On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles aired a radio play adapted from the H. G. Wells book, “War of the Worlds.” Circumstances collided with presentation style and a nationwide panic ensued as people became convinced that a full-scale Martian invasion was in progress. On Sunday I got a small taste of how Orson Welles must have felt afterward.
This past Saturday was April Fools day and for the second year running, I felt that the Shore Leave site should be a part of the annual antics. The original plan fell through due to technical difficulties just one hour into the day, so I decided to come up with a “Plan B” and save the original for next year.
Last year’s prank went pretty well, except that at least one person didn’t get the joke. As near as I can figure, she overlooked the text explaining the origins of “MeteorCon,” so I decided that this year I’d use something more closely resembling a press release.
After mulling it over for an hour or so, I finally hit on the idea of tapping into the popularity of the new Battlestar Galactica series. Going completely over the top (How else would you play an April Fools joke?), I thought it would be a grand idea to actually hold the convention on the Galactica. Not on the sets, but on the actual spacecraft. And so I started writing…
As much I wanted to make it sound nearly believable, I also wanted to make it clear that this a joke. I added an “April 1” dateline. I explained how the Sci-Fi channel had decided it was cheaper to build an actual space ship rather than do all the computer generated imagery. And throughout the text, I referred to the Galactica as an actual spaceship and even talked about how the convention would be set up onboard.
The emails I saw on Saturday afternoon were all favorable. People not only got the joke, they thought it was funny! When I walked into the STAT meeting on Sunday, the first several people I saw congratulated me on a great prank. This was a great success! Then I ran into the convention co-chairs…
Kett and Marilyn hadn’t known about the change of plans. While I was celebrating a successful prank on Saturday, they were fielding emails and phone calls from people who were congratulating them on their coup, or worrying over where to find enough space in the Hunt Valley Inn for “several city blocks worth” of sets. Evidently a half-dozen (or more!) people were convinced that the convention had either acquired the sets, or would be taking place aboard an actual space ship! (As Kett put it, “These are Science Fiction fans, they like to believe that anything’s possible.”)
If I had it to do over, I’d have sent Kett and Marilyn an email to let them know about the change of plans. (Seeing as how I was working on this from 1 to 3 AM, phone calls were definitely out of the question.) Other than that, I probably wouldn’t change anything.
To those who were taken in, all I can say is, “Gotcha!”
That and, “Run for your life! The Martians are marching on Grovers Mill!”
Category Archives: Fandom
April Foolery
April Fools day has been one of my favorite holidays for several years, so when I took over the Shore Leave web site a few years ago, it was only a matter of time until my sense of humor surfaced on the site.
Last year, the convention’s hotel was hit by a meteor and a new convention was born. (Amazingly, the guests bore a strikingly resemblance to members of the convention committee; none of whom knew about it.)
This year was subtler, nothing more than an announcement that the convention had made an acquisition.
I wonder if anyone noticed? 🙂
Do NOT read this entry!
Aaaack! You’re reading it! You really should go read one of my other posts instead. Don’t read any further into this one.
Still with me, eh? Well I warned you, so it’s your own darn fault.
As everyone who attended last month’s Farpoint discovered, the new owners of Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn have been doing some rennovations over the past six months. I was up there two months earlier and on the spur of the moment, took a few photos with my camera phone. They’re not the highest quality, but you can view them if you like.
Before viewing the photos though, be warned. The old hunting theme is gone, replaced with something they consider more “corporate.” Almost everyone who attended the convention had about the same reaction – whoever chose the colors must be insane. It’s worth noting that several wedding receptions have reportedly decided to book other facilities after viewing the new decor.
So bearing all that in mind, if you feel that you really must view the photos, at least put on sunglasses first, or better yet, turn off your monitor.
You’ve been warned.
View the Hunt Valley Inn’s new look.
– Blair
Finding Serenity
For one of the conventions I’m involved in, my role is to act as the organization’s liaison to the various fan groups who attend each year.
Initially, this mainly entailed keeping track of who had contacted us and assigning them table space on a first-come basis. Over time though, the position has evolved somewhat and I now find myself seeking groups out and inviting them to attend. (In some ways, this is very much about publicizing the event.)
One of the past year’s big movies from a fan perspective (for some, this was bigger than the final Star Wars) was a rather imaginative film called “Serenity.”
Part science-fiction and part cowboy movie, Serenity is a follow-on to the short-lived TV series Firefly and continues the story of a spaceship crew living “out on the raggedy edge.” Several members of Serenity’s crew are Browncoats – veterans from the losing side of a war between The Alliance (the oppressive central government) and the Independents (the worlds that didn’t want to become part of The Alliance).
Fans of the show and the movie have adopted the “Browncoat” label to describe themselves and their desire to keep the show alive after a series of questionable programming decisions by the Fox network caused Firefly to be cancelled after just 12 of its 14 episodes had aired. (Among Fox’s questionable judgments are decisions to show the episodes out of sequence and worse, not airing the pilot episode – where all the series’ groundwork is laid – until the last.)
The browncoat fan base has been so strong in fact that Universal Pictures made the decision to “greenlight” Serenity despite the poor ratings the Firefly series had received. Because of this, a few months ago, one of the committee members commented that “Wouldn’t it be great if we had the Browncoats there?”
So, I started out to find the browncoats. This was more challenging than you might suspect though, I’m only involved in one or two clubs myself and now I was setting out to make contact with a new one. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to find any browncoat clubs. Eventually I realized what was going on — they’re just like their counterparts in the movie! The Browncoats don’t join alliances! They’re all a bunch of independents!