Amber in Australia!

[mudrat]

Hey all,

I hope I'm not reposting info that's already out there... I had a quick look, but couldn't find any other threads related to this, so I thought I'd go ahead and mention it.

Apparently Amber Benson is going to be in Australia later this year for two one-day conventions. It's being organised by www.thehubproductions.com and the events are in Sydney on Saturday 14 October and Melbourne on Sunday 15 October.

Details on the site are quite limited at the moment. I e-mailed one of the organisers, who told me that she has already paid for the guests' airfares, so the events are definitely going ahead on the scheduled dates. She also advised that venues are yet to be confirmed, but will more than likely be at the Wesley Centre in Sydney, and the State Library in Melbourne.

Day passes are $AU50, and VIP passes are $AU350. Bookings through the website.

So, Aussie Kittens, what say you? I've not heard anything about this organiser before - has anyone else attended any of their events? $350 for a VIP pass seems a little pricey... but I think I'd be willing to part with it just to meet Amber. And maybe drool on her. Just a little.

cheers,
mudrat

[Bones]

The Hub Productions previous conventions include:-

Feb 2005 - Iyara Limon, Andy Hallet and James Leary -- it was a one day con. and loads of fun and great Q and A sessions...

May 2006 - Jewel Staite and Johnathon Woodward (Firefly), RD Price ( Buffy/Angel Director)....

The VIP pass involved a Friday night get-together of food and drinks (plentiful) and Jewel, Johnathon and RD Price circulating and chatting with us --- in a small but extremely comfortable penthouse ( a first for me!)

I have no idea if the same applies to the Amber Con., and the circulating with guests is approx. 10 minutes, and includes the usual "attendees" who monoplise the guests time -- but as a fan of Jewel it was worth it...

A day pass is good value as you would certainly get a chance to ask Amber and Co. questions, get autographs etc --

but please take ALL this information as a guide only !!!!

..And I've already got my VIP ticket, so Im looking forward to it...

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[mudrat]

Thanks for that, Bones - I think you may have just tipped the scales in favour of me forking out for a VIP pass (not that I needed much convincing). I think meeting Amber, if only for 10 minutes, would be worth it. And I have a lovely cricket bat I could take along to clear a path through all those squeeing fangirlies (and fanboys, too, I s'pose) who might try to monopolise her time...

[Bones]

Thanks for that, Bones - I think you may have just tipped the scales in favour of me forking out for a VIP pass (not that I needed much convincing). I think meeting Amber, if only for 10 minutes, would be worth it. And I have a lovely cricket bat I could take along to clear a path through all those squeeing fangirlies (and fanboys, too, I s'pose) who might try to monopolise her time...

Keep in mind you still have to pay for autographs, getting photos with Amber, auction etc ....

I suggest you e-mail Hub Productions with your short list of "concerns" (i.e if Amber may not show up to the Friday Night VIP party can you get your money back etc)..

They are pretty good at replying, and you can get some concrete info before you pay the big bucks...

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[inlerf]

*Squee!!!*

State Library! Fking close! *squee!!!*

oooh, mind posting any info you guys have more later on? ! 350 is hell ex for a poor student like me and i'm not sure if i'm a fan enough of amber to fork that out. also never did like the trio

Bones, by the 10 minutes, meant each person had ten minutes?

[Bones]

*Squee!!!*

State Library! Fking close! *squee!!!*

oooh, mind posting any info you guys have more later on? ! 350 is hell ex for a poor student like me and i'm not sure if i'm a fan enough of amber to fork that out. also never did like the trio

Bones, by the 10 minutes, meant each person had ten minutes?

Generally people are in groups of 5 or so talking, drinking etc and the guests will come around to each group for about ten minutes and chat in person....

If you do buy a VIP ticket, e-mail HUB productions to make sure the 10 minutes actually happens.. that way they may introduce you as soon as Amber arrives and get it out of the way, so to speak...

One group only had Jewel for a few minutes when some other VIPS showed up and Jewel got dragged away, which dissappointed the attendees naturally....

And I agree Inlerf .... parting with my hard earned money doesn't come easy either, believe me!!...

As I said above, a day ticket is pretty good value....

I do believe also that Amber MAYBE doing a writing ideas etc seminar...

MAYBE !! .....

--

[mudrat]

mind posting any info you guys have more later on?

No dramas at all! The only other info I've had confirmed is the following, taken from an e-mail:

"We have locked in venues which should be on the website shortly. For Sydney it is the Wesley Centre on Pitt street right near the Pitt street mall and in Melbourne it is the State Library.

We have also finalised the details of the VIP ticket. It includes seating in the front two rows, priority autographs and professional photo's, an exclusive image of the TRIO which includes an autograph from Danny, Tom and Adam and is the only way into the evening function.

Please note that the evening function will be on Friday night in Sydney and Sunday night in Melbourne."

Still undecided about whether I'll go. 'Tis a lot of cash, and I'll need to pay for accommodation on top of that. I think it's nearly time to just flip a coin and be done with it...

[amber addict]

I'm already set to go (although unfortunatly i cant afford VIP) and are encouraging as many people as possible to come with

[Alicepire]

Er hey, I come late to this thread.. and probably all your questions have been answered. But yeah, the chick who runs it is really nice and seems unlike the sort of person who runs off giggleing with your cash.
I wish I could get a VIP ticket *curses being unemployed til last week and forgetting to ask when she was paid.. and how much.. hmm* but I did get my day ticket a few weeks back. T'would be good to meet some kittens there

[vix84]

Hello all! I'm going to the Sydney con and am wondering which other kittens will be there. Maybe we could meet up. Hurrah! It's about time Amber got herself to Oz.

[Alicepire]

ooh. Something vic kittens might be interested in. On Thursday there is probably going to be an article in the green guide (in the age) promoting the convention, with at least a paragraph talking about willow and tara and several mentions of Amber. I'm not sure if there's gonna be a pic, but there probably will be one, dunno what of though, but hopefully it will involve aly and/or amber.

[Artemis]

Hello Kittens. I'll be going to the Sydney half of Amber's tour down under. Just a regular day ticket, and (hopefully, if they don't run out) autograph and photo tickets on the day. The VIP thing... I can see the appeal, but it's a big chunk of cash for me, and I'm painfully shy anyway, I'd just feel awkward the whole time.

I'd be happy to meet up with any other kittens who're there, though

[Alicepire]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/why-buffy-slays-us/2006/10/10/1160246136992.html
That's the Buffy article. The writer seems to be a bit of a pillock, but hey, it's buffy.

[WillowPowered]

I'm not making the trip down from Brisbane, I hope all those that go have a blast and get to finally meet the lovely Amber . . . . looking forward to all the stories.

Jill

[Alicepire]

SO.. How was Sydney?

[Artemis]

Sydney was awesome! I'm going to lapse into same-thing-everyone-says mode for a moment... Amber Benson is just so, so normal. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's gorgeous (especially in nicely tight-fitting jeans ), and all smiles, and I can't imagine anyone being more pleasant company, but... she acts completely as if, in her mind, she's no different to anyone else in the room, even though there's like 150 people, and the other 149 are all there to see her. And always, she looks like she's having just as much fun as everyone else is. When you read in interviews of whatever of her saying how her friends and family keep her grounded... they're doing an awesome job. When I think of all the insanely cool and wonderful things she's done, writing and acting and directing and making her own movies, fer cryin' out loud... and yet it hasn't gone to her head, not one little bit.

She's a hell of a talker, too - her Q&A time on stage just flew by, and she covered a lot of topics, told a lot of stories, made everyone laugh themselves silly, herself included. At one point she got herself into such a fit of giggles (talking about her favourite blanket as a child, of all things) that she had to curl up in her chair and pull her hat down over her eyes. She's freakin' adorable. On a random tangent about some time she spent with a youth opera company in Florida she sang a snippet from La Boheme, and her singing was as divine as always - strong and crystal clear.

I could go on for ages... She was adorable, and funny, and a goofball, and intelligent, and thoughtful, and just one of the most amazing people you could imagine. She genuinely seemed like it was her pleasure to come and talk to us, rather than all of us being the lucky ones to come to hear her talk.

Also, vix84 came and introduced herself to me, and was very pleasant company throughout the day in between talks and events. Yay for kitten friends

[daiailun]

Thank you, Chris, for the recap and it sounds as if you all had a really fantastic Q&A session. The energy of those events seems as much up to the audience as to the speakers and it sounds like Amber and audience hit it off. It’s so nice she’s finally had the chance to be introduced to your wonderful country, and vice versa!

[Knock yourself out]

Thanks Chris for raising my opinion of Amber even higher.

[Bones]

I was lucky enough to afford to go to the VIP party, which was great fun...

The offocial party time was 8pm to 10pm -- but luckily the guests were quite happy to extend the "deadline" ...

There was about 30 people in a 18th floor small but very comfortable penthouse with food and drinks supplied....

Firstly, Adam Busch and Danny Strong came over and quickly introduced themselves to each person and promised they would be back later to chat to our group of 7 people ( which they graciously did later)..

Amber was mobbed at the door!!! ...so it took a while to get over to us...

Finally, Amber mananged to escape the others and sat down with us, and as usual , was an absolute delight for nearly half an hour answering our questions and general discussions such as ......

* No, Amber was never in a band -- she put two songs on tape in a bedroom many years ago with a friend -- and that info somehow got distorted onto someones website in recent months....

*The Supernatural episode was great fun to do -- Amber was invited to appear --helped by the two lead stars being very friendly -- one of them brought his dogs onto the set, with whom Amber fell in love with ( the dogs of course )

Then there was the photos ... Amber posed for EVERYONE... She has got to be the most photographed person on the planet!!! .... one photo with a 17-year-old had the fan herself shaking .... I think the fan was estatic just to be in the room with her...

Adam and Amber are still very much an item, and she freely discusses the relationship --- They do seem -- No they are very happy together ( I say with some envy of Adam )....

Adam, Danny and Tom Lenk (who literally stepped off his flight and came straight to the party) were terrific too... they circulated, chatted freely, posed for photos, and out-stayed most of the guests!!!

Special mention to Carrisa of Hub Productions who made sure EVERYONE always had a drink, and also came round to make sure everyone met the guests and had something to eat .... some fans were obviously nervous/excited and didn't eat the lovely food on the table...

Near the end of the night, the 17-year old couldn't believe that Adam actually came over to chat to just her and me ( we were both about to go ...).. we discussed his Band ( they just toured the UK, and start touring the USA the day after the get home) , and how lucky he was to do something he actually enjoyed....

A great night.

Photos to follow....

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[Alicepire]

It all sounds so good! EEEEEEE Less than an hour til I have to leave to go to the melb one *dies*

[Alicepire]

Well that was one of the best days of my life.. damn I love my job.. Amber is one of the nicest people in the history of anything ever.. *dies*

[Alicepire]

er here is a pic of amber and my year 12 drama class mascott:

[CaptMurdock]

Sounds like you guys had a great time.

Isn't Amber wonderful? She's just so cuddly...you want to take her home to keep (but then, everybody would, and there just isn't enough Amber to go around...)

Pictures!

[CoRoAlways]

Great picture.

Question for the Aussies on here. Do any of you know a good Aussie forum from this con with AB news?

[taralicious]

Alicepire,
Lovely photo of Amber, but how could it not be?
The orange of her sweater really sets off her skin tone and her yummyness.

[briefy]

BEST. DAY. EVER

even if I did come off looking like a crazy person LOL

when I was getting my photo done with Amber I told her that i was a huge fan and she says "oh let me give u a hug" SHE HUGGED ME!!!! And i was shaking and she's laughed. I said "Im 25!!! I shouldnt be like this!!" and she said "that's ok, we all get like that sometimes"

SHE SUNG ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and now I can die

[Alicepire]

eeh! That was you Happy birthday you were sitting like.. behind me and to stage right a bit.. I was the chick with the red, orange and pink hair and long black coat

[briefy]

hheeeyyy

yeah I remember! I was all impressed cos Amber remembered your name

damn, I wish I'd thought of coming on here b4 the convention to meet up with the Amber loving folks. I used to be on the boards all the time but real life got in my way

[Alicepire]

hehehe I was pretty floored when Amber remembered my name.. I nearly died.. again.. I first nearly died when she said she loved my hair and was kinda playing with some of the pink bits (of my hair.. mind out of the gutter people).. *swoons*

[Artemis]

Finally got to a scanner...



She looked great, the slate-grey shirt really brought out the gorgeous colour of her hair. Only problem with that photo is there's some guy taking up half of it