Went to the Star Trek: The Next Generation convention today

[rhymephile]

Today was the Creation convention celebrating the 25th anniversary of Star Trek:The Next Generation. The entire cast was there with the exception of Wil Wheaton. We went to the O'Hare Westin hotel, which as the name implies is near the airport. Happily it wasn't in Chicago, an hour's drive for us. Took us 20 minutes to get there.

Comments

[karadin]

Wow, what a bad con experience! I myself haven't been to one in over 20 years, but like you, I recall paying one price for a ticket, and then being able to wander in and out of panels and viewings without waiting in long lines and etc. I watch vids of the actors at spn cons (and they always seem funny and willing to engage all the audience) but I groan when people keep asking non-show related things (unless it's for Misha's charities)

[rhymephile]

I've always wanted to go to a Show con, but I'm too old for the teenager scene nowadays. I'm glad people upload stuff on YouTube, because it means I don't have to pay through the nose to attend the con and hear the guests speak, which is why I would want to go in the first place.

The longer you're in fandom the quicker you learn what to ask and what not to ask at cons, but the kids haven't learned that yet. Thus the reason you get all those uncomfortable questions. A caveat, however: Misha encouraged all that sexual talk and awkwardness when he first started going to cons. The kids aren't all to blame.

[karadin]

yeah, but if mish don't want to do something or answer it, he has no problems saying no, where I think J2 often get flustered trying to find the right way to answer without pissing people off, Misha don't give a fuck.

[shoelacedreamer]

Was this run by Creation? Because the ubiquitous Adam has been the mod at all the SPN conventions I've ever gone to run by Creation. And Creation cons are basically a bunch of standing/sitting around and waiting for shit to happen and then often being disappointed because of the lack of containment/discussion leading provided by Adam & co. There's a fine line between letting the audience get involved--having them post the questions, have "personal time" with the guests, etc--and keeping everything "on track", and Creation does a really poor job of the latter. What would serve the hardcore fans more would be a moderated discussion. Alas. I'm sorry you had a bad experience, though. It always sucks to shell out money for something and then have it be so disappointing.

Side note, I'll bet you were in the same hotel that we were in for Chicago Con in 2011; you should've meandered out and found the epic & terrifying Hummel museum just down the road! :P

[rhymephile]

It was a Creation con. You mean the cast might know this Adam guy because he works for Creation? Ugh, that's even more lame than I thought!

And Creation cons are basically a bunch of standing/sitting around and waiting for shit to happen and then often being disappointed because of the lack of containment/discussion leading provided by Adam & co.This was us. I have attended a Creation con, but that was definitely the old days. They ran an XF one back in the day. The cost wasn't as exorbitant as it is now. That Adam guy never gave his last name so I didn't know who he was, and I swear he was letting them ramble like crazy. He should have contained some of the shit they talked about that no one knew what it was. I was looking around at people like, "Why are you laughing? You don't even know what they're talking about!" when they were discussing in-joke stuff. Ugh

[mf_luder_xf]

Aw, what a shame. But yes, I do feel like most cons these days are just to get money from fans and not at all what I imagine the first original Trek cons were like. Then again, look at it maybe on the bright side that you didn't have fan questions about slash and fanfic and such. Those always make me cringe (even if I think they should be allowed to be asked, the way the actors answer them always make me uncomfortable and I wish people just wouldn't ask).

Marina sounds annoying, but I'd have wanted to smack the fan who said that, too - I enjoyed her (so far) brief role on NCIS.

[rhymephile]

I'd love to go to a fan-run con, good old-fashioned fun. It's not like that anymore, though, unless it's a new fandom maybe.

Then again, look at it maybe on the bright side that you didn't have fan questions about slash and fanfic and such

The crowd was very adult. Most were my age or older, or they were very young, with parents obviously recently introducing their kids to it. That was nice to see. All the questions were fairly good, actually, if the stupid emcee could have kept the cast on track to answer them. I think lack of slash and fanfic questions stems directly to how old the fandom is.

Marina seemed alternately a complete blast and also annoying, LOL. She was like that loud girl at the party that some people love *because* she's brash and loud, and the other half mumble behind their napkins because she's annoying as shit.

[foxestacado]

I went to three Creation Entertainment Cons in 1998-2001, all of them Xena cons, and although the experience was pretty cool at the time (I was in middle school) now compared to other Cons I have been to, all fan run, I would never go back to that kind of con. Well, the Xena cons were pretty cool experiences, because there was some fan creativity that was showcased on the main stage. But yes, it really is sitting all day in your seat listening to the presentations (I had forgotten about that until you wrote about it here). Pretty boring compared to fan run cons now.

[rhymephile]

I would LOVE to attend one of the cons you've been to recently. They sound like an awful lot of fun, with original artists (no rules for "licensed stuff only") and fun things to do! The balls and costumes and all that. That would be amazing.

[ccoralacid]

I have only ever been to two. One was a Torchwood con at eh HUB and it was great-a very friendly atmosphere -many of the stars were just walking around the hotel and the panels were very very funny. The second on had Dr.Who ,Torchwood, Star Trek and Highlander plus a load of UK stars. Like you I am not interested in autographs or pictures jus the panels and they were pretty good. Lots of stuff about the TV shows. I was really impressed with the two highlander guys as they were really interesting. The only star who I did not like was Eric Roberts -he just seemed to be realty up himself. The first one I got into all the panels for one ticket but the second one I got a more expensive ticket which enabled me to see all the panels because a cheaper ticket only let you attend 2.. I do think the amount stars charge for autographs is far to high considering what they get payed to attend.I know someone who helps to run cons and she gave me a rough idea of the fees and it quire surprised me. Although I have been told that at some cons the

[rhymephile]

Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley on The Next Generation, said in a blog post not too long ago that Jonathan Frakes (Riker) bought a vacation home just on the money earned from con appearances. Fans know how lucrative it can be; in my opinion the cast should be bending over backward to thank us for spending all this money on them. Plus, at this con if you wanted an autograph you paid cash at the actor's table!

The second multi-fandom one sounds cool. The Highlander actors were maybe Adrian Paul and Stan Kirsch? Those were the two male leads of the series. I was a fan of that show as well back in the day!

[ccoralacid]

Adrian Paul and Christopher Lambert. They talked a lot about the changes in the Highlander over the years and what makes for a good story. Christopher Lambert said he could not have make the TV series because of the physical requirements. Andrian talked about knives and knife throwing -he seem to know what he was talking about.I felt they really tried to mak eit interesting for those who attended the panel .The group form star wars were pretty god as well-a mixture of humourless anecdotes and filming info. Eric Roberts was there for Dr Who which was the worse and that was down to Eric who really does not give a lot back and the moderator who just asked boring questions