[mauro_balcazar]

well not sure if this has been posted but Ernie will be at the new york big apple con.

Im so excited i never met him before, i hope to get him to sign my stuff! here is the info.

http://www.wizardworld.com/guests-apple.html

october 16th.

sounds like fun!

[Meph]

If I have my pack done by then I'd like to hit that up and meet Ernie.

[Shredder565]

My mind read that as the New York Comic Con.... Big Apple is one of the smaller venues if memory serves that is usually across from penn station is it not?

[njukgb]

Big Apple Con WAS at the hotel - across from MSG. But now that BAC was taken over by Wizard it's moved to Pier 94.

[JJS8807]

ill be there.

[Busterchris]

I plan on being there as long as I have the Finances!! How much do Hotels run around the area? I may just Mega Bus it up there early sat morning and stay until sundy night, need a place to crash out sat night.

[mburkit]

My big question is: are any of you going in full uniform? I kind of wanted to to get Ernie to sign my pack but I'm not sure how I feel about walking around NYC with $2000.00 of plastic and electronics on my back . . .

[Busterchris]

Shit yeah, I will be going in full uniform! Just need to do hotel research to have aplace to crash out

[AJ Quick]

We were personally invited at Dragon*Con to attend this Con.

It was susposed to be like a Mini-PKE Surge where GBFans members get reduced admission, and some special acitivies. But the director of the convention never emailed me back.

It is still up in the air.. I will probably not be attending.. but it is still possible GBFans will have a table there.

[gbfreak2021]

I've done the full gear in NY it worked out fine.It was very well received.

[Vinster]

I'm going in full gear. And I got two buddies doing Batman and Anakin Skywalker. But yes I'll be there in full uniform and pack. It looks to be wild this year, can't wait. Does anyone know how much Ernie charges for autographes or if you need tickets to see him? I didn't see any info on the Big Apple con site last time I looked.

[Shredder565]

We were personally invited at Dragon*Con to attend this Con.

It was susposed to be like a Mini-PKE Surge where GBFans members get reduced admission, and some special acitivies. But the director of the convention never emailed me back.

It is still up in the air.. I will probably not be attending.. but it is still possible GBFans will have a table there.

Yo AJ,

I MAY be attending this con, and I was thinking of doing an interview with Ernie. But I'd much rather have someone competent for the job... think you'd be up for it?

[Shredder565]

Anyone know how long his lines usually are? I was hoping he'd have time for an interview...

[AJ Quick]

I'm not going, and I doubt GBFans will have a table or anything.

[Shredder565]

More info...

Ernie Hudson Autograph and Photo Op is, if memory serves,$40's each. It's all listed on their page....

[njukgb]

I will be at the convention. Pre-scheduled an interview for my radio segment and yes, I will be bringing the pack to secure that autograph.

If I am in full-GB gear I should be easy to spot with any other GBs - if not, i'll just have my microphone and recorder.

See y'all there.

[JJS8807]

Ernie was a great guy walked right up to me and my guys and was like hey hows it going nice packs. Then when we got to his table i found out it was $25 / signature and i ws a little angry with that but then ernie said that he would sign my pack for free. AHhh that was the highlight!

[mburkit]

Yeah, Ernie was great! 3 of us Philly Ghostbusters talked to him for over 10 minutes. He signed a bunch of our stuff and did some video for our website. He even let all of us get a group shot with him.

[Shredder565]

Ah, thank you for giving me hope that I might be able to get a youtube intro then, if not an interview

[njukgb]

** RANT ALERT **

Outside of this world I have worked in television for over 15 years and one hard, fast, rule at events like this is NEVER interrupt what the guest is there for.. the meet and greet with the fans. Those who tie up a guest for an "interview" (whether audio only or video) ties up that guest from those who may wish to stop by and say hello or buy a $25 autograph.

Some attendees feel intimidated and a little pushed away when they see the guest being interviewed and end up walking away.

I pre-arrange all my interviews through their agent/publicist/manager and (even if mid-interview) if someone walks over to meet - I stop my interview cold to let the guest take care of their business. At the end of the day they are at the show to meet, greet and sell some autographs- and not for interviews.

** RANT OVER **

Ernie was more than open to meeting with the fans and discussing Ghostbusters - at one point he changed into his GBII uniform - he was there from the start of the show right until the last minute. I commend all those guests who can sit/stand, meet and greet that many people (many with the same questions). And I am very pleased to have Ernie's autograph on my pack with Dan and RPJ.

Overall there were about 8 Ghostbuster in full gear - except 1 Rookie in just uniform - and the day was great. Huge venue (equal to NYCC).. and Big Apple Con has reached a peak of where it needed to be. They did a tremendous job with their layout, their guest lineup was excellent for their first, big venue, show and the attendees where mostly pleasent.

Looking forward to the battle of the cons when NYCC and W/BAC cons happen at the same time (which is already scheduled).

[mburkit]

** RANT ALERT **

Outside of this world I have worked in television for over 15 years and one hard, fast, rule at events like this is NEVER interrupt what the guest is there for.. the meet and greet with the fans. Those who tie up a guest for an "interview" (whether audio only or video) ties up that guest from those who may wish to stop by and say hello or buy a $25 autograph.

Some attendees feel intimidated and a little pushed away when they see the guest being interviewed and end up walking away.

I pre-arrange all my interviews through their agent/publicist/manager and (even if mid-interview) if someone walks over to meet - I stop my interview cold to let the guest take care of their business. At the end of the day they are at the show to meet, greet and sell some autographs- and not for interviews.

** RANT OVER **

Ernie was more than open to meeting with the fans and discussing Ghostbusters - at one point he changed into his GBII uniform - he was there from the start of the show right until the last minute. I commend all those guests who can sit/stand, meet and greet that many people (many with the same questions). And I am very pleased to have Ernie's autograph on my pack with Dan and RPJ.

Overall there were about 8 Ghostbuster in full gear - except 1 Rookie in just uniform - and the day was great. Huge venue (equal to NYCC).. and Big Apple Con has reached a peak of where it needed to be. They did a tremendous job with their layout, their guest lineup was excellent for their first, big venue, show and the attendees where mostly pleasent.

Looking forward to the battle of the cons when NYCC and W/BAC cons happen at the same time (which is already scheduled).

I hope that rant isn't directed at my group. When we met Ernie yesterday, there was no line to meet him and while we were talking to him, he was signing stuff. He was nice enough to make a nice, 20 second video for our website.

Anyway,

As for the Con, itself, I actually wasn't very impressed. Maybe it was the layout, but it felt smaller then the Philadelphia Wizard World. It felt like a vendor room with celebrities signing stuff in the corner. I did get to meet up with some fellow gbfans and chat a little, which was nice. There was literally no one dressed up in costumes. There were more Ghostbusters (probably about 5 that we saw) then all the other costumed people put together! That's kind of sad when you think about it. I contribute that to the weather though.

All in all, the highlights of our trip were probably visiting the firehouse and meeting Ernie and getting to talk to him a little.

I hope the Steel City Con in December is bigger then this was.

[Shredder565]

Did anyone else talk to ernie about GB3? I was sure he was getting tired of being asked about a sequal, so I asked him if the game might get a sequal anytime soon. Although his assistant kept on interupting him, he was about to tell me that they where going to start shooting? That would be far more assured than any other reports that we've heard so far

[Shredder565]

[mburkit]

He said some stuff to use about GB3 to us but I think our camera guy/website designer is going to load it up on youtube. So I'll just wait till that's up. He gave us a little bit of a time line that he had talked to Ivan Reitman about at a recent viewing of Ivan's son's latest movie. It was pretty cool.

[JJS8807]

Yea he spoke me with about GB3 and mentioned that he spoke with ivan 2 weeks ago. finished up with look out in Fall next year. well hope for the best on this.

[njukgb]

I hope that rant isn't directed at my group.

Nope.

As everyone may have read, I never specified Ernie during my rant - I saw many people getting interviewed at the con, not one of the interviews were pre-arranged and the interviewer had complete disregard for any attendees who were waiting.

It took me 30 minutes for a 10 minute interview with Helen Slater because people were stopping by her booth - I would stop. The same for Nichelle Nichols and I did the same with Ernie too.

I was just ranting as this was the place of the con and a place to rant.

And in regards to GB3 - Ernie is 'hopeful' of a production schedule of mid-2010 with a thought on a mid-2011 release date. As others said, he spoke with Ivan and felt very hopeful from his conversation. He also added that he and others were not happy with GB2.

It was a great interview, by my happiness was really getting the pack signed.... highlight of the day... although my interview with Adam West was fun.

[mburkit]

I hope that rant isn't directed at my group.

Nope.

Okay, I didn't want to start shit with anyone, I just wasn't sure if you someone had a problem with how we conducted our time with Mr. Hudson. I felt we were very respectful of both him and other members of the con and I felt the need to explain ourselves in case there was a misunderstanding. I do appreciate your respect you seem to have for the other convention goers, and I personally appreciate it.

Now that that's taken care of, picture time!

First, the Fire house!


Next, after we were done at the Con, we walked to Time Square and visited Planet Hollywood. Look who was hanging out!


And last, but least, may I present to you, my friend: Ernie Hudson!


Normally it would be a little awkward with another man's arm around me, but I was strangely okay with it for this picture.

[Shredder565]

holy Crap Dude!

Ghost orbs a plenty in your picture ;o)




One of these days you guys are going to have to show me how to get press releases. Ernie looked like he might havebeen pressed for time since it was the end of the con, so I didn't want to bug him with an intro request. John schnieder had already left his booth, and Brent Spiner was gone after he was at his booth autographing stuff.

I never get through the official press contact people on websites... sigh.

[mauro_balcazar]

Well i had a blast at this big apple con. Saw some cool people and got two meet some great actors and what not. Definitely meeting Ernie was the greatest. I was able to give him my own ghostbusters Slimer t shirt and he was beyond touched that I would do that. He talked to me about gb3 and about himself and ever went over some lines with me lol.. I was so happy that I got to not just meet him, but actually give him something that actually made him happy.

He had never seen my kind of shirt before and was definitely surprised lol. I thought he was faking but when i came back to say bye before i left the con, i caught him looking at the shirt and putting it in his suitcase lol. THAT MADE MY DAY!

but I also got to show him my rare GB poster from Thailand i think that i had Dan Aykroyd sign a few months back. he had never seen that poster and was happy and joked about not having his face on the first movie poster lol. so he signed his name on the small picture of him and we joked about it lol. AWESOME TIME!

[Rune31]

I've never been to a Con so I wouldn't know but looking at the price list for autographs and so forth, do they really charge that much to have a photo of you and the person, i.e. Ernie and self? Does he get that money or what?

"I had no idea I'd be so much I won't pay it!"