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*** PBP Goodies ***
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VIP BYTES:
Listen to what the VIPs where chatting about during the party!
page 1 & page 2
CoA AWARDS:
Another year brings more outstanding moments that needed special attention!
page 3 & page 4
PHOTO MADNESS:
To see all the picturesque happenings, visit our PBPLA2002 Gallery!
PBP gallery
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*** VIP Bytes ***
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 ADAM BUSCH (Warren):
The man has 'ideas' - be afraid, be very afraid!
Listen (629 k)
 DANNY STRONG (Jonathan):
From nerd to super-hero to nerd - life is good.
Listen (330 k)
 JEFF MARIOTTE (Novelist):
If it's Haunting, then it must be Jeff!
Listen (946 k)
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he 5th Annual Buffy Posting Board Party found its way into Hollywood this past Saturday, February 16th 2002 to accomplish three things; bring Buffy and Angel fans together who have supported the show into its most successful sixth season, raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, and to give praise to the cast and crew of both Buffy and its brother show Angel, which is in its third successful season. The Buffy posting board, also known as The Bronze, was founded six years ago by fans of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series so they could gather on the Internet and discuss the episodes, story arcs and characters of this cult phenomenal show gone universal. Once again, the PBP Committee (this year proudly partnered with CityofAngel.com) has accomplished all these goals and more.
Although last year found Buffy leaving their 5-year foundling home of the WB Network for newer pastures at UPN, the Bronze would not be brought down in the interim. Fans immediately formed their own affiliate, the BronzeBeta.com until an Official new UPN Buffy Web Site could be created. With encouragement, help and a little pressure from the fans, UPN came through and Buffy.com was reformed and the new Bronze rebuilt. Original Bronzers dispersed and reunited but their goal to stay together and support their favorite series drove them to continue the tradition of raising money for a highly worthy cause. The L.A. Make-A-Wish Foundation brings hope and joy to life-threatening ill children at a very expensive premium, life itself. Each year, the PBPLA raises money to help in founding those wishes and bring smiles to many young children, and each year the Committee sets their goal a little higher.
Exceeding all expectation for the event's turnout was the amount of cast and crewmembers who attended to meet and mingle with their fans. From cast favorites as Alyson Hannigan (Willow), Amber Benson (Tara), Michelle Tracktenberg (Dawn), J. August Richards (Gunn), Alexis Denisof (Wesley), classic characters from years; Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar), Jeremy Renner (Penn), Mark Lutz (Groosalugg), along with crew favorites; Executive Producer Marti Noxon, Writer/Producer Jane Espenson, Original Musical Composer Christophe Beck, Makeup Supervisor Dayne Johnson, Writer/Co-Executive Producer Tim Minear and series Creator and Executive Producer, Joss Whedon. The total list of VIPs for the night went beyond 30 in total. The evening found fans dining from a bevy of catered gourmet food, adding more contributions via an auction of series merchandise and props, a raffle of other items such as autographed scripts, and completed with music by Four Star Mary, Common Rotation and Andy Hallett (Lorne) rounded out 6-hours of Bronzers Reunited. With this outstanding evening behind us, let us now recapture all of its amazement for you.
Friday Night PBP Pre-Party ~
Renaissance
Hollywood Hotel
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Bronzers, an affectionate term bestowed upon Buffy fans from the series teen night club The
Bronze, hence turned famed posting board on the Internet, arrived at the beautiful and brand new
Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Directly in the heart of Hollywood and encompassed within the
awe-inspiring Highland Mall, Friday afternoon, February 15th saw the beginning
of the invasion. You could not hop on an elevator without bumping into a least a couple of folks
chattering about the latest happenings of our favorite Vampire Slayer, Buffy or that hunky,
undead-guy-with-a-soul, Angel. This year, a Hospitality Suite was made available by the PBP Committee
making it possible for fans to opt to pick up their weekend party badges, creating additional
opportunities to hook up with old friends and encounter new ones. Adding to the fun and anticipation
of impending events, the suite was available all weekend long to gather and relax between happenings
or catch up on the vid-fest of Buffy they had playing, accompanied by plenty of munchies. It
was also the location for a very humorous and enjoyable reenactment of Joss Whedon's much-acclaimed
Buffy, the Musical episode, Once More With Feeling, presented by the fans for the fans.
Friday night offered the Buffy/Angel
Pre-Party bash in not one, but three of the hotel's ballrooms. More kudos go out to the PBP Committee
for arranging the adjoining space which allowed for those saner moments of meeting and greeting till
the urge to 'get jiggy' overtook us all. The main room contained a buffet with an assortment of snacks
and desserts, and a full bar to finish off a wonderful meal eaten in the hotel's exquisite restaurant.
Through the room, raffle tables were set up where Bronzers could buy tickets to win original Once
More With Feeling posters, autographed scripts and other series memorabilia; a silent auction
table was also running where the high rollers could up the ante even more on those rare and precious
artifacts such as the FRAY Comic script autographed by Joss himself. Brentano's
Booksellers sponsored a table of Buffy/Angel-related anthologies, novels, a
book on Buffy Critical Essays, script compilations and more; whereby a percentage of all
sales brought in would be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Fans could buff up on Buffy
on the flight home and feel good that, even though their pocketbooks were lighter, they were helping
to punch up the total of that big (and I mean that literally!) check for Make-a-Wish that was to be
presented the following night. SCORE, creator of the Buffy Collectable Card Game was
also on hand to demonstrate the game as well as offer fans a look at rare and specialty collector
cards.
The Slayer's Stake! Worth its
$2,500 weight in wood
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Throughout the course of the evening as new faces came and went about the room looking for and finding
friends old and new, CityofAngel's staff arrived and dispensed their bevy of free give-away items to
just about everyone in attendance. Courtesy of Inkworks Trading Cards, Buffy and
Angel Seasons 5 and Season 2 promotional cards, respectively, were handed out to the eager
crowd. We next challenged a few fans for the more bountiful gifts of complete 90-card set trading
decks, Buffy screensaver CD's, FRAY Autograph cards and the first issue Angel #1 Comics
from Darkhorse Comics with trivia questions. Fear not, we couldn't have stumped your grandmother
with our staffs combined Buffy recall knowledge but we weren't there to stump but to give away.
And it didn't take long to clean us out! Which may have explained the loudest round of applause later
in the evening when CoA was announced to the mass of Bronzers gathered for their first glimpse of the
auction's grand prize -- a customized, hand-crafted, wooded Slayers stake adorned within a wood case
of red velvet lining and personally autographed by Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Geller. This
would be the big catch of the Saturday night event whose winning bid hit $2,500.00.
A proud Give-away
winning Bronzer: TB
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The adjacent room was pulsating all night long with the awesome dance rhythms of the PBP's DJ and Bronzers were certainly not shy about working off their jet lag on the dance floor! Our very own staff was seen doing a few moves themselves. When the heat got too intense one could retire to a comfy sofa outside the ballroom and quietly catch up with friends, and gather that second wind to get back in and rejoin the footstoppin'. Both venues were thick with reunions and hugs and smiling faces as clusters of fans mingled and further expanded the sense of community engendered over cyberspace these past five years. CoA finally met Candy and Kitty of the Buffy and Angel Internet radio show, The Succubus Club to many of their own hugs and laughter regarding each site. But let's face it, the favorite topic on everyone's lips was the big event coming on Saturday eve at the Historic American Legion Hall where we all were looking forward to some live entertainment, good eats and the chance to meet and mingle with some of the cast and crew of our favorite shows. Anyone who has attended past parties already knew that there would be more fun and surprises in store that we all would be remembering for a long time to come! CoA left way before the pre-party's music died, except for our Public Relations rep who could have danced all night and we think she did, to make sure we got our much needed rest. After all, tomorrow was another Buffy day!
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