A celebration of Madonna's Re-Invention Tour at Boston's

RE-INVENTION CONVENTION

Friday, June 25 - Saturday, June 26 - Sunday, June 27, 2004

This page last updated January 2, 2005

THIS YEAR'S LOCATION - WE FRAME IT GALLERY - Billerica, Massachusetts
The location of this year's show - Plaza 129
EVENTS - SUMMARY - PHOTOS - SPONSORS & LINKS - PREVIOUS SHOWS - FINE PRINT
EVENTS:
For the 2004 show, there was a huge variety of memorabilia for sale, as well as many ultra-rare items on display for fans to enjoy. The weekend was filled with Madonna music (including many RARE songs never heard before), games, trivia contests, karaoke, prizes, giveaways, and fun! It was a great way to meet new friends and celebrate Madonna's music, movies, and life! This year's weekend celebration was held from June 25th to 27th 2004.
 
At the show, Madonna fans:
HEARD rare Madonna songs, mixes, and remixes - some of which have NEVER been heard before! Including more than TEN super-ultra-rare tracks that have NEVER been heard or played anywhere else (even rarer than the Gotham Demos and Ray Of Light Demos)
SAW rare memorabilia and photos of Madonna - many of which have NEVER been seen before! Including hundreds of RARE and unpublished photos from her early days
ENJOYED rare Madonna videos, TV appearances, and other video footage, played throughout the day - much of which had never been seen before!
ENTERED for chances to WIN a pair of tickets to Madonna's sold-out Re-Invention Tour at the Worcester Centrum, which took place immediately after Sunday's festivities!
SANG their favorite Madonna songs in MADONNA KARAOKE - With over 60 instrumental songs to choose from
SHOPPED a huge selection of Madonna memorabilia - something for every collector and budget, including photos, posters, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and much more - many items available that are not (and have never been) available through the Madonna Catalog web site
PLAYED fun Madonna-related games, trivia contests, and more
WON Madonna items by participating in trivia contests, raffles, and prize giveaways.
MADE new friends and pen-pals that share their love for Madonna
 
About MADIVA's no-show: Unfortunately, New York impersonator MADIVA wasn't able to make it to this year's convention. This was beyond my control, and I apologize for those of you who missed out.
ABOUT THE CONVENTION:
Preparation for this event started back in March, even before it was confirmed that Madonna would be going on tour. Shortly after plans for the convention began, it was confirmed that Madonna would be touring. So the name of the convention was appropriately changed to the "Re-Invention Convention" (a catchy name that just came to me, and stuck instantly).
 
Now that I had the name of the convention figured out, I had to decide where and when to hold the event. It was originally scheduled for the middle of May. But once I realized that Madonna would be in town at the end of June for the Worcester/Boston leg of her tour, I figured it was best to coordinate my convention with her tour. This was especially convenient for those fans who traveled from afar to see her show in Worcester; I figured they could stop by the convention earlier that day and make it a "total Madonna day".
 
Planning a convention for the world's most famous woman doesn't happen overnight. It takes a LOT of work and preparation! I spent many late nights designing the advertising posters, laminated admission passes, and promotional materials.
 
As far as location, the perfect spot would have been where I held the 2003 weekend convention (Kingdom Fine Arts on Mass. Ave. in Boston) - but that location is now home to Boston Danceworks, a retail store that sells dance clothing to local ballet and dance halls (in fact, they moved into the KFA gallery just a few days after I held my Madonna convention there). So I had to find another place that I could afford, and this time I wanted to have a PARKING LOT so fans wouldn't have to drive around all day trying to find a spot (Boston is notorious for having virtually no parking spaces).
 
This year, I decided to have the convention about 20 miles north of Boston, away from the expensive parking and congestion of the city. It was held at WE FRAME IT, a picture framing shop and art gallery in Billerica, Massachusetts (my home town). My good friend Lisa owns the shop, so she agreed to let me run the convention out of her store for the weekend. Just the task of emptying out the store and setting it up for a convention took 2 weeks.
 
As the time for the convention drew near, I realized that I still had so much work to do, and such little time. This is when the help of my great friends came in very handy. A special thanks to Kim, who helped best of all - we'll never forget those nights where we literally had to sleep at the store, because we worked so late we couldn't even drive home.
 
The first day of the convention was Friday, June 25th. At 9:30am, two of the other vendors (Eric and Dale) arrived all the way from York, Pennsylvania to load in. Eric had told me that he would need only one table to sell his custom hand-made Madonna flower vases, but I had no idea about what else he would be bringing - amazing one-of-a-kind original watercolor portraits of Madonna! When he started to bring them in, I was totally blown away. These were the most amazing, most stunning watercolor paintings I have EVER seen! I could not believe the detail, the color accuracy, and the amazing likeness - all done by hand!
 
I had originally told Eric that he could have one table to set up his flower vases - but once I saw his paintings, I immediately gave him a second table, and started taking things off the walls so he could hang his works of art, which made the items that were originally hanging there (magazines and stuff) pale in comparison. Fans who saw his art were simply blown away. Although the paintings are priced more for the "investment" type of collector ($1,200 to $1,800 each), I can honestly say that they are worth every single penny. More photos of these beautiful paintings (and details on how to purchase them) should be up on the Madonna Catalog web site by the end of July at the latest.
 
The convention officially opened at 11am on Friday. Of course, we had the to-be-expected die-hard fans that were waiting at the door for us to open. As the day went on, we met a wide variety of fans, from all different places - some from Canada and Maine, some from as far as California and Florida- all who came to see the convention, and to see Madonna's show in Worcester that same weekend. Friday was a little bit slow here and there, so the atmosphere was very relaxed - most of the time it was just a handful of fans, and the convention staff (mostly my friends), just hanging out, eating pizza, and talking about Madonna. Erin Skrypek, a journalist from New York, came to the convention to interview Steve. It was a fun day overall.
 
At around 8:00 on Friday, a group of 10 of us got together to go out to dinner, then out to a club. The group consisted of myself, 3 of my friends who were helping out (Michael, Suzanne, and Kim), Eric, plus 5 Madonna fans that came to my convention, who ended up becoming instant friends with us. We had a great dinner at the 99 restaurant, then headed into Boston to do some clubbing at MACHINE. I was REALLY tired at this point, but needed a break so badly, I didn't mind.
 
We didn't get back from clubbing until around 3:00am. I had to be back at the shop for 9:00am, so some other vendors (Kelly and Haydee) could load in and set up. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. But it was all worth it. Kelly was so much fun, and brought a lot of positive energy to the convention. Madonna fans who attended the convention bought a wide variety of items from both Kelly and Steve, and they enjoyed the rare audio and video that filled the air.
 
Saturday was a little busier than Friday, but still wasn't quite the turnout I had hoped for. I think it was a combination of the obscure location, and the fact that I didn't get a chance to do as much newspaper and radio advertising as I had wanted to do. But I think the flow of fans was "just right" - it was enough to keep us all busy, but never got out of control (as has happened at previous conventions).
 
During the day, a TV played rare Madonna video footage, a sound system played a wide variety of Madonna music ranging from common pop hits to ultra-rare songs and remixes, and the scent of fresh hot-air popped popcorn filled the air. Groups of fans gathered around while Steve tested their Madonna knowledge with tough (and some not-so-tough) trivia questions. Collectors purchased a huge variety of collectibles from Steve and Kelly's tables. It was another fun day.
 
Sunday was the most fun and anticipated day - especially since we'd all be going to see Madonna that night! As expected, the fan turn-out was much better on Sunday, as most people attending the convention would be going to see Madonna at the Worcester Centrum that night. Steve and Kelly were both able to finally sell all of their extra concert tickets to fans who wanted to go at the last minute - and they all got great deals, getting $300 seats for as little as $100 each. Steve raffled off 2 pairs of tickets for Sunday night's show, making 4 Madonna fans very happy!
 
I'd say the only problem we had all weekend was that Chris (a.k.a. MADIVA, a Madonna impersonator and world's largest Madonna collection from Brooklyn) never showed up to perform at the convention, disappointing many fans. Even though he knew about the convention from day one, and promised he would help out and perform, he claimed he had to work that weekend (even though I saw him in full Madonna costume at the concert on Sunday). I think he just decided that attending 35 performances of the Re-Invention Tour was more important than sticking to a commitment to help a friend in need. Oh well, I'll eventually get over it. The show still went very well, even without MADIVA.
 
I'd like to take a moment to give a great big THANKS to all those who made this convention possible - Lisa Di Clemente and Steve Barrett from WE FRAME IT; Kim Weldon, Suzanne White, Nathan Walsh, Patricia Righter, Brian Maggio, Jim Dufresne, Eric Stauffer, Kelly Knowles, and Manny Ferreira. I hope we can put on an even better convention next year!
PHOTOS: Click on any of the small photos below to enlarge them.
It took many hours to empty out the WE FRAME IT gallery in preparation for the Re-Invention Convention.
Nathan Walsh helps a customer at The Madonna Catalog's table
Three hardcore fans from Canada look at some rare photos
Nathan Walsh and Suzanne White pose for a photo during a break
A fan took this photo, giving you an idea of the variety of items available at the show.
Steve waits for the doors to open on Sunday
Some t-shirts and framed items from The Madonna Catalog's display
A bird's-eye view of The Madonna Catalog's display case, featuring small-but-rare items from around the world
Kim, Suzanne, and Michael take a break from helping customers to pose for a picture
On Friday the 25th, Artist Eric H. Stauffer from York, Pennsylvania showed off his AMAZING original watercolor portraits of Madonna, as well as dozens of unique, hand-made Madonna flower vases.
THE 2003 SHOW:
A special 360-degree panoramic photo of the 2003 show, taken by Steve Caraco at Kingdom Fine Arts in Boston on March 15, 2003 (click on it to go to the 2003 Boston Convention page, which includes tons of photos from the 2003 show)
SPONSORS, FRIENDS, LINKS, and THANKS:
Special thanks to: Lisa Di Clemente, Steve Barrett, Kim Weldon, Many Ferreira, Suzanne White, MichelleMac, Nathan Walsh, Brian Maggio, Jim Dufresne, Patricia Righter, Mom & Dad, Record Runner, and anyone else that had anything to do with making this convention possible. It was a LOT of work, but I had a lot of fun, and met a lot of great people along the way! I hope to see you all at a convention in 2005!
PREVIOUS SHOWS & CONVENTIONS:
For info about the 1999 MaddyFest convention in New York City, CLICK HERE
For info about the 2000 MaddyFest convention in New York City, CLICK HERE
There were no shows or conventions in 2001 due to the tour.
For info about the 2002 Madonna convention (MLVC 2002) in Detroit, CLICK HERE
For info about the 2003 Boston Madonna Convention (Kingdom Fine Arts), CLICK HERE
For info about the 2003 MaddyFest convention in New York City, CLICK HERE
For info about all other shows and conventions, CLICK HERE
LEGAL/MISC. ("fine print"):
This year's show was in no way endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by Madonna, or any of her affiliates. It was a 100% fan-run operation. All images of Madonna are copyrighted and used for promotional purposes only. The Madonna Catalog and/or We Frame It cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to any articles, vehicles, or their contents. This event was a non-smoking event. Only animals assisting blind or deaf persons were admitted.
ADVERTISING:
ABOVE: Five different advertising posters for the Re-Invention Convention.
GO TO THE MAIN SITE MAP (members only)
GO TO THE MAIN SITE MAP (non-members)
SEE INFO/PHOTOS ON OTHER SHOWS AND CONVENTIONS