Pocono News Section

The Office" Convention Calls For Local Involvement

The Office" Convention Calls For Local Involvement - Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at 3:55PM EST

" Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 @03:55pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY –During the weekend of October 26-28, fans of the hit NBC show "The Office" will gather in the Electric City for the first ever Office Convention. Tuesday night, convention organizers held a pre-convention expo to call on local businesses and volunteers to get involved.

The show which begins its fourth season on September 27 has had quite an impact on the city. The show opening features several scenes from downtown Scranton. The sit-com follows the bizarre dealings at Dunder-Mifflin, a fictional paper company based in Scranton. And although shot in LA –producers include many local references.

Local fans embrace the attention. In December, hundreds of fans gathered at the Mall at Steamtown to meet Rainn Wilson --the actor who plays the painfully-awkward Dwight.

Six months later, in May, actors Angela Kinsey and Brian Baumgartner visited their adopted city and signed hundreds of autographs. Kinsey says "I love Scranton. I love it. Everybody knows everybody." Baumgartner says "it's great to be here and see the places we've discussed on the show. Poor Richards and Farleys, the hotel and ‘the Rad."

In July, producers returned with a call for help from Scrantonians. And they responded. Prop manager Philip Shea says "we are being proactive gathering a bunch of local Scranton props and items and use them in the show."

And while “The Office is on WBRE each week. Last season WBRE was on The Office. You can barely make him out but Chief Meteorologist Josh Hodell made his acting debut.

For those of you who can't get enough of America's favorite paper company, and the cast of characters who work there....your chance to rub elbows with other die-hards begins October 26. Organizers say think of this as a Star Trek convention except fans will wear Dwight glasses instead of Spock ears.

The Today Show’s weatherman Al Roker will kick off the convention by forecasting from the University of Scranton campus the morning of October 26. For more information, log onto