Karen Gillan Sci Fi Expo 2014

I haven’t missed one of the conventions by the local promoters in several years.  Considering they have 3 shows a year, that’s a lot of shows I’ve attended.  While I wasn’t going to skip a show, you do get jaded about the guest list.  This show had a name that pleasantly dropped my jaw.

Karen Gillan, every male Whovian’s dream guest, came to Dallas for this show.  I told work, I was non-available on Saturday.  If a horrible nuclear accident occurred and all my company’s product  was now radioactive and they needed me to ran quality tests, I would surely come into the office…after I got my Karen Gillan autograph.

Now, Saturday started off stressful already. SDCC tickets went on sale that morning. So that caused me to be 2 hours late to this convention.   My highest priority was Karen.  When I finally got in line, it was shut down as she had to do a photo op or a panel.  I needed to come back later.  Later was 3 hours later.

So I spent that time getting other autographs.  When I came back, 1 ½ before she was scheduled to return, about 100 other people got in line earlier than me.  No problem, I embraced my inner cow. I would wait.

 The promoters saw a process improvement opportunity.  The earlier signing was slow. They wanted to speed it up.  They had everyone in line move through and buy their autograph tickets and pick out their photos before she showed up.  A great idea.

I had heard about how personal and friendly she was earlier.  She tried to say a word or two to everyone and she was always smiling.  I was really looking forward to this.  Karen is my second favorite companion. Second to Elisabeth Sladen who played Sarah Jane Smith. It’s a very close second.  Whovians joke about never forgetting your first Doctor.  For me I’ll never forget my first companion; Sarah Jane.

When Karen arrived, she sat and started signing. The line moved fast. Too fast.  Often I complain about a slow moving line. I would have preferred a little slowness today.  I knew this was too fast.

I got to the front; the handled quickly took my 2 photos from me. Karen signed one, with a Sharpie that was dying. The handler yanked the photo away. The handle bent a corner.  Karen got another Sharpie and signed. That one was yanked away as well, and they smudged the signature.

I only got a chance to say a few words about finally meeting her because I had 2 photos and a pen was exchanged.  Karen barely had time for a smile. By the way, that smile seemed to light up the room. She didn’t look unhappy but she didn’t look like the person everyone was describing from earlier in the day.

A frustrating experience but I’m still happy I got the chance to see her in person and get a smile.

AH