Volunteering at Supanova Day 3
Again, same deelio with the photos. I’m SERIOUSLY considering buying a DSLR camera with good low-light sensitivity for next time. ^_^;
Whew… sorry for the late post. I was pretty much straight home and into bed last night. Words could not describe the level of knackery I was feeling. 😛
Anyway, quick rehash of how it all went down:
Rocked up at 7:30 again. It was a few degrees warmer this time, but still darn near freezing point. XD This time I brought gloves, but my feet froze haha. Going to go back and work on my Perth winter wardrobe… XD
A few volunteers weren’t able to make it this time, so the tasks got re-allocated a bit. Thankfully my posting didn’t change; back into the seminar room for more crowd control! XD
I’ll see if I can do another re-cap of the new guests this time as well:
Daniel Logan – This dude’s definitely grown up since working on Episode II. His voice is all deep and everything. XD Daniel was a really cool guy. He has an uncanny ability to talk very quickly for a long time, and we all enjoyed his story of getting the role and the amount of fun and mischief he got up to while working on the film. It also sounded like Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen had the same young mentality as him as well. XD
Eliza Dushku (Solo panel this time) – I’m not totally sure, but I think the crowd that Eliza drew was even bigger than Summer’s. ^_^; I ran around a bit beforehand recruiting some other volunteers, and in a few minutes, we’d implemented a pretty kickass staggered crowd-to-seating sorting system, delegating people down each row of chairs, starting from different sections each time, so everyone had a chance to sit down nice and orderly. ^_^
Eliza’s definitely no stranger to the stage. She was calm relaxed, and while very passionate about talking about her career, she also came out very seriously on several other issues like feminism and gay/lesbian marriage in America. Either way, everyone enjoyed her panel. ^_^
Dichen Lachman (Solo panel) – It’s obvious everyone there loved Dichen for Dollhouse, and not Neighbours, since only 3 people admitted to watching it. XD She seemed initially quite shy and quiet again, but after a while definitely started warming up to everyone’s questions.
I had a lot of respect for Dichen in that it was really cool she was able to go from Australian TV all the way to Hollywood. Last I heard, some of the actors from the little TV episode I worked on last year were doing the exact same thing now, and I’m hoping they’ll be able to break into Hollywood as well (their performance in Cosmos was totally awesome. XD)
One thing that saddens me quite a bit though. I’m getting the distinct impression that the apex of acting in Australia is appearing on Neighbours and then Hollywood is beyond that. Hooo boy. ^_^;
Shane McCarthy – I had no idea who Shane was, so I decided to take the time to take a quick break and do a once-more over the convention hall before it all closed up. When I got back and started listening to Shane, he was so damn funny that I nearly fell over. XD One fan had prepared an entire list of questions to ask him, so he invited the guy up on stage and they had a hilarious to-and-fro discussion. XD He’s VERY passionate about science fiction, and he totally took the piss out of Mark Lutz really well. XD I’m definitely regretting missing the first half now.
And that was about it. When Shane was finished, all of the guests came out onto the stage, took a quick bow, said thank you and then made a hasty exit for the shuttle bus. I feel pretty fortunate I was able to personally thank Vic Mignogna and Summer Glau for coming before they left. ^_^
After helping to stack chairs and move tables, we all got together for a final debriefing and a giant group photo. The main organizers of Supanova thanked us all the volunteers for their effort, and there was much applause all around. After which point, we were then asked to make a hasty retreat so the hall could be locked up. XD
Since I was asking this question a lot before I went and did this, it got reflected back at me at the end:
Was it worth being a Supanova volunteer? Yes, I think it was. 🙂
Getting past the awkward stranger bit at the beginning, everyone I met there was totally cool. I’ve definitely made a few new friends, and I feel really good about contributing to an awesomly geeky Australia event. 😀
If I’m going to be brutally honest about it, I’ll say a few things that I’d recommend for next time:
- Due to its size and complexity, management can get a little disorganized here and there. A little initiative and patience is a virtue.
- Forget about the lunch that gets ordered for you. XD Bring your own or bring some money to go buy some from the shops next to the train station.
- There are a lot of times when volunteers may be called to be on standby and wait in the volunteer room. Bringing a DS/PSP/iPhone/iPad in case of these times is highly recommended. XD
- Sit down whenever you get the chance. Your feet and back will thank you for it later. XD
- In case this kind of thing is a priority with you (it wasn’t really for me), being a volunteer more often than not does not mean a chance to catch up and talk with the stars. I think overall, I saw them less than the public did. (So I’m saying that that sort of stuff shouldn’t be a deciding factor there.) 😛
Either way, I had a good time. I’ll definitely recommend being a volunteer to other people… but they’d better be prepared for it hehe.
Whew… and I think that more or less was my entire review of the experience. I’m hoping that by putting my experience online, I can convey what it was like to other people thinking about volunteering and to give them a better idea of what it entails.
Either way, I may touch these articles up a bit later with some photos and better English lol, so stay tuned. 😉
See you at Supanova next year!