Imagine a typical Thursday night. What are you doing? If you’re not already pregaming to get an early start on the weekend, then you may be watching Grey’s or The Office. If you’re one to pass up tears shed over the drama at Seattle Grace Hospital in exchange for tears of laughter shed over the antics at Dunder Mifflin, then you may want to keep reading.
Assuming you are willing to ditch all schoolwork, Stephen Colbert’s Friday night double header at Barton and Cornell’s Halloween-weekend party scene, you should consider a weekend road trip to the home of Dunder Mifflin’s most dynamic branch, Scranton, Pa., located two hours south of Ithaca, for the first ever “The Office Convention.”
Starting Friday, Oct. 26, “The Electric City” will be hosting a weekend-long celebration of NBC’s Emmy-winning comedy by encouraging Dunder-heads from all over the world to mingle with each other, meet various cast members and participate in a wide range of The Office-related activities.
A total of 13 cast members including Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey and Melora Hardin — along with the show’s executive producer Greg Daniels and the entire writing staff — will be in attendance. Although actors Steve Carrell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson have not committed, many fans on blog sites are banking on an appearance by B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan, the temp turned corporate manager as the “surprise guest” that the convention’s organizers have mentioned.
The convention kicked off bright and early at 7 a.m. today with Al Roker and The Today Show broadcasting live from the University of Scranton.
“The Office Convention” events include, “Casino Night,” an opportunity for convention-goers to mingle with cast members, crew, writers, NBC execs and local and state officials at a nearby casino, and an adapted version of the “Office Olympics,” which were featured on a second-season episode in which gold, silver and bronze yogurt lids were awarded to competitors in sports such paper box snow-shoe racing, a.k.a. Flonkerton, the national sport of Icelandic paper companies.
The entire weekend will have downtown Scranton feted with street festivals, a cast wardrobe exhibit and character look-alike contests. Tickets to The Convention range from $25 for “The Intern Pass” to $250 for “The Corporate Pass.”
The scene at downtown Scranton this upcoming weekend will sure to put life into glorious words uttered by Michael Scott himself, “Ain’t no party like a Scranton party, ‘cause a Scranton party don’t stop.”