Bringing Guests To Jerichon

I got up this morning and was checking my email and realized someone had sent me a link to a thread on the CBS board. I got my coffee and wandered over to see what was happening.

The first post is from Chesterkitty saying,"If any fans are willing to donate frequent flyer points to the Guardians Of Jericho, we can then use these to help us bring the guests to Oakley."

I think we are all aware that the Guardians of Jericho do not grow money on trees.
The response from Thurbers is a clear one and I certainly agree with it.

"Despite limited hotel space in Oakley, increased attendance for the con is a must. One of the ways this will happen is with guests directly associated with the show", says Thurbers.

Thurber's main point is summed up nicely, "In some cases the value to the Con may be obvious. For example: as many here know I'm a huge Heather fan, an appearance by Sprague would probably have me searching the couch for change to help me attend. OTOH an appearance by Skeet or Lennie would probably have a lot more people searching among their cushions. Now much as I wish the GOJ board had that kind of choice to make, I'm sure they are faced with less obvious decisions. The choice between a writer/producer and a guest star, or production person needs more thought. Who are the fans going to recognize and travel to see? What are they doing at the Con?"

This, to me, says it all. Who will pay to see whom? Who do fans want to see? Thurbers makes the point: "Another hypothetical situation, a staff writer who is willing to give a presentation/question and answer session is probably a bigger draw then say an autograph session with the actor who played Mitchell. Less hypothetical lets take the two announced guests, IMHO, Mike Loomer who has been with the show and on the set for two seasons, is bringing items for 'show and tell', and is excited to mingle with fans would probably be a bigger draw for fans, especially new fans, then Shaun. Don't get me wrong, I love Shaun, but he is not directly attached to Jericho, doesn't have as many behind the scene stories to share, and with his radio show there is easier access to him outside of the Con. If you have enough miles for one roundtrip flight that would be how I would decide. But how does the GOJ plan on making these kinds of decisions?"

Knowing Shaun, for example, I'm willing to bet he'd be agreeable to paying his own way so as to ensure that someone from the Jericho cast/crew could attend. Others might feel the same. While the radio broadcast would certainly be welcomed by fans who could not attend it does not bring cash in to pay for the people directly connected to Jericho. What's a broadcast without special guests?

In the end Thurber's question ("But how does the GOJ plan on making these kinds of decisions?") seems in need of a response.

Jerichon 2007

I recently interviewed Stacey of Jerichon to get all the details for this fabulous Jericho convention. Now I'm sad that I can't go but maybe you can. I sure want to after reading this.

Thanks, Stacey, for the information.


1. What is the purpose of Jerichon?

One of our main concepts that has been in the front of our minds from the beginning was to get the fans together to celebrate the love that we have for the show and for each other. Anybody that has been with Jericho since the very beginning can agree with me, Jericho has created a second family for all us.


2. What do you want everybody to know about Jerichon?

We have a lot of great events planned and we are gaining incredible ideas every day. We are getting ready to implement a sponsorship incentive program for the fans so that everyone can be a part of this great weekend. The GoJ has had an absolute blast putting this together and Jamie Bell from Oakley is really a dream to work with.


3. What are some of the activities you'll have?

Where do I start?!? Workshops for those that want to learn more about nuclear weapons and EMP, a workshop for the Jeather and Jem crowds to talk about who Jake really needs to be with (Heather), a bbq a lot like the one Jericho had with music and dancing, tours of the area around Oakley. A chance for those that want to celebrate our troops, a multi-faith church service on Sunday. Jericho re-runs playing at 'Bailey's' all weekend long and we have a re-run watch party planned at Bailey's as well the Friday we get there. We have a Blackjack's and we are working on an online live-feed for the fans that can't make it. We've even got a couple of surprises in store that will truly knock everyone's socks off, but that's classified information. If I give it out, it won't be any fun and I'm sure the GoJ will hire a posse to hunt me down, LOL.


4. How did the idea for Jerichon come to be?

The original idea came sometime at the end of last year on the Myth boards at CBS. The Myth board fans are incredible and it seemed right that we should all meet face-to-face. The idea was brought back up again the beginning of this year and we decided this was something that was meant to be. From there, we took the bull by the horns and ran with it, the only time we've stopped planning was during the campaign because we felt it needed our attention 100%. As soon as we won, we were back at it and let me take this opportunity to say that the people on the GoJ are the most amazing bunch of people I've ever met. It has truly been an inspiration for me to work with them, I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this. SpookUSN was the one that came up with the idea first, she's now our Chairperson for the GoJ and she's so much fun to work with, I've gained another sister for life.


5. You have an outstanding website full of information. Will you continue to update it regularly?

We have so many awesome ideas that fans bring to us to research and develop and we are in daily contact with Oakley so absolutely YES the site will continue to be updated regularly. We also want to remind everyone that we have early registration discounts and we will be putting up per day/event rates very soon.


6. Do you think some of Jericho's stars might appear?

This is one thing that we work on daily. We have all the actors saying they are incredibly interested in coming and are working as hard as they can to get there. All the fans need to keep the mindset that these amazing people are working on our beloved story of Jericho, if filming takes them through the convention weekend, we need to honor that and support them. But you can be assured, the GoJ is working hard at getting them there and we are working on the logistics of a live-feed in the event that they can't.


7. What else would you like us to know about Jerichon 2007?

Jerichon 2007 is more than a convention, way more. It's a celebration of our show, our hard work during the campaign and it shows CBS and the rest of the country that we are not going anywhere anytime soon. To some it may seem like just a convention, but more and more fans that I talk to through Jeritopia and the various fan forums agree with me - we're coming home to Oakley, where we've always been, where we'll always be and I will be the first to admit it, meeting the fans is going to make me shed some tears. Jericho fans are not JUST the best, we are a family and the convention is our family reunion.