Convention Circuit - Least Favorite Person Associated With Trek?

[Frontier]

If anyone has any stories about autograph inscriptions, I'd be curious. I'm an inscription fan, and have quite a few good ones, never had any problems getting them either. Off the top of my head I've got...

Voyager EMH: "Please state the nature of the medical emergency"
Seven of Nine: "Resistance is Futile..."
Worf: "Today is a Good Day to Die"
Tasha Yar: "No Good-byes, Just Good Memories"
Sulu: "Warp Speed!"
Uhura: "Hailing Frequencies Open"
Borg Queen: "Watch your Future's End" / "I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg." / "Resistance is Futile." / "Welcome Home, Locutus"

Can't think of the rest... have a fair number of personalizations. "To me" and such.

Oh I do have through an experiment Creation did, a personalized "Beam me up!" from Shatner. That's cool.

Have more inscriptions but the rest are from non-Trek so...

And when I met Edward James Olmos from nuBSG? He was a gem! I got 10 autographs from him, and he gave me a discount - he was charging $50 and only charged me $30 a pop. I think he may have thought I was a re-seller due to I brought my own photos and had so many, and so he insisted on personalizing them - which is ironic cause you used to have to pay more for such! But I have all the great Adama quotes. "So Say We All" and "Sometimes You Have to Roll the Hard Six" and more. I know he's not Trek but, he was awesome and nice and took his time and was friendly and talked and did me a big favor and took his time signing everything. One of the best autograph-centric experiences.

Oh and I'd murder for a "Live Long and Prosper" autograph from Leonard Nimoy, lol. Doubtful I'll ever see it.

[LobsterAfternoon]

Frontier - that's awesome. At the risk of getting off topic, have you met any other nu-BSG folks?

[1001001]

At the risk of going further off topic (sorry OP!)...yes I have!

My wife and I met Katee Sackhoff and Tahmoh Penikett at a convention several years ago.

They were great.

Very relaxed, friendly, funny, and generous with their time. They talked about filming the show, what it was like, etc. Katee talked about almost becomiing an olympic swimmer, until a knee injury ended that idea.

They both seemed very genuine and were a delight to meet.

[LobsterAfternoon]

1001001 - fantastic. Always good to hear that cast/crew on something I love are nice in real life as well.

[Frontier]

LobsterAfternoon wrote:

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Frontier - that's awesome. At the risk of getting off topic, have you met any other nu-BSG folks?

Personally, I've only met Olmos and Kat from nuBSG.

But my friend Bill met Michael Hogan (nice, friendly) Sam Witwer and Dean Stockwell (Stockwell was apparently not pleasant in the least... :S)

I'd love to meet more nuBSG folk. Love to meet more anyone. Sadly my health (heart condition) keeps me from going to cons anymore. I'm lucky to have a good friend who goes though, and he helps me keep collecting autographs. Still... I'd love to have met a lot of them I haven't. The first ever 5 captains convention was right here, Philly, last summer and I couldn't go.

[mos6507]

WillsBabe wrote:

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What was so bad back in the 80s? The cons I was going to back then, they didn't even charge for autographs, and I can remember hanging out with the guests at room parties back then.

What made me feel that things were on a downward slide even in the early to mid 80s were two things:

1)

The admission price kept going up and up. For a kid who had to beg my parents for money, it was not fun to see the price creep up to the level you'd normally pay to go to a rock concert when the vast majority of the experience was just walking around the exhibit floor so you can spend MORE money on merchandise.

2) The promoters!

Yes, I think the promoters are the source of turning this into a racket. The guys who ran these shows used to come out and introduce the guests, and the spiel they used to give always made me uneasy. The promoters sit between the fans and the celebrities. I know there are logistics to putting on these shows, but I felt there was something exploitive going on back then and it's only grown since then. Access to celebrities has become a valuable commodity. Conventions used to be a place for Hollywood types to petition the public to support their shows. That's what Majel Barrett was doing when she appeared--plugging TNG before it aired. And she did it with a healthy dose of humility, that she NEEDED grass-roots support. Also, George Takei was warning the public about the plans for rebooting Trek the first time they had thought about recasting and doing a story about the academy. There was a sense that both sides needed each other, and had reasons to be thankful for each other, that they were both on the same side to fight for quality science-fiction. All that goes up in smoke when the actors use the convention circuit like an ATM.

There definitely is a greater sense of "performance" than there used to be, and I guess if people pay their money they can expect some de-facto standup comedy, and the TNG troupe is amazing at doing that based on what I've seen on Youtube, but once it gets down to the photo-ops and autographs, then it's pure commerce which is not the way it used to be. Buying collectibles at the booths yes, but it was nice and discrete that the cost of an autograph (if you want to wait in line) was folded into the ticket. Handing money a-la-carte over to get someone's autograph is just tacky. I know it's how it is and it's not gonna go back, but I don't like it.

[pigletsgiblets]

The only one I've met was Chase Masterson and she was very nice.

[LOKAI of CHERON]

I'm fairly certain I've recounted this story before on these boards, but what the hell. The only actor I've ever had a problem with is John de Lancie. This is going back years now, but I attended a De Lancie signing at the original Forbidden Planet store on London's New Oxford Street. Prior to getting my 10x8 signed, I struck up a conversation with a young lady directly behind me in the queue - we were both greatly anticipating meeting the clever and talented actor who brilliantly brought the irascible Q so colourfully to life.

Upon reaching him, I took my regular low key approach (in my suit, fresh from a business call in the West End) by simply saying "Hi there, pleased to meet you - could you sign it to ******* please". Honestly, all I got back could only be described as a "grunt" and a totally blank stare - plus the signature of course. I waited briefly for my new acquaintance, and she reported almost exactly the same experience.

OK, he could have been having a really bad day, but I'd dropped good money for just a few seconds of his time, and walked away feeling thoroughly disillusioned and extremely disappointed - wishing I hadn't bothered to be honest. It took me quite a while to put it all out of my head and return to appreciating his superb work as Q once again.

[J. Allen]

Well, I wouldn't call him "least favorite" by any means, but when I met Christopher Lloyd, he was more than a bit standoff-ish. Of course, he could have been having a bad day, so I don't really hold that against him. He was still very polite.

My favorite guest had to be Armin Shimmerman. The man was delightfully full of it, and I loved it. He was very friendly, very personable. We talked for a few seconds while he signed his autograph. He asked me where I was from, how I liked Chicago, and so on. When my friend asked him for a picture, the rep said no, that it would cost $80, to which Armin turned to him and said "He can take a picture of me. I don't have a problem with it", at which point he looks back to my friend and says "Now, young man, you can take a picture of me, but I can't look at the camera, and you can't be in the picture, okay?", so as we turned away, Armin looked over to the side, and my friend snapped a great shot. Armin winked at us as we left.

Then there was Marc Alaimo. He was a bit prickly upon meeting him for the first time, but there was a good reason. My friend decided to bother him while the poor man was just trying to get a cup of coffee and a pastry at the hotel cafe. He walks up to him, tells him "Mr. Alaimo, can I get a picture of you?" to which Marc gives him this Gul Dukat stare, I mean, you didn't need the makeup, it was pure Dukat (I was still 10 feet away, and not in his line of sight, and I felt the blast off that look!). My friend stops for a moment, smiles, and Marc sighs and says "Make it quick", again, in that same tone he uses when Dukat is exasperated, so I found it utterly hilarious (save for poor Mr. Alaimo's time and patience).

Later the next evening, when we had the ice cream social, Marc sat down at our table and we had a great conversation about Shakespeare, the role of theater in television and movie acting, and he was just all around engaging, and so very nice.

Other actors I've met:

Casey Biggs - Very polite, friendly. Really good on the guitar!
J.G. Hertzler - Holy shit, this guy is awesome! Loves the fans!
Robert O'Reilly - Very nice guy, engages the fans. When he's out of makeup, he's rather quiet, but very warm and friendly. Talked to him over drinks at the hotel bar.
Vaughn Armstrong - He was very cool. We talked for more than two hours in the hotel bar, I bought him a drink, we shared lots of stories, a couple of filthy jokes, he was just cool as hell.
Jeffrey Combs - Warm, polite, engaging. He always has a joke or a pun ready to go.
Chase Masterson - Very sweet. She was kind enough to let my friend take a picture of her, and was very nice to him even after his thinly veiled offer for casual sex.
Max Grodenchik - A warm, friendly guy. My friend and I hung out by his autograph table most of the day, chatting away with him. We even helped him fix a contract snafu while we were there. The next day, before he left the hotel, he saw me outside one of the elevators and said "Hey John, thanks for coming! I hope you had fun!", which was so cool!

[JiNX-01]

Sector 7 wrote:

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Could that be the reason for his attitude, that there wasn't anyone else there? Maybe he was suffering from neglect.

Frankly, I suspect he was curt with me because I didn't buy a photo op for $100 with him and his son.

I guess I should have begged his forgiveness because I couldn't afford his autograph and his son's (don't recall how much Daniel charged) along the photo.

[Delta Vega]

I have never been to a convention, nor probably would I ever, even at that I cannot remember one in or near Glasgow, Scotland.

Having said that, there are some "difficult" actors here mentioned that I wouldnt cross the street to see or meet.

Those being, Beltran, De Lancie, Frakes to name a few, but it would dismay me and even hurt if I did end up at a fan event and met Shatner for example, and he was a cock.

I would like to meet the cast of Enterprise, but note that Blalok is described as an "airhead", thats a bit disappointing.
Picardo, Auberjonois, Spiner, Nimoy would interest me greatly, but reading reports on here its probably best that I will never meet them, only to be underwhelmed.

Also, the fact that so many con goers are dressed as Cardassians, Orions, Andorrians and God Forbid, Klingons, must be very, very offputting for some of the actors in question, I mean surely you can be a fan of Trek without dressing like a dick ?

[teacake]

Delta Vega wrote:

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Also, the fact that so many con goers are dressed as Cardassians, Orions, Andorrians and God Forbid, Klingons, must be very, very offputting for some of the actors in question, I mean surely you can be a fan of Trek without dressing like a dick ?

Why is dressing like an alien race from Star trek dressing like a dick?

Okay maybe the Pakleds have a bit of a dick thing going, what with the heads and all..

[Delta Vega]

teacake wrote:

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Why is dressing like an alien race from Star trek dressing like a dick?

Okay maybe the Pakleds have a bit of a dick thing going, what with the heads and all..

Its just not my thing

Although......................

I do kinda like those Green Orion Girls

[Thete]

I've only ever met classic Doctor Who stars, all of whom were excellent. All in one day, too - Tom Baker I had a photo with, he greeted me and put his arm round me. Peter Davison gave me a photo for free and was charming. Sylvester McCoy was a photo session and he was wonderful yet rather timid, surprisingly.

As for Colin Baker and Paul McGann, I had a photo session with Paul in which he was charming, but later on during the day, when everyone had cleared off, me and my friends ended up in Colin and Paul's booth. I discussed with Colin how I had grown up in the same town as him, and it was just a thoroughly amazing experience, relating local knowledge to one of my favourite actors who actually understood the nomenclature.

Paul went to the loo twice, one of my friends backed into him accidentally and he threw his head back and yelled "Bastards!", and laughed heartily. I then proceeded to surprise him by telling him, just for a few seconds, how much he means to me and what he's done for me. The smile on his face is something I'll never forget. He's my favourite Doctor and I love his audio stuff.

Katy Manning also gave me a free photograph and wrapped her arms around me to do so. The staff at the con said no free photographs, but Peter, Colin, and Katy didn't pay attention to this! Perhaps the best day of my life.

It was Collectormania MK Dons, and I'm going again this year. Constantly refreshing the site to see if any Trek stars turn up!

[Frontier]

JiNX-01 wrote:

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Frankly, I suspect he was curt with me because I didn't buy a photo op for $100 with him and his son.

I guess I should have begged his forgiveness because I couldn't afford his autograph and his son's (don't recall how much Daniel charged) along the photo.

You know, my friend Bill was at that Chiller and he said the same thing: no one around. At the time we thought maybe it was just the time of day he went there, but now I've heard "no one around" about that event from a dozen different people so... I guess it wasn't just a one-hour-off thing.

At things like Chiller, all the money comes from sales. There is not appearance fee like they get paid for conventions and stage talks. Those appearance fees, for someone like Stewart, are in the $50,000 range. Which means at an autograph only event, he's got to make that much just from autograph sales. Now when you're charging $60 a pop as he was at that event, it's going to deter some people, but it also means if you can manage to sell 1,000 autographs (not unreasonable) you'd end up making $60,000. If he wasn't getting people, he wasn't selling, which means he was sitting there not making any money.

That said, you'd think he'd be more appreciative of those who did buy.

I will say this about Chiller: I rarely see repeat guests. Not of the folks from Trek and BSG and such. The only repeat guests I ever see for them is the small-time B-movie horror actors. Anyone from Trek or BSG or other sci-fi, you see them do it once and then not again.

Now the one time I met Frakes, Spiner and Crosby, Denise had sold out of Tasha photos. I bought her very last one. So she clearly had to have been either doing good volume or under-stocked her own photos, not expecting to do so well. So I'd have expected to see her come back but, as I said: I've never seen any Trek or BSG or sci-fi actor do a repeat of that event.