Welcome to the second part of our SPN con series where we are reminiscing with the con-goers. If you didn’t catch the first part of our series where we chatted about what we missed most, you can find it here. Today, we look back on the convention memories with fellow “Supernatural” family members.
Sometimes we meet someone that leaves such an impression on us that the moment sticks in our minds and hearts forever. It becomes a memory that we look back on often when we need a smile, a laugh, or need to be reminded of the good that still exists in this world. For a lot of con-goers, those memories come from conventions where they have met people much like themselves and either formed a lifelong friendship or walked away with a memory in their back pocket that they revisit often.
Now, we are going to feature some of our favorite memories with “Supernatural” family members from SPN cons that the fans themselves were gracious enough to share with us.
Jen: I met a girl that was dressed in a gown and she was telling me all about her plans to be a queen in her op and ask Jensen and Misha to be her kings. She was telling me her story as a college student. I will forever remember leaning against a trash can and talking to a queen!
Colleen: I will always treasure meeting my two UK friends, Victoria and Paula, whose energy and joy for life rub off on me still to this day.
Taylor: My Rich and Rob photo op with TiShea. It was her first con and just to see her reaction was amazing.
Mel: I think the moments that stand out to me are when my friends and I do things outside the convention. During Orlando con, a couple of years back, my friends Hannah and Lauren and I went to Universal to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We spent all day there and we shared joy, smiles, and many firsts together. These moments are what stand out to me. Taking time to enjoy each other and share in happiness.
Bree: I will always remember being in the op room with my friend Hales for our Jensen and Misha op. When we got to them and told them we wanted them to hug each other and then us hug them, Misha whispered something in Jensen’s ear and they both started cracking up. Hales and I looked at each other completely clueless as to what was going on, but it was really funny and it made for a really great op turn out!
Cricket B: When my stuff got stolen, a few girls I didn’t even know—and one of the ladies working—helped calm me down and find my stuff when I had a meltdown.
Melissa: At the end of the con, my friends and I gather in one section of the room and turn the chairs around into a circle. We share photos, talk about fun things that happened, others join us—some new and some we know already—we reminisce and relive the con together as we wait for all the rows to be called. Some leave and others show up to take their spot. We watch each other things as we go to the last events and photos being held at the same time. No one is left behind or alone. We stay together until the last of us has their autos and all their items. As sad as the end of the con is, these memories make me feel like I’m ending the con with the same feeling of family that I get when we all gather together for registration night. That’s something I treasure, something I miss, and something I’ll never forget.
Eileen: At NJ Con in 2016, I was part of an amazing group of VIPs. We spent the whole weekend laughing, getting sugared up, and just being ridiculous together in the most amazing ways. We also helped each other with photo op ideas and talked one another through fangirl moments.
Abby: I brought my aunt to JAXCon 2019. She’s in a wheelchair because she’s been very sick for a couple of years with no diagnosis. EVERYONE was so helpful and kind to her. The volunteers were incredibly thoughtful and patient. Even in line when people were super excited about getting their photo ops, people went out of their way to help make sure she was comfortable before rushing her out. It made me proud to be a part of this fandom.
Jodi: There are so many, but one of my favorite memories was a customer approaching my table wearing one of my pieces. She told me that she also kept one of my pieces in her pocket with her at all times because it was a source of comfort to her. That meant so much to me, to make a connection with someone at that level.
Nina: I remember standing in line for a photo op. It was Jensen and swain at SPN Chicago and we got some special ops because Jared was only there half the day. This girl in front of me did an op and when Jensen read the sign he was like, “but it’s not true right!” The sign said, “Rob stole my fan girl!” I remember talking to the girl in line because she was in front of me. Then later in the day I caught up with her and told her she’d love it when it came out. Turns out, her and I are really good friends now and are even splitting some ops together! We are now planning on going to Chicago, Nashville, and Vegas cons next year!
VampAmber: At SPNDC19, I made a bunch of friends in line while waiting for the people with Copper passes to be allowed to pre-register. Long story short, we decided that we were the “Copper Peasants,” and that we needed to stage a revolution—led by our new “Queen of the Copper Peasants.” It was hilarious, and I’m pretty sure we were loud enough to amuse other people in line, too.
Darlene Sons: We met on a Sunday morning and we instantly clicked. We looked out for one another that day. It was good to meet someone that I knew instantly I could count on, especially since it was our first convention. And a year later, she has become one of my best friends.
CJ: There are so many, but I will always remember Andrea (the vendor that makes the emotional support pillows) gifted a pillow for my son who just had brain surgery.
Megs: I will always remember having a cast member smile or say hi next to my friends, and getting the opportunity to gush about it with them afterward. Any of those shared moments when you can unleash your excitement right after or during with somebody in person are always my favorites.
HeddyBoo: As the JaxCon 2019 came to a close and we were in line to get our autographs from Jared, the person in front of me and myself approached the table. She poured her heart out to Jared about what SPN meant to her and what he has done for her personally. I felt so moved by this young girl’s words and her story that I literally started bawling. When it was my turn to say hi and get my autograph, I simply looked at Jared with tears in my eyes and said, “Well I’m not gonna even attempt to do a follow up to that!!”
Patty N.: I got proposed to! My wife proposed to me at an op in front of Rich, Chris, and a bunch of our friends. Everyone was in on it but me and it was amazing. Chris took great pics, too!
Aly: I’ll always remember my stage photo op with Louden Swain and my best friend, someone I consider a brother, Cadyn. My friend Cadyn absolutely loves Billy Moran and Rob Benedict, so I surprised him by asking him to join me for the photo. It warmed my heart to see him so happy, standing next to his favorites.
Jules Monroe: My first con was in DC, which is where I lived, so I had decided not to get a hotel room. My seatmate (someone I hadn’t known before the con) offered to let me crash in her hotel room Saturday night so I didn’t have to make the drive back and forth. And then she offered to share her Jared op with me!
Suzie: My favorite SPN family member memory is also my favorite SPN con memory. It happened at “Snowmageddon Con” (that’s what I call it), the convention in Seattle that was canceled on day two due to the heavy (for Seattle) snowfall that weekend. Creation put together an epic day of alternate programming for those of us who remained and it concluded with “Saturday Night Karaoke.” Keeping in mind that I’m an introvert and can barely carry a tune, standing on a karaoke stage is never something I plan. Yet, at the end of the night, I found myself onstage with thirty other die hard attendees who wanted the weekend to last as long as possible, looking out into an empty ballroom—which should have been filled with people—enjoying Louden Swain, and singing “Carry On Wayward Son” as loudly as possible with my Supernatural family. Most of whom I didn’t know and those I did know, I’d met within the last 24 hours. Yet we were all part of this shared surreal experience. It was—and is—one of my best memories ever!
Kaylene: I’m a black woman. I attended with my younger sister and we cosplayed as the Winchesters. The amount of love and support we were shown as POCs in a predominantly white space was beautiful. I will never forget the sense of solidarity and family with POC, LGBTQIA+, and others who generally feel like they have to hide their truest self.
Jess: So Charlotte 2018 was actually the first time I bought a weekend pass and could go to karaoke. I will never forget all of the SPN family in that room screaming “Carry on My Wayward Son.” There is really nothing like it and that moment stayed with me all weekend. Whenever I do get to go to Nashville, I know singing this at karaoke will be more symbolic than ever, as there will probably be a lot of tears shed as we all say goodbye together.
Erika: My mom passed away in March of 2019 and Chicago was the first convention after she passed that I attended. I hadn’t really grieved much. I am a “put a smile on and let’s get shit done” type of person. I remember so many people coming up to me and giving me hugs and telling me they were thinking of me. It warmed my heart just to be around “my people” again. Then, the night of SNS I lost it and I was sobbing. I remember a group of ladies (Sam K., Bethan, Erin, Karyl Anne, Kendra, and others) coming to my rescue and saving me from my uncontrollable flood of emotions.
Kathy: Each convention I have attended has its own wonderful memories. My first (one-day) was filled with laughter and joy and conversation about things that make all of us happy. My first three-day convention, meeting people on SM in order to get prepared and to get advice on how to get the most bang for the buck so to speak, and then meeting those individuals at the convention in person, going to dinner together, exchanging emails & phone numbers, sharing our crafty gifts and other talents, and hugging each other “so-long until next time.” Later conventions were reunions. Wonderful dinner conversations, exciting outside convention venue adventures, sharing M&G experiences, or supporting each other for photo ops, even sharing a few photo ops. Planning our next convention adventure together via email/texts/SM and then talking show highlights, fandom projects, and just plain glee-squee for our favorites. Lastly, turning the conventions into destination vacations. Having the excuse to finally leap at going someplace we have never visited to see our friends, “our boys,” and some pretty wonderful places inside the USA and Canada. Clueing my husband in on Supernatural past filming locations and going on a hunt to find them.
Steffy: I met 5 of my Gish Team members at different SPN Cons. Which I don’t think would have ever happened outside the con. Unless we win Gish one day. 🙂 And going to two Conventions with my daughter was pretty awesome, too. Loved seeing the fun she was having.
Katharina K: This is tough. There are a lot of small moments in between, like squeezing the sh*t out of each other’s hands when going up to a J2 photo op with a friend that I only met a few days earlier for the first time for this convention. Talking about God and the world literally while sitting in the panel room waiting for autographs or going up on stage and singing Karaoke together. But if I had to pick, I would probably say having won a friend that I hope to keep for a long time.
Emily: So many! It sounds silly, but my first con. In the photo op line for Misha—my first time seeing him—I was alone and as soon as he was in eyesight I got overwhelmed. The person behind me noticed and calmed me down and told me I’d do great. They were so supportive. After my ops and hers, she found me outside the op room to check on me and let me fangirl out about that special moment. I never even got her name but she helped me make that moment somehow even better.
Carol Shepherd: Meeting a lady in an autograph queue who was getting a picture signed of her daughter who had passed away. It was her first con without her and we were the first people she’d told her story to. It was such an emotional moment. We all cried, hugged, and supported her when she got the auto and after. I’ll never forget that bittersweet experience.
LauriePC: There are so many, but I’ll actually have to pick kind of a bittersweet one for this. It was the Monday after the con. A bunch of other fans and myself had done our own film location tour of Vancouver’s most memorable SPN sets. One of the friends I had made—the same one that had been by my side the whole weekend—drove me back from the Storm Crow Tavern where we had joined the traditional cocktail party with Jerry Wanek. The entire weekend they had insisted on not letting me walk from the convention hotel back to my hostel, and Monday was no exception. As they dropped me off, I was suddenly hit by how much they had started to mean to me. We had only known each other for barely four days, but I think it was on the second one that they started calling me their “con daughter.” We had exchanged personal stories, favorite characters, ships, and AO3 handles. Now, the time had come to say goodbye. Naturally, tears were involved—as were hugs—but overall I felt an incredible sense of gratitude for having been lucky enough to meet such a wonderful person.
That wraps it up for the second part of our SPN con series. We hope you are enjoying this walk down memory lane as much as we are! Thank you to all the SPN family members that participated! Keep a look-out for the third installment “Confessions of SPN Con Goers: Part Three” where we will be talking about con-goers’ favorite experiences they have had with Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins. Also, stay tuned for the next exclusive interview with a “Supernatural” cast member in our “SPN Con Chats with the Cast” series. Read the first interview in that series with the amazingly kind and talented Tahmoh Penikett here.
Written by TiShea Wilson
