Xena Convention - OLYMPIAD 2000 Manchester (UK) - 21st to 23rd July 2000 (Many thanks to Linda for writing this report.)

I attended my very first Xena convention at the weekend. I had a fantastic time mixing with other Xenites. I have friends online to talk with about XWP but my other friends who I see day to day either have no idea about my obsession or regard it as a mild aberration. I don't say anything about it to my work-mates because I know they would tease me mercilessly. My best friend who usually encourages my various obsessions draws the line at Xena. He just doesn't understand what the show is about. So it was great for me to be around other fans who obviously do get it.

Seeing XWP on the big screen was a powerful experience. The Debt two parter was particularly impressive in this setting. Giant close ups of X&G were very welcome too. I think it also makes a big difference watching it with other people knowing they love it as much as you do.

I got to see the last two episodes of Season 5 which were the only ones I hadn't seen so far. Didn’t quite see everything because tall people chose to sit in front of me and obscured part of the screen. So I’m still looking forward to getting these episodes on tape from my American friend but I am glad I saw them for the first time with an enthusiastic audience.

The talks were brilliant. Claire Stansfield is so wonderful. I was hugely impressed by her talks and by meeting her when I got her autograph. She tells great behind the scenes stories and is so funny. She is a very open person and holds nothing back. She was so friendly when I met her. Asked me how I was, said "I didn’t see you yesterday did I?". I’m lost for words and saying boring things like "I’m ok thanks" and "no you didn’t"!! In the queue I was thinking I’d say I enjoyed her talks and hoped she would be in XWP again. Not very original but I couldn’t even bring that much to mind in her presence. I was also thinking about shaking hands with her and wondering if that would be a bit cheeky but then I saw someone ahead of me doing just that. So when I thanked her for the autograph I shook hands with her and she grasped my hand in both of hers. She is such a generous warm person, obviously enjoys meeting the fans and understands exactly why we love XWP.

Danielle Cormack was fantastic too. I had expected to be captivated by her because Ephiny is one of my fave characters. She was very funny and answered all questions with a disarming honesty. She did a great commentary on the music video that had been put together about the characters she’s played for Renaissance. Unfortunately I missed out on meeting her to get her autograph because I mis-timed my lunch break and arrived back too late. Won't make that mistake again!

There were supposed to be four guests but Jacqueline Kim and Timothy Omundson couldn’t make it. So we got a double dose of Danielle and Claire. This worked out well because they were both so popular that lots of people wanted to ask them questions. On the first day they had already covered all the Xena-related stuff and talked to us about some other things they were doing. The second day was more concentrated on their other work and their lives which they probably wouldn’t have had time to talk about at a bigger convention with other guests.

I made some notes afterwards about what was said during the talks. I will try to put something together soon to give you folks who weren't there more idea of what went on.

Many thanks to Dean and Myk who organised Olympiad 2000 and everyone else who helped to make the convention run so smoothly. When's the next one?!!

Linda