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More than 1,000 fans braved late afternoon rain storms to welcome the Southern Conference to Birmingham during the inaugural SoCon FanFest Aug. 12 at ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ. ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ became the SoCon's 12th member on July 1, and FanFest was billed as an event to welcome ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ to the conference and to introduce the nation's 5th oldest athletics conference to the Birmingham market.

The event, originally scheduled for ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ's Joe Lee Griffin Field, was moved indoors to the Pete Hanna Center, but the rain did not seem to dampen the spirits of fans from ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ and several other SoCon schools who enjoyed a picnic dinner, clowns, games, autographs and photos with players, and performances by the ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ Marching Band and cheerleaders.

¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ's WVSU-FM broadcast a special edition of "¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ Sports Weekly" live from the event and included interviews with SoCon and ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ officials.

"We worried that the rain might hurt the event, but the opposite appears to be true," said ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ athletics director Bob Roller. "Fans came and stayed to enjoy a full evening. We were very pleased."

SoCon officials also expressed pleasure at the successful evening. They plan to make FanFest an annual event rotating among the conference schools.