Who would want a Fan Reunion?

A

Avilos

Project QL Assistant
Nov 22, 2008
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First of all let me give full credit for this idea to board member Chicken Boo.

A followup convention seemes unlikely in the near future. A full-blown convention with celebrities and with events. But one of the best things about the recent convention was just meeting and hanging out with fellow fans.

So that is our idea. A Fan Reunion. Picking a time and place and meeting up again. Keeping costs down is the key. So there would be no formal events. We could all stay at the same hotel. Sight-see together in the chosen city. hang out in each others rooms and watch QL episodes. We could even plan a party at restaurant. Who's to stop us from showing up in costumes! I am up for that! ;)

Consider it a "Convention without the Convention". Obviously this idea will not appeal to everyone. For some its understandable that seeing actors is part of the justification for spending the money for a trip like this. That's fine. Part of the plan is to kept this as small and manageable as possible.

Now if any of the cast or crew of the show became aware of this event and wanted to join us - That would be an added bonus! But that is not the expectation here.

We are thinking sometime in the next 2 years. Location will be determined by committed travelers. My thinking is to pick a fun city with a lot of stuff to see and do. Or the other way is to pick a centrally located site to be convenient to as many as possible. Yes that means in the United States. Any overseas fans are more than welcome to come!!!! In fact that is the main reason I think we should pick a city other than Los Angeles. To give our international friends a new city to explore and added reason to join us.

Clearly this is in the earliest planning stages. We are looking for any interest and feedback anyone has.

If Chicken Boo wants to add to or correct anything I have written she can. She is the Boss! I am just her Public Relations Guy! :bow ;)
 
If I can scrape together the money for the travel costs by then, I'd love to do something like that. :)

it's a great idea!
 
A few of us international travellers had the pleasure of reuniting in London last weekend, and even though it was only 16 weeks since the LeapBack it felt like the perfect amount of time had passed since we were last together.

Representatives from the following countries were there: England, Netherlands, Israel, Australia, France and the Canary Islands. Well they were the ones I caught up with.

If the reunion fits in with the Australian school holidays I am there!
 
A followup convention seems unlikely in the near future. A full-blown convention with celebrities and with events.
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This is true. For this to happen, the convention company would need people to take over the roles of legal and financial. Interested people would have to put their names on legal documents as responsible parties for guarding the company interests and financial holdings. It's a lot of work, folks.

We're having a meeting in August to decide whether or not to dissolve The Leap Back 2009, Inc. Right now all but three of the committee members are definitely leaving the corporation. If there is anyone who would like to take on the roles mentioned above, let the committee know in the next couple of weeks.

You have to be a U.S. citizen to be a corp. officer.

I will not be staying on as President/officer of the corporation, but I wouldn't mind consulting and running a website for the new organizers if they could be found.

Let us know if you're interested - it's easier to change officers in a company than to set up a new company, especially a non-profit one. If the corp is dissolved, it's unlikely we'll ever see another large con like Leap Back again unless the show returns to TV.
 
I am ALL for a fan reunion located centrally so that travel is more equal for those on the west and east coasts.

I nominate Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Branson as possible locations. All are in the Midwest and all have plenty of things to do and see.

Chicago would be great as it has a LOT of stuff to do (haven't been there yet, but would love to). St. Louis would be a great place as a connection to Scott Bakula. Kansas City as a connection to Dean Stockwell (his father is from there), and Branson would have more things to do than one can even imagine, plus a trip to the 1880s-themed Silver Dollar City would fit in nicely with the time travel aspect.

So, any of those four would be fun places to do a fan gathering and are much more convenient for people than, say, LA or Orlando (both west and east coasters would only have to travel *half* the country to get there, LOL).

Joy
 
I just lost a long post!

THats an interesting suggestion Brian. THough I have no idea what that would involve. I have no managing or event planning experience. I am mostly cheerleader and idea guy. You did such a FANTASTIC job I can not imagine us surpassing that.

You do not have to sell me on the Midwest Joy! I live about an hour drive north of Milwaukee. I could drive to Chicago in about 2 and a half hours.

I guess at this point we should open up to any and all site suggestions. With the reasoning for those places. I am reluctant to put out my own ideas at this point. It would be too self serving.

Though Chicago would be nice... and I have sister who lives in the Southwest.... ;)
 
Well, to be honest, any of the Missouri sites would be "self serving" to me, since I can get to KC & St. Louis in 3 to 4 hours, and Branson is now just 30min away from me.

But Chicago would be fun. Flights there are usually pretty cheap, and they're a big "con" town, so they have all sorts of things to do and see there.

Joy
 
Well that's fine to be "self serving". The chosen city is bound to be close to somebody. It may be easier for planning to have someone close to the site be there a few days early to make certain things are set. Also to play tour guide for the rest of us and give advice.

Ok I will give my idea

Las Vegas - Full disclosure here -My sister lives there. SHe is looking to buy a house and move out of her apartment. So I would have a free place to stay!

But there are numerous real reasons to consider it. It probably is the convention headquarters of the world. Everything would be in place there regardless of when we go. There are all the tourist attractions, restaurants open 24 hours a day. We could all show up at a buffet in full Quantum Leap costumes and people would not bat an eye. We would just be more weirdos... ;)

Plus my sister would be a real asset for us. She works at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. We MAY be able to get some kind of discount. But most of all she knows the hotel business and knows the city. She would know where to get discounted tickets for shows and for food. Also in this scenario I would certainly be in town a few days before and after the reunion.

Chicken Boo would like to have it in New Mexico for obvious reasons. But to voice my opinion and only mine, that seems a little impractical. As beautiful as the state may be the show never actually filmed there. Also Albuquerque, or other NM site, would not have any added benefits over any random US city.

Yet Vegas also has Desert atmosphere. You do not have to drive out of the city far to see landscapes like those in the Pilot. Also they have tours of old atomic bomb testing research labs near Vegas. Places that were top secret during the 50s and 60s. Probably the closest we can currently get to seeing a real life Project Quantum Leap.

I actually like all of Joy's suggestions. Not just Chicago either. I went to Branson as a teenager with my parents. Was not the age to appreciate it though. I like country music now though.

Any place we choose I hope to find out what the tourist and historical sites are.

Actually that's another consideration - Sam leaped all over the US. An added bonus would be to find a real life location and historical site that was fictionally depicted on the show.

Cirque du Soleil has an incredible Beatles show in Vegas. They will be opening a new show with Elvis music in January.

Or perhaps a Civil War battle site.

Hmmm I am really just listing the stuff I want to see and do.... ;)
 
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I too think Vegas may be nice. It has a nice hot climate, the region is beautiful and it is really affordable for non gamblers. As far as I understand, please correct me if I'm wrong, everything is made very cheap to attract people, hoping they spend more money otherwise.
Which could work in favor of the money wise. :)8):D
 
jassian said:
everything is made very cheap to attract people, hoping they spend more money otherwise.
Which could work in favor of the money wise. :)8):D
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This is all very true!

I am not assuming anything has been decided yet but I will tell my sister about this. Have not yet. Get her feedback.

Even Vegas has been effected by the bad economy. There have been a lot of foreclosures on houses. This is what my sister is looking to buy. But its tricky because she has to wait out the legal process before she is able to buy a home like that. But its much cheaper than normal.

So while Vegas is always priced cheap for tourists I think its even cheaper than normal because business has been down.
 
I think it may end up being between Vegas or Branson, in terms of cost. Either place has TONS of stuff to do, so either would be a fun place to do it.

Branson does have some nice historical points to it. There's the history of the Baldknobbers, Shepherd of the Hills, Silver Dollar City (which is based on the mining town Marmaros over which it was built), and up near around Springfield there's Wilson's Creek battlefield, that's a pretty cool place.

Now, St. Louis would be cool from historic aspects related to Lewis & Clark, and it isn't too far from Hannibal, Mark Twain's hometown. And of course St. Louis is where Scott is from, so that adds to it, too.

Maybe we all should do a little research on the one city we would most like to see this take place in, then post the info in a little mini-presentation; maybe one thread per possible city, to give people the chance to make comments about it and what-not? Maybe depending on the city, the "theme" of the fan gathering could be based on a specific episode that would fit in with the city of choice.

To take it even further, if this is done simply as a fan gathering/reunion, we could even choose to make it an annual event and choose a different city each year, so that we can change up the scenery as well as give people the chance to go based on where it's located that year.....

What do you think?

Joy
 
I have a question for you Brian -

Would it be possible for a survey and/or announcement to be e-mailed to the ticket buyers of the convention?

Not everyone checks this forum. Though the obvious interest for an event like this would be to those who attended the convention.

I know people don't like their email addresses given out to solicitors. But this is not really the same thing. Plus I don't actually need be given the actual emails. Perhaphs I could pass my message to you?

Oh, and while I have your attention - Any updates on the convention DVDS?
 
tina_als_girl said:
To take it even further, if this is done simply as a fan gathering/reunion, we could even choose to make it an annual event and choose a different city each year, so that we can change up the scenery as well as give people the chance to go based on where it's located that year.....

What do you think?

Joy
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One of my favorite aspects of the show was that it was a new time and place every week. A whole new adventure. So that seems highly appropriate! :D
 
tina_als_girl said:
To take it even further, if this is done simply as a fan gathering/reunion, we could even choose to make it an annual event and choose a different city each year, so that we can change up the scenery as well as give people the chance to go based on where it's located that year.....

What do you think?

Joy
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Avilos said:
One of my favorite aspects of the show was that it was a new time and place every week. A whole new adventure. So that seems highly appropriate! :D
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I agree! I think this is an excellent idea!
 
Any other thoughts?

Completely separate from this I had sent away for tourist info on Chicago and on the rest of Illinois. My parents and I have talked of driving down to Springfield, IL to see the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

I have been to Chicago a number of times, I take for granted how many things there are to do there. Plus its centrally located and has an international airport.

I will make up a list if anyone wants.
 
I've been learning a great deal about Springfield, Missouri, over the past day or two. It is the birthplace of Route 66, as well as of the deep-fried version of cashew chicken. Park Central Square was the site of Wild Bill Hickock's very first quickdraw duel, the very first shootout recorded in the nation's history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield,_Missouri

When I learned about Springfield being the "Birthplace of Route 66", I had an idea... What if we based the annual locations of the get together along Route 66? That would cover Chicago, Springfield IL, St. Louis, Springfield/Branson, Tulsa, OK City, Amarillo, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, and Los Angeles. We could start with Chicago, then do St. Louis, then Springfield/Branson, Tulsa or OK City (whichever seems to have more to do and can tie in), etc. Then after Flagstaff (or whichever closeby city has the most to do), do Las Vegas. Kinda like a build-up, in a way.

Route 66 is so full of history, it'd fit in quite nicely to the "time travel" theme, and it would give a good basic list of cities to go through.

And if we wanted, we could start it farther east, in, say, Boston or something, so that the East Coast is duly represented. Then do Chicago... I know Boston's got a lot of great stuff to do; it seems to be one of the cities where a lot of fandom conventions happen.

Joy

PS: Just as an interesting tidbit... I'm not entirely sure of the exact branches of the family tree, but I do know that Bobby Troup, who sang "Get Your Kicks on Route 66", is a cousin however-many-times removed by way of my maternal grandmother (whose maiden name is Troup).
 
I really like the annual idea, this way if you miss one there will be others. :)
 
On the Las Vegas idea - Everything I said above is true and is still great possibility. Any assistance from my sister is not going to happen....

Truth is I have yet to ask her but a recent fight between us tells me its best I not. Funny thing I was only going to really ask for advice nothing more. But that seems to much for her to offer on any subject.

If everyone picked Vegas I would still come at stay at a hotel. Which is seeming unlikely. We seem to be favoring a centralized location. Which sounds great to me.

Sorry to get personal. That saying about how you can pick your friends but not your family is painfully true.
 
Whoah I kind of killed this thread with my personal digression......

FYI my sister finally called me after a few weeks and pretend like nothing ever happened.... Maybe it was an evil Leaper! ;)

Ok I am stating my overall preference - Chicago.
 
I am curious Joy, did you make it to convention?

I ask because I seem to remember you saying before hand you could not because of money issues. But yet looking at the picture on your profile I am almost positive I saw you there.

I am glad you are interested in the reunion. You are one of the people I remember being on here the longest. Going back to the early days of rumors of the Sci-Fi Channel revival.
 
Nope, definitely didn't make it to the convention. Really wanted to, though. As of this summer, I'm celebrating 10 years in the fandom, and about nine years of knowing the senior members of this board from all the way back in our Sci-Fi Channel BBoard days. I really wanted to make it to the convention mainly to meet my fellow fans; which is why I love this idea of a fan gathering (as opposed to another con).

Joy
 
Yeah, I was on the Sci-Fi BBoard a bit too. Those were my lurker days!

Hmm I am not sure what the next step in the planning should be. Obviously we are still a year or two away. But time tends to go by fast. We need to be proactive with this so we are ready when the time comes.

I think beyond choosing a site, we need to publicize our intentions to as many people as possible. There is a Facebook group for the convention. I am going to make a post on its wall about the reunion idea.
 
Well, we could always make a Facebook group for the reunion. I can make one if you want, or if you make one and need help maintaining it or whatever, I'd love to help as much as I can (mostly on weekends, now that school's started).

Joy
 
To bring up the discussion again... :lol

I say instead of organising an event ourselves... why don't we pick an upcoming Con we all like and agree on, plan on that and attend that one? I know Cons are becoming all inclusive events which include Sci-Fi or whatever. I know DragonCon, GENCON, and others are really successful at including ALL elements of TV, film, and comics.

Shoot... I say we plan on invading Comic Con in San Diego. That event is FREAKING AWESOME I hear. Plus, LA isn't that far away and we could all hit California again!! I know a handful of groups that hook up and do their own things when they hit the Cons. I'd even be willing to bet that a Con like Comic Con or Dragon Con would love to have a Quantum Leap booth.

Just brainstorming!

Chris :)

PS: Comic Con in San Diego is getting bigger and bigger each year with a lot of celebrities in tow. The only downside is that it wouldn't have the intimacy I thought Leapback had.
 
Not a bad idea Chris, having met up with leapers I had met in LA at the London Film & Comic Con was such a huge buzz. I would probably go to more cons knowing there were QL fans there to meet up with.
 
There are a lot of good, valid ideas here.

While it would be great to have a convention every year, its not something that can be planned in advance. Really all that can be done is to plan one reunion. See what the turn out is, and hopefully plan another. Take it one step at a time.

Attending a existing con is great idea. Though I am not San Diego Comic Con is, or at least fits sure this idea. While I am a comics fan and all round genre fan, not every QL fan is. Comic Con seems like a bit of a circus, in a bad way, from what I have seen. Similarly I went to the last two Star Wars celebrations and that was the reaction I had. Too much happing at once so you could not see what you want and too many people.

umm at the same time I would not mind seeing It at least once and I have a brother who lives in San Diego ( yeah I have family everywhere!). So if a large enough group of Leapers were planning on going a certain year, with our own Leap themed plans, I would consider going.

Hmm I am contradicting myself. I guess my point is that the original idea was that many of us will be not going to California anytime soon again. In fact some who have expressed interest in this were not able to go to the convention because of distance and money. So this planned as more a regional event.

Maybe the multiple con thing could happen. With gatherings planned in different cities at the same time. With a internet and conference calls joining the groups together. Almost like a Quantum Leap holiday. Of course with this idea, it would not be limited to United States either. Individuals who can not go to the specific reunion/convention/party locations could still be involved online.

Any of that sound good??? i am making this up as I type! LOL! Actually we could have a trail run for this "International Convention DVD Viewing Day". Once we get all get the DVDs agree to watch them, for the first time or again, on the same day. With online commentary and communicating.

I guess all of this are just ways to keep this little community connected.
 
It would be nice to have local ones too with regards to travel time/costs.
I'd like to go to an Australian one :)
Open attendance of course, non-ozzies welcome.

Although I'm assuming that the U.S. one will be identical to the international one as most fans are probably from the U.S., I think.
 
What a great brainstorming session, everyone! The idea of "reunions" is so good - getting to see your fellow fans that you might not otherwise get together with.

Isn't there a site out there that has interests and then broken down by location so that you can find other fans of whatever in your area? Does anybody know what I'm talking about? I'm pretty sure I was a member of the site at some point. :nut

The largest fanbase is likely in the USA (as far as I know, there weren't that many Canadians at the convention - met one person from Vancouver and another from Edmonton), so that makes a logical testing ground. Joy's idea of going along Route 66 is very cool! 8) Probably best to keep it in the middle of the US, though, even if the city changes each year. Maybe along the Mississippi River as a guideline?

If it's in driving distance, I'd definitely go.

... Mike.
 
Yeah, it's meetup.com, but whoever starts a group on there, aka the Organizer, has to pay to keep the group going. I think it may be easier to use this forum to find "leaders" from various regions to help organize the annual get together in their particular region.

I don't really know much about organizing stuff like this, so I really wouldn't be much help, but if someone wants a co-organizer or whatever for my region (Ozarks; Missouri/Arkansas/etc), I could try to help as much as I have time for (what with school and all).

Joy
 
Hi, all! Haven't had much time to post but I still have warm memories of The Leap Back 2009.

Tom had a very good idea about tying meetings to regional conventions. You'll find that most major metropolitan areas have one or more fan-run SF conventions.

The least expensive and easiest way to hold a fan gathering is to host a room party at a convention.

Most conventions have a party coordinator, and that's the place to start.

Please support the convention by buying your admission. Some conventions require that party attendees have a paid admission for security reasons. (The first time you're at a convention where some college students crash a party, get bombed on the free drinks, and have an "Animal Frat" moment or two, you'll understand.)

Still, it's a pretty inexpensive way to hold a get-together - especially if interested folks pool their resources to help out with the food.
 
leapme said:
what else? Does one really need a comittee or organistation?
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These days you can't put on even a small con without some sort of committee or core group of people.

Even a small relaxacon with 50 attendees needs several people working together to pull off.

Legal issues these days mean you have to have some sort of umbrella organization to handle taxes and liability.

If you're interested in reading up on what goes into putting a convention together, there's a wiki called conrunner.net. There's even an annual convention for people who put on SF conventions where people meet to share information about legal issues, negotiating with hotels, getting the most bang out of your limited budget, and so on. Take a look at that site and see all the departments listed. A QL con won't need some of those (child care, gaming) but there's a lot going on behind the scenes with a typical convention.
 
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.
 
JulieB said:
These days you can't put on even a small con without some sort of committee or core group of people.

Even a small relaxacon with 50 attendees needs several people working together to pull off.

Legal issues these days mean you have to have some sort of umbrella organization to handle taxes and liability.

If you're interested in reading up on what goes into putting a convention together, there's a wiki called conrunner.net. There's even an annual convention for people who put on SF conventions where people meet to share information about legal issues, negotiating with hotels, getting the most bang out of your limited budget, and so on. Take a look at that site and see all the departments listed. A QL con won't need some of those (child care, gaming) but there's a lot going on behind the scenes with a typical convention.
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Wow that is really a great page, but gee indeed all them tax laws, maybe one should just hire a tax attorny or something instead and save themselves the headache :hmm

It would be nice though, on last con, and the clock is ticking when it comes to Dean. I so hoped he would have been there in March and was so dispointed he wasn't.

I wish I could have the option to even consider putting up a con, but alas, foreigner and all you know, I guess I would have to become a US citizen first :D.
 
feldon30 said:
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.
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I doubt anyone who would consider setting up a Leapcon would want it any other way, and getting 4 people together wouldn't be that much of a problem either. I think the major problem indeed is setting up the con and all them taxlaws. Wow I'm getting more and more respect for Brian every day.
 
feldon30 said:
Most stars will not attend a convention unless there is a charity attached and the event is setup as a non-profit. To setup a non-profit requires at least 4 people.
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At little or no pay, yes. But look at groups like Creation. If you set up a for-profit group and pay them...

At most conventions (at least the non-profit SF cons) the Guests of Honor usually go in return for expenses. Some get a small fee, but it's nothing compared to what some of the stars want to go to the profit-making conventions. I've heard of fees ranging from $5,000 to $150,000.
 
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