On The Beat At REWind Con

As a regular attendee of comic cons and celebrity conventions, I am always interested when I hear of a new one. When REWind Con announced their debut event would be in the Chicago area, I was excited to see what they would offer.

REWind Con promised to have our favorite stars from the 80’s, 90’s and beyond. Over the next few weeks, I was surprised at the length and quality of their celebrity guest list. The final list had about 75 stars, all of them being familiar and popular. I could fill several pages with the names and resumes of these celebrities.

REWind Con set itself apart from other such cons by bringing in a different field of celebrities. I have never seen such a large assembly of daytime stars and sitcom stars. Generally, you might see a handful at any celebrity con, but REWind was filled with such stars.

Veteran daytime stars James DePaiva and Melissa Archer were the first names that jumped out to me. I had the pleasure of meeting DePaiva’s actress wife Kassie last year and I looked forward to meeting him this year. Melissa Archer had been on most wanted list for several years.

Those two alone were enough to get e to REWind Con, but as the list kept growing, so did my interest. I secured my weekend pass and anxiously awaited the event.

Convention debuts can be a crapshoot. There are so many intangibles and variables. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly at debuts. I knew I would at least meet enough of my favorite stars to make it worth it though.

Last weekend, REWind Con finally happened and I am happy to say it was awesome and not just for a debut. I would put REWind Con up there as among the very best I have ever attended. From the pre-party to the Red Carpet entrances to the panels to actual encounters with the stars, REWind Con did not miss a beat.

Immediately upon arrival, I was impressed with the organization. The celebrity tables had large identifying banners behind them. Not only did this help fans quickly spot their favorites, it made for nice backdrops for pictures.

As the convention got going, I was pleasantly surprised that the schedules were kept. When dealing with so many celebrities and fans, schedules often go awry, despite the best efforts of promoters. The few times that things ran a tad late, the staffers kept everyone informed.

Speaking of staffers, REWind Con must have spent a great deal of time training theirs, because they were sharp, helpful and friendly. When Tori Spelling had to leave her signing table to go to the photo op room, the REWind staffer took note of the line and assured everyone their spot was secure upon her return. True to her word, when I returned a couple hours later, I was ushered to the front of the line. That is attention to detail that just doesn’t happen often. I saw that several times throughout the convention.

I have written a lot about the convention itself and deservedly so, but the celebrities are the real attraction. REWind Con brought in an All-Star lineup.

There was a mini-reunion of Beverly Hills 90210 and each of them could not have been any nicer. The previously mentioned Tori was well along in her pregnancy, but she showed no signs of fatigue as she eagerly greeted fans. Luke Perry and Jennie Garth joked back and forth, as did Jason Priestley and Gabrielle Carteris. It was like watching an episode right in front of me.

As I stated, Melissa Archer was one of my main targets and she did not disappoint. I talked to her at length about her career and her current projects. She was as pleasant as she was stunning.

James DePaiva was every bit as nice as his wife was last year. Unfortunately, Kassie is battling cancer and could not appear at the con, but she is doing well according to James. I even had another short chat with James early Sunday morning in the concourse. Talking with the celebs at their tables is one thing, but doing so on their time away from the table is just a step above. James was pure class.

I have many such stories involving over half of the stars there. Yes, it’s true. I had legitimate unique stories with so many stars, beyond just meeting them at their tables. This con almost felt like some sort of family or school reunion. I'll be running these individual stories over the next few weeks on Johngy's Beat.

As I talked to the stars, they all seemed excited about the future of REWind Con and rightly so. There are already five more cities on the REWind schedule. Dallas, New York, St. Louis, Orlando and Atlanta will join Chicago in 2017. REWind Con was so much fun, I am planning on making the trip to at least a few of these.

I was fortunate to get interviews with James DePaiva, Melissa Archer, Scott Schwartz, John J. York, John Kapelos and Mark DeCarlo. Those interviews can be found at the Johngy’s Beat REWind Con YouTube playlist.

REWind Con is the "New Kid on the Block," but it is already "NSYNC" with the big boys of the convention world. I am sure it will have "Growing Pains" along the way, but I see a lot of "Happy Days" in their future.