The Office Convention = AMAZING!
WOW!!! That is all that I can say right now.
For those of you who did not hear about what was going on this weekend, the first EVER The Office Convention was held in Scranton. No, it wasn't an office convention with office supplies and things like that. It was a convention for the hit NBC show The Office. Let me break down my past two days experiencing The Office Convention:
Day One
Al Roker from The Today Show came do to the weather and interview members from the cast. I was up at 4:50am, that's right AM!!!! I turned on the news when I got up and there was already hundreds of people at the base of the commons where they were going to shoot for the morning. I thought 5am was early, apparently people were up WAY before that. Anyways, I got to work at 5:30am and we started passing out t-shirts for kids to wear during the show. By the time Al Roker showed up there had to over a thousand people there. When Al Roker did show up the crowd went WILD! My job for the morning was to work security and make sure no one got through the barricades; which means I got to be in there area where Al Roker was in. So I got to meet him and be on national television. Al Roker was also interviewing cast members from The Office. Before hand we were told that Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Brian Baurmgartner (Kevin) were the only two going to be there. We were wrong; 9, in total, cast members showed up:
Creed Bratton (Creed)
Kate Flannery (Meredith)
Angela Kinsey (Angela)
Bobby Ray Shafer (Bob Vance)
Brian Baurmgartner (Kevin)
Craig Robinson (Darryl)
Leslie David Baker (Stanley)
Phyllis Smith (Phyllis)
Oscar Nunez (Oscar)
:and and got to meet them all! They were all such an amazing people and they kept saying they didn't expect the warm welcome and the turn out at the Today Show.
Later that night we got to participate in "The Office Olympics". Flonkerton, Skeet Shurting, Office Inventory, and H.O.R.S.E. were all there and I got to play them all. It was all surreal when I was playing them. It was such and amazing night.
Day Two
Day two did not start as early as day one did which was nice. For most of the morning it rained so everything became hectic and things got moved around. The first thing of the day was the Ribbon Cutting. The cast showed up for it as with the Mayor of Scranton, writers from the show, the director, and government representatives. It was a great way to start off the day. There was also a street festival and the finials for The Office Olympics. The biggest event that day was the Actor Q and A. All the actors from The Today show were there plus: Mindy Kaling (Kelly), Ed Helms (Andy), Melora Hardin (Jan), and Andy Buckley (David Wallace). They answered questions that were submitted on-line and at the end of the Q&A they answered questions from the audience. It was funny and everyone in the audience and the cast members had a great time.
The highlight of my night came when I got to go to a VIP dinner. At the dinner was our president, Fr. Pilarz, different campus staff, and the cast from The Office. It was another surreal moment for me. I got to eat dinner with Leslie (Stanley), Phyllis, their director of photography, and Fr. Pilarz. To sit across the table from people that I watch every week and think I would never be able to meet these people. It was such an amazing night; fireworks, dinner conversation with the cast, great food. I could have not asked for a better ending to a great day.
What can I say! This weekend will live in my memories forever! I wish that this happens every year. As Leslie David Baker said, "Maybe we'll be back for an office picnic!"
~Robert