We wanted to provide an update to everyone regarding the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, and specifically how it might impact this year’s Gallifrey One convention… a concern that many are sharing with us, publicly and privately.
First and foremost, we appreciate everyone’s thoughts and concern. This is an unprecedented situation in our city, and although the vast majority of the Los Angeles metropolitan area remains unaffected, the places that are impacted are dealing with terrible circumstances, including the loss of thousands of homes and businesses. The communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena have been the worst hit, and other locations around the city remain in peril. Our thoughts are with all of the victims of this tragedy, and those in harm’s way (including members of our own fan community who have been impacted.)
Yet, it’s also important to acknowledge that the incredible firefighters and first responders — not just from the Los Angeles and Southern California areas, but in fact from all over the western United States as well as Canada and Mexico — are doing an incredible job to get the situation in hand. We are confident that they will soon have a handle on the Palisades and Eaton fires, and life will return to a semblance of normalcy.
We DO NOT expect any impact upon the Gallifrey One convention this year. We are proceeding with our planning as normal. Events in the L.A. area have continued; in fact, the Anime Los Angeles convention has just taken place in Long Beach this weekend, and other events are going on around the city. There is no need to be concerned about cancellation or postponement, and ticket sales are continuing. In fact, our guests and our sponsors all remain firmly committed to supporting this year’s event, and many of them have been sending their well-wishes to us. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in five weeks’ time (and with the deepest respect, we really don’t need any “but what about…?” questions from people who don’t live here; this is our town, and we have a firm grasp on the situation here in L.A.)
Many of you have asked about our charity auction this year. Gallifrey One had already entered into a partnership with a wonderful local charity that will be benefitting from this year’s auction, and in fact, it had been our plan to announce them this past Wednesday… then the fires began. It is extremely important to us to honor our commitments to this very worthwhile charity, and we shall be doing so. However, we’re going to wait just a bit longer before we announce them, out of deference to the current need for support from all over our city.
But many of you have asked how you can help with the immediate needs of those impacted by the fires here. We’ve found a lot of different resources, but the best summary we’ve found with available resources is from NBC News at the following link; scroll down to the bottom of the article for a list of charities that have been vetted.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-to-help-victims-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna187274
Again, thank you all for your concern and your good wishes… we know it’s a rough time for everyone, especially those of us who live here. But we cannot wait to share this year’s convention with you, and we’ll be sharing all of our plans with you soon, including our charity beneficiary, our full schedule of events, ticket sales for the Evening Guest Receptions, additional photo ops being planned, kaffeeklatsch signups… and even a few new guests in the pipeline! See you all next month!
