As you know, Dana attended the Creation “Salute to Supernatural” convention this past weekend as a representative of Fandom Rocks. We had a table in the vendors room and a presentation on stage. This was Dana’s first convention, and her running joke was having to be on-stage as a part of the experience. Fortunately, no fainting was involved. All reports came back with thumbs up. Detailed updates on our experience at the convention can be found at our Livejournal community. Convention details from a plethora of attendees can be found at Supernatural Wiki.

A few highlights:

• The dinner and raffle Friday night drew about 80 guests and filled the reserved portion of the restaurant. Total proceeds received were $800! Special thanks to Shannen and Amy for their efforts organizing the event. We also want to thank those who donated items, Houlihan’s for the use of their restaurant, as well as all the guests who attended.
• Dana spoke on Saturday afternoon in front of the collected guests about Fandom Rocks and our goals. Despite some last-minute technical issues and with the help of flying chocolate, she was well-received. People even beat Dana back to the table to talk about Fandom Rocks.
• We also spent time speaking with the CW Source and Time Out Chicago. We will be sure to share those links with you when they are published.
• Based on comments from people Dana met, many of whom were new to the campaign, Fandom Rocks now has an announcement list. Updates will likely only be every couple of weeks, and include campaign progress, reminders of deadlines, etc.
• With the auction and recent donations, we are now at $1480 collected, or 74% of our goal. We still have over 3 months to go!

On a separate, but related note, Jared and Jensen were presented with Special Forces coins by Master Sergeant Kevin Wise during their panel on Sunday. It felt very appropriate and humbling considering it was Veteran’s Day. We had a chance to say hello to MSG Wise earlier that day and were informed the presentation was something of a surprise to them. We also found out he is familiar with Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, and we are so very pleased to support their cause.

As reported by the CW Source:

“Master Sergeant Kevin Wise, a Special Forces soldier, presented the guys with a letter from General David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, as well as honorary Special Forces coins from his unit. Supernatural is the most requested DVD among armed forces personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan! The guys were amazed and touched, and presented Wise with a shooting script, signed by the cast and crew.”

Learning of the popularity of Supernatural DVDs instantly made us think of our fellow fandom campaign, Operation: Winchester. They launched their second phase on the same weekend. For those who may not be aware, Operation: Winchester is collaborating with the Staten Island Project Homefront to send Supernatural DVDs in care packages to soldiers overseas. Operation: Winchester has a partnership with Fandom Rocks through Amazon Associates, which means that a portion of the DVD purchases will be donated to Fandom Rocks. To learn more about Operation: Winchester, please visit their web site.

(More photos are after the jump. See all of our photos in the forum.)
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Look out fans, we will be joining you this weekend at the ‘Salute to Supernatural and Buffy/Angel’ Creation Convention! Fandom Rocks will have a table on Saturday and Sunday, so stop by and see us! In case you haven’t been listening to our podcasts and missed all news of this convention, go find the details at Creation’s web site. There are still tickets available for both days, and there are a number of awesome guests, including:

• Jensen Ackles,
• Jared Padalecki,
• Samantha Ferris,
• Nicholas Brendon,
• Fredric Lehne,
• Steve Carlson, and
• Mark Lutz

Events begin on Friday night and run through Sunday. Take advantage of this midwest convention, and hopefully the sellout crowds will bring Creation back here again.

See you this weekend, and don’t be shy!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT(S): Rebecca Mawhinney, Brande Ruiz, Dana Stodgel
Email: contact at fandom-rocks dot com

Fans of CW’s Supernatural Launch Second Charity Campaign

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Tonight’s episode of Supernatural was “Folsom Prison Blues,” and here at Fandom Rocks we are excited to add a fan-created feature to the site. Podcasts. Every week, we would love to offer a streaming podcast created by the fans. We are calling all podcasters in the Supernatural fandom to speak up and join in. Head over to the forums at Supernatural Underground and let us know what you think a podcast can do for the fandom.

Tonight, Dana braved the podcast world and created a brief, rambling, semi-commentary-esque podcast for “Folsom Prison Blues.” She sincerely apologizes for any mispronunciations, extreme levels of rambling, and random sound occurrences. We hope you still find it enjoyable. Be sure to comment and let us know what you thought.

Links mentioned in the podcast:
Full Episodes at CWTV: http://video.cwtv.com
Korben: http://www.korbenmusic.com (”Steady Fools” is featured at the end of the podcast)
Supernatural Underground: http://www.supernaturalunderground.com

Disclaimer: All audio clips from Supernatural do not belong to us. No infringement intended.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-19d531aa4a70eb5516d56e7a51aaeec8}

Fellow Supernatural fans, we have just two weeks left for our first Fandom Rocks campaign, and so far, we feel we can call it a great success. Here is what you have helped accomplish in our first two months:

• Creation of Fandom Rocks website, Livejournal community, CafePress store, MySpace group, and Facebook group.
• Affiliation with various Supernatural communities and web sites, including Supernatural Underground.
• Press release on Fandom Rocks distributed by one of our chosen charities, Lawrence Community Shelter.
• Lawrence Journal-World newspaper interview with one of the Fandom Rocks maintainers.
• Initial $1,000 contribution goal met in just under one month.
• Written communication with Kim Manners, Eric Kripke, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki informing the Supernatural cast and crew of Fandom Rocks.
• Face-to-face discussion with Jensen Ackles regarding Fandom Rocks and its goals, as well as confirmation of receipt of the Fandom Rocks letter.

We currently stand at 83% of our raised contribution goal of $2,000. With the matching funds during this last month and Dana’s pledged donation to cover Paypal fees, we have just over $1,700 to divide between Lawrence Community Shelter and SOS Children’s Villages.

We aren’t done yet! We still have until September 1 to meet our goal, and we’re anxious to prove what we’re made of! Help us reach that goal by donating in this last push before September 1!

As maintainers, we’re very proud of the work we’ve done behind the scenes, and especially proud of our fandom for stepping up and making this group venture a successful reality. Everything Fandom Rocks has accomplished so far, all our hard work, is about to pay off. It will be time to celebrate!

We are inviting our fellow Supernatural fans and Rockers to join us as we present funds in person to the directors of the Lawrence Community Shelter.

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