- Mechacon Formal Ball
- Mechacon Fundraising
LAGB made its annual return to the place where it was birthed at the recent Mechacon Anime Convention. Celebrating our third anniversary, LAGB gathered at the Hilton Riverside to promote our efforts to bolster donations for American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
To generate donations LAGB sold T-shirts and our ever-popular Buster Shots which lets fans dress up in our gear, have a photo taken, then an effect is added in (usually a proton stream) before it’s emailed to them in exchange for a donation to our charity.
On Day 1 LAGB wrapped up a great afternoon of meeting convention guests at our booth, then we all got gussied up for the Mechacon Formal Ball. We had a nice dinner at a sports bar before hand where we were joined by new member Lauren Langenstein and 501st Superstar John Mangus of the Bast Alpha Garrison. After dinner we enjoyed a little dancing at the ball and a few refreshments in the hotel lobby.
Day 2 was met with great donations from friends and fans and the introduction of founding member David Johnson’s amazing Mr. Stay Puft costume. That evening we took to the streets with our donation jar and were able to pick up hundreds in cash donations from visitors of the Big Easy in the French Quarter while taking pictures with excited city-goers. Our crew wrapped up the busy day with dinner at a favorite restaurant of Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson: Drago’s: Home of the world’s best charbroiled oysters.
Day 3 was spent quietly disassembling our gear from the booth while mingling with convention guests and enjoying a few non-Ghostbusters costumes with the always-enthusiastic cosplayers of Mechacon.
LAGB was able to earn over $575 at Mechacon and will be proud to turn it in with our other fall earnings at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event on October 19th. You can aid us in our earnings goal by making a donation to our team page or by doing the cancer walk with us on the 19th! Message us if interested!
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One week later LAGB members made the trek to Atlanta for the annual gigantic gathering of Ghostbusters fans called “PKE Surge” which takes place at the equally gigantic Sci-fi and Fantasy convention and cosplay mecca: Dragon*Con.
There, LAGB members participated in the massive cosplay parade which featured over 80 Ghostbusters costumers, 3 ectomobiles including one of the world’s most accurate reproductions of the original Ecto (driven in all the way from Ohio), and in the lead: Actor Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters!
The parade also saw the introduction of LAGB member Randy “Nanu” Fernendez’s very amazing prototype proton pack with a one-of-a kind venting system. This is an amazing feature considering the venting of a proton pack is something that has never truly physically existed . The concept had only existedbeen a visual in video game graphics before Randy and his team of designers made it a reality. Also at the parade was David Johnson in his Mr. Stay Puft costume, which was no easy feat in the summer heat! We also heard reports that James “Deuce” Gaspard drove the crowds at the parade to a frenzy!
That night the gang attended the annual PKE Surge dinner at the Mellow Mushroom pizza restaurant. There, awards were presented to PKE Surge attendees and we’re proud to report that a great honor was bestowed on Deuce: The award for “Best Representation of a Ghostbuster.” Also recieving special recognition was LAGB Founding member Savann Mok for his volunteer artwork doing logos for PKE Surge every year since 2010.
This was LAGB’s 4th annual participation at PKE Surge and the third year in a row that our franchise walks off with some kind of award. Louisiana has always been well-represented by it’s dedicated members.
All in all these two events were great fun and reaped great benefits for our charitable and good will goals!
