Granted, you might find a cunning doppelganger… (CIII photo by Pop Culture Geek.)At Celebration V, a Jader on volunteer duty ran into a fan who had heard that Hayden Christensen was attending and had driven hours just to see him. Alas, it was just a rumor and the Jader had to break the news that no, Hayden wasn’t coming.
Don’t let this happen to you! Remember that the only solid information on Celebration guests will come from StarWars.com or StarWarsCelebration.com, and you should always – always – check with them before taking any such ‘news’ to heart.
Yes, as a fan site, we’re not beyond posting rumors, but we do make an effort to clearly mark them as such… Authors, for instance, aren’t listed on those sites, but we always link to an official source. (Usually Del Rey on Facebook, these days.)
The same goes for all other cons. If there’s a guest you really want to see, always check the convention web site and/or the personalities’ personal page or Facebook fan page (assuming they have one and keep it updated) before committing to a convention. Also be aware that despite all this, sometimes things come up and people may have to cancel at the last minute.
It never ceases to amaze me the rumors that run around the con.
I think folks are so used to having big surprises that they start to speculate and things are off and running. (Usually overhead in lines, I suspect.)
Granted, LFL delivers some fun and delightful things, but generally you have a pretty good idea of what’s going down if you stick with official sources.
This is why I despise announcing an announcement. Because people will speculate, and they WILL go overboard. And you basically just end up sabotaging your announcement because the rumor mill has people expecting that they’re going to get the moon.
Oh man I remember that Anakin. I may or may not have gotten several pictures with him.
Don’t forget the rumored Lucas special VIP signing session at CV.
Argh the rumor mill. The things I’ve heard over the years- part of it is just idle speculation while waiting in line which gets passed along and grows viral fast because it would either be something really cool or something everyone can whine about. One of the worst were the hundreds or more people outside in LA waiting to get back in for opening ceremonies when they did the evac for the possible threat (which wasn’t but safety first). Everyone outside assumed or passed on the rumor that they were waiting to begin the opening ceremonies until everyone could go back in. Having just come from TeamCakeNeverAgain and knowing they were not held up, to keep from inciting a panic I discreetly told some folks no and don’t waste their time out there, go do something else fun.
Hard thing about fandom is that it’s full of awesome nice people- and it hurt to disappoint them. It was a valid idea but no one (attendees) in there even knew what was happening outside.
And then there was CV, when a bunch of people were muttering about Darth Maul having a brother and a bunch of other people were telling them they must be crazy.
That one was a) a little crazy and b) straight from the mouth of George, and I think he said something in the vein of ‘he’s like Darth Maul’s brother’ and basically everyone was just kind of ‘whaaa?’ about it until Filoni clarified. You gotta love George, but sometimes he says things that are… not exactly precise.
At least that’s how I recall it. TCW stuff doesn’t always stick in my mind.
I remember that CIV line because I was in it! We were told to get in this EPIC line, wrapped around buildings, to get back in to see the ceremony and do more stuff. Then we were told we can’t because of a bomb threat. Then the line was moving. After an hour of baking in the sun, we gave up. We had no idea what, if anything, was going on inside.
“…a Jader on volunteer duty ran into a fan who had heard that Hayden Christensen was attending and had driven hours just to see him.”
Does. Not. Compute.