Charity Con, Hastings, Minnesota. 24th September 2010.





 



The Poster for Keith Garrick's Charity Con on the 24th September, 2010.

I had been looking forward to seeing this event succeed, due to the sterling efforts of it's organiser, Keith Garrick, and the hardship that occasioned the change of date.

I had become acquainted with Keith and his lovely daughter Emily over the last six or seven months or so, as I had been invited to join his informative and fun forum, hosted on the Ning networks via his site, http://www.hobbenese.com/.

As this second date approached, it became obvious it was going to clash with another convention I was appearing at in Wales, called Starmania 2010. But we both decided to see if we could overcome that by using the online voice-over-internet application called Skype, which gave us also the option of having live video coverage. I also downloaded the program called VodBurner, which would alow me to record a bit of the interview and Q & A live with camera output from both ends.

I sat up on the night until 1.45 am the 25th September, which was 7.45 pm on the 24th and made the call. Below are links to the result, edited and divided into two parts for ease of upload to YouTube. I am sorry for the overall quality - I was on WiFi in my Welsh hotel as was the convention in Hastings, Minnesota, USA! Derek Lyons knocked on my door just before going live and so he too is included in the broadcast Q & A.

looked forward to also seeing members of the Central Garrison of the 501st trooping at the event and hoped that attendance would be enthusiastic, which is why I sat up half the night to support him and the event in general. I had also contributed, along with other Star Wars actors and collectors, memorabilia and autographs, which we hoped would attract some interest.

Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGSS2VRLzxs

Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm7xYOiq9LU
 

In the event, Keith reported back the following:
"Thanks so much for your support Alan !!! I couldn't have done it without you and your encouragement. Thanks for being such a good friend !!! May the Force be with you,,, Always....
Charity Con was a success !!! Thanks to all the fans and sponsors of the show!!! Together we rasied enough to purchase almost 4,000 pounds of food for the local food shelf !!! Special thanks to Alan Flyng, Derek Lyons and Rick Stanley and Shadow Trooper, The 501st, and Rebel Legion.
It came out to be $495.00 and over 4,000 pounds of food... Also a private donor has added a percentage onto that !!!"

Congratulations to Keith and his support crew and I hope next year to see a bigger and even better event!

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1758894141



The badge and logo of the Central Garrison, 501st Legion.