Many thanks to the newest XIP Reporter - Wendy!
Liza, Kelli & Sharon report on the Convention.
This was our first XENA Convention, ever.
Q). What was your first impression when you arrived inside the convention hall? Oooooahhhhh Look a t all the stuff, Hey they started already!!!!! By the gods ....there are no seats left, not even in the Balcony........darn! I gotta find the bathroom!!
Q) What did you think of all the merchandise that was for sale?
Most of the stuff was Creations' and the only stuff that was not was the Metal crafters. Knives swards etc. Kelli felt the T-shirts were not as cool as she had hoped for, but she bought three anyway. Sharon Bought Earrings. Liza was happy to find the First Volume of Xena Television sound Track.
Q) What did it feel like being there with all those people? Did you feel a common bond with perfect strangers?
Well we are people watchers and it was certianly a people watching event. There were people from all ages, creeds colors, and sexes. Xena is multi-cultural, and non gender specific. Universal to speak! Common bond? Well...... we were surprised to find out that all these other people love the show as much as we do.
Q) From the time you arrived until the first guest went on stage what did you do? What did you think of the video's from Creation?
Ok, we went SHOPPING!!!!!!!!! upon arrival
On the videos Kelli- yes but too loud!!!
Liza- I have an issue with the tribute to Gabrielle, First of all Gabbie ROCKS !!! And not once in the Video did they show her kicking butt with her "Little stick" , and the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" oh please. Kevins Song? "I need A Hero", Lucy's Song? Simply The Best" What's up with that?
Sharon Liked the sneak preview of this weeks show best of all.
Bloopers (all three of us) Yes!!!!!!!
Kelli-Gabrielle's tribute , um.. well...wasn't focused on her, it was more of a tribute to Xena with a Little more Gabrielle than the other.
Q) Seating, did you feel the price you paid was worth the seat you had? Was it worth the money you spent? Liza -No, Sharon -No, Kelli-No to seats Yes to money well spent. Its the Hercules Xena convention for pittys sake.
Q) If you can remember something about each guest that would be great. A story they told, or if they did something funny, i.e. Karl Urban dropped his pants to answer the question "boxer or briefs."
We were shopping we missed her, Liza Ducked out to have smoke.Kelli- Karl Urban was wonderful with the audience and very funny. He was better than most stand up comics. Sharon & Liza missed some of the appearances due to Sharon locking both her's and Liza's keys in her car.
Q) Had you ever seen Lucy in person? What can you remember about her time on stage?
None of us had ever seen Lucy in person before, so we had no expections for her to live up to.
Liza- Lucy came out and was so hyper she was jumping up and down while the crowd went wild.
Kelli- she was wearing a silk gray/green tank blouse black silk pants-very flowie...black flats, .......Liza- ooohhhh and as Lucy confessed miss matched socks. Sharon- don't for get the big yellow flower in her hair. No jewelry other than her wedding ring.
Liza- I thought the interviewer did fine with her, how she could have pissed Lucy off I don't know since they had met previously to talk about what questions and stories Lucy wanted. The Interviewer, was very up-front about the fact that she had already planned out with Lucy what they would discuss on stage that night. However when a fan did yell out sing for us, Lucy did, with out missing a beat.
Sharon- I went away(from the weekend) with the feeling that Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless are really fine , kind thoughtful human beings.
Kelli- me too just nice good people.
Liza- I was very impressed with the way Lucy let everyone know that its a major mind blower to know about all these fans and how she had to do some inner work to get to the point of as she said "be okay with you" pointing out to the audience. What a human thing it is to realize that you have an impact on so many people, and be ok with it. I really developed even more respect for her at that moment. I loved the cabbage story she told. (when they filmed Tsunami)
Q) What did you think about the crowd control? Did you see a lot of security? Or was it pretty lax?
We saw lots of security, more than enough.
Q) Did you think Creation did a very good job of putting on this convention? Or could it have been better? And if it could have been better, what do you think they should have done?
Kelli- it almost seemed as though they didn't expect so many people. The food stunk!
Sharon- the way it was maped out was very unclear, like go here for .... go there for......
Liza- I was dissapointed with the dealers room it could have been better, seemed it was Creation dealers only. Ya and the food really stunk!!
Q) Any comments that you heard other people say around you about the convention. And, would you consider attending another one? How upset were you that Lucy didn't sign autographs this time? Did you think Lucy was on stage long enough (real dumb question...you probably wanted her to stay all day.)
Liza We all realize that as Lucy put it "I am only one person, I can only do what I can do" It would be insane to think that she could, or would be able to sign all those autographs. My goodness.. There were people from floor to ceiling. I didn't want to go but nothing lasts forever, and I learned from the canceling of one of my most favorite shows(DQMW), that XENA and Hercules will not be on forever, and well, as Lucy said at the end of her time at the convention, "We might not pass this way again." So I can say I went, and was happy I did. Very happy.
Kelli- I wanted to see Kevin and Lucy, I thought that Creation should have had some of the stuff on display like costumes and props and stuuf like that. I had fun, I was glad I did go.
Sharon- I went cuz Liza called me and said I had to come with her and Kelli, she said I would have the time of my life, and I did. I was really happy to see that Kevin and Lucy were such nice and kind people. I was glad Liza insisted I come along.
WendyZ [Information Bloodhound to the Xenaverse]