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Leverage Day Two -- Cocktail Party, Leverage Set Visit and Conference Panels.
Heidi Berthiaume
March 21, 2010
 The Five Photos for Autographing
I have been to exactly two media convention cocktail parties, so I do not have a
large sample to draw upon for this review. From what I can tell, corporate
sponsorship makes a difference. The TNT Cocktail Party Extravaganza at the Leverage CON-con
was amazing.
- cash bar
- two separate tables of food
- free ticket for 1 drink
- 2 Wii stations
- Garage Band set-up in an adjoining room
- live music by Andy Lange
- entertainment by Rick
Overton
I hung out with new friends I'd made at this convention, and some local
Browncoats (Firefly/Serenity fans) I had cruised with in 2006. Being an
introvert in a heavily crowded room filled with good yet exceptionally loud
music, my instinct was to find a place and stay put. Barbara taught me the find
art of "wandering", or as we came to call it, "hit-and-run mingling". Through
this technique I talked with actors, a financial producer, a director, and the
man who runs the computer systems that get the shows digital dailies to LA after
having been filmed in Portland. I had a fabulously fun time. Around 11 pm, after getting off a full day of
shooting, all five main actors showed up for a brief appearance. At 11:45 pm,
they kicked us out of the room, which was a good thing, as those of going to
visit the set on Saturday had to be presentable and in front of the hotel by 7 am. Which brings me to Saturday. Not even the Starbucks was open as we waited in
line on the sidewalk outside the hotel to board the two coach buses that would
take us to the Leverage sets. I'm not sure how long it took to drive there, but it
seemed around 20-25 minutes. The sets are working sets, so there was repeated
instructions about watching your steps and not licking anything due to the live
wires. The first building housed the bar and Nate's loft, which has been nicely updated
for season three. The second building we toured had several corridor sets and
the Mill - half of the warehouse where the flats and sets are actually built and
dressed. John Rogers and Chris Downey were our fabulous tour guides. They
answered questions, told stories, and let us take as many pics as our cameras
would allow. I ran down my battery. Back at the hotel, the convention started up again with a Leverage crew panel who talked about visual effects, blowing things up in
real life and virtually, giving something Hardison something to look at on all
of his computer screens, and how much it is choreograph fights. Then The Five (Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, and
Aldis Hodge) had their time on stage which was structured as a Q&A both from the
moderator and the audience. Lots of laughs and great interactions with each
other. This is a cast with magic. The autograph session was held on a different floor of the hotel. The organizers
allowed the autographs to be personalized, which takes more time, but I
appreciate as it makes the autograph personal. The Five were signing, as well as
the FBI guys (Rick Overton & Gerry Downey), Sterling (Mark A. Sheppard), Dean
Devlin, John Rogers, and Chris Downey. The photo ops were to happen after the
autographs, but that event took much longer than scheduled, so I've heard the
photo ops are going to happen Sunday (crossed fingers). I missed the Gentleman
Thief Apollo Robbins's panel because I was in line for
the autographs. It is one of the facts of any good convention - events you want
to go to will be scheduled against each other. "Choose wisely," (pop culture point if you can name the movie and who said it to
whom). I did catch the tail end of the FBI Guys. Wonderfully funny skits with
audience participation and a Q&A where their camaraderie with each other shone
through every answer. One of the panels I had been waiting for since seeing it announced on the
convention website did not disappoint. Having Dean Devlin, John Rogers, and
Chris Downey on stage together, talking about *their* TV show, made it obvious
why Leverage is the success it is. I need to get ready for the banquet now, so I'll post more pics to the flickr
stream later. 
Heidi Berthiaume (somewhat) daily
stuff
music video stuff
writing and promoting stuff
Day One (1) Report Comment to be entered to win a Fresh Fiction Blog Contest prize: TWO WINNERS!
Comments
25 comments posted.
Re: Leverage Day Two -- Cocktail Party, Leverage Set Visit and Conference Panels.
lol on the not licking warnings...Sounds like you had a pretty intense day...did you manage to get all the autographs that you wanted?
(Anna Hoque 9:24am March 21, 2010)
The Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade said, "But choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you."
(Karin Tillotson 12:51pm March 21, 2010)
Reading through your post, it struck me that I am introverted enough to likely not have the courage to attend such an event. And then it struck me how much I would be missing. Must work on my courage for future possibilities. I recognized the choose wisely comment from the first of the Indiana Jones movies.
(G. Bisbjerg 1:44pm March 21, 2010)
Oops...not the first, but the one with Sean Connery in it. *sighs and reaches for more coffee*
(G. Bisbjerg 1:45pm March 21, 2010)
Sounds like you had a fabulous time! I how you got all the autographs you wanted!
(Gail Hurt 1:46pm March 21, 2010)
I envy you !! I love Leverage, it's a great show and has lots of eye candy!!!
(Martha Lawson 3:56pm March 21, 2010)
Girl, I bet you had a blast mingling with all those peeps. It seems to be the case that 2 events are planned for the same hour and it's so hard to choose which one to sit in on while you wonder if you can go between them like a yo-yo.
(Alyson Widen 4:20pm March 21, 2010)
The conference DOES sound amazing. I can only dream.
(Mary Preston 4:42pm March 21, 2010)
a great show that has some super
actors
(Lisa Richards 4:43pm March 21, 2010)
The show is great. The actors even better...they work so well together. Hope you had a memorable time.
(Robin McKay 6:48pm March 21, 2010)
What fun you had! I am so jealous. I wish that I was there.
(Rosemary Krejsa 8:40pm March 21, 2010)
I'm enjoying your comments and photos...keep them coming. Sounds like you are having a blast!!!
(Mitzi Hinkey 9:10pm March 21, 2010)
I love Leverage! Waiting for it to return with the new season.
(Brenda Rupp 10:08pm March 21, 2010)
Your experiences sounded great and busy, busy, busy. Having attended a number of conventions, I know just how rushed one can be and understand having to miss one event in order to attend another. But there is always another convention to attend. Enjoyed reading about yours.
(Gladys Paradowski 10:25pm March 21, 2010)
I'm so envious. I love htis show and wish I was with you at the show.
(Donna Holmberg 11:44pm March 21, 2010)
How fun. I just love that show. I found it channel surfing one night and now it is a must see, even if it comes on late here. Sounds like a good time and more to come. Lucky you!!!
(Vicki Hancock 12:45pm March 22, 2010)
I'm SO jealous. I love the show! You are having such a fabulous time!
(Rosemary Krejsa 2:20pm March 22, 2010)
How cool. Sounds like a fun party.
(Jane Cheung 4:09pm March 22, 2010)
Sounds like you are having a good time.
One of these days I'll get to go to a
conventions and see how many lines I
have to stand in.
(Patricia Barraclough 9:03pm March 22, 2010)
I recently read "Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper" in which a couple of children played a large part. I never gave that fact much thought until reading your blog article here. I was a bit surprised to read your comment that children were hard to write about, but I can now see that they could be. It will be interesting to see how you deal with them.
(Gladys Paradowski 3:26pm March 23, 2010)
Sounds like you had a great time. Are you ready to do it again next year?
(Donna Holmberg 1:45am March 24, 2010)
Thank you all for the wonderful comments! :)
- Congrats to Karin for the correct pop culture answer!
- G. - I completely understand where you are coming from. It has taken me years and multiple conventions to be able to attend the big party events like the cocktail party and the banquet. Just do as much as you feel comfortable with - if you only want to stay 10 minutes, do that. You are not obligated to attend anything. I think you'll find once you get there you can have fun. :)
- Yes! I got autographs from each of the main five actors, two of the writers, and the executive producer.
- Absolutely! I would love to go to another Leverage convention.
(Heidi Berthiaume 8:50pm March 27, 2010)
I've never been to anything like this and your posts make me wish I could go.
(Mitzi Hinkey 5:05pm March 28, 2010)
Hope you did not drink to much?? LOL Or at least the alchol. You are begining to enjoy your self so go for it.
(Brenda Hill 5:23pm March 28, 2010)
Hi Brenda - I'm allergic to alcohol so drinking too much isn't a problem for me. I also make friends when I give away my "free drink" ticket. ;)
(Heidi Berthiaume 1:24am April 2, 2010)
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