Best. Weekend. Ever. (part II)

It turns out the event itself is held in a nice function space on the roof of the hotel. I took the elevator up a while before the listed start time, and found just a few folks around, hanging up decorations and so forth. I signed up for a bidder number, as I was quite interested in the auction, where they'd be selling props and memorabilia. After that, I was asked to go out on the roof and wait. I had a nice look at the city - including seeing some areas flooded by the river and I admired the Duck Palace where the ducks spend their nights.

After a bit, I wandered back inside, where there was quite a crowd waiting to get in. Occasionally cast members would exit the elevators and squeeze through the crowd into the function space. I wasn't really sure what to expect, would they be hiding behind desks, protected by handlers, or what?

Finally they let us in, to a generously sized area with several activities scattered around, big screens running clips of the shows, a big food table, and the things to be auctioned. I looked around to see if I recognized anybody. Sure enough, just a few feet away, Jerry Trainor was chatting with a couple of people. I hung around until they wandered off and went to say hi. I blurted out that I was glad to meet him, as my sweetie had told me I really should. I phrased this in a really clever way, and he said "She really said that? Wow!" I wish I could remember how I put it! I saw someone else standing nearby with a fancy camera, and asked him if he could take a picture of me with Jerry. He was happy to, if I'd return the favour. As it happened, he and I became photo buddies, taking each others' pictures with various celebrities through the night. ( more (with pictures) )