Austin Browncoats Board of Directors Bios
Beth Nelson, Chairman
My name is Beth and I have been a Whedonite from before I knew he existed. Some of my favorite episodes of the TV show, "Roseanne," were written by Joss. I was completely converted in 1997 when the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" hit the airwaves. While I wasn't instantly an "Angel" fan, my love of Joss' work grew immensely when I first saw "Firefly". It was like a brand new love affair. And because of Spike, I recently decided to fall in love with "Angel", as well.
I am the Chairman of the Austin Browncoats, as well as the Chairman of the 2008 Browncoat Ball committee and the Global Organizer for 2008's Can't Stop The Serenity. I head the most talented and loving group of Browncoats you will ever meet. This is a privilege – to work with such amazing people and get to call them my friends – this is the best job in the world!
My passion for doing good works started at a young age in New York City. I was working at the Prince Street Soup Kitchen when I was told they needed someone to take on a leadership role. The job would entail scheduling volunteers, looking/begging for companies to donate food for us beyond the food we bought with money from the city and making sure that all the food being cooked was timed and scheduled to work with our rush hours. I was 14 years old and thought it would be great fun to get involved and "manage" something like this. Well, I was right - it was great fun. I got to hang out with my friends, joke around and cook food. But, what it really was – rewarding. In more ways than the social ones. I was able to help people that were struggling to help themselves. I was able to help keep people's hope alive because once the food runs out, many options do as well. This led to years of volunteer work and years of this passion growing. Now, we believe that we can better the world one shindig at a time. And we will because we're Austin! We're Browncoats! And we aim to misbehave! (With the best intentions, of course!)
Ryan M. Campbell, Vice Chair
I am a native Texan and have lived in Austin since 2001. I live here with my nameless cat. My other interests include Longhorn sports, video games, and bad action movies. My other Sci-Fi/Space Western favorites include Star Wars and Farscape. While in college, I had the privilege to become a leader in Sigma Nu Fraternity where, in addition to developing a wealth of skills and expertise in running an organization, I made lifelong friends with some truly great people.
As a late comer to the phenomenon of Firefly, I was pleased to find a group of active Browncoats in Austin. After some time I saw just how dynamic this group of fans truly was, and began to explore ways I could get more involved. I volunteered my services which allowed me to take an active role in the Austin Browncoats. Other than my position as Vice Chairman on the Board of Directors of Austin Browncoats, I serve as an administrator for the Austin Browncoats Forum and the Can't Stop the Serenity Forum. I am also heading The Signalers track of the Browncoat Ball. I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to help lead this fine organization of great people as we try to better our own 'verse and have fun along the way.
Claudia Drinovsky, Treasurer
Hi, my name is Claudia and I'm originally from Switzerland, but have lived in Austin since 1995. I am married to Steve and we have two kids, Anika and Lars.
Firefly… where to start? We were pretty disappointed when it got cancelled, but when Serenity came out I found out that there was a whole fan base called the Browncoats. I joined the forums and then got involved with the first LoneStar Shindig in '05. After that life took over and I haven't been as involved as I would have liked to be, but recently I started to be more active in the Austin Browncoat community again and I enjoy it very much. I am very honored to be on the Board of Directors and will do my best to fulfill my position as Treasurer.
I love to scrapbook and sew, and healthy cooking is one of my big passions!