Some happy ‘Potter’ fans? We actually found them
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The Great Muggle Rebellion of 2008 rages on, but it turns out that not every ‘Harry Potter’ fan is incensed by Warner Bros. and its profit-minded decision to postpone the release of the nearly completed film until summer 2009. There are some giddy fans in the Bay Area, in fact, who view the new release date as one of pure serendipity.
Here’s an e-mail I got yesterday:
Hi Mr Boucher, I’m one of the organizers of AZKATRAZ, a Harry Potter convention set to take place in San Francisco from July 18 - 22. Yes, the 18th. We announced it a few weeks ago, so WE were thrilled to hear about the change in the movie release date, because this provides a fantastic opportunity for fans to gather together to see the film en masse at one minute after midnight on the 17th, then spend the weekend discussing the film - and hundreds of other Potter-related topics, play Quidditch, write fanfic in round-robins, listen to Wizard Rock and perhaps even enjoy an alchemy-based wine-tour in Sonoma. And then a bunch of us are heading to Comic-Con for some multimedia fun immediately thereafter. We’re expecting hundreds, if not over a thousand, to attend Azkatraz; our average convention attendance at the last five events we’ve put on is just over 1,000 people, and we’ve had two sell-outs that were capped at about 1,400. Seeing the film in an IMAX theater with your fellow fans and people you’ve known from fandom for two, five, or even ten years is an amazing experience, and we’re all looking forward to it! Just thought you ought to know, and hear the counterpoint to your article.Best,Heidi TandyTeam Azkatraz
Thanks for the note Heidi. If you want to make the convention an even bigger success, we suggest that you set up a dunk booth with Alan Horn, chairman of Warner Bros., who has replaced Voldemort as the villain that ‘Potter’ fans love to hate....Heidi also told us that her event’s website is a few days out-of-date (their webmistress had to take a few days off, the wrong ones as it turned out) but in the meantime there will be updates posted here.
-- Geoff Boucher
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