Sentinel '98

Convention
Name:	Sentinel '98 (Sentinel Con, Sentinel Con '98, Sentinel '98 Con)
Dates:	April 3, 4 and 5, 1998
Frequency:	Once
Location:	Vancouver, British Columbia
Type:	celebrity guests of honor
Focus:	The Sentinel
Organization:
Founder:	C.N. Howard (of Reel Character Productions), Shelagh Collins, Mike Alvarez and many others
Founding Date:
URL:
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Sentinel ‘98 was the very first Sentinel convention.

It was held April 3-5, 1998 at the Vancouver Renaissance Hotel, site of several “Sentinel” location shoots. This con was an official con, approved by Pet Fly, and first proposed in October 1997.

The con charity was Ronald McDonald House.

Con Reports

Flattered and thrilled at the prospect, Pet Fly Productions and the “Sentinel” family at 2820 Bentall jumped aboard enthusiastically, especially when the Vancouver Ronald McDonald House was chosen as the beneficiary of the convention’s charity auctions. The three-day event brought in some three hundred attendees from places as far away as Europe and Australia.

Danny Bilson, Paul DeMeo, Richard Burgi, Garett Maggart, and Bruce Young were joined by an almost unprecedented cross-section of Pet Fly and “Sentinel” production staff and crew. Q&A’s were held with not only the principal actors, but also the producers and a selection of behind-the- scenes staff-members, including those responsible for “The Sentinel’s” spectacular special effects, location shoots, prop and set design, and management. Attendees were also treated to a stunt team demonstration in which John Sampson, Burgi’s stunt double and stunt coordinator, led his team (with some assistance from Burgi) through a fairly typical stunt set-up and execution, complete with fisticuffs, flying bodies, and prop gunfire.

One of the biggest hits was the “Sentinel” second-season blooper tape, which was first played for the attendees and then offered in the charity auction. Full of ad-libs, flubs, locker-room humor and goofy antics, the blooper tape gave the attendees a boisterous look at the steps the actors and crew would take to relieve stress or the tedium of a day or scene gone on too long. The tape also graphically demonstrated why Richard Burgi was described as setting the tone of “The Sentinel’s” set, as he was often the instigator—or at the very least -- an eager participant in -- many a side-splitting escapade.

Sentinel Con ‘98 was an entertaining and eye-opening experience for both fans and Pet Fly staffers, many of whom had little previous interaction with fans. Most were bemused by the experience, and tickled by the fact that people from across the globe had made their way to Vancouver to celebrate their show, and all were unfailingly proud of their work and only too happy to share it with the attendees.

Bilson and DeMeo were both enthusiastic and upbeat at the initial Q&A; they had just closed a deal with USA Networks for a “Sentinel” syndication package of up to 157 episodes, which would result in “The Sentinel” joining the “USA” syndication lineup in 2001.

Bilson and DeMeo very wisely took the opportunity to introduce Anna Galvin to the attendees. Galvin, an Australian actor previously seen on the syndicated “Adventures of Robin Hood,” had been brought in to fill the long-vacant female regular spot on “The Sentinel.” Galvin’s Inspector Megan Connor, on an exchange program from the New South Wales police department, would join the cast with the upcoming episode “Foreign Exchange.” Unlike Cassie Welles, who came across as an interloper and adversary in some ways, Megan Connor would be “one of the guys” — a detective in her own right, and a match for any of the detectives in Major Crime. Galvin was an instant hit with the Sentinel Con ‘98 attendees, taking part in the Q&A and the bantering and often rowdy charity auction, as well as joining the autograph tables.

The charity auction left the producers and the actors more than a little stunned, as the bids climbed to seemingly astronomical amounts for fairly simple items. As the bids skyrocketed, Bilson and DeMeo would add items to the “lot” in an attempt to give the bidders more value for their money. Which, of course, pushed the bids even higher. With Burgi and Maggart modelling items from the Ellison and Sandburg wardrobes, the bidding went into overdrive as the crowd cheered hem on. By the time the last item had been sold, the auction had netted a substantial sum of money (which was further bolstered by donations from the actors to “round up” the total).

The fan art auction, which followed the next morning, was conducted by Ryf Van Rij (Detective Rafe and Burgi’s stand-in) and Chuck Robinson (head set dresser), and was an amusing spectacle, if for no other reason than watching Van Rij and Robinson struggling to devise descriptions for each item up for bid. One lavish and detailed drawing of Garett Maggart was described in these terms: “And here’s Garett, doing something... magical.”

The autograph session was an hours-long marathon, with Burgi and Maggart being joined at the tables by Bilson, “Viper” star Heather Medway, DeMeo, John Sampson, Melanie Angel, Ricardo Scarabelli, and many of the lead Pet Fly staffers, such as Mike Wells. (Bruce Young would hold an autograph session the following day). Burgi and Maggart stayed “on duty” until each and every attendee had gone through the line, been greeted and given an autograph or two.

The convention was, sadly, not without controversy; due to confusion with the wording of the charity donation clauses, the Vancouver Ronald McDonald House did not receive the full amount of money generated by the charity auctions, which led to disappointment and disillusionment on the part of both fans and Pet Fly Productions (who would become considerably more circumspect in their dealings with fans from that point on).

'In the jungles of Peru...', anybody who is a fan of the UPN show 'The Sentinel', know exactly who says those words and what they mean. They are the beginning monolouge to one of the best shows on television today, 'The Sentinel'.

On April 3,4 and 5th, the very first, and hopefully not the last convention, devoted to 'The Sentinel' was held in Vancouver, British Columbia in the gorgeous Renaissance hotel. A hotel, by the way, that the show uses as backdrop for some its scenes.

Now, for me, having never been Canada, part of the fun was getting there. And I can state for a fact that Vancouver is beautiful. I will be going back.

But onto the con.

Named Sentinel '98 and pulled together by C. N. Howard (of Reel Character Productions), Shelagh Collins, Mike Alvarez and many others, the con was one of the best ones I have ever been to.

All of the stars of the show were there, Richard Burgi, who plays the star of the show, Jim Ellison; Garett Maggert, who plays Blair Sandburg, Jim's partner and anthropologist and Bruce A. Young, who plays Captain Simon Banks, Jim's boss. They even had Rif Van Ryj (pronounced Rafe Van Ray) who plays Detective Rafe, a reoccuring character on the show appear. The producers and directors were there, Danny Bilson and Paul Demeo. And they even had the stunt crew there.

Also making an appearance was Anna Galvin, the actress who is playing the new character of Austrialian Police Inspector Megan Connor. The first ep. with Anna in it aired just last week (April 29th) and already she seems quite a force to be reckoned with!!

This con was so wonderful not only because of all the people connected with the show that appeared and answered question, after question, after question but because there was *always* something to do. If there wasn't a Q&A session going on, there was always the video room. If you didn't want to go to the video room, there was the dealer's room or you could poke your head in on a Q&A. The variety of things to do was great.

But above all else were the people. The cast and crew of The Sentinel came out that weekend and really let their hair down. (So to speak) The stars of the show were not there that much but that's because they were filming the season finale I believe but Rif, Christine Howard and the rest of the crew made up for their absences.

The con got off to a great start Friday night by having a mixer in the revolving restaurant on the top of the hotel. The view was of Vancouver Bay and it was breathtaking. The funny thing was you couldn't tell you were in a revolving restaurant until you were there for a while and when looking up realized 'Wasn't the bar over *there* a minute ago.'

Christine Howard was there for a while and Rif made quite a splash by attending with both his mother (a famous actress in South Africa) and his sister. They seemed to really enjoy themselves and the con goers certainly did. And, ladies, all you Sentinel fans out there who have seen Rif on tv, let me tell you, he's cuter in person than on tv.

One nice touch was in the con registration, which was at the mixer for the latecomers. Instead of the ordinary con badge, we were handed out police department 'Vistor' passes from the Cascade Police Department (The Sentinel is set in Cascade Washington).

The next day, the con got off to a roaring start by the one and only Jonny Disco, whose claim to fame is Hollywood's Most Famous Extra. He is also Danny Bilson's executive assistant. Rif demonstrated his monkey impersonation while we waited for the stars. I would have pictures but my camera croaked.

Then the stars appeared and, without warning, we were treated to a great stunt show. The stunt people were wonderful and very, very nice. Richard's stunt double could be his twin. (If you don't believe me, ask Candy, she was there too)

After the stunt show, was a great Q&A. My traveling companions and I made quite an impression by standing up to ask a question and showing off our 'Blair's Love Slave' shirts. Garett was amazed and amused to put it mildly.

All manner of questions were asked and almost all of them were answered and fortunately, also because of rules set out ahead of time, no embarrassing questions, I.E. 'Will you go to the prom with me?', were asked.

Let's see...Next was the auction and let me tell you, I wish I had the kind of money people were throwing around at the auction but it was for a charity so it was for a good cause. Some prices, Jim's badge - $6,000. Blair's vest from the 1st season - $2,200, a copy of the blooper reel - $2,000. And on and on and on. It was really nice to watch people lay out that kind of money for charity.

After that, Q&A's with the stunt crew and the special effect coordinater but we went out to get lunch (McDonald's is the same in *any* country) and came back to do the age-old stand in line for autographs, which were great, by the way. They showed the blooper video for one half of the crowd while the other got autographs and vice-versa. Very creative way to deal with an ever present problem.

That night (Saturday) was the Jim Byrnes concert at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Imagine a one story George R. Brown Convention center with sails for the Houston folk) Any Highlander fans out there *know* how sweet Jim's voice is and he did not disappoint. He played until 2:30 a.m and would have kept playing but the convention center wanted to clean up sometime before sunrise. :)

The group that opened for Jim was group of teenagers called F-Jam and they were very good. I was quite impressed. Their second CD 'Funky Like a Bowlegged Monkey' (couldn't resist with that title) will be out this spring.

Sunday, well y'all know what Sunday is like at a con. :) Bruce (Capt. Banks) was there to answer questions and sigh autographs (due to a miscomunication he was not there Saturday). There was an art auction and a drawing for, amony other things, the tree lizard that fell into Blair's pants during an episode. Rif gave it to the winner in the most unusual way. That man has *no* shame. :)

Two pairs of handcuffs were given away (get your minds out of the gutter!) and lots of mini badges were given away too. Our very own Candy Pulleine won one!

And then it was over and we were on our way back to Seattle (I flew into Seattle) but I had such an incredible time. Words can not do it justice. Everyone connected with the show was so open and laid back, it was a real treat.

They are doing another convention in October and Christine thinks they may do one next year. (I don't have the info sorry). I don't have the money to go to the one in October but if they have one next year, I'm there!