Reflections on Celebration II

It is 4:00am Sunday morning and I have just returned from Indianapolis having undertaken two days of C2.

I had written a very long post but decided instead to do this very condensed version. I'll be on all day Sunday to answer questions in further detail should anybody have any.

Summed up C2 experience:

#1 - The lines, the lines, oh my goodness the lines. There were points where there were three lines running through the place right next to each other for completely different things. One of the first lessons you learned there was to ALWAYS ask what a line was before investing time waiting in it only to find out that you're now back in line for the R2-D2 exhibit and not to see Rick McCallum.

#2 - TONS to see. However, to see most of the actors, shows, etc. you had to wait in said lines (See #1)

#3 - Most costumes were pretty good. Lots of stormtrooper-esque costumes (the 501st) and many Jedi. Made for some great pics. Best one there was a Rebel Hoth soldier (not 100% sure if he was trying to be Luke Skywalker or not) carrying around a huge wampa arm! Classic!

#4 - "I DON'T KNOW"/LIES!! This was the most common phrase I heard there. None of the convention staff knew anything. And nobody was willing to find out any information. You could ask a person a question and get an answer and ask somebody else the same question and get completely conflicting responses. And if they didn't know, they'd lie and give a false answer. Example: waiting in line for Kenny Baker's autograph. They had shut down the line to purchase autograph coupons which you needed to get an autograph saying the fire marshall had problems with the number of people in the convention center. So they also capped actors' lines to "disencourage" people from getting certain autographs, saying, and I quote "We want people to go home." Folks, this was at around 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. Thankfully I was already in the area when they shut it down so I did not have to wait in more lines (see above). Anyway, some dude said Kenny's line was "capped" after some guy in a blue shirt about 5 people in front of me (guy turns out to be a dealer having Kenny sign about 20 things; pissed a lot of people off). Anyway, the line made it up to him, up to me, and a ton more people after me. By the time I had waited in another line for Warrick Davis' autograph, Kenny's line was STILL going! Pure bull is what these guys were giving.

#5 - THE FANS. (See #1). What made those lines tolerable were the working stiffs who were there to enjoy the event. Let me put it this way: anybody getting paid for working at the convention (aside from the actors and select associates) was plain and simply rude and mean. Anybody there to have a good time was the nicest people in the world. I met a couple from New York, some dudes from Greece, a guy from California, etc. I was there with a buddy of mine and I think I talked more with other people than him (same goes for him). It was so pleasant waiting in lines since most of the time they just flowed so well since you were able to pass the time chit-chatting.

Well, so much for a condensed post. I would go through it all in a second. Regardless of where C3 is going to be I'll be there. I now have a MUCH better understanding of how these conventions work and how to budget time wisely.

On a completely different note, I also saw a minor league baseball game, got so loaded Friday night/Saturday morning that I lost my wallet at a hot dog stand (long story, won't go into it, but police were involved), ate at some good restaurants, toured the Conseco Fieldhouse (home of the Indiana Pacers), and met some ladies at a club called Have a Nice Day Cafe (another story , yes, it is related to the Have a Nice Day Cafe here). Sorry for the long post.

Bujo

P.S. I did not attend the third meeting since I was at a show so I can't say much. I did see Jedihexer walk up to Bib Fortuna and do an impression of him only to get an odd look back from the actor. Priceless.

 

welcome back and feel free to post your more detailed acount, i wanna hear about everything that i missed so i can feel really bad for myself. Well it sounds like every one had lots of fun. i'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures you took aswell.

great to have you guys you back

-mike

 

I didn't attend C1 or C2. I had hear that at C1 the lines were terrible, and generated a lot of complaints. With WOTC running this event, I didn't anticipate a much better show.

My classic WOTC bad customer service story is standing in line at Gencon for 45 minutes for a refund on an event I couldn't attend, only to be told they had run out of money to give people (you should have seen my eyes bulge and my face redden). Needless to say, I didn't budge from that spot until I got my money.

I think sometimes WOTC looses sight of the customer service aspect of their business once they are at the con, since they already have your money at that point.

 

Wow...sounds like an interesting time. If you had to give one word that explained C2, what would it be?

 

One word for C2 . . . ?? Overwhelming! (in a good way of course)

All the actors that I met were really cool. Nobody seemed disgruntled about being there other than Billy Dee. He just seemed worn out, which of course is understandable. While I didn't get a chance to talk with the actor who played Uncle Owen Lars (A New Hope) I did see him and man does he look like he's up there in years. And the most impressive thing is that he was there signing autographs! Truly impressed by that. I sat through "An hour with Warrick Davis". Great time. He was asked a lot of Leprechaun questions (non-relevant of course, and he gave some hilarious answers). He also had made a movie back during Return (Revenge) of the Jedi which had all the stars in it (Ford, Hamill, Fischer, Max Rebo, et al.) about his life from a comical perspective on the set of the movies. Great piece that will never see the light of day according to him.

Longest lines for autograhs: Kenny Baker, Warrick Davis, Billy Dee Williams, David Prowse, Jeremy Bulloch, Carrie Fisher (she had her OWN room to sign in and the line for that was insane), and also Hotkins (can't remember his first name, but it was the guy who played Porkins!)

They had a stage set up where kids could learn to become Jedi. I believe the stunt coordinator from the Star Wars movies (Nick Gulliard <sp>???) was doing it, but kids would come up and they were given lightsabers and Jedi cloaks. Nick showed them how to swing the blades and take up Jedi stances. Of course he was messing with kids which was pretty funny. But when everyone thought all was done, the Imperial march came on. A couple storm troopers burst on stage followed none other by Darth Vader (seriously, I had goosebumps, it was that loud and that cool) Nick said to Vader that he was not going to get his hands on the little Jedi and then he said the kids had to defend themselves. Each kid then got to fight Darth Vader using the tactics Nick taught them. It was so cool. What was neat was that when the blades struck one another, you heard the sound effects, so it made it feel really interesting. Nobody vanquished Vader, they all just held him off, but the look of fear combined with enjoyment on their faces was priceless.

Hmmm . . . what else did I see? A bunch of the LEGO creations were quite cool. They had a Jango, Yoda, Darth, some scenes from the movies were made, and they were working on constructing a huge Yoda. One of the more priceless (to me things) I got there was on Friday. Dave Dorman, the guy who does art for Star Wars and the expanded universe was there. He was selling prints for $40 and I picked one up. There was almost no line at all for him. However, with the print (Luke on Hoth after crashing his speeder and an AT-AT coming right at him) Dave signed it (OK, cool) but then he drew a little freelance sketch on them! Whatever anybody wanted! It was so cool and he was great to talk to as well. When I was walking around again on Saturday I walked by his table again. He had a HUGE line. Poor feller. R.A. Salvatore was speaking. I sat in there for a bit but kept on hearing Episode II related things so I had to bail out. There was just so many people, things there. AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I missed so many things there. I never got to see Hayden Christensen and I did not attend the concert. A big thing that I REALLY am upset I missed was "Star Wars in 30 minutes". People from USC had a play of the entire origial trilogy that they performed in 30 minutes. I heard from people that it was awesome, and I'm sure somebody here will have seen it. But I am upset about that one. The pictures that are on the starwars.com site tell a lot about what was there. The thing I most regret is that I have no pictures. I left my camera at home and did not attempt to go buy one, so my memories are in my head.

By the way, for you gentlemen out there - the ladies that are a part of the Star Wars universe in their normal digs are absolutely gorgeous!

 

WOW! I'm REALLY REALLY jealous. I would have loved to see those kids when Vader walked in. That would have been excellent.

Sounds like you had a great time, Mike. How many autographs did you get? I would have loved to have meet everybody. Glad you had fun.

 

Note to self...save up for Celebration III, should it come to exist...

sounds like you had a good time. Glad to see you back.

 

I would recommend to all to try and make C3. I have a much better of understanding of what to prepare for and I will be going (I don't see why the would not have one).

Autographs I got: Warrick Davis, Kenny Baker, Dave Dorman, Ralph McQuarrie. The first two were all I wanted and the last two are artists I have always admired.

I'm sure some of the other people will have many other stories when they come back. I can't wait to hear them. Also, can't wait for the next meeting to be able to discuss this more. Maybe I can tell my "lost wallet/hot dog cart story". Instant classic.

 

Sounds like an interesting story to say the least!

 

Good sumarization of C2... I look forward to hearing the stories of others that got to attend. The main reason I didn't go is because I didn't want to deal with the lines, especially the ones for autographs... I just have no interest in that kind of thing, and I wouldn't want to have to weave my way amongst such lines. The other stuff, the seminars especially, sounded really great.

Any word yet on where C3 is going to be? I may have to consider going to it in 2005...

 

The talks/seminars were great. The actors are so in love with the movies as well and they all have great personality which really added to the flavor of the event. And like I said before, the lines, long as they may be, were not that bad as long as you talked with fans. That seriously was probably my favorite part: talking with people.

No word on C3. I'm sure they won't have anything on that for a little while. Probably a couple years or so. But who knows. I can say that I hope I am wrong about that.

 

Wow - what a weekend!!! Bujo's impressions were right on target - the fans were the greatest and even though the lines were sometimes almost unbearably long, talking with fellow fans was fantastic. The costumes there were facinating - Amidalas of every size and shape(some you just had to say Whoa!!) Jedis galore, little tiny Jango Fetts, and tons of hilarious Stormtroopers - very entertaining.

We saw the "Trilogy in 30 minutes" and it was extremely the best event! Just about everyone had tears running down their faces from laughing - the actors and actresses played the roles with such accuracy, managed to capture the whole essence of the story lines, but ran through the scenes almost tongue in cheek. We ended our day today with that and it was a great ending!!

We saw Hayden along with Jango and Boba Fett, hosted by Anthony Daniels. It was quite interesting, the repertoire between all the actors. Hayden was quite personable, almost naive and embarrassed sometimes at the adoration he received.

We all got together Friday nite - handed out our t-shirts (cause we're now official), alot of new faces that will hopefully join with us. Some went from the meeting to the FanForce party, while the rest of us (including me) went to get something to eat, and sat around to share our impressions. It was a great time. If anyone else wants to order a t-shirt, please email me.

As far as the organization went, I thought it was awful. They ran out of alot of the things at the celebration store - of course the Jorg figure, and even t-shirts. I talked to alot of people that had been at C1 in Denver, and we all thought that this might have possibly been worse. Wizards will be getting alot of criticism for it. They did learn by some of their mistakes by Sunday, but I think they just had no idea how many people would be there. I felt sorry for some of the families that brought kids for one day, and were not able to see much because of the lines.

I took lots of pics, so hopefully we'll get alot on the website. Wish everyone could have gone - I'm sure all those who attended will have many more experiences to share.

 

Right on Mirax. I am so upset about missing the trilogy in 30 minutes. They had so many showings of it my friend and I thought it would be no big deal, yet by Saturday it turned into the "must see event". Oh, well maybe they'll have it at C3.

By the way, PM me your address and I will send you a check for the T-shirt. Sorry I couldn't make the meeting Fri night, and I feel bad because I had said I would be there.

I was reading on theforce.net that Hayden had been walking around as a stormtrooper so he could see what was all going on. Wonder if I ran into him . . .

 

Mirrax is right...Star Wars in 30 Minutes was the best thing we (wifey and I) saw. It was absolutely hilarious. Hopefully it will be at C3 for those who couldn't see it this time. It was worth the wait in line. The archives exhibit was cool too. The amount of detail that goes into props and costumes is jut amazing.

Speaking of lines...

Q: What was the most asked question at C2

A: What's this line for?

Massive lines, massive waiting, and the event staff (everybody except the 501st volunteers) were massively unhelpful, or just plain wrong.

My main problem came from the autograph area. For starters it was way too small. I think the Ventures people underestimated the crowds. At one point they capped lines and asked people to come back later...I tried this several times...each time I came back either the line was still capped or had been opened then capped again. I guess I'm the king of bad timing. I came back for one last time....the freaking line was closed. Maybe they learned something for next time.

Don't get me wrong...the positives far outweighed the negatives. The Milwookiee Fan Force T-shirts and badges look great. The costumes were fantastic. Its rather incredible to be in a place with 30,000 people of like mind. And I will certainly try to go to the next one.

Photos coming soon.

 

I want to say Bob and I had a wonderful time with you guys Friday night! It was great!

As for C2, the best word to describe it would be overwhelming! Wish I'd finished my bloody costume, though...

I loathed the lines (thank god for bringing reading material--I finished the first third of the AOTC novel alone in lines this weekend!), but there were some good things.

The SW in 30 minutes was fabulous and worth the 2-hour+ wait. And I did get Carrie's autograph but never got the chance to meet her (that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish for another day's rant...)

The lines for the C2 store were ridiculous, and after $75 per person for a 3-day admission, we felt you should a least get free lanyards and programs (you do with GenCon, and you pay less for admission at GenCon on top of it!), but no, those we had to purchase separately (and we spent another 1hour+ in line for that, too)!

But the screening rooms for fanfilms and SW nostalgia were great places to rest and enjoy. And it was wonderful to see all the costumes people had made.

In the end, suffice to say, we are glad to be home. And despite the kinks, it was an experience I would not have missed!

And yes, we still don't think the center is big enough for GenCon in 2003...
If it is and we're wrong, though, in the end the way Wizards ran the Celebration does not bode well for GenCon...

(Or maybe I'm just too tired and cranky after 5+ hours on the road...)

Anyway, it's off for a long hot shower and sleep!

 

One of the things that we really, really wanted to do there was get our picture taken as a sw figure - there was a life size action figure package where you could pose with a light saber or blaster and take your picture - did anyone get to do this???? We tried several times to get in the line, but way too long!!! They should have set up about 20 of those things!

 

Well, Gen Con has actually been sold off by Wizards to (I think), Richard Garfield. Wizards will still run Gen Con in Milwaukee this year, but when it moves to Indy, Garfield's company takes over - maybe they'll do it right for once...

Jeff

 

I can honestly say that we both had a great time. There were some problems, most notably the lines and the mayhem, and long about Saturday morning we learned that if the staff person was wearing a blue (WOTC) shirt, or a green (Security shirt) that you might as well ask your shoe for an answer. If you wanted a question answered, either look it up yourself, or ask a member of the 501st because people in the 501st would either tell you they didn't know, or they would find out the answer. These were volunteers from what I know, that were standing around in probably uncomfortable armor all day, but they were the nicest people.
We were lucky on Friday to get the serious stuff done that we wanted because on Saturday reality hit like a hammer and the lines were unbelievable. The line for Attack of the Fetts went outside the building and curled around in a spiral. The line for Carrie Fisher could have looped to the RCA dome (connected to the building) and around the field. We saw Mauler-Dan in line at around 2pm for the concert, and we guessed there were maybe 200 people ahead of him, and he had been in line since 11:30. It was a wee insane.
The best things were probably the Trilogy in 30 minutes, for Ackbar alone if nothing else, the digital presentation (by the way, Rick McAllum, big fan of digital projectors, he might have mentioned it once or twice), the alleged Spiderman trailer he showed (I won't mention what it actually was, it had pseudo-spoilers), and some other cool moments.
One of our favorite moments was seeing a guy from Guatemala getting an autograph from Kenny Baker. He asked us to take ten pictures of him talking to Kenny, and said he couldn't believe he was standing with him. He had taken four flights to get there, and he was more excited about that moment than maybe I've ever been about anything. Another was during a Q&A with the rebel pilots and a little girl maybe around 10 asked "Did you like making the movie?" Most of the actors didn't have anything to say but Bill Hootkins (Porkins) asked her "Did you like the movie?" She said yes, and he answered, "Then we liked making it very much." We had already thought he was cool because when we got his autograph, he talked to us, told us an anecdote, Marcy told him his figure was short packed, he got a big kick out of that and said he had to buy one for his mom because she didn't believe he was in the movie. We have become big Porkins fans. Other good things in short: being choked by Darth Vader, told to "move along" by a Stormtrooper, watching a guy in an Imperial officer uniform eat a cookie, seeing "Han" and "Chewie" toasting bottles of beer together, the guy that looked like George Lucas, having my picture taken as an action figure, Ben Burt's Q&A and hearing the reaction of the crowd during the fake Spiderman trailer.
And last, and probably best, were the fans. It's great to see people that love these movies as much as we do. We talked to people from all over about a range of topics, and best of all, we really got to spend a lot of time talking to people from the Milwookiee Council and get to know them better. Some of them even own catapults. CATAPULTS!
And now, some not so great things:

Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast is running the show but... they weren't selling action figures (other than George) or cards. There were dealers selling the figures like the new Bespin Luke and Vader, and that big blue senator guy for $25, but Hasbro wasn't selling a single thing, just showing off stuff. I think it would have been better to have Hasbro selling figures and things so that fans weren't paying scalpers. In fact, really there weren't that many exhibitors at all. I thought I could find anything Star Wars I ever dreamed of, but it really wasn't the case. There were booths selling Ren weapons, (probably bootlegged) DVDs, and strange half naked Sci-fi women sketches, and that crystal board game. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against those things, but why not some more Star Wars variety. The "Celebration II" store was seriously lacking in variety as well

 

"If you had to give one word that explained C2, what would it be?"

Cluster****.

 

I agree with what everyone has said here - the line were horrible (i nver did get to see the SW archive room), the 501st and fans were great, the shows were great. By Sunday morning I couldn't handle lines anymore. I sat and watched some Star Wars in the Media stuff and then went home. I saw the comercial for the Tauntaun with th "removable" stomach plate - you could "slide" Luke in. Absolutly hilarious!

I was a bit disapointed in the concert - especially after standing in lines for a combined 4.5 hours for it. I've never been to an orchestra concert before, so maybe I was expecting too much. But here are my thoughts:

1) It did not seem loud enough. I was in the pink section (for those of you that were there you know what I mean) on the far left of the stage. All I could see was the back of the violin section and the back of the percussion section. I heard more from the speakers than the orchestra itself. I was expecting to be able to "feel" the music reverberate - I did not.

2) Que and I agreed that it seemed like they needed more practice. I noticed several mess - ups especially during solos in the "wind" intruments. Either someone would not quite get a note or would "slip" and hit the wrong note before getting the right one.

3) The music selection seemed a bit odd. THey played "Jar Jar's adventure" and Jabba's theme, but never did any of the emeror's music, nor did they do any AOTC stuff. I thought they would at least do the love theme. I thought they could have done a bit more hard hitting stuff than they did.

All that being said - here is the stuff I liked about it.:

1) Absolutley the BEST part - perhaps of the entire concention - during the imperial march members of the 501st "marched" in formation into the auditorium. Vader came in too. You could here Vader's breathing and the 501st "surrounded" us and remained on guard for the rest of the song. The crowd went nuts.

2) Peter Mayhew came in to see the concert. He was hard to miss and everyone gave hime a good cheer. He sat one section over from me. The only bad thing was that ev eryone kept coming over and taking pics of him. I imagine he had hoped to be a bit more anonymous.

3) The George Lucas look alike came in dressed as his action figure. Ver cool - agin the place went nuts. BTW - I have a good picture of him that will get posted at some point.

4) Luke and Leia theme was great - the force theme was great. They both gave me chills.

 

I'm almost afraid to ask you, Wampas, because of the lines, were you able to make the free book area? I understand if you weren't able.

Just a note re: WOTC. After seeing their mismanagement of GenCon last year, I'm not suprised that those that went to C2 had troubles. However, I'm insanely jealous that I couldn't go (husband's been unemployed for a little over a year now...he was a tech sector employee), and no matter where or what the cost, I am going to C3. And they better just have one!

 

No sorry, we didn't get any books. We really underestimated the interest in them. The first things we did were buy the figures (a good choice given how quickly they went), got autographs (another good choice since by 1pm, the lines were insane) and then saw the opening ceremonies. From what I heard from people, books were gone by around 2-3pm on day 1. I think we went there around 4, and the doors were locked. They didn't restock the next day. The staff apparently started telling people that they could only take six books instead of a bag-full. I actually met or talked to more people that got action figures or met Carrie Fisher than I did people that got free books. Sorry that we didn't grab any, but we didn't think they would be gone by midafternoon on the very first day.

Dwayne

 

Thanks for trying, tho. I appreciate that.

 

Four of the Jorg Sacul figures will be auctioned off for charity at FilmCon 3.

EDIT: People who attended Conflagration 2 will be encouraged not to bid so that those who missed it can have a chance at owning a Jorg Sacul.

 

Here's what I have to say:

1) The Red Shirts, the Blue Shirts and the Green Shirts knew nothing whatsoever about anything (I refer to them in that manner because the Blue and Green Shirts in particular reminded me very much of Hitler's Brown Shirts). They were rude, mean, totally ignorant and quite a few choice swear words I won't say here.
2) The lines...yeah, they were long but the other fans also standing in line made them bearable. We saw the Imperial officers, the Rebel heroes, Attack of the Fetts (thank god we saw that Friday!), Rick McCallum's Spectacular, Women Who Kick and the Costume Competition. Most lines were only about an hour for us.
3) Friday was the best day; Saturday the worse with Sunday a close second. On Friday I was 10th in line for the autographs and got all 10 I wanted within half an hour and because not many people were waiting behind me I could talk with the stars. I got Jeremy Bulloch (2 more for my Wall of Fett), Julian Glover, David Prowse, Femi Taylor, Shannon Baksa, Kenny Baker, Ken Colley, Nalina Krishna and Mary Oyaya. Carrie Fisher's I refused to stand in line for hours so got mine via the Pull Service.
4) A near riot on Sunday in the Pull Service line. Once again the Green Shirts were idiots and mean. The program said the Pull Service would end at noon but at 11AM they came and capped the line about 25 people behind me. Then the cash line Green Shirt just got up and left, returned about 15 minutes later and was so rude when people asked where he had gone. I wish I had gotten his name! When I finally got up to being the 3rd person in the cash line, this Green Shirt announced only 2 more people would be taken. Well, the line began to rumble and call for TV camera crews. He got up and simply left again! The guy in the credit card line announced the same thing and then just sat there waiting for....what? I finally told him that he should stop sitting there on his fat ass and continue taking orders until a decision was made that didn't contradict the previous announcement. I tossed my order at him, he processed it and began taking more orders. Needless to say, that line on Sunday was a total cluster-you-know-what!
5) WOTC should be ashamed off themselves! They were so inept at this convention that whoever was in charge should be fired! The lack of merchandise in the CII store was appalling...thankfully we got our 2 Jorg Sacul figures! WOTC so underestimated...what? ...the number of fans who would come? If so,it's hard to believe they can be so inept!
6) Lack of certain merchandise was also appalling! Where were all the novels? Why wasn't Hasbro selling action figures? What about t-shirts? The changing of prices from day-to-day on certain action figures should be an embarassment to the exhibitors. Certain exhibitors seen grabbing up books from the Free Book Grab, snatching up Jorg Sacul figures and getting 10-20 autographed photos in the autograph area should be ashamed of themselves!
7) The friendliness of the fans, the 501st and Rebel Legion, the stars themselves all helped counteract the rudeness etc of the Convention organizers and the Convention Center employees or temporary help - whatever they were. I loved being at the FanForce party and getting up close and personal with Admiral Ozzel and Admiral Motti. The laughter I shared with hundreds of other fans at the Imperial or Rebel panels, listening to Temuera Morrison sing a song in Maori is something that will always remain special to me, the fun at the Costume Competition...all of these are good memories.

We will attend CIII if there is one. But I hope, by then, that WOTC is not in charge unless they drastically improve (is that laughter I hear?)...or that some other entity who has better organization skills and nicer employees will run it.

This is long so enough said. I could go on and on about some good and some bad experiences....like being shoved aside roughly by some suit because I happened to be standing exactly where Carrie Fisher was being brought through the crowd on Sunday for her progr