I’ve been to many scifi conventions in my time, but it had been a while when I decided to attend my first Supernatural con, hosted by Creation. I’d been looking for one closer to home than Vancouver and was happy to find one in Secaucus, NJ. The bad news was, I had a string of mishaps. First, although I wanted to attend the whole weekend, I had an obligation on Saturday I couldn’t get out of. Luckily, both Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padelecki (Sam) would be appearing on Sunday, as well as Mark Sheppard (Crowley).
The next problem was that all photo op tickets and autograph tickets for “the boys” were sold out. However, both were left for Mark Sheppard, one of my favorites, and I decided to go for the photo op. I would have to miss Misha Collins (Castiel), who I also enjoy, was only appearing on Saturday, but according to the web site, there was a possibility he would be around on Sunday for photo ops and autographs and that tickets would be available onsite.
Armed with tickets for the event and photo op with Mark, I headed out Sunday morning around 11:00. The events really didn’t get started until 2:00 and it was only a 45 minute ride, but I had left extra time to get to the Meadowlands Exhibition Hall, park, register, and look around the dealers room. As I left my house, I found my next problem. My car wouldn’t start, so I called for a jump start. The man arrived an hour later and told me I needed a new battery and would not be able to start the car once I started off. So, I drove to Sears, left the car and got a rental to (finally) head off to the convention.
I arrived about 2:00 and knew I was in the right place because I caught sight of Jared, Jenson, and Misha in a photo op. I registered, got an autograph ticket for Misha, and headed into the dealers room. By that time, Erica Carroll, who played angel Hannah, was onstage, but I wanted to take my time before settling into my seat for the rest of the afternoon. As I was picking out some pictures of the cast to purchase, a yell went up from the theater, and I ran, just at the last minute putting down the pictures I had not yet purchased. Misha Collins had come on stage. He bantered a bit with Erica, then left.
After Erica finished up, the band, led by Louden Swain, started to play, and out walked Jensen and Jared, ahead of schedule. Another big scream. They left, came back at their scheduled time, and provided much amusement for the crowd. Their banter with each other (and the fans) was natural and engaging, Jared teasing Jenson about his height, and Jenson teasing Jared about his hair.
The next event was a charity auction, mostly posters from the show with an autograph ticket included. Then came Mark Sheppard. He was very funny, in a slightly caustic manner, and was well-received. Instead of staying on stage like the other guests, he walked through the audience. So even those of us in the cheap seats got to get a good look at him. In addition to fielding questions about the show, he addressed his experience of becoming an American citizen. One thing he was very clear on was that he did not call himself an American citizen. Rather, he said, “I’m an American.” He also talked about the naturalization process and what it meant to be an American.
After Mark, the con was basically over except for the remaining photo ops and autograph sessions. My photo op with Mark was great. All the celebrities were very open to different poses and so forth, and the photographer was great. You can see for yourself below.
Then, finally, I had the autograph session with Misha. If you can manage a gold or silver ticket at Creation conventions, you’re at an advantage because you get called first, in row order. Otherwise, you have to wait until all of them have finished, and you go by ticket order. So, I was one of the last. But the nice thing was, Misha personalized the autograph for me, even though I don’t think he was supposed to. And I got a wink.
Overall, it was a great con. The events were terrific and the concessions were quite good. On the negative side, I was a little disappointed in the dealers room. There were some nice things there, but it wasn’t nearly as big as some of the dealers rooms I’ve seen at other cons. Maybe it’s because it was on Sunday, but I’m not sure. I also miss the old Creation conventions I used to attend, where seats were first come, first served.
But all in all, Creation did a wonderful job. Although many parts of the convention are quite expensive, Creation is very organized in moving people around to places they need to be. I also liked the spontaneity and graciousness of the celebrities and was impressed by the range of ages there, as well as the level of excitement. I would highly recommend this for any Supernatural fan for next year. I hope to attend myself and check out some other of their cons, as well. Star Trek, anyone?