Attendees will receive timed tickets for the big-name guests at the Reunion, which takes place on Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, July 14, at the Miami Airport Convention Center. (The event is not associated with NBC.) That way, they won't spend half of the day standing in line for meet and greets like at the 2023 convention in Chicago.
"We've had a little bit of growing pains," says the Reunion cofounder and Miami native Arnold Cuervo about the fan convention's second edition. "We didn't expect a six-hour line [for Wilson]. He was also ill, unfortunately, so that slowed things down."
Six hours may sound like a long time to wait in line, but Cuervo says he heard the line for Wilson at a convention in Dallas was even longer. And to think, it's been more than a decade since The Office ended its nine-season run on NBC.
The show that gave us Prison Mike and immortalized "That's what she said" has refused to fade away, which is why Cuervo created the convention in the first place. He came up with the idea after working with Office cast members on his autographed memorabilia company, the Office Funko Pops.
"I've done a lot of autograph signings over the years with cast members," says Cuervo. "Typically, I go to their houses or wherever they're shooting just to get autographs. After a while, I asked them, 'If I ever start my own convention, would you guys show up?'"
Many cast members attended the first convention, then known as Dunder Con, in New Jersey in 2022. Apparently, they enjoyed the experience because most returned for the second edition in Chicago and will appear again in Miami this weekend. Expected to join Wilson at the Miami convention will be fellow Office alums Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin), Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson), Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez), Leslie David Baker (Stanley Hudson), Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), and Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer), among others.
Many cast members of The Office are regulars at the Reunion fan convention.
The Office Funko Pops photo
Flannery will pose for photos while lying on the hood of Michael Scott's actual PT Cruiser — a reference to the episode where Michael hits Meredith with his car. Andy Buckley — who played Dunder Mifflin chief financial officer David Wallace — will pose with a drum kit in reference to his "Suck It" song. Attendees can wear padded sumo wrestler costumes like those worn in the "Beach Games" episode. And Baker will host a pretzel-eating contest in honor of Stanley's excitement over Pretzel Day.
"That was a lot of fun last year," Cuervo says about the pretzel-eating contest. "I was worried somebody was going choke. I'm certified, and we had a bunch of people who are certified there who are ready to go, just in case. Thankfully, it went off without a hitch."
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask the cast members questions during the Reunion's Q&A panels. They can also step inside inflatable versions of Dunder Mifflin and Poor Richard's Pub — the latter being an actual bar inside where you can buy drinks.
And then there's the cosplay.
Fans have been known to dress in costumes that reference specific moments in the series. Some of you may have seen the video of Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone) playfully confronting a boy who dressed as Kevin at the New Jersey convention — big pot of chili and all.
"We have the Fundies contest; it's a play on the Dundies," says Cuervo, who doesn't use the name of Michael Scott's annual awards event to avoid legal issues with NBC. "We have actual awards that look very similar to the Dundies and give it to the best-dressed office fans. There's a little kids category and an adults category."
For Cuervo, turning his love of The Office into a career is a dream. He went from watching the cast like the rest of us to working with them and, in some cases, befriending them. But he admits that he was worried at first about getting to know them on a personal basis.
"I was so nervous about that," Cuervo says. "They always say don't meet your heroes. My biggest concern was that I didn't want them to ruin the show for me. But every single person I meet has been nicer than the last. Lots of them are identical to their characters — except Angela. She's such a bitch on the show, but in person, she has the biggest heart."
The Reunion. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 13, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 14, at the Miami Airport Convention Center, 711 NW 72nd Ave., Miami; reunioncon.com. Tickets are $49.95 to $499.95 via feverup.com.
