#survivalcon

Over a year ago, a friend tagged me in a post which she had seen advertising a convention based on one of my favourite programmes: The 100. After a quick click or two I was on the website for Starfury Conventions run by Sean Harry. Starfury conventions are weekend long conventions that are run all over the UK, they are based on both films and TV programmes shown both in the UK and the US. Like other conventions such as Comic con, Starfury conventions are run for the fans to meet stars, get photographs and autographs, participate in talks and attend parties. Survival 2 was held at the Renissance Hotel at Heathrow, London, UK.

At the beginning of April, not only did I attend my first Starfury but I also had the courage to go to the convention in London on my own for both the Saturday and Sunday. The guests in attendance were some of the women who have starred in the 100 - Lindsey Morgan, Nadia Hilker, Rhiannon Fish, Tasya Teles, Dichen Lachmen and Erica Cerra. After the cancellation of multiple guests we were left with an amazing all female line up and we were not disappointed.

The first job of the day was to register for my passes, both my weekend pass for the event and my stewarding pass. Then it was time for photoshoots, which were so well organised and gave everyone a chance to greet the guests and even have a hug or two. The guests were so laid back and you were able to request poses and mess around for a few minutes before it was the next persons turn. Admittedly I didn’t like my picture in the end, but I never like pictures of myself!

The rest of the morning and half of the afternoon were filled with guest talks. I can’t honestly say what was spoken about for a lot of the time, but I can tell you that we laughed and we cried. The guests were so open and honest about the things they believed in and the difficulties they have experienced in their lives. We also had the opportunity to hear about the causes that these actresses wanted people to support and talk more about. All these lovely women were encouraging all attendants to simply talk, something that I myself am trying to do more of.

By late afternoon it was time to get a little one on one time with the guests as you got autographs. Starfury provided a range of professional photograph that could be bought and signed by the guests as well as giving you the ability to get one item of your own signed. Again, the organisation of the event was fantastic, even though I had a very high ticket number because I had bought my ticket reasonably late, I was able to queue up and get through to get my autographs quickly with time after to go get some dinner and a nap before it was time to party.

Unfortunately I slept through the party and the free breakfast the day after but I was able to get ready in my amazing hotel room before it was time to do it all again. The conventions all seem to run the same sort of schedules which make it easier to plan your day. All attendants of the convention have the ability to volunteer to be a steward. As a steward you are given a schedule where you are asked to give up a few hours of your weekend to help the staff with simple tasks such as queue management, organising the collection of photos and many other small jobs to help the event to run smoother. As a reward, the stewards were given a free photo of the guests taken in a private photoshoot for the purpose of a thank you gift for stewards.

All in all, I am a massive fan of Starfury events and the legend Sean Harry who has been running these events for years. I am planning to attend another convention this year and I encourage anyone who has the time and the money to do the same. Even though I am a massive fan of the MCM comic con events, I feel like the Starfury events are a lot more fan friendly being run for fan by the fans.

Lindsey Morgan