Guest Encounters of D*Con 2010

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

So, as I duck what my friends have been calling the "Tail of the Dragon," i.e. ConCrud and post-con funk, I was reflecting on the awesome encounters and experiences I had. I posted a Celebrity Encounters thread last year and it was a lot of fun, so I thought I'd do it again.

This year's faves for me, besides hanging out with Emerald Rose, Tom Smith, and Marc Gunn, had to be standing with Dean Stockwell in the Marriott elevator bay, watching him watch several Stargate-suited guys try to cram a huge inflated T-Rex into an elevator. That was amusing. Then I spent over half an hour hanging with Jason Carter on the Walk of Fame, talking about driver's licenses, the existence of God, signing pieces of flesh, and reciting pieces of poetry...all the while ducking his windmilling arms! Jason's not just one of my favorite guests, he's one of my favorite people. :-)

So, speak up...what were your memorable guest moments this year?

Comments

[lunascura.livejournal.com]

My entire DragonCon was made full of win the moment that John Ringo convinced Rogue of the Cruxshadows to sing "Monomonop" at the Dragon After Dark Contest.

I'm a long time fan of the Cruxshadows and have a huge amount of respect for Rogue, especially when he breaks his "serious" character and gets silly.

[hlnies.livejournal.com]

I second the motion! Crazy hearing it from backstage! LOL! During the concert, Rogue stopped and sung literally RIGHT there in front of us on the chair. Could have not had a better place to stand!

[magpie63.livejournal.com]

While wearing my Deanna Troi costume, I ran into Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby heading out for a smoke break on the sidewalk in front of the Hilton. It was right after the INSANE TNG panel where Denise got pissed at Jonathan Frakes and walked out. I saw Denise first and couldn't help saying, "Is everything okay?" She said yes, and then Marina turned around and said (in her British accent), "Oh my God, it's me!" I asked if I could get a photo with her later and she said, "Just meet me at my table -- after I smoke this fag. I mean, cigarette." I went to her table and got the photo (without having to pay the $10) -- she was awesome. When she walked in, Frakes (at the next table) gave her a "WTF?" look -- apparently she and Denise were talking about the situation during the panel and Denise was still pissed at him!

[jackwabbit.livejournal.com]

Hey you! I saw you at the ST record attempt! Still love your dress and that is a super cool story. Mine relates, in a way. I spent probably ten minutes talking with Jonathan Frakes about Marina and how she just owns the whole world. It was quite amusing, and we agreed she should run for office, because no one could ever defeat her!

[noelleleithe.livejournal.com]

First and foremost was getting a huge huge from Sean Maher at his table after my sister introduced me. (She worksGuest Transportation and had driven him in the shuttles about five times over the weekend, so they were buddies by then, LOL.) He is SUCH a sweetheart (and tweeted back to my sister the other day, too!), and he gives GREAT hugs.

Also: getting pictures with Larry Hagman and Jonathan Frakes at their tables; borrowing a Sharpie from Barbara Eden (so a friend could autograph her books for my sister); and JCB letting us go to the front of Ben Browder's line because my sister had to go back on a driving shift (yes, really!).

Oh, and I get to work with Nebula-award-winning/Hugo-award-nominated author Eugie Foster every year, so that's an ongoing celebrity encounter. Hee. :D

[veracity]

Oh! Oh! The short time frame to get things signed. Was that on...Sunday? If it was, everyone in line was all about letting cuts in from staff because we know the times are very, very short to participate and interact sometimes.

[sensitivinferno.livejournal.com]

I rarely get very many experiences with celebrities, but I have to say that in the 30 seconds of time I got with Scott Bakula he was incredibly wonderful, friendly, and gracious. He took the time to shake our hands, ask us if we were having a good time, and thank us for coming to see him. A+ gentleman.

On Monday morning the Hilton elevators were insane due to the fire shutting down some of them, so my husband and I were already in a PACKED elevator when Avery Brooks decided that there was JUST ENOUGH room for him and his handler. He set some of his stuff on someone else's suitcase, straddled a cooler, and put his arm around a random guy and proclaimed they were friends now. XD After he got on, we skipped all the other floors and went straight to floor 2! I decided it's because he's a magical Bajoran Prophet.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that Scott Bakula was nice...I so wanted to meet him, but as I was working at the con, I just didn't have the time to go in the lines.

And that is one of the cooler elevator stories I've seen; Avery Brooks once had a rep for being not so nice, but the experiences people have had with him at D*Cons seem to belie that.

[rayhne.livejournal.com]

Asking Mark Sheppard that if I called a fellow fan (with cancer) would he talk to her. He did, for several minutes.

[eclecticmuse.livejournal.com]

That's just beautiful.

[blondefeste.livejournal.com]

Beers with Maurice LaMarche. (aka The Brain)

[notthatkat.livejournal.com]

Funny, since Maurice canceled shortly before the convention. I'm pretty sure he wasn't here. I think either it was another voice actor, or someone was having fun with you.

[life-on-stage.livejournal.com]

Kristin Bauer geeked out over my costume on sunday. It was right after the DC shoot (I was dressed as Wonder Circe... Circe stole WW's powers in the comic), I walked up to her booth and she looked up at me and immediately said "Oh my god, I need to get a picture with you." I was thrown for a second or two before replying "Well that's good, because I need to get a picture with you." Then she proceeded to say that she hated being stuck inside with panels and the WoF and wanted to see all the awesome costumes that were being worn, and since she was impressed by my get-up, she had to get a picture. She even noted and liked that we had the same camera.

Then I went to Michelle Forbes, who recognized my character since she said she had played her two weeks ago on DC Online.

So yeah, I'm a happy little dork/True Blood fan.

[sherrib.livejournal.com]

Meeting Patricia Quinn on the WoF and having her gush over my costume (Reaver Kaylee). She was such a sweetheart and was totally decked out in her cute little shorts and fishnets. I was carrying a Reaver-ized version of Kaylee's parasol, and when she asked me about it, I told her I was a space cannibal and that it was made from the skin of my victims. She replied, "Of course it is!" and proceeded to ogle and fondle it. She even came out from behind the table to pose for a full-length photo with me. She was so nice and seemed genuinely thrilled to be there. As a 12-year RHPS cast veteran (Magenta, naturally), it meant a lot to me to meet her, and even more to find that she was so lovely.

[eclecticmuse.livejournal.com]

Aww! I didn't exactly meet Patricia, but she was at the table next to Frazer Hines (of Doctor Who), who I spent some time talking to. My mother is from the RHPS generation (I guess you would call it!) and has told me about the times she'd go to midnight showings and do all the stuff along with the movie. :) Anyway, she was standing there behind me while I was talking to Frazer, and apparently did a double-take at Patricia and her jaw dropped when she realized who she was. Patricia thought my mom was yawning at her! She hastily said "No, no, I just realized who you were!" and then they spoke for about five minutes.

[tenshihitomi.livejournal.com]

Walking down the street with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy- AKA Crow and Tom Servo- after the Servo vs. Servo panel. There was a whole little group of us walking with them and they didn't seem to mind. It was a little surreal hearing the voices of my two favorite bots coming out of these men's mouths. XD All the MST guests are good sports, really.

[sweetnovicane.livejournal.com]

I've made it a point to tell every BSG cast member I meet about how much the show means to me due to how it was a bonding experience between me and my dad. So I was naturally excited to tell this to Edward James Olmos. He was VERY nice and said "Well, give your father my love and tell him the Admiral is alive and well." I then saluted him like a dork, but he laughed and gave me one right back. It was awesome. Aaron Douglas also said he liked my dad already when I told him the same story.

I only got to briefly say hello to Sean Maher, but he was still very gracious and stood when we shook hands. He seemed excited when I mentioned bringing my mother to Can't Stop The Serenity later this month.

And I will agree that Patricia Quinn is just lovely. We (being me, a few other girls and her) had a conversation about how she never really got to see the movie for the first time, so she finds it a bit surreal when people talk about their experiences of seeing it for the first time. She also seems to get a kick out of it when people tell her that they play/used to play Magenta.

Also, I really hope I didn't creep Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer out when I said hello to them on Saturday night. It was right after the Dawn contest and a few of us were heading out of a service hallway when they were walking in. I was already really excited, so I was extra perky when I said hi to them as they walked by. They were courteous enough to say hi back though, so I'll take it and be happy.

I also accidentally stabbed Voltaire with a drumstick on Friday afternoon when I went to hug him, but he was still very nice to me whenever I'd see him through the weekend. He even gave me a kiss on the cheek on Saturday night. There was also a cute moment when he was backstage before the Dawn contest and the girl next to me (jokingly) scolded him for being back there before the show started and he went "Ahhh! I'm sorry for trying to look at your beauty!" and started averting his eyes. I've always had great experiences with Voltaire, but this year might have taken the cake.

[kurosawa.livejournal.com]

my friend and I also had such a fun experience with Jason Carter. and he signed a postcard from his new movie and took pictures with us for free, which we thought was very cool. we talked to him for a while and then brought our friend back later to meet him and he always seemed very excited to talk to us and was hilarious and super nice.

[notthatkat.livejournal.com]

My all time favorite guest-in-elevator story is from several years ago, when I stepped into a nearly empty elevator at the Marriott, the doors close, and I suddenly realize I am standing between Christopher Judge and Tony Amendola. They were both so cool and relaxed and down to earth.

D*C 2010 guest encounters

[watcher652.livejournal.com]

My "must meet" people this year were the cast of "Eureka" and Sean Maher (Dr Simon Tam, "Firefly"). On Thursday evening I spotted Sean walking thru a hotel lobby. I went up to him and told him how excited I was that he was attending Dragon*Con since after meeting him I will have met all the "Firefly" cast members and how I was looking forward to seeing him speak at a panel. He was very gracious, asking for my name when I forgot to introduce myself in my excitement. I was so happy to meet him, but after he left, I thought to myself, uh, oh, I went and bothered Sean and the con hadn't even started, was that ok? Thank goodness he seemed to take it in stride and greeted me with a smile when I saw him at the Walk of Fame (WoF).

I met Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo, "Eureka") Friday at the WoF and she was so nice! Colin Ferguson (Jack Carter, "Eureka") was supposed to be in on Friday in time for the "Eureka" panel, but he had to work. Erica had to do the "Eureka" panel solo (I missed it, damn!) and she was the lone "Eureka" guest at the WoF most of Friday. Colin did show up at the WoF late Friday afternoon and I got to meet him before the Saturday crowds. Another person who seemed enthused to be at the con.

I was leaving the Marriott bar late Friday night sometime between 11pm and midnight when I spotted Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo, "Eureka") talking to some fans at the bar. I went over to say "Hi" and ending up talking to him, along with a changing flow of fans, until the bar closed several hours later. Even after the bar closed, we had so much fun talking it took us about 20 minutes more to wind down and go our separate ways. What a friendly, generous guy!

So, I got to spend some time with my "must meet" people and they all turned out to be fan friendly and seemed to be happy to meet with us all. Great con encounters!

[dustbunnygirl.livejournal.com]

Saturday of Con was a bit of a stressful one for one of my friends I was there with (so stressful for all of us, since we're that kind of close), and so we had a plan to get drunk and silly before the night was over. But we had to drop off excessive stuff in the room first before we could. As we were climbing into the elevator - one of the tiny, window-less ones at the Marriott - my one friend and I both noticed that Eddie McLintock (Pete Latimer from Warehouse 13 to those who don't know) was standing in the front corner near the buttons, talking about how he preferred the claustrophobia of the windowless elevators to the claustrophobia of the windowed ones. Our third friend, who had no idea who Eddie was, was carrying on a conversation with him while the two of us "in the know" looked over the shoulder of the guy between us giving each other the "Oh my God, do you know who that is?!?" look.

Then our unknowing friend got into a conversation with another congoer in the elevator about his kilt, and whether it was regimental or not. And as we got off on our floor, he told her if she wanted to know, she would have to check for herself. Which she proceeded to do by flipping up the back of it as we exited (he did tell her she could).

The next day, as we made it up to the table to get autographs from Eddie, we introduced ourselves as "friends of the elevator kilt inspector", which earned us an "I remember you guys!"

He was great. In fact, all the celebrities I've ever met at con have been great. I have no horror stories at all.

[archersangel.livejournal.com]

standing with Dean Stockwell in the Marriott elevator bay, watching him watch several Stargate-suited guys try to cram a huge inflated T-Rex into an elevator. That was amusing.

LMAO! i'm just picturing him looking at that with a WTF look.


i didn't talk to anyone. not only i'm i gutless, i always think i might be bugging them. however, i did see avery brooks & j.g. hertzler waiting for an elevator as i walked to the ladies' room at the sheraton after the DS9 panel on monday. then on the way out i saw armin shimerman waiting for the same elevator.
that matches last year with 3 celebrities spotted. it also matches with me seeing most near the ladies' room.

Woo

[iheartmyblog.livejournal.com]

A few:

1) Thursday night pre-Con my boyfriend and I are standing at the corner of Courtland at the Hilton waiting to cross over to the Marriott. I look at the crowd next to me and it is Richard Hatch. And I sort of elbow my boyfriend and we look at Richard Hatch and smile and he smiles back. The light changes and as we cross the street Edward James Olmos is crossing toward us. He and Richard Hatch clearly hadn't seen each other yet because they had a big dorky laughing man hug in the middle of the road. My boyfriend and I sort of paused to watch and EJO looked at us and we waved and said "Hi" and it was totally dorky and lame yet awesome.

2) The Star Trek: TNG panel was crazy but the actors were the ONLY PEOPLE AT THE ENTIRE CONVENTION (come on people!!) who recognized my Mrs. Lovett costume. This prompted Armin Shimerman, Jonathan Frakes, and Brent Spiner to all sing "A Little Priest" at me which was AMAZING because I am an enormous Stephen Sondheim fan. I then mentioned something about Brent having been in the original cast of Sunday in the Park with George and that inspired him to sing a little snippet of that show to me. AMAZING. Star Trek: TNG + Stephen Sondheim = Great. Moment. Ever. That was totally special.

3) I was behind Armin Shimerman on an escalator at the Marriott and was able to tell him how much I enjoyed his work and how much I enjoyed seeing him at his panels (he seems so lovely and humble and the story about his wife was quite inspiring!). He was with Rene Auberjonois and they were hurrying to make a panel so he couldn't chat long, but I was glad to be able to say hello to him.

That is all. I love celebrity encounters. Oh, I saw Summer Glau heading to an elevator at the Hilton. SHE IS SO TINY. I had no idea.

Re: Woo

[rabidrainbow.livejournal.com]

Oh, you were the Mrs. Lovett at the panel? I wanted to tell you how great your costume was! (I was sitting on the aisle so I saw you after you asked your question).

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

Frazer Hines (Jamie from Doctor Who) is the funniest, nicest, most interesting man alive. His panels were hilarious.

My friends had a couple of encounters with him. One friend was dressed as Victoria, another companion who was in the TARDIS the same time as his character. He was delighted to see her, asked for a picture with her after he changed into his kilt, kissed her cheek, and remembered her name all weekend.

Another friend was wearing her insanely long 4th Doctor scarf. We left after one of Mr Hines' panels and were walking down the stairs at the Sheraton, her scarf trailing the stairs behind her. Frazer ran over and gently put his foot on the scarf, stopping her from going further. She kind of looked back at the foot over her shoulder, politely irritated and waiting for them to step back - meanwhile he's snickering madly. The look on her face when she finally glanced up and saw who was stepping on her scarf was absolutely priceless!

Also, I shared an elevator with Stan Lee. Yep. Nothing happened, no story beyond that. In an elevator. With Stan Lee. Very exciting. :D

[budgiebird88.livejournal.com]

That's such a funny story, and I agree with you wholeheartedly!! I went up to him in the Walk of Fame and had my picture taken with him, and not only did he insist we take two (firstly because the flash didn't go off, but also because we hadn't gotten his kilt in shot!), but he also gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Sweetest man ever!!

[basbleugrrl.livejournal.com]

My sole memorable guest moment was nearly pulling Robert Beltran (Chakotay, ST: Voyager) on top of me as he tried to help me stand up at his WoF table. Poor guy was trying to be a gentleman and I damn near yoinked him over the table.

[pyro-ike.livejournal.com]

I'm not usually a big celebrity fan, but I did have a few cool encounters this con:
-While I was waiting for a friend to come let me into the hotel room, Levar Burton came out of the room 2 doors down, and seemed to be looking for something. He commented on some of my luggage (a big djembe and a steampunk gun), and went back to his room.. at which point I realized that it was, in fact, Levar Burton. XD My roomies and I kind of geeked out about that.

-I passed Eddie McClintock from Warehouse 13 in the Hilton walkway on my way to the parade. Not much of an encounter, but still.

-Riding up the Hilton elevator in order to go down, a group of oddly-normal looking guys gets on and rides up to the swanky rooftop restaurant. A better look at one of the faces when they got off revealed Adam Savage!

So they weren't really much more than passing encounters, but it was still neat (and a little surreal) to see them.

[holliemke.livejournal.com]

I've met Corin three times now so he knows me by name. However, I absolutely love the 'new' Corin fans that show up to his panels after they meet him for the first time. Corin Nemec is absolutely a GREAT guy.

Colin Ferguson and Eddie McClintock were awesome to meet. They both seemed so enthused to be at the convention.

[maeglin73.livejournal.com]

Jason was probably the most fun celeb for me to meet this year as well, and it was partially because of his ID :-) My (first) name is Brian, as well, and on hearing that he said "I have to tell this story again."

(For those that aren't aware, his US ID reads "Brain" where it should read "Brian". I've had people make the same mistake with my name, but never in an official record.)

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

ROTFL, yep, he pulled that out and showed it to me...I noticed right off that it said Brain, but then, I've seen odder stuff, so I didn't mention it. :-) That, of course, started off a whole riff of Pinky and the Brain jokes...Jason attempting to say 'NARF!' correctly will forever be a highlight of my life.

Luke Perry

[amelia-80.livejournal.com]

My favorite moment was seeing what a true sweetheart Luke Perry was! I went to the panel alone, sort of tongue in cheek. I mean come on - Dylan McKay! But he is such a nice, genuine guy with some great stories. I was really impressed with what he had to say and how nice he was to me and the fans that came out to talk with him.

[sabinetzin]

Me and arymabeth spent like three hours sitting up with Doc Hammer (and a bunch of other people) and smoking cigarettes. It was awesome.

[paper-anchor.livejournal.com]

I got to spend some time with Doc Hammer (The Venture Bros) at the Hilton on Saturday and Sunday night. Saturday we were standing in a group outside the Hilton lobby when the mobile rave party came past. Doc was doing the robot and we were all dancing. Sunday we all sat at the Hilton bar and chatted with him. We saw Jackson Publick (Venture Bros) briefly on Saturday around the same time. Also, we ran into Dana Snyder (ATHF/Squidbillies/Venture Bros) an awful lot as well. I also saw Steve from TAPS a few times, and a friend of mine saw a few people from The Guild. It was so nice to see the guests mingling with the rest of us, having drinks and just hanging out!

[sabinetzin]

Oh hey! We were at the Hilton bar on Sunday too!

[milanthruil.livejournal.com]

This was my first Con and I had an AMAZING time!

I got to hug an entire Stargate panel on Saturday for my birthday! The actors from the Stargate shows are some of the sweetest people ever. I got several impromptu pics of myself and Paul McGillion, who I guess decided he had to hug me everytime he saw me, and he actually remembered me and how to spell my name (Katt). Michael Shanks gave me a birthday kiss (on the lips *dies*) and on Monday, he and Lexa signed their badges and gave them to me as birthday presents. I talked to them for about an hour since the crowds had mostly deserted by then. They are probably the most adorable celeb couple in the history of forever.

I met the crew from Ghost Hunters. They are unbelievably sweet in person and spent about 5 minutes talking with each person that came up to them in the Walk of Fame.

Eddie McClintock and I enthused about having the same last same when I went to get his autograph. I had a photo op with him later and he gave me a HUGE hug.

On my way to a Pirates of the Caribbean panel, I walked RIGHT BY Lee Arenburg and Martin Klebba. It was the first time I'd been NEAR anyone famous.

I can't wait for next year! :D

[archersangel.livejournal.com]

I got to hug an entire Stargate panel on Saturday for my birthday!

that was you? i was at that panel! you'll never be able to top that b-day or that dragon-con.