Some Leapers
began to
arrive Thursday evening. I visited with those who were there, then went
to bed after Richard and I checked the AV equipment to be sure
everything was copasetic. There were a couple of glitches that we
corrected before the con cranked up. |
|
June 22nd Friday
is mostly a blur. I know it rained. I know we went back to Denny's for
lunch, this time with Keir. I know we did some setup of the room - maps
and message board and registration stuff. I can't remember much more
till 5 when the con began with registration. Packets included meal
cards for the Ziggys, pens from Gallogly,
Fernandez & Riley, LLP (Accountants
and Consultants), bookmarks I made up, Orlando coupons, name badges,
and the printed booklet. Rather than have the stars bring boxes of
photos for autographing, I had the photos they sent me printed on
cardstock for autographing. Minuteman
Press did
a fantastic
job. |
|
Keir took over for me at 5:30, Helene
ran videos at 7:30 and the Fox family left at 5:15 to pick up John
D'Aquino, Natasha Pavlovich and Rich Whiteside for dinner. We went to
Ming Court, an elegant Chinese restaurant on International Drive and
shared several dishes. Rich ordered sushi that we all shared as an
appetizer. We got back to the Hawthorn in time for the Welcome party. I
brought out the sheet birthday cake and we all celebrated birthdays.
Debbie O'Brien's (red scarf) was Saturday so this came one
day early for her. |
|
Charlie, Davey
and
Jamin. More about Davey later. :-) |
|
After a brief
explanation of Saturday's proceedings - we were extending the auction
to 12 - the family left to drive the stars back to their hotel for the
night. |
|
Saturday began
with
buffet breakfast while I antsily (there's a neat word) waited for
Connie Clark of Beta Center to arrive. I knew she must be nervous
because we had never met and how was she to find me? I think I made an
impression when I walked out to her, knowing immediately who she was by
the stuff she was hauling in! Beta Center Inc was our chosen charity -
an organization that helps teen mothers break the syndrome of children
having children. (www.BCenterInc@aol.com) |
|
Keir showed
Connie where
to set up while I got the auction started. We had over 120 packets plus
the tables to auction off. Helene took over as auctioneer and I left
around 10 to get the stars. Dan had a redeye in and didn't get any
sleep (less than an inch between his knee and the back of the seat in
front of him, so we left him to sleep some more and Natasha, John and
Rich came back with me. |
|
It was a rush
to get
through the auction. There were several packets still remaining when we
had to stop the bidding in order to assign the tables. Richard came up
with the idea of bidding on the stars' tables and paying the lowest bid
of the top group. That seemed to work. The other tables were opened up
to those not bidding on star tables. |
|
An autographed
tee
signed by the Luminaria cast including Scott. |
|
Natasha and
John were
our first guests. They were on from noon to 1:30. I brought sandwiches
into the green room for the stars. Our schedule was so tight we didn't
have a lunch break. Natasha is the only woman I know who can wear
chartreuse and look good! |
|
Someone
commented on
Natasha's pants. She explained that there were all kinds of things she
liked on them and proceeded to name a few. |
|
During Natasha
and John,
I went to get Dan. He flew in Friday night and would fly back Sunday
morning to be home in time for his daughter's dance recital. We were
all thrilled that Dan was willing to come just for the day. He didn't
know of the special evening we had planned. John had suggested Dan as a
guest. I know several people came to Orlando Leap because Dan was going
to be there. |
|
Ok. Someone
tell me
what's going on here. I know John and Natasha were on stage together,
but here is John and Rich and above is John and Dan. I know I missed a
lot, but I didn't think I was THAT out of it! |
|
Natasha told me
in the
car that when John was talking she was going to be on the other mic and
make comments like, "Yeah, sure." I wonder if she did? |
|
A relaxed
moment for
John. |
|
Ian , Jo and
Keir. Ian
and Keir were two of Orlando Leap's security. I made up 4 shirts like
the one I'm wearing and two were auctioned for Beta. Each one is
slightly different and all were signed by the guests. Kewel. |
|
I don't know
what was
said during Dan and Rich's segment, but I don't think there was a
serious moment from the sound of the laughter. I'm so glad Richard was
taping it all. I'll have to edit the 6+hours he shot just to find out
what went on.
|
|
At 3 we showed
"Girlfriends" produced by Deborah Pratt and she came on at 3:30 to talk
about the new website she and her sisters are putting together. There
will be no commercials and it will be completely interactive and
different for each person who enters. Deborah said it will take more
than two years to get the site up and active. |
|
Meanwhile, you
can get a
preliminary look at the site by visiting (www.vmgn.com)
. Deborah
brought a CD of the site and Richard ran it through his laptop,
projected onto the screen using a video projector (for you
technophiles).
|
|
We followed
Deborah's
hour with an autograph session for Dan and Deborah. John, Natasha and
Rich would autograph on Sunday. While Dan and Deborah signed
autographs, I drove Natasha, John and Rich back to ttheir
hotel to freshen up, rest, and get ready for the Ziggys. |
|
What are the
Ziggys? I
wanted to do something different for Orlando Leap. I thought an award
ceremony like the Oscars might be just the ticket. It was tricky
keeping it quiet from the stars because I had inadvertently let the cat
out of the bag early on in planning. But luckily, most of the stars
forgot that they would be receiving awards as well as Leapers. |
|
Cons are
generally laid
back and casual. To make this event special, we decided to have a
dress-up affair and an MC in tux, John Koenig. We had awards specially
created and film bits of each actor's work which was displayed on the
screen prior to the actor's acceptance. During dinner, a revolving
award filled the screen along with slides of Scott, QL, and all the
stars. |
|
After dinner,
John
Koenig got the ball rolling and I presented the Volunteer awards.
Someone remarked that it felt like high school graduation 'cause all
the volunteers got certificates. But the certificates had Oscars on
them and that ain't graduation! :-) Another remark, from John Koenig,
was the number of volunteers it took to put on a con.
The first Leaper award was presented
by Natasha to
Nancy Mathews for paying the highest amount for a single auction item.
She got the framed and certified Scott and Dean picture.
|
|
The next high
roller
award, as John Koenig called them, was Antonio Zavanaiu for
buying the most auction items and Dan Roebuck did the honors. |
|
We wanted to
give an
award to the person who donated the highest bid auction item. Verna
Schossow wasn't present to accept due to illness but the award was sent
to her along with our good wishes for a speedy recovery and the thanks
of Beta Center. John D'Aquino accepted the award on Verna's behalf. |
|
Rich Whiteside
came on
stage to present the award to the Leaper who brought the best show and
tell goodies to Orlando Leap. Helene Kaplan won handsomely with her
videos although Freda Whaley's Scott and Dean dolls were a
crowd-pleaser. (wait for the video) |
|
Natasha came
back to the
stage to present the award to the Most Congenial Leaper. |
|
Janey Graves
was voted
Most Congenial by Leapers attending the convention. |
|
Deborah Pratt
was saved
for last to present the award to the person who best exemplified the QL
motto, "One Person Can Make a Difference." |
|
Margaret
Colchin
accepted the award for making a difference in Quantum Leap fandom. |
|
Next came the
Ziggys.
Karen Fox recited a poem she had composed to honor John D'Aquino as the
first star recipient of a Ziggy. John could be heard groaning through
his film clips, especially when we got to the Xena clip. "No," he
moaned. "Not that one." But yes, the scene chosen was the landing at
Ithaca. :-) Davey Jones came on stage to hold John's award as he
accepted the Ziggy. Upstaged by a five-year-old in a tux. hehe |
|
Karen then
introduced us
to Dan and presented him with a Ziggy. John or Dan told the audience
how they had just remarked in the van on the way over that here they
were presenting awards to Leapers and they weren't getting any awards.
Leapers are good at keeping secrets. They all knew the stars were
getting awards but kept it quiet. |
|
Natasha was
really
overwhelmed. Her husband has all these Oscars but Natasha said she
would display her Ziggy next to his. She was proud that we recognized
her for her acting ability. I think the best compliment was a story
Karen told Natasha. When Karen was at college, she called all her
friends together to watch the 2000 season opener of JAG. She was
watching for Natasha and had been watching her for several minutes as
the gypsy before she realized it was Natasha! That's acting. |
|
Rich Whiteside
came on
stage to accept his award, which covered his writing as well as his
acting. He quipped that he was a glorified extra but Rich has made a
lasting impression on all who have met him. |
|
I had the honor
of
presenting Deborah Pratt with the first ever "Voice of Ziggy" award.
When preparing for her introduction, I discovered Deborah wrote 22 of
the episodes of Quantum Leap and produced all of the episodes. In
accepting the award, Deborah told us this was an award dear to her
heart because Quantum Leap was dear to her heart. Of all the awards she
has won, she said this one meant the most. |
|
I thought the
evening
was over, except for Natasha's announced surprise, but Karen had a
surprise for me. She presented me with an Oscar statuette and yes, I
broke into tears. It was a neat surprise for me. The Oscar is on my
mantle and that's where it is going to stay!
Natasha's surprise was, of course, the
taped
interview with Scott. She taped it Thursday morning just before coming
to Orlando Leap and kept the surprise from everyone, including me. Now
she has graciously made it available to the internet. You can download
the digital MPG by clicking the 2001 button at the top of the main page.
|
|
After the
Ziggys, we
took a few photos. |
|
June 24th,
Sunday.
The Ziggys ended rather late and room parties geared up after that.
Each room was equipped with a VCR so parties went on till 2 in the
morning. We began Sunday at 9:30 and the stars pulled a switcheroo on
us. Instead of them on a panel, past con organizers were called up to
the stage and Natasha, Rich and John asked us questions like if we
could leap into Quantum Leap, what role would we want to play. I said
I'd like to have Sam leap into a con and have to run it. :-)
Then, John, Natasha and Rich signed
Orlando Leap
Programs. When that ended, we wrapped, had cookies, and Keir handled
the showing of Prowler which
Scott had graciously loaned us for the convention. Meanwhile, John,
Rich and Natasha said their good-byes and we all piled in the van for a
behind-the-scenes look at Kennedy Space Center.
|
|
Running a
convention is
a lot of work but very rewarding when everything goes according to
plan. We all had a great time and I know I have some very fond memories
of the weekend. Thank you to all who made it happen - stars, Leapers,
and most of all, my family. |