Edward_Lee_Whiteside@cup.portal.com (02/26/91)
Here in Phoenix this weekend, we had a "Trekfest" with Michael Dorn. The Trekfest people are from Florida are apparently trying to cut into Creation's business. However, their convention made the normal Creation Convention look good. They ran ads during ST:TNG for a couple of weeks in advance of the show, saying there would be trivia contests and other activities. The phone number listed in the ad is the number for the hotel the con was at, so they only had the info provided to them by Trekfest. Basically, the con was $15 at the door only (no advance sales for less), which considerin that Creation just had Dorn in Tucson (about two hours from Phoenix) three weeks before at a cost of $8 in advance was a bit high. I did get the phone number for Trekfest from the hotel and was told that they do a lot more with their guests than Creation and that they would have contests and such during the day. They also offered to make tables available for local fan clubs in the event area to hand out brochures and promote the clubs (although you had to pay to get in to do so). Also, I inquired on Compuserve about Trekfest and was told that at a Houston con they did that James Doohan was on stage about hald the time of the con, helping with Trivia contests and such. Based on this info, I told other members in the Star Trek club I'm in that it looked like it would be worth going to. Most elected to wait to hear a report at our meeting scheduled for later that nigh and then go on Sunday if those that went Saturday gave a favorable report. So what happened at the convention: Upon getting in after paying my $15, I (and another club member) got set up at the table reserved for our club (Starfleet was there taking up two tables. They arrived early so they got the tables closest to the stage). After searching around, I found the schedule posted a few places on the wall and found the following: 10:30 - Yesterday's Enterprise 12:00 - The Emissary 12:45 - Reunion 1:30 - Michael Dorn 2:30 - Autographs 4:00 - Sarek Upon seeing this, I tracked down one of the Trekfest people and asked if ther was anything else, like the trivia contests advertised. I was told that they forgot the materials so they couldn't have it. They did add that they will be showing the bloopers too, which weren''t listed on the schedule. So for the $15, we got to watch Next Generation episodes (taped off their local station), the ST:TNG bloopers (and parts from the ST:TNG Press Kit) several times. The bloopers and other things were on a tape that Trekfest sold at the registration desk as well as in the autograph line. The dealers room was about half the size of a Creation con, although most of the dealers were usually at those as well. Needless to say, after the club members who went to the con on Saturday gave their report at our meeting, I don't think anyone went to the convention today. Unfortunately, the Starfleet club probably required their members to attend so they all had to pay their $15 today as well. Not all things were negative at the con. Since our club had a table in the event area, we could watch the videos and Michael Dorn and not have to leave the table. We were able to pass out a lot of brochures about our club and get people interested in going to a meeting (several went to the meeting later that night). Michael Dorn was in good form as usual, although he appears to have been instructed not to give away much about upcoming episodes. Following is what little he said, some of which is minor spoiler material: Barclay will be coming back, and we'll see Worf in tights in the episode. The current episode being filmed has Jean Simmons (Elizabeth Stoddard in the new Dark Shadows, episode is titled Drumhead according to a CIS listing). This episode is being directed by Jonathon Frakes. He confirmed that Q is coming back and that there is some swordplay in the episode, which resulted in some minor injuries to the cast. The final episode of the season will be directed by Patrick Stewart and will focus on Worf, possibly being a cliff-hanger. Both Gates Mc Fadden and Brent Spiner are looking to direct episodes probably next year (doesn't the director's guild complain about all these actors directing shows? :) He did allude to some sort of connection of ST6 to ST:TNG, hinting that he might be involved. To sum up, in regards to Trekfest, make sure it's a guest you really want to see, because there may not be much else. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim "The Big Dweeb" Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com, and questions to trek-info-request@dweeb.fx.com