ckuppe@spock.UUCP (Charles A. Kupperman '87 ) (02/24/86)
(Note: Though this is mostly drwho, I'm posting it to startrek also, because
Creation run Star Trek conventions as well, usually in a hodge-podge
affair.)
I, too, harbor an intense dislike of Creation. In my two years of
convention visiting, I have been to three Creation conventions, and I
have always found them bland, disappointing, and the same as every other
Creation convention. Though Creation occasionally adds something to
their usual schedule, every single convention flyer I get (Adressed to
"Charles Kiggerman") details more or less the same events, with a sort
of "Insert Guest here" attitude to the interesting people they manage to
draw.
Yes, Creation has gotten some of the best stars of the show out to the
East coast, and, for those of us who don't like Ron Katz OR Spirit of
Light, may be the only way to see ANYONE on the East coast, but they're
simply among the most unimaginative organisers anywhere. They surround
guests with bodyguards who, like the doormaker in the Visitation, "knew
(their) craft too well." If given a choice between the generic, bland
treatment of Creation and the sheer enormity of a Spirit of Light
convention, I would probably stay home.
What kind of convention do I like? Simple. A small, well run
convention that, through the exertions of the fans, is very, very good
in itself. The best conventions don't DEPEND on the guests they get or
the videos they show. They depend on the fans who come to support the
show. In other areas beyond the East coast, there are groups like the
Prydonian Renegades in Ohio and the Companions of Doctor Who in North
Carolina (I'm sure there must be comparable Star Trek groups)
that have managed to organise some of the *best* conventions
ever, by working to get good guests, but also to plan things so that the
fans could have a good time no matter what.
It's not easy for a small group of fans to get a guest like Jon Pertwee
or Patrick Troughton to show up at his convention, but it's worth the
trouble if you can. And, if there was a group of fans in the Northeast
that could do this, I'd join them like a shot. As for Creation, it's
time that rat-bag organisation died an ignoble death. It can't even
entertain the fans, and it probably isn't much fun for the guests,
either, so why prolong its tenure? Fans should unite to boycott this
group until they get some real people working there.
Charles Kupperman.
"I'm alive!"
-- Terror of the Zygons, episode IV.