Each year, San Diego Comic-Con proves an excercise in frustration and elation. Among the 80,000+ attendees, I always run into everyone who I know is going to be there and several whom I didn't expect. I always see people I recognize but don't remember from where, and always get stopped by people who recognize me - some personal, some professional. I always have the best networking eperience of the year business-wise. I usually spot a few celebrities and occasionally a personal idol in the dealers' room. I always get into some events and am annoyed at the poor managing of others I don't get into. I always wind up loaded down with freebie goodies if I look hard enough. 2005 was no exception. I got into two out of the four signings I wanted, got to see all the people I planned to and then some, passed out resumes and business cards, made new acquaintances and accomplished a three-decade-long desire to meet a celebrity I've loved all of my life. And today I am in great pain from carrying all the freebies I picked up. But oh, it was worth it!

With every Comic-Con, I try to have a plan set ahead of time. This year, upon checking the con's schedule posted in advance on their website, I found I had a dilemma. For the first time in a long time, Comic-Con had panels on three different days that I wanted to attend. On Friday was the Battlestar Galactica panel with writer Ronald D. Moore and the cast of the show, along with the panel for one of the upcoming season's shows that I'm interested in: The WB's Supernatural. Sunday had panels for The 4400 with writer Ira Steven Behr and Threshold with writer Brannon Braga, along with the studio presentation on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. But on Saturday was the one that most grabbed my attention: an ABC panel presentation on Lost with some of the show's writers and cast, and two new shows, Invasion with producer Shaun Cassidy and Night Stalker with head writer Frank Spotnitz and cast members Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union. Saturday was also the day Joss Whedon was doing his panel on Serenity. But what was really key was the notice on the schedule that a signing for Lost, Invasion, and Night Stalker would be happening in a dealers' room booth. Now, as an experienced Comic-Con attendee, what that told me was that it was possibly an event open to the public.

Comic-Con in recent years has gotten so big that one person alone can't attend everything or indeed, even MOST things that they want. So you have to narrow your scope to two to three objectives and a few other possibilities if they fit in. I'd long since given up on attending panels in favor of trying to get into the signings. As I've said, the con is a major networking event for me and if the choice is being one of several thousand seeing a person speak for an hour or being one of a much smaller group of people and having 30 seconds to make an impression, create a memory or very importantly, pass on a resume or business card... well, I know which one I choose. So as much as I REALLY wanted to see the Galactica panel in particular, Saturday's signing opportunities had to win out - three shows, three chances to pass on resumes to producers and head writers plus get to see actors I like and get signed posters? Oh, heck yeah! I'm all over that! I was also hoping that Joss might do a signing and I could possibly win a wristband for that, too. As I'd learned at last year's con if you were in the autograph area at the right time, you had a chance to win a raffle ticket to some of the really limited special signings that the con itself put on. I was hoping that the dealers' room signing would be one where you could get tickets at the booth itself at the beginning of the day rather than a special giveaway of tickets during the panel for the shows because I couldn't be in two places at once; and then if I was really lucky, I'd head upstairs and try to win one of the raffle signing wristbands as well. All of it an educated gamble really, but that was my plan.

However, knowing how poorly Comic-Con manages its signings (with some well-organized booths being the rare exceptions), I knew to steel myself for disappointment if need be. Not so the signing newbies around me, sadly. I arrived at the con plenty early and to the con's credit, they opened both registration and the dealers' room a bit early to accomodate the antsy crowds (which seemed comparable to the size of last year's crowds or possibly a bit less given the lack this year of 'A-level' celebs like in 2004). So after being pointed in the wrong direction one too many times by none-too-informed employees/volunteers, I found registration, got my badge and headed over to wait by an entrance to the dealers' room. As soon as the doors opened, I and many others made a mad dash to the Inkworks cards booth where the signing was supposed to be.

I immediately found myself surrounded by several very vocal and very angry Lost fans who were harassing the Inkworks' employees when they found they wouldn't be giving out tickets to the Lost signing just yet (though they had started handing out Invasion signing tickets, one of which I managed to snag - one signing ticket down, two to go). What started as a crowd of 150 or so quickly grew to 250 and possibly 350 by the time the employees of the booth realized they were a) overwhelmed and b) should've thought ahead and figured out where/how to make a line to distribute tickets. Instead, they dithered and the crowd grew and the Lost fans grew more desperate. Finally after calling security to try to rein in the now very upset crowd (though having faced this problem repeatedly with booth signings at previous Comic-Cons, I was unsurprised they hadn't learned their lesson on how to organize a ticket distribution *rolleyes*) they decided on a method of distributing the Lost signing tickets - they would put them in a big box along with a bunch of slips of paper that said 'sorry' and those who picked the pieces of paper that said 'Lost' won a ticket and those with 'sorry' could get back in line to try again. This drew groans and more angry protests from the crowd. I simply shrugged and accepted this as par for the course at Comic-Con, though I sympathized with the diehard Lost fans who were about to miss their chance at the signing because of such poor organization. I was towards the front of the mass of people near the box where they were handing out chances for the signing, but the employees let so many people cut in they were out of numbers within about a minute and a half and I hadn't even gotten near the box to try my chance. So one success, one failure, one to go on the signing tickets.

Disappointed but unsurprised, I waited for the crowd to disperse, then found an Inkworks employee to ask about Night Stalker signing tickets - the only other 'must' attend event on my agenda. I was told to come back at 1:30 p.m. at which point they would be handing out those signing tickets. Given the experience they just had, I returned at 11:30 a.m. to confirm this and at 12:30 p.m. - in both instances the different employees told me to come back at 1:30 for Night Stalker tickets. However, they'd shown exactly how disorganized they could be, so I returned again at 1:10 p.m. - to find a line of over 100 people waiting for tickets! When I asked an employee about the supposed 1:30 ticket handout and if that was the line, the employee told me the line had formed itself, they had nothing to do with it (again, I was unsurprised - fans aren't stupid, they learned their lessons even if Inkworks hadn't). So I asked if I should get in this line if I wanted a Night Stalker ticket, I was told I 'probably should'. *rolleyes* Ah, management. Very nervous now considering how many people were already in line vs. how many tickets I anticipated being given out, I was not happy when after standing in line for 20 minutes and after the booth's security announced that no one could jump into the middle of the line, instead they should go to the end of the line if they wanted tickets - the guy in front of me tried to cut THREE of his friends in line ahead of me! The security guy saw one of them and told her to go to the end of the line, which she didn't do, but she and one of the others decided to go to a different signing instead (and clearly NONE of these people knew who was in the signing or what the show was about, because they kept asking ME!). So when the last of his friends deliberately pushed in front of me, I loudly said 'excuse me, but I'M behind him' and pointed to the one who had been in line. The guy just shrugged and stepped into line behind me! The security guy for the booth never came back or I would have pointed this out, but I'm amazed the people behind me didn't protest - somebody down the line didn't get a ticket because this guy cut the line! Cheaters suck. At any rate, the booth's employees decided that since they had the line, they'd use it to hand out tickets - what a concept! But as the stack of tickets got smaller and smaller, I got more and more nervous. Fortunately, I made it with about eight tickets to spare (and of course, an angry line of people beyond that who didn't get tickets). Still, it was a great relief to me to have that (literally) golden ticket in hand! Okay, two out of three ain't bad. And as much as I liked Lost last season and as much as it would have been nice to meet Josh Holloway (one of my three favorite actors on the show), the Invasion and Night Stalker signings were much more important to me. And here's why...

As I've said, I try to plan ahead for Comic-Con, which includes supplies of everything from munchies to resumes. But I also try to have something unique in mind to say when I meet people beyond what they're used to hearing. So knowing that this was a rare public appearance for Shaun Cassidy, who has become quite the genre television producer in the last decade, with projects ranging from American Gothic to Roar to the forthcoming Invasion, I wanted to make an impression with the opportunity I had. So along with my resume I brought something unique - a few months ago, TV Guide had a special issue focusing on teen idols. Appropriately they included important people like Davy Jones and Clay Aiken in their Top 25 and unsurprisingly the number one choice was David Cassidy. But where, I wondered, as I looked through the list, was his brother Shaun, who'd caused quite the craze in his own time? The article suggested checking the magazine's website to see who *almost* made the list. Sure enough, Shaun Cassidy was number 26. Which was COMPLETELY unacceptable, given some of the idiotic people who DID make the list, pushing him just off of it. Annoyed, I used the site's link to respond to the article and told them in my own snarky way what I thought of them not including Shaun and what I thought of some of those they did include. Very soon afer, I received an e-mail from TV Guide asking permission to print my letter, which I granted. So knowing that I was going to see him at the con and hoping he would take it light-heartedly and not see me as a fangirl, I brought not only my resume to the signing, but a copy of the page in TV Guide where my letter was printed! So as I got up to the front of the line, I had watched to see how he was responding to the fans - he was being very nice and everyone was actually getting a moment to speak to him. So, when it was my turn, I stepped up to the table and handed him my resume and the copy of the letter page. I told him, 'hey, anyone can bring you a resume, but how many can bring a resume and a letter to the TV Guide written to defend your honor?' I grinned as I handed both to him and pointed at the letter specifically. He looked at it, read it, grinned back and asked, 'you wrote this?' I said I had as I'd been annoyed he'd been left off the list, unfairly I felt. He laughed and said it was probably because he'd refused to give them an interview for the issue! I then pointed to the resume and noted my industry experience and I was very happy to see him hand the resume and letter off to an assistant to take with him. You just never know in these situations what's going to happen - I've handed resumes to Joss at Comic-Con on more than one occasion and have no idea what he did with them. Hopefully, he remembered to take them with him and put them on file at his office. But you just never know. It's my belief, though, that you have to take these opportunities when you can. There were also two actors from the new show, Invasion, at the signing - including the most darling little girl you can imagine who proudly signed the poster along with an actor co-star and her producer. So, got my signed poster in hand, resume and letter delivered, and didn't make too much of an idiot of myself... hopefully. (I'd been a fan of Shaun Cassidy's since I was a little girl, but I'd already had the fannish pleasure of meeting him when I was a teenager and found him incredibly kind to a starstruck girl back then, so here I could just be in professional mode. He's a producer of shows I respect and I would be very happy for the chance to work for him, so that was my focus at the con.) I counted it a successful experience! But would I be able to repeat it with the Night Stalker signing?

Because I was so far back in the ticket line for the Night Stalker signing, the line curved around the corner so I couldn't see the group when they arrived. But I knew who was scheduled to be there - head writer Frank Spotnitz and stars Stuart Townsend and Gabrielle Union. The line seemed to have more men than women in it and many of those seemed to be there for Gabrielle, rather than the two men. I recognized the name and the face of the actress, but I didn't remember where I knew her from at the time, so my focus was on the two men. When I finally rounded the corner, I could see all three and I enjoyed having the time to watch them all interact. Gabrielle was very nice to all her fans, I could see, as she greeted them all with smiles. But yes, my focus was on the two men. Since Frank Spotnitz had a history in genre television given his work on The X-Files, he seemed comfortable and jovial with everyone who came by. But I was curious how Stuart Townsend would handle the experience, being a relative newcomer to dealing with fans. By my observations he seemed to treat it as an extended dinner party, stopping to offer his hand to greet everyone and speak to them as individuals. He seemed modest, but friendly, gentle but not shy, quite impressive really given the chaos and the costumes of Comic-Con. He just seemed to take it all in stride. When it was my turn, I took my thirty seconds and with Frank Spotnitz watching and grinning at my enthusiasm I went into full appreciative groupie mode and told Stuart that I thought his Lestat was the definitive film version and that Queen of the Damned was EVERYTHING that 'other' movie should have been, but wasn't! Again, Stuart just seemed to take it genuinely and appreciatively without being overwhelmed by my expression of fannishness. But I didn't so much as stop to take a breath after gushing over Stuart, when I then immediately turned to Frank Spotnitz, held out my resume and added, 'And I DESPERATELY want to work for YOU!' Which caught him offguard, but made him laugh, which I thought was a good thing. I again held out my resume, which he hadn't taken and said 'it's my resume' and smiled. At which point, he took the resume, smiled back, and handed it to an assistant. As I passed by Gabrielle, I told her how much I was really looking forward to the show and that it was THE show of the next season I was waiting for (true). She smiled graciously and I took my signed poster and left. Two signings, two resumes handed out, two fun experiences - SCORE! But that wasn't even the best part of the con...

Backtracking a bit, once the ticketing situation with the dealers' room signings was sorted out, I headed up to the autograph area, looking for those special wristband raffle tickets for several different very limited signing events including the one I was most interested in: yes, Joss. But no one seemed to know if or where those raffles were happening. Last year, at random moments of the day, a Comic-Con employee/volunteer would stand by the freebie table and invite people to take a chance and try and win a ticket by putting their hand in a bucket and drawing out a ticket. But I didn't see that happen this year. I later ran into some friends, one of whom had won a wristband for the Joss signing how that raffle had been held. They told me that a few hours earlier, Comic-Con had ALL of the special limited raffles simultaneously held over by the registration area! They said people had gone through the lines repeatedly until they got a winning ticket for a wristband and that therefore all the wristbands went to the same small group of people in a very short amount of time! Again, I was disappointed, but unsurprised at poor management of a signing situation by the Comic-Con folks. So I accepted that my two signings were going to be the major events of the day, short of hanging out with various friends I had planned to meet up with. Little did I know...

In between running back and forth (upstairs and down) between dealers' room signings and upstairs freebie table, I also powered my way around the dealers' room, picking up freebies and running into friends and acquaintances. Including the wild (but very Comic-Con) experience of running into someone who recognized me from college (many years ago)! Turns out he was in the industry, too, so we chatted for a few moments and exchanged business cards. 80,000+ people and something like this ALWAYS happens! Walking through the dealers' room, there were plenty of celebrities on hand doing signings from wrestler Rob Van Dam to rocker/movie producer Rob Zombie. Jack Black also made quite the stir when he and his Tenacious D rock band partner walked through the room with a bodyguard a foot taller than they were. A huge mass of people surrounded them as he stopped to meet, greet and pose for pictures with folks. I got about two feet away from him, but decided I just was on too tight a schedule to fight my way through the crowd just to name drop that a friend of mine had worked on his recent Tenacious D movie, Pick of Destiny (Tenacious D is the actor's alter ego rock band formed with one other guy). I later found out that my friend who'd worked on the film had been at the con when I ran into a friend of his in the dealers' room! But it was a chance detour past an eating area in the back of the dealers' room that brought destiny to me!

Now, whether it's from spending my life surrounded by the entertainment industry or an innate talent, I have a celebrity radar that's been very good to me. I just know the second a celebrity is around. And when I hit a far corner of the dealers' room, my GroupieSense went off like crazy! I saw a very tall man in a black suit with his back to me posing for a picture with someone in the midst of the general eating area where fans at various tables had stopped to refuel. Even before he sat down again at his table to continue his meal, my heart started pounding and my temperature rose. I simply knew. It was Gene Simmons from KISS. Now, some of you may be wondering what a nice girl who writes letters to the TV Guide about Shaun Cassidy would possibly care about the long-tongued, hard-rocking Gene Simmons! A fair question. Of course, if you perused my favorite actors page, you'd see I have very eclectic tastes in people I'm a fan of. And I've been a fan of Gene's since I was six years old. Really. I can prove it. There are pictures of me as a six year old in KISS makeup sticking my tongue out like Gene. I know what I love. I always have. And I've always loved Gene. But I don't just love Gene for his tongue and his musical talent, I love him for his mind. Really. I can prove it. For those of you who think that a rocker can't be a brainiac, go read some of Gene's books. Sure you'll find anecdotes about his sexcapades, but you'll also find an incredibly shrewd, knowledgeable businessman who is strongly responsible for the franchise that is KISS. (I will also add that about a decade ago, I had the pleasure of meeting KISS lead singer Paul Stanley, who along with giving me an autograph, also essentially gave me a marketing survey asking about the last KISS album I bought and the last concert or KISS convention I attended. I was impressed with the questions and the man. But it was Gene that I had always loved.)

Living where I do, I've always had the opportunity to meet everyone, really, EVERYONE that I've ever been a diehard fan of. Everyone. Except Gene. Oh, I know people who've met him. And about two years ago at Comic-Con he did a ticketed signing in the dealers' room where I could see him in profile from a hundred feet away (I didn't have a ticket). But he was the one. The one that I'd always been crazy about, but never managed to meet. How crazy you ask? How about owning a Gene Simmons KISS beanie kind of crazy? How about owning a Gene Simmons teddy bear (with the tongue sticking out) kind of crazy? Oh, yeah. I'm a Gene fan. But I'd always had to say, 'oh, I've met everyone I've loved... except Gene Simmons'. But this was the day that would change all that!

Trying to catch my breath and formulate a plan, I circled the area, but I was pretty sure he'd seen the expression on my face as I realized who he was as he sat down. I did not want to be the rude person who interrupts his meal. That's impolite. And Gene is a gentleman who understands manners. I REALLY did not want to interrupt his meal. So I circled the area and thought furiously. I was afraid if I strayed too far I'd miss him and never forgive myself. I was afraid if I interrupted his meal, he'd think me another inconsiderate fan. On the other hand, the man was sitting at a table in practically the middle of the dealers' room and he isn't stupid. If he didn't want to meet and greet fans, he'd go find the convention's green room for guests and eat in peace there. Yes, he probably wanted to enjoy the hustle and bustle and people-watching that is part of the fun of this con, but he could have done that by walking through the dealers' room (as plenty of other celebs do), not planting himself in the middle of it. Plus he was very graciously speaking with everyone who came over, posing for pictures, even talking on a fan's cell phone to some lucky and no doubt surprised recipient. Incredible. Simply incredible. Ultimately, though, it was the thought of missing this opportunity that had been so wonderfully granted to me, this chance of a lifetime that I had been waiting three decades for. So on the tail end of someone else's photo op, as he sat down again to try and eat, I tentatively smiled and asked, 'may I be the 900th person to interrupt your meal today?' He put down his fork again and nodded regally, like a king being greeted by an awed subject and he told me I may. And I gushed. I told him I'd loved him since I was six. I told him about the pictures of me in the makeup. He smiled and thought that was cool. Again, striving to find something different to say, I told him I loved his books. That did prompt a smile and he answered, 'I hope they are truthful.' I told him I thought they were smart. I didn't think he got that response very often. I followed up by telling him that one of his books, Sex, Money, Kiss, was currently by my bed as I was in the midst of reading it. That prompted a startled, but pleased look on his face. I think he realized that I wasn't kidding about enjoying his books. There was so much I wanted to say to him but didn't, though he was very patient, so used to this kind of worship, but not blase about it. Really, the best word I can use to describe him, aside from classy... is kind. He was very kind to me. I was a blithering, worshipping idiot - the kind I only become when I meet someone I've loved for this long - and he was kind. A person standing next to me had a camera and when I'd become tongue-tied LOL he asked if that was my camera. I said no, but asked if he minded if I took a picture. He said of course I could, so I fumbled in my purse for my phone-cam (with which I'd earlier shot some photos from the line of Shaun Cassidy and Stuart Townsend at their respective signings). As I grabbed my phone-cam, he tried to get another bite in to eat, so I waited before I took a picture. I guess I waited so long that one of the women with him said I could go ahead and take the photo (he had a few people sharing the table with him, but they were clearly for 'go', not for 'show', no busty Playboy model types - I didn't notice if one of them was his longtime companion Shannon Tweed - she could have been the woman who encouraged me to take a picture, but I didn't want to stare... at anyone except him LOL). But I'd been rude in interrupting his meal; the least I could do was wait for him to stop eating before I took my picture. I think he realized that I was trying to be polite, so again very kindly, he finished that bite and looked into my phone-cam so I could take the picture. I thanked him and then, pressing my luck, quickly and quite shyly asked if I could have a hug? He said of course. And I dropped all three of my bags (including my purse) right onto the floor. Hey, if I was gonna get a Gene-hug, I was gonna get a Gene-hug! He was still sitting down, so I leaned over, prepared to give him a quick hug and not be clingy but hoo-boy, when that man gives a hug, he gives a HUG!!! Nothing lascivious, for those of you whose thoughts wandered. He's simply one of those rare men who knows how to hold a woman. I melted. I try not to do that often. But, wow, one of the best hugs I've ever had in my entire life. No rush, no fuss, just utter warmth in giving me that once in a lifetime moment. And I floated off on the happiest cloud... and bounced with joy for the rest of the day. THAT is the best of what Comic-Con has to offer. And that, as I told Gene, made my whole year.

The other neat encounter(s) I had were of course all writer-related. I stopped by a publisher's booth, where I knew some of the folks and got to say hi. I missed a writer-friend's signing while I was in line for Night Stalker, but as we had dinner plans scheduled anyway, he forgave me when I called to apologize (how DID we ever get around Comic-Con without cell phones?!). I ran into someone I knew who was promoting a comic book he'd co-written, which was edited by a mutual writer friend, Ashley Edward Miller. Ash was supposedly at the con, but hadn't come by the table yet that morning. But as I left their table, I ran right into him and got to stop and chat. When I told him more of our mutual friends were around the con, including the writer whose signing I'd missed, Keith R. A. DeCandido, in order for everyone to see each other, I arranged to get everyone in the same place at the same time, which finally happened at the end of the day. Evidently we'd just missed director Bryan Singer who'd stopped by the booth, but happily Rob Meyer Burnett (Free Enterprise), was standing there talking to Ash. When Keith arrived, he and Rob got into a great conversation about the state of Star Trek fiction, which was quite fun to listen to. Rob eventually needed to leave, but geek that I am, I had to ask him one DVD question while I had the chance... though LOL he told me there were no geeky DVD questions! For the forthcoming 'Special Edition' DVD version of Free Enterprise, a movie I freely admitted had deeply touched my fannish heart - I wanted to know what was the difference between this new edition and the previous one? Well, aside from TWO new commentaries, one from stars Eric McCormack and Rafer Weigel along with one from Rob himself with William Shatner (and Rob said the Shatner commentary was awesome and hysterical)... Rob said he'd recut the documentary from the earlier DVD and added new footage. He'd also said he'd changed some stuff in the film, including I believe he said adding in some bloopers from the original shoot and upping the quality of the special effects, such as in the Logan's Run sequence. So I asked him, does this mean we get two versions of the movie on this DVD release - the original and the new or just the new? Following the George Lucas mentality of special editions, however, apparently this new DVD release would only have the new version of the film. So the only way to get the original version is to find a copy of the original DVD. I was a bit disappointed... only because it meant that I was going to have to shell out cash for two different DVD versions of the same film! I love the original and feel the need to own it as it was originally created. But I've GOT to hear those new commentaries! Rob and I had a fun discussion about some of the locations used for the film (as it was shot locally) and then he began to talk about his idea for the long in development sequel. I'm not going to give away any plot details, though I will say I LOVED the idea! He did note that it had taken this long for the sequel because he hadn't been able to wrap his head around the concept for the film until recently. But now he saw where it should go and he was looking forward to putting it together. I asked, a bit concerned, would Eric McCormack, now a big TV star with Will & Grace still be willing to be in the sequel and Rob indicated that Eric had expressed an interest in being in it - hooray! It was a pleasure to talk to Rob - and even nicer that he remembered that we'd met before in passing. It was a great way to end the con - surrounded by friends and writers whose work I so enjoyed!

As an aside, while Comic-Con always has props from forthcoming movies displayed in the dealers' room, I'll admit as none were from movies I was interested in (Ghost Rider, The Devil's Rejects, Transformers), I didn't really take a close look. For those wondering about the freebies available at the con, I will say the freebie table itself was a great disappointment compared to the cool stuff they put out last year. However, some of the goodies from booths in the dealers' room included: an Adult Swim t-shirt, a Nickelodeon snap-on bracelet, a Chronicles of Narnia bag and bookmarks, a Greatest American Hero dvd promo button, 8x11 Serenity 'Can't Stop The Signal' logo card with cast pics plus a Serenity postcard, button and keychain, a Lost button and season one DVD promo mini-poster, Invasion and Night Stalker promo full size posters, The Fog one sheet poster, Keanu Reeves Constantine DVD mini-poster, comic character Bone toy, SciFi Tripping the Rift Gus windup toy, two different Stargate: Atlantis character buttons, and assorted trading cards and buttons.