Nashville 2011
The Nashville convention started on the evening of Friday, June 3rd, 2011. My day started at 6am when I realized I didn’t have hot water. After a less than glamorous shower at the gym, I was off to work for a few hours. I successfully got some work done and as a bonus, got the room setup so two of my three roommates could drop their stuff and settle in. They had arrived early and I wasn’t due in until 8pm.
My flight left out of Green Bay at 4pm and my layover in Milwaukee was also
where I was meeting up with my other roommate. We shared a plane to Nashville and a cab
to the hotel. Our mutual shared reaction when we saw the sheer size of the Gaylord
Opryland hotel was “Wow, that place is huge.” We had no idea!
The walk from our room to the convention center took about 8 minutes. The
karaoke wasn’t starting until later but I checked in to make sure I wasn’t needed to
volunteer that night. We camped at a table at Findley’s, the Irish Pub and spent some
time getting to know our roommates.
I’m not much of a karaoke person but I was hoping for some country music.
After Richard Speight, Jr and Matt Cohen arrived, “Red Neck Woman” was the first song to
kick off the night. It was a great tune and there was plenty of excitement. I didn’t see
the end of the show but people had a blast.
My call time on Saturday was 8am and I ended up working in Registration. I
met a lot of people and when it wasn’t too busy, I was able to answer some questions
about the convention in more detail. New attendees are my favorite (or Virgins as I call
them.) I just love that fresh faced excitement. The day was very busy though, probably
the busiest I’ve ever seen and I was on my feet for most of it. After my photo op with
Matt Cohen, I watched the door for Jensen and Steve’s Jam Session. Guy Norman Bee, Jason
Manns and Chad Lindberg also came in. The audience was absolutely thrilled. It looked a
little pricey to me but they were so happy so it must have been worth it. While the Jam
session was going on, I got to talk to Shane, the tall, bald security guy. OMG (or is
that “OMC!”) What a hunk. He really didn’t understand all the hoopla about autographs and
photo ops but he was very protective of his charges. He was also ready to talk some good
Christian sense into the people threatening Misha Collins.
By the time the jam session was over, my ankles were just ready to give up
the fight. I begged off the Gold cocktail party and went to eat with Laura. She was
watching the Bruins lose so she wasn’t in a great mood. I also happened to leave my
credit card at that restaurant. It was the last time I saw it. We ended up back in the
room, finished watching the Bruins lose and had some time to actually hang out.
Since Laura is a smoker, we ended up outside the Cascades lobby a few times. While we
were there, I got a text from Corin saying the hotel couldn’t find his reservation. When
we walked inside, sure enough, he was at the front desk. I tapped him on the shoulder,
got a big hug and then gave him one of the Creation folks cell number and they got it
straightened out.
Sunday dawned way too bright and early for a 9 am call time. I checked in and was a
floater for the morning while Heather, our volunteer coordinator, was running errands. It
was during this time that I stopped someone from filming Guy Norman Bee’s panel. As a
fan, I love the videos truly. As a volunteer, I have to stop the most obvious abuses. She
had a tripod and her video camera clearly showed a red light. She was very polite though
and I did let her know with all the Misha craziness that his security was going to be
even tougher. However, I consider it karmic payback that I can’t find video of Corin’s
panel anywhere and I missed most of it!
After Guy’s panel, I sat with him during autographs. He had a fantastically long line and
we were there about an hour. He took pictures with fans and gave some great advice for a
budding actress and an aspiring director. Guy seems very humble. He said several times,
“If I can do it, anybody can, all it takes is talent and determination.” I walked Guy to
a restaurant so he could eat and on my way back sat down with Laura and Jenna so I could
eat my gelato. Then I got a phone call from Heather so off I went. I stopped at the photo
op room to look for her and it was time for Richard Speight Jr’s photos so they pushed me
into the line for my volunteer op and I was in/out before I knew it. I found Heather
shortly after and she told me I was going to be working with Corin the rest of the day.
Surprise!
I caught the tail end of Corin’s panel. He was on fire. I’ve seen him on stage by himself
(NEFANX, Dragoncon, Supernatural San Francisco) and with others (Gatecon, Stagate
Vancouver) but he always shines brighter on his own. I think the size of the room and the
joy from the audience combined to just feed him some potent energy. I have pics from
wolfpup2000 of the panel and he runs the gamut of expressions too. When he came offstage,
I got a hug and we went outside for the first of many smoke breaks. Then we went up for
photo ops. I hadn’t planned on getting one with Corin (I have four already) but the
opportunity was there. As usual, he had some really great photo ops with fans. My
favorite was probably my roommate who has been a fan of his since Parker Lewis. Corin is
always pretty affectionate with hugs but makes a special effort when someone asks. After
photo ops, it was time for his break.
I walked him to one restaurant, which was closed so we walked to a second place. I was
about to leave when he said “aren’t you getting anything” so I stayed. He’d texted Jenna,
who brought her friend and we had a bite to eat. I have almost no recollection of the
topic of conversation except first cousins (Jenna’s friend had 70, I have 17) and
conventions that we’re going to this year (for me, a lot.)
Then Corin was off to his room and we had some time before the next event, a cocktail
party. I had a chance to check out Misha’s panel. Wow. The man is beyond normal. There
are tons of reports out there but none of them do justice to what is undeniably a master
performance. I ducked out of the panel to go get Corin for the next event. His room was
in a part of the hotel I’d not seen yet so I needed extra time. I got lost twice and
eventually found his room.
We got back to the Green Room with plenty of time but we were missing a few actors.
Finally we were all set to go into the Cocktail Party. It was a big group so it was two
minutes a table per guest. Someone called it speed dating! Corin was slow so I had to get
a decent system to keep him moving (or we were all going to be in trouble!) But we made
it through the room and we weren’t the last ones out (Brock Kelly was!) As a Corin fan
and friend, I’m always really excited to see people warm up to him who may not have been
that interested before. He offers hugs and kisses to his tables, men included, before he
sits down. I know how much he likes these events since it was one like this that I met
him at a few years ago.
There was a little more time to kill in the Green Room while they set up autographs. Then
I sat next to Corin during his autograph line. It was a lot of people, several hundred so
there wasn’t any personalization which is kind of a bummer. But there were some cool
pictures and items to sign and everyone had a cool moment with the man. At one point,
while I was tallying autographs, someone asked me “why”. I didn’t have a quick answer so
Corin put his arm around me and said “Hollie’s a volunteer. She works for love and hugs.”
It was totally sweet and just begs for a t-shirt. Once autographs were finished, it was
time to get Corin safely back to his room. Brock Kelly walked out with us. I negotiated
Corin safely to the elevators and gave him one last hug. It was a pretty great weekend
with him particularly since I was able to work with him and make his day as smooth as
possible. I’m his ‘girl in the know’ and since I know him and he’s comfortable with me,
it makes his day a tiny bit easier.
I made it back to the auditorium where everything was already put away. Then went
upstairs to get my photo ops and autograph packet. I chatted with the volunteers a bit
more. Then it was finally time to hug everyone that I’d worked with all weekend and say
goodbye until next time.
I was still pretty wound up so after a shower I wandered the hallways with Jenna and
company until I was tired enough to sleep. Then I repeated the goodbyes with that group.
The next morning it was the final roommate goodbyes and we were off to the airport.
Overall, Nashville was a really big convention. I think the number of guests was good. I
really like including guests that aren’t as popular because it’s a chance to really get
to know the actor before everyone and his brother is begging for questions and
autographs. The hotel was gorgeous and huge. I really liked having places to explore when
there wasn’t a panel or something to do. It was expensive but there was a lot of choice
for food and types of restaurants so it worked out well. I’ll be back next year!