Convention Fans

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I feel so fortunate to have met so many stars from all of the Star Trek series (as well as other sci-fi and fantasy series). From just The Original Series, for example, I have met Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Jimmy Doohan, and Walter Koenig.  I have met two Trek captains, and the majority of the casts from Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I’ve also met Nicholas Brendan  (Xander of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Nathan Fillion (Firely), Richard Hatch (original Battlestar Galactica), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules and Andromeda), and numerous others.

I am not just an “average” convention goer (if there is such a thing). At one point I owned three different Star Trek costumes (they have since been retired in favor of Steampunk and pirate costumes). I used to regularly dress as a Trill Captain in a white Insurrection dress uniform for conventions.  Last year I took my convention attendence one step further, and was actually a panelist for the Trek Trak programming track at Dragon*con. I, along with three other Trekkies, hosted a panel discussion about online Star Trek role playing. I had finally taken the leap and become the expert on the other side of the microphone.

I wouldn’t trade any of my convention experiences for anything. I’ve met wonderful people - celebrities and regular fans alike. I’ve seen great presentations, panels, costumes, shows, concerts, and more. I now plan my entire vacation time at work around attending Dragon*con every year in Atlanta. And it all started with my parents’ like of Star Trek: The Original Series. Thanks mom and dad.

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Of course, the nineties brought Deep Space Nine into my life. I always considered myself a fan of Star Trek, but DS9 turned me into a costume-wearing-convention-

attending-fanatic. For me, DS9 had a little special something. It drew me in and held me there until the very last episode, seven years later. I actually shed tears watching the series finale. I was that moved. Deep Space Nine, in my humble opinion, is the real masterpiece of the Star Trek franchise, even though many would call it the “dark horse” or “unwanted step child.” True, The Next Generation was a beautifully written television series, often delivering a profound moral message. However, DS9 was simply more human. The characters were much easier to identify with, namely because they each had flaws. For some reason, it spoke to me, and drove me to revisit of The Original Series and The Next Generation.

My general distaste for Voyager and my outright disappointment and bitterness about Enterprise did not stop me from being a fan. My first Trek experience outside of my own living room was at Kennedy Space Center’s Star Trek Day 1998. It was there I met Walter Koenig, Garrett Wang, and Rene Auberjonois. It was there I caught the “convention bug.” Surprisingly, the four hours I stood in line that day for autographs never deterred me (and I would later learn that four hours was nothing compared to future lines I would encounter). From that moment on, I sought out convention circuits in the Orlando area and was more than happy to discover Vulkon (www.vulkon.com). I have since been to more Vulkon conventions than I can count.

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Among close friends and fellow Trek fans, I have often referred to myself as a “neonatal” Trekkie, or a Trekkie by birth. My parents spent much of their television time in college glued to The Original Series. When I was born in the 80s, Star Trek movies were still being pumped out of Paramount Pictures. While I was too young to view them in the theaters, my parents made sure to purchase the VHS tapes when available. Essentially, I was raised on Star Trek.

In elementary school, I began my afternoons with a post school snack, and the latest rerun of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There was only one television in my house growing up, so there was never any dispute about what the family would be watching promptly at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

By the time I reached middle school I was old enough to dive into my mother’s vast collection of Star Trek novels. I began my adventure into Star Trek literature with Dark Mirror by Diane Duane, followed by The Romulan Prize by Simon Hawke. The Romulan Prize has remained my favorite to this day. I quickly exhausted my mother’s collection and decided to create my own. Just prior to graduating high school I owned over fifty-five Star Trek novels. Peter David was my favorite Trek author then, and always will be.

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If you are at all interested in gaming, then you have probably read (or at least heard of) the web comic Penny Arcade. And if you’re a fan of it already, then you have probably heard of the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) convention. Held on Labor Day weekend in Seattle, PAX has quickly expanded over the years into a pretty substantial gamers’ convention. This past year it boasted attendance numbers of over 50,000. But PAX isn’t the only project that Penny Arcade helms.

In 2003, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the two guys behind Penny Arcade, founded Child’s Play, a charity dedicated to dispelling the myth that all gamers were violent and angry youths. They wanted to show that gamers were good people, capable of great acts of kindness and generosity. The charity started out by collecting donations, toys, and video game systems for local hospitals, and has since expanded to include hospitals all over the world. So far this year, the charity has collected over $450,000 in total contributions. They have garnered sponsorship by some pretty giant companies too, such as Blizzard (makers of World of Warcraft) and Microsoft Game Studios.

If you have any interest in learning more about Penny Arcade’s PAX convention, or their Child’s Play charity, you can click the links below to visit their official websites.

Penny Arcade comic: http://www.penny-arcade.com
Child’s Play charity: http://www.childsplaycharity.org
PAX convention: http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com

Hello, and welcome to Convention Fans!

This blog will contain news on all kinds of fandom conventions (cons for short), ranging from Star Trek to comics! Looking for a convention near you? Want to know what kinds of conventions are happening all around the world? Never attended a con and want to learn some basic information about them? This is the blog for you!

A little about myself: I’m a twenty-five year old editor and writer based in Philadelphia, PA. I’ve been attending conventions since my early teens, and am a regular attendee at Dragon*con. I have genuinely lost count of how many cons I’ve attended over the years! Although I gravitate towards Star Trek conventions, I consider myself a fan of many genres, TV shows, movies and mediums. I’ve attended anime conventions and fantasy conventions, and was even a panelist at Dragon*con 2008. I manage a Star Trek role-playing game online called Verak Nor, and have been doing personal blogging since 2001.

I hope to share my love and knowledge of conventions with the Today.com audience, and maybe encourage those who have never attended one to give it a try.

P.S. If you have a convention you’d like to see featured, or learn more about, please feel free to comment with the website and its basic information!