As you know, Dana attended the Creation “Salute to Supernatural” convention this past weekend as a representative of Fandom Rocks. We had a table in the vendors room and a presentation on stage. This was Dana’s first convention, and her running joke was having to be on-stage as a part of the experience. Fortunately, no fainting was involved. All reports came back with thumbs up. Detailed updates on our experience at the convention can be found at our Livejournal community. Convention details from a plethora of attendees can be found at Supernatural Wiki.

A few highlights:

  • The dinner and raffle Friday night drew about 80 guests and filled the reserved portion of the restaurant. Total proceeds received were $800! Special thanks to Shannen and Amy for their efforts organizing the event. We also want to thank those who donated items, Houlihan’s for the use of their restaurant, as well as all the guests who attended.
  • Dana spoke on Saturday afternoon in front of the collected guests about Fandom Rocks and our goals. Despite some last-minute technical issues and with the help of flying chocolate, she was well-received. People even beat Dana back to the table to talk about Fandom Rocks.
  • We also spent time speaking with the CW Source and Time Out Chicago. We will be sure to share those links with you when they are published.
  • Based on comments from people Dana met, many of whom were new to the campaign, Fandom Rocks now has an announcement list. Updates will likely only be every couple of weeks, and include campaign progress, reminders of deadlines, etc.
  • With the auction and recent donations, we are now at $1480 collected, or 74% of our goal. We still have over 3 months to go!

On a separate, but related note, Jared and Jensen were presented with Special Forces coins by Master Sergeant Kevin Wise during their panel on Sunday. It felt very appropriate and humbling considering it was Veteran’s Day. We had a chance to say hello to MSG Wise earlier that day and were informed the presentation was something of a surprise to them. We also found out he is familiar with Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, and we are so very pleased to support their cause.

As reported by the CW Source:

“Master Sergeant Kevin Wise, a Special Forces soldier, presented the guys with a letter from General David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, as well as honorary Special Forces coins from his unit. Supernatural is the most requested DVD among armed forces personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan! The guys were amazed and touched, and presented Wise with a shooting script, signed by the cast and crew.”

Learning of the popularity of Supernatural DVDs instantly made us think of our fellow fandom campaign, Operation: Winchester. They launched their second phase on the same weekend. For those who may not be aware, Operation: Winchester is collaborating with the Staten Island Project Homefront to send Supernatural DVDs in care packages to soldiers overseas. Operation: Winchester has a partnership with Fandom Rocks through Amazon Associates, which means that a portion of the DVD purchases will be donated to Fandom Rocks. To learn more about Operation: Winchester, please visit their web site.

(More photos are after the jump. See all of our photos in the forum.)