Convention Fans

I have been very fortunate in terms of encounters with celebrity guests at conventions. I’ve never had a truly bad experience (although I have had a few that were mediocre), and I’ve had a lot of wonderful ones. After sharing a few stories of said experiences with a friend of mine, she encouraged me to share some of them here. I’ve decided to make these a regular feature of the blog as a result. If you happen to have had an experience with any of the guests featured (whether it was good or bad), feel free to post a comment!

I decided the perfect celebrity convention guest to talk about first is George Takei. He played Sulu on Star Trek, and has appeared on Heroes, as well as lent his voice to a wide variety of projects (including Disney’s Mulan).

George is one of the nicest people I have EVER met. Period. That is no exaggeration.

The first time I met George was at a Dragon*con convention about two years ago. It was also the first time the con started offering professional photos with certain guests (not for free, of course). When I saw George’s name on the list, I immediately reserved my spot.

On the first day of the convention, I was all lined up outside the Walk of Fame (that’s Dragon*conese for “Autograph Hall”). I’m a bit of an autograph collector, and I prefer to get them early on in a convention so I don’t have to carry my autograph book around the entire weekend. When I finally got inside, I lined up at George’s table first, and got to be his first signature of the convention.

Have I mentioned how infectious George’s laugh is? He has that wonderfully deep voice, and when he laughs it is just the most joyous sound. It’s wonderful because it’s genuine and heart felt, and you can tell. George genuinely loves to meet and talk to fans. He listened to me intently as I prattled on and on about how much I loved Star Trek, and how I grew up on it. Then he thanked me for coming to see him.

But that wasn’t even the best part. On Sunday of the convention, I had my scheduled photo op with him. I headed down to do my photo, and realized I was the only one there for George so far.

George walked in, and while the camera man finished setting up his equipment, George and I had the most delightful conversation. We talked all about his speaking tour with the Human Rights Campaign, his involvement with GLBT rights, and about Star Trek. We then took our photo, and he again thanked me for being there.

I’ve since seen George at two other conventions. I always go up and say “hello” and thank him for coming out to the convention so other fans can get a chance to meet him as well. I love to watch him interact with the fans, and listen to him laugh and make jokes. His husband, Brad, is usually at his side, sharing in a laugh or shaking a fan’s hand. I don’t know how anyone could walk away from an encounter with George, and not feel happy.

If you have an opportunity to meet George Takei, you should absolutely do so. He is charming and gracious, and I feel privileged to have gotten to see him so many times over the past few years.

Live long and prosper, George!