Today I hosted my first official fan meetup in Tampa, Florida. Well actually, it was the first real meetup outside of my hometown and it was at the beautiful Fort De Soto Beach (dog beach area) of St. Petersburg. And I’m thrilled to say it was a success!
We had a great turnout of fans as you can see below.
It was wonderful to finally meet fans we’d only known online; to chat with them; learn about their stories; and take some photos together!
It was also great to see just how dedicated our fans are, from the Crusoe t-shirts they sported to this car we noticed as we pulled into the already-packed parking lot!
Or even this young fan of ours who made a t-shirt just for us!
Some fans drove as far as two hours from Orlando through heavy Easter-weekend traffic just to meet us, which was especially flattering! Heck, there was even a family from Scotland who were on vacation at Disney World in Orlando to come see us!
So if I’m pulling people away from Disney, well, makes me think I should start a theme park…
And of course, everyone was hoping for a photo with yours truly! Here’s some samples of the fan photos from that day:
Say cheeeeeese…
“Oh wait, I blinked! Take it again!”
We had fans from all around, of all different shapes, sizes, and colors.
Even non-dachshund fans!
And this blind little dachshund who was still thrilled just to be in my presence!
And of course, most were quite starstruck!
They came by foot, wheelchair, stroller, and even surfboard!
At one point I needed to cool off, so I did a little “body surfing” of my own!
All in all, it was very rewarding to see how happy the fans were to finally meet me…
And at the end, I had my nose held high with pride at such a supportive and amazing group of fans we have… which as you know, go by the name of “Cru’s Crew”!
And as a special thank you, I had some pre-pawtographed commemorative photos for all the fans that came by.
So I hope you don’t mind, but now that I’m finally off the clock, I’m going to take some time to enjoy the beach now…
But since everyone’s still lookin’, you know I’ll be flexin’.
Thanks again to all the awesome fans who came out to meet me today!
Keep flockin’,
~ Crusoe
Do you hope to meet Crusoe one day? If yes, “Like” this post!
Check out these featured items from my store!
