Massive picture thread continues.
Sooo it's been an eternity since I properly updated the adventures of the Ecto Magnum. Time for a megapost.
EctoberFest 2013 did alright. I was out of a job at the time but the charity has gained quite a following of return donors that believe it's the highlight of the Halloween season, so we obliged. I anticipated huuuge growth after our $10,000 triumph the year before, and we upped the ante with a gift bag that included Denver Ghostbusters patches, Don't Be a Monster swag, free tickets to Denver Film Society theaters, posters, and more. The amazing dudes Jim and Travis from CelebrityMachines.com even made several hundred custom "Ecto Tours" license plates and
donated them to the program. Astonishing generosity!
Despite my best efforts, Ectoberfest only pulled in about $5,000 in 2013. It's nothing sneeze at, but after 2012 it really was a crushing disappointment. It was still fun though, and that counts, too.
We promoted the program everywhere we could with Stay Puft and the car.
November 1st marked the fifth anniversary of Colorado Movie Cars, so we got as many cars together as we could and took a photo in the same spot as the first photo from our first meet - November 1, 2008.
Not every member, but still a good turnout!
Mid-winter I received an AMAZING gift from an EctoberFest donor. While going on the haunted house runs we would talk about all sorts of things with the donors, and the topic of ways to make the program better always came up since I really wanted to get feedback for improvement. Someone had the idea of providing Ghostbusters costumes for the donors to wear, and this guy took the idea to heart, bought and dyed a ton of suits and belts, sewed and dyed elbow pads, and even did a terrific velcro job on the name tags so people could choose which Buster they wanted to be. I was beside myself.
We did a little bit of shooting over the winter, those photos can be found above (Ecto in the snow and SHIELD car in February).
When March rolled around of course we had to get a small group together for a St. Patrick's Day parade, and of course we had to have a DeLorean lead the group because... Ireland!
Did a little early summer mountain driving, this is Ute Pass near Silverthorn and Breckenridge.
And Denver Comic Con was an total blast. Definitely the crown jewel in Colorado nerd gatherings.
Turtle Van friends (yes, those are the owners) up from New Mexico!
Spectacular costumes. Whenever someone comes up with a costume that goes with a car, we go all out for cool pics.
Abbott, the owner of the Indy motorcycle flipped his lid when Henry Jones Sr. showed up. What a great moment.
World's greatest red. I love that red so much.
The Late Models...
GOBATS 1959 Vespa!
In July we took a little trip up Pike's Peak with a handful of movie cars. Good way to get out and enjoy some mountain driving!
Displayed on the 16th Street Mall. Bandit!!
The Curtis Hotel launched their Ghostbusters-themed hotel room on the 13th floor so we had to help them out with their debut part!
Aaaand Ectoberfest won a Best of Denver award!
Hung out in Fort Collins with the Umbrella Corp. Magnum, yes we have matching stripes!
And even got in a little bit of drive-in action!
Roadtripped out to Utah to meet the Salt Lake Ghostbusters. Their Ecto wasn't 100% assembled but it was nice to finally get the two together.
And possibly the best moment of the year, meeting Mr. Hudson at Salt Lake Comic Con! Yes, his signature is on the visor right next to Dan's!
When October rolled around it was time again to fire up Ectoberfest with as much publicity as possible. We got Stay Puft set up outside the local Fox affiliate and started doing promotions on the tv, radio, and everywhere we could.
Getting ready for the promo
We got 'im!
And of course the costumes were a hit. Definitely some added value to the program!
The suits were a bit toasty at the indoor haunts, but cooler Colorado nights made them worthwhile overall!
By Halloween, Ectoberfest 2014 had raised about $6,700 for Don't Be a Monster, proving that $5k was a solid goal. Since I started in 2010, Ectoberfest has raised just over $24,000 for local charities. I beat myself up for not being able to cap 25k, but it is what it is.
I hope we can do more in 2015 and keep this bustin' train rolling!