 8pm I was exhausted and it was time to say goodbye to George and Kitty. We got a pic and I hugged them goodbye--getting teary as I did.
It's hard to say goodbye to kindred spirits. :(

An early bedtime prepared me for the bittersweet-ness that way day 3...

And you'll hear all about that tomorrow. ;)