Ni hao!
I wanted to stop in and introduce myself. I'm Tanya, a Browncoat from
Charlotte, NC. <waves>
Our Browncoat group is fairly new. There wasn't a local group while
the show was on or while the movie was being promoted. I've been
reading through the archives of this group and I see you guys have
been here holding the line for quite a while now.
The reason our gang even met was because of the inaugural Can't Stop
the Serenity event in 2006. I took a leap of faith and organized a
screening without knowing another single Browncoat in the whole city.
For weeks I plastered Charlotte and the Internet with flyers and
waited to see what happened. I signed a contract with a local movie
theater and promised them $550 without knowing where I would get the
money if tickets didn't sell. It took a while but slowly Browncoats
started coming out of the woodwork and buying tickets! Once I hit the
break-even point, I could start sleeping again. That year we had 100
people attend the screening. And from that 100, we had a dozen
interested in forming a club.
And so here we are 2 years later. We have over 100 members on our
Yahoo group. We've hosted a charity screening every year and this
time we had to move to a bigger venue because the old one couldn't fit
our anticipated crowd of 250. Can't Stop the Serenity created a
community where one didn't exist before. It is the cause around which
we rally every year and that keeps us going.
Now Anne Barringer has taken up the fight here in Memphis. She has
staked her reputation (and money she doesn't have) that the local
Browncoat community in Memphis is still strong and willing to do good
works. And I've helped her along as much as I can. But ultimately it
is up to the Browncoats in Tennessee to show the world that love for
the 'verse hasn't died here.
If the screening in Memphis is successful this year (read: breaks
even), then you can be certain there will be more. If you prove there
is support and justification for such an event, the doors will open
for better theater space, more sponsors and more prizes in the future.
But you have to be willing to stand up and be counted first.
Don't make Anne sit up at night and wonder if she made the right
decision. Give her a shout-out, a pat on the back, just let her know
that you're still here and you still care.
And next year I hope to make it out to the Tennessee screening to meet
each and every one of you. To shake your hands for starting the fight
that we're continuing.

Keep flyin'


--Tanya Morris