Convention Fans

Convention Fans attended Dragon*Con this year, and made a point to catch the epic William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy panel. We also paid to have our photo taken with the duo. It really was, well, EPIC. But while Bill was hamming it up with Nimoy down in Atlanta, there were some disappointed fans in Chicago.

Apparently, Shatner was scheduled to appear at an event in Chicago at the Star Trek Chicago Film Expo, right after Dragon*Con. However, he never made the Chicago appearance. In a press release dated August 30, 2009, it was said that Shatner’s appearance was canceled due to poor ticket sales. However, Shatner’s camp just recently put put out a statement that further clarifies what happened:

Recently, we have been contacted by several fans who purchased tickets to a September 5 event in Chicago where William Shatner was scheduled to appear.

Just two weeks prior to the event, Prestige Entertainment – the company producing the event – sent an email to Melis Productions (Mr. Shatner’s production company) canceling Mr. Shatner’s appearance. Citing their inability to secure a sponsor, they reneged on the deal to bring Mr. Shatner to Chicago.

In what could be interpreted as a ploy to dodge their commitment, Prestige brought up the fact that Mr. Shatner was appearing in Atlanta, Georgia, that same weekend. Let us assure everyone, however, that Mr. Shatner’s event schedule and travel details were very carefully coordinated so as to get him to Chicago several hours prior to the evening’s scheduled start time – a fact that even Prestige CEO Daniel Bruening acknowledged in a press release: “The plan was that William Shatner would fly from Dragon Con in Atlanta to The Expo in Chicago for the September 5th appearance on Saturday night [sic] at The Portage Theater.”

Apparently, Prestige promised refunds to their ticket buyers. But it’s been brought to our attention that at least some refunds have been delayed past the first 90 day promise to refund ticket holders and now perhaps indefinitely. We can certainly sympathize with those ticket holders currently expecting compensation from Prestige.

It is important to Mr. Shatner that the record is set straight: he was ready to honor the contract and take part in the Chicago event and is in no way impeding the refund process. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for everyone else.
Thank you.
Melis Productions

Unfortunately, this situation with delayed refunds brings to mind the entire JumpCon debacle. What protection is there for fans when they pre-register for an event that gets cancelled? Unfortunately there isn’t much. At least Shatner is trying to set the record straight on this one. Man, I can’t believe I just said something nice about Shatner…

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