Fan convention · Oahu, Hawaii
Three years after the first fan convention on the island, The LOST Con brought us back. From October 5-8, 2017, 108 fans (and a baby) from around the world met at the Waikiki Beach Marriott, rode buses out to the places the show was filmed, sat for a group photo in a chapel, dressed up for a costume contest at a summer camp, and raised money for pancreatic cancer research.
I went as a polar bear and won the costume contest. I met people there I still go to LOST things with, including the Giacchino concert the next year. Everything on this page is checked against the paper I kept: the welcome letter, the schedule card, the organizer's emails and the tickets, all photographed below.
On Saturday evening we gathered on Waikiki Beach to remember Bonnie Craft, a fan from our community. The Inside LOST panel brought five longtime fans to the stage, the ones the organizer nicknamed the Oceanic Five.
Saturday, 10 AM
The group photo. There was no bus for this one, so everyone found their own way the 1.8 miles from the Marriott, arrived at 10 on the dot, as the letter insisted, and filled the pews for one quick shot under the organ loft.
On the show:
Visit it yourself →
Sunday, 2 to 7 PM
New Recruit Day. The con had the run of the camp for an afternoon: scene reenactments on the lawn, a BBQ, the costume contest at 2:30, and the Cancer Gets LOST auction until the buses left at 7.
On the show:
Visit it yourself →
Thursday afternoon and all day Friday
Two bus tours left from the Waikiki Beach Marriott: a half-day on Thursday and a full day on Friday, with sneakers, sunscreen and a hat strongly advised because October in Hawaii is hot. I came home with postcards from the Byodo-In Temple, a season 1 location, and Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden.
Saturday, 7 to 11 PM
Not on the con’s schedule, but the same Saturday night: Mummy: Curse of the Crypt, the haunted house Jorge Garcia ran with Skeleton Key Hawaii. I had a Fast Pass and an orange wristband.
The rules were simple: dress up as anything LOST-themed. A character, the blue van, Vincent. A panel of judges picked the top three, and everyone who entered got a small trinket.
I went as a polar bear, in a collar I made from a belt and a matching fish biscuit cut from card. The prize was a pair of square storybook prints of two season 1 scenes. Open the cards to see them, once you have watched that far.
Cancer Gets LOST, the fan charity, ran a silent auction on New Recruit Day open only to LOST 2017 attendees. You paid through PayPal on your phone, showed the receipt, signed the bid sheet and walked away with your item. No shipping, no fees.
Every dollar went to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, in honor of a family member of co-founder Jo Garfein. It raised $6,000.
Tickets and printouts are cropped so no names, order numbers, barcodes or email addresses show.
We read every comment before it goes up, and show it only to people who have watched far enough. Tick the spoiler box if you mention anything past this page.
Loading comments...
