On November 10 (or today as it still is in the US), Equality Now celebrates “Browncoats Appreciation Day“. Since 2006, Browncoats have helped raise over $900,000 for Equality Now through Can’t Stop the Serenity.
And we’re excited to finally announce that our own events this year have added $8,067.43 (or $7,000 USD) to this growing figure.
This year’s Can’t Stop the Serenity fundraising came from three events – our Serenity screening on 2 August at the State Library of Victoria’s Village Roadshow Theatrette, our annual Battle of the Geeks Trivia Night at the Celtic Club, and a series of eBay auctions. All told, Can’t Stop the Serenity Melbourne 2014 raised $8,067.43 for Equality Now, which was donated on 12 October.
This year’s screening didn’t quite sell out as it had in the past but we still had a great turnout (180 tickets were sold out of 200). There was some fabulous cosplay, and after speaking to the people that were in attendance it’s clear that a good time was had. We were again very fortunate to have Ben McKenzie offer his time to host our event, and I honestly don’t know how to express our thanks enough. Ben makes the running of our day so much easier. We had some fantastic collectibles on offer in our live auction, and some very passionate bidders! Our massive raffle was a great success, and our door prizes were a hit! Huge thanks to our supporters for donating so many wonderful things for us to share. There were some hiccups on the day, but thanks to Ben, the SLV staff and the members of the NMB Committee of Management, those problems were solved with a minimum of fuss – and hopefully without anyone even being aware of them! All told, it was a great day and a wonderful chance to spend some time with our fantastic Browncoat community!
The Battle of the Geeks Trivia Night on 16 August was great fun! Attendees were a mix of presale tickets and pay-on-the-night, with a total attendance of about 70. The highlight of the night was the Celebrity Head round, and everyone enjoyed making origami Serenity models. We are indebted to the folks at the Celtic Club for once again providing the venue at a low cost, to the Perth Browncoats for sharing their trivia questions, and to our supporters for donating prizes for our raffle and winning team.
Lastly, our ebay auctions were once again very popular. We had some fantastic collectibles on offer, and lots of very happy winners. Congratulations!
Our CSTS events wouldn’t be successful without the volunteer helpers that we have in the lead up to events and on the day. Thanks go to Liz, Craig, Alex, Ali, Breanna and Xander, and I’d also like to thank the other members of the Committee of Management: our President, Jen, our Secretary and my CSTS co-runner Leanne, our Communications and everything computer based go-to guy Michael, and our Treasurer Mick who keeps all the numbers in line. Without all the support of these people these events wouldn’t keep happening.
Thank you!!
~ Chris MacLennan, CSTS Melbourne 2014 Organiser
