Photo Ops Frenzy

Day 3 of the 2009 Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention (Part 2 of 4)


I was clearing people out of the doorway, and when fans had finished taking their photos with Kellan, I’d show them the way out, answering questions about how/where to pick up their photos.

I can’t remember exactly how long it took before the line diminished. But at the end, I surprised my mom with a photo op ticket. She was stunned.

“What? What do you mean I’m taking a picture with him? No, no, no… I didn’t even do my hair… Or make-up!”

But she was stuck. And she knew it. :) All she wanted was a glimpse of him and now she was about to meet him. And get stuck with evidence. *wicked grin*

Now you have to know one thing about my mom. She’s sweet and generous, and always thinking about other people. We laugh together like we’re sisters, and she’s my BFF.

But she’s also, in some ways, very old-fashioned. And conservative. Holding hands when my dad was “courting” her was practically out of the question.

And here she is. About to walk into one of Kellan’s bear hugs. No - scratch that. A "Kellan Crush."

She had no choice. He pulled her close and took her arm, placing her hand on his abdomen. I don’t think she’s ever touched anyone, besides my father, so intimately.

And now we got it on film – lol!


~ All my mom wanted was a glimpse - and I surprised her with a photo op ticket for Kellan Lutz ~

I’m up next, and since I got THE BEST photo ever last time, I wanted to get a comfy, kickback photo with him. Something like my pic with Ashley.

But noooooo. He wasn’t having any of that. He pulls me in tight, uber tight where it’d be awkward to leave my hand on my hips, so I tentatively pull it forward.

Kellan must’ve sensed my hesitation and was like, “Oh NO. You are not about to be outdone by your mom.”

Then he grabs my hand and places it on his chest, literally pressing my hands into him. Body just molding into his.

We relaxed and Chris snapped the photo. And the whole time, I’m like, “Ah shit. Here we go again.”



~ Gettin' a "Kellan Crush" ~

*sigh* So maybe I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, but hell – I ain’t gonna lie. It was still fun. :)

But it wasn’t over yet. We were told to get back to the auditorium. Double time.

The autograph session was about to get started.


(To be continued...)


WANNA CATCH UP?
Day 1: A Serenade for the Door Girl
Day 2: Promoted to the Main Scene
Day 3: Covering Doors and Crowd Control (Twi-Tour - Part 1 of 4)

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Covering Doors and Crowd Control

Day 3 of the 2009 Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention (Part 1 of 4)

Friday was slow, and Saturday picked up. But on Sunday?

Sunday was the “Twi-Tour” day and you guessed it – freakin’ mayhem. It got to the point where I couldn’t even answer my phone anymore. It was just crazy.

I got assigned exactly where I wanted to be – in the main auditorium. Our hosts for the day, “The Hillywood Show” Twilight Parody cast introduced Mike Welch first. Can I just tell you how much I love this guy? He is so friendly, so very down-to-earth and absolutely lovable.

~ Dette and Mike Welch at the 2009 Los Angeles Twi-Tour ~

One of the best things about Mike? He knows he’s not one of the “big stars” of Twilight, but hey – he doesn’t let it faze him one bit. And after I took my photo op with him, I told him the same thing I said last time, “You still smell really good.”

Yesterday, covering the doors meant that exactly. Making sure no one went in or out - except through the main entrance.

Today, covering the doors also meant crowd control. Making sure people didn’t stand up in their seats too long, or linger in the aisles. Reminding people that we don’t allow audio or video taping, though taking pictures is perfectly fine as long as you do it from your seat.

Twilight day was soooo different than Star Trek or Stargate or Battlestar Galactica Day. Just imagine… all the hormones and estrogen in a sold-out ballroom. Um, yeah.

Towards the end of the Q&A, one of the fans got called up to the stage, affectionately known as “Orange” at first. Then she got the ride of her life, being pampered by Peter Facinelli, Edi Gathegi and Kellan Lutz... all at once.



Of course, that little stunt just left the fans wanting even more. But they did great – most of them, at least. All up until Kellan had to go and stir it up.

At every con, someone always asks Kellan to imitate Robert Pattinson running. But when someone suggested Kellan run THRU the audience (instead of onstage), one of the fans lay down on the ground, blocking his path.

What did Kellan do? Busted a nice jump over her, with a bodyguard on his tail.



Peter, wanted him to do it again, except with him on Kellan's back, as Bella. All of us were like, “No. Not again!”

Thankfully, he kept this trek short, and they all headed back onstage to close up. But the fans weren’t ready to say goodbye yet, and THIS is when it went absolutely nuts.

The fans started to bum rush the stage, and it was just me and one other girl holding them back on one side, and one of the guys on the other side. Holy crow.

Miraculously, we were able to keep it under control and just as the crowd starts to thin out, we hear the boss distinctly call out several of our names with a calm but absolute urgency. “Photo Ops. Now.”

We took off. Hightailed it to the other end of the ballroom. I’d been standing up for 3 days straight by now, and my feet were killing me. I was starting to feel a little faint and needed a snack, but there was no time.

Damn this “always have to eat something or I’ll be sick” problem. So there I was, trying to pop almonds in my mouth as we ran across the ballroom floor. I am such a dork! ;)

The line had already wrapped around the corner, and you can probably guess who was due up to take pictures with everyone: Kellan Lutz

I can promise you one thing: If you purchase a photo op with Kellan - he will definitely make it worth your while... ;)


(To be continued…)


WANNA CATCH UP?
Day 1: A Serenade for the Door Girl
Day 2: Promoted to the Main Scene

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Promoted to the Main Scene

Day 2 of the 2009 Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention
Continued from Day 1: A Serenade for the Door Girl


Well, since I worked the doors for the Friday Night Cabaret, they decided to let me sleep in a bit and instead of having me come down at 6:30am to be door girl, they moved me to the main auditorium.

Nice. I won't have to be down until 11am and I'll even get to see the celebrities on stage. Today, our headiners were Jeri Ryan (Star Trek), Amanda Tapping (Stargate), John Noble (Fringe), Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) and Linda Hamilton (The Terminator).

But something came up and they needed help earlier in the morning. No prob. My friend, Sheryl, drove in that afternoon – this was her first working con as well and got assigned to the auditorium, too. Her experience in working concert security sure worked out nicely. :)

Another one of the bodyguards (BG) I met up in San Francisco, quite possibly responsible for recruiting me, came up to me to marvel.

"You landed yourself a nice post for your first con, you know that? Usually, the newbies get stuck working the tables in the vendor room or something else boring... But here you are, in the main auditorium." -BG

I was elated. And even more so when I got pulled to work the autograph line at the end of the day. There I was, standing between Amanda Tapping's table and John Noble's table. And look - I'm cool. I’m calm. Not trippin' out whatsoever. :)

Do you remember me saying that Mama was with me at the hotel? Papa dropped her off earlier on Friday - she was going to be taking a mini vacation with us back home and LAX is conveniently half way there.

A friend of mine and her sister were also coming up, from San Diego. They drove in Saturday night, but instead of me getting off at 7pm as planned, the autographs ran helluva late. I didn't get to hook up with everyone until about 10:30pm that night - with buffalo wings called dinner.

It's okay, though - we washed it down with Alize before going to bed to get ready for the REAL reason why we were all there:

Twi-Tour.

So the real question is... will I be able to contain myself up close and personal with the Cullen Boys???

(Up next: Day 3 of the 2009 Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention)

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A Serenade for the Door Girl

Intrigued by the first social convention I ever attended last February in San Francisco, I looked into possibly working the next one.

I’ve been working in the hotel industry for 13+ years now. Our annual General Manager Conferences are already a lot of fun... I wondered what it'd be like to work a Twilight convention.

I contacted Creation Entertainment and gave them some of my background info – told them I work in the hospitality industry, that I plan conferences for work… I felt like I was applying for a new job!

The 17th Annual Grand Slam was the perfect opportunity. Two days of sci-fi leading up to one day of Twilight. This would give me time to learn the ropes, figure out how everything worked - and make sure I didn't get stupid and fan crazy when I got up close and personal with the celebrities. Better to practice on actors I didn't know before seeing the Cullen Clan again, right? ;)

Time to turn off "fan mode."


(Click "continue" for Day 1 of the Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention)

Day 1 of the 2009 Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention


I drove 3 hours by myself to the LAX Marriott and unpacked my bags. My first assignment? Checking wristbands at the vendors room. When you stepped to the ballroom level, the first person you saw was this short Filipina, greeting people, answering questions and stopping people at the door if they didn't have the right credentials.

Great. I'm a door girl.

But hell. Better than working the tables inside, helping people sell stuff or set up their items. At the door, I actually met so many different people. Fans attending the con, the other volunteers...

And TONS of sci-fi celebrities. My only problem? There's only so much sci-fi that I watch - and Star Trek, Stargate and Battlestar Gallactica aren't part of them. So I didn't exactly recognize a lot of the actors, and I think I stopped 3 at the door, not realizing who they were.

Oops.

I had people coming up and introducing themselves to me. Everyone was so friendly! Luckily one of the other volunteers would come by and whisper names of the actors as they walked past. But do I remember all those names?

Uh, juh-nope. Though there are a couple that I remember distinctly. Like Peter Mayhew - AKA Chewbacca. Dude. He is freakin' tall. I talked to him for a little bit while I was on a break. I was sitting down outside, talking on the phone, when he sat down at the other end. I could feel his eyes on me and when I hung up the phone, he was looking directly at me. Whoa.

Larry Bagby, a country singer, was really sweet, too. His name came up the next day and that's when I found out he's actually appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Walk the Line and most recently, Young and the Restless. lol - and he wasn't even fazed that I didn't recognize him.

I'll admit, though... that he asked me so many questions - it started to freak me out a little. "What's your last name? Where are you from? What part? What type of music do you listen to?"

I had already gained a couple of fans myself - guys who'd hang around and wait for me to be free to come up and talk to me again. I wasn't looking for that number to grow.

So I was actually relieved to find out who he was - I wouldn't have to worry about some actor/singer trying to stalk me. Those other two? Done clicked on their heels when they overheard me telling someone I was gonna run up to the room to get my mom so we could have dinner together. Saved.

Later on, I was chit-chatting with one of the bodyguards (BG) when this guy comes up to ask the BG something. In an insant, he turns to me to shake hands and says, "Hi, I'm Colin, by the way. What's your name?"

I introduced myself to him. He had this warm gentleness about him, real casual and easy to talk to. Which made what the BG said just then, somewhat ironic.

BG must've known that I hadn't recognized Colin, because he said, "Around here, we call him Mister Cunningham."

Oh shit. He's one of our Headliners for today. Doh!

But Colin Cunnigham didn't care. He asked BG something else and they took off, but Colin came back alone. Apparently with some type of musical instrument, home made with a PVC pipe and began to start playing for me right then and there.

It cracked me up. I heard him playing the rest of the afternoon – a charmer, he sure is. ;)

Are you a BattleStar Galactica fan? If not, maybe you've seen him on Elektra - he plays her agent, McCabe.

~ Dette and Colin Cunningham at the 2009 Grand Slam Convention ~

(Up next: Day 2 of the Grand Slam/Twi-Tour Convention)

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Sweet Talked into Prison

I once toured the inside of a maximum-security prison in Arizona.

WTF?

Lol – Hubz and I were there visiting an old friend of his, who happened to be one of the correction officers onsite. When Hubz first asked me if I’d be interested in a tour, I was like – “Uh... No.”

And then he had to go and throw in those damned three words: “Are you sure? He said he could give us a behind-the-scenes tour – it’ll be different than the regular tours they give.”

“Regular tours?” Who’s taking ‘em, I wonder.

I’m so naïve. I’m thinking we’ll be walking around, with the comfort of bars keeping us separated from the inmates. We’re crossing through the outdoor community area – you know, where they lift weights and shoot hoops and stuff? When all of a sudden… a bell rings and transports me back to high school.

Except ghetto as my high school was, it wasn’t quite the same as this.

For one, I was the only female there. Two – these guys are a LOT more intimidating than the gangsters I went to school with.

But one thing that felt exactly the same, was having to bring out the “don’t fuck with me” attitude, never mind that I was scared shitless someone was gonna grab my ass or something.

It was like trying to get to 3rd period in the middle of Oz.

I shouldn’t have been, but after that, I was surprised there weren’t any incidents. And no, I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. But I got what I wanted – that behind-the-scenes look at how it all works.

I wish I could do that with everything. I’m the ding-dong that wonders how it all works, what all the codes mean, what kind of system do they have put together to pull everything off?

So when the idea came up to possibly work at a convention, a Twilight Convention, I just couldn’t pass it up. To see everything up close? Behind the scenes?

Don’t get me wrong, though – I don’t think anything will ever compare to my experience as an attendee at the Twi-Tour in San Francisco. I was on Cloud 9 for weeks! I literally forced myself to be Mrs. Suzie Homemaker – did EVERYTHING perfectly – from cleaning the house, cooking dinner, playing with the kids…. Just to try and get my feet back on the ground.

But I ain’t gonna lie… It was really cool to see the other side.


(To be continued…)

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What the hell?

If things could just slow down for a little bit, maybe I'd get a chance to actually write something.

I'm sitting down for a quick lunch, scanning through one of many magazines I should be canceling, and catching a couple of quick articles here and there.

Damn. It just makes me miss writing. Blogging. Tweeting. Hell - I can't even keep up with all of my personal email. And corporate email from work just doesn't count. I will catch up with y'all soon. I will.

So what the hell have I been doing?

A little bit of everything, I suppose. Working, being a mom, being a wife. The usual. Reading. Twilighting - lol. And if I don't find time during the day to blog, forget it. Evenings and weekends are out. It's the only time we're all together - it's family time.

Hubz and I used to get into these big-ass fights because of me blogging at night. I finally figured out it'd work better if I just met him halfway and respected his wishes. Gotta give the guy some credit - he's pretty open and supportive.

I mean, you have seen my Twilight pics, right? ;)

Not to mention, I just came back from ANOTHER Twilight Convention last weekend. *wicked grin*

I wish I could tell you all about it... OMG - I've been DYING to tell you about it. But I have this thing. This hang up. Where I don't blog about work.

That's right, ladies and gents... MammaDawg was working the con. Creation's Annual Grand Slam/Twi-Tour.

I told you about my favorite three little words, right? "Behind the scenes."


(To be continued... mostly so I can figure out what I can say and can't!)

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