• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Star Trek Convention Cancelled DURING Event

Frontier

Vice Admiral
Admiral
This morning in Dallas, Texas, shortly after the start of the second day of the first ever FedCon USA, the show was cancelled. At 11:14 AM (Central Time), after the first Saturday guest (John Billingsley) finished his appearance, the show MC came out on stage announced that the convention was closed due to poor attendance.

:eek:

:wtf:


http://trekmovie.com/2008/06/14/fedcon-usa-cancelled-after-one-day/#more-2072

Wow.

I mean, just, wow.

Talk about dropping the ball.

Then again, I'm not surprised, it being run by Tim "Sell Out" Brazeal of TrekUnited.

What ever did happen to all that money raised towards a 5th season of Enterprise? The, what was it, 3 million dollars? Charity? Yeah, suuuuree... :rolleyes:
 
I can't speak for everyone else who contributed, but I did get most of the $300 I donated - $6 which they warned me about beforehand. I was wrong about Tim. What a crappy thing to do to the celebrities who did and did not attend and to the fans who were there.
 
I can't speak for everyone else who contributed, but I did get most of the $300 I donated - $6 which they warned me about beforehand. I was wrong about Tim.

Doesn't change the fact that, from what I've heard, the whole reason the campaign to save Enterprise was stopped was due to Paramount's threats directed at Brazeal's own Hollywood aspirations. IE: shut up, you're making too much noise, you might actually force us to do what the fans want, and if you do, you'll never work in this town.
 
How could a fansite FORCE Paramount to do anything with Star Trek other than they want? They have often done things that are unpopular with segments of fandom. I am not defending TrekUnited but that seems like a dubious theory about what happened!
 
"Force" may be a strong word. What I heard from people who where associated with TU, inside of it, and then left after getting wind of this, was that the level of publicity and money that had been raised was making TPTB worried about public image and perception. They may not have been "forced" to make more Enterprise, but if the pressure had stayed on, they would have had a lot of egg on their face. So they very quietly let it be known that any Hollywood aspirations of anyone involved in TU would be quashed by them if they did not stop. You'll recall Brazeal's production company came to being shortly after TU stopped pursuing more Enterprise. *Shrug* I can't say I know this first hand, but it's sure second hand. I've known many folks who've directly known Brazeal. *Shrug* If it was third or fourth hand, I'd hesitate to mention it. But, I HAVE seen him *first hand screw people he agreed to work with, so, adding it all up with now this mega fuck-up... well, 2+2=4, you know?

Still, that's not the real point I wanted to discuss. Sort of side-tracked.

I just really feel for everyone who went to this thing. It's unacceptable when something like this happens. I've only ever heard of one other such incident, back in the 80's, a convention called "Wrath of Con" that people and stars showed up for only to find no venue booked, no hosts, and a lot of pissed off people. De Kelley and Nichelle Nichols, forget who else, basically put the show on themselves for everyone, footing the bills and such. It was mentioned in De's biography.
 
The only similar thing I can remember is when I showed up for a James Bond con at a hotel in NYC, and found a hand-written placard in the lobby saying "the con has been moved to the downstairs of the McDonald's on XX street."

:wtf:

Sure enough, there were about a dozen people at the Micky Dee's talking about Bond. No guests, no dealers, just a few Bond fans in a fast food joint.

Surreal.
 
thats horrible, sure yu can cancel before and refund money but these people got a day or two in and then the rug was taken out from under them.

I have only gone toone trek convention when I was 12 in Philly. It was hosted by Slanted Fedora (which is now no longer in bussines) I semi enjoyed it. I loved meeting everyone and getting some autographs. It was weird though, alot of people in costumes and makeup....i respect their every right to dress and look like a trek character but thats just not my thing. I only dress in a tee shirt and jeans or in a nice shirt and tie.

So needless to say It was queer:rommie: but enjoyable. The slanted fedora people were ass holes though, he was just an idiot at times. Over all though i have great memories, amazing autograps and a life time experiance.:bolian:
 
I can't speak for everyone else who contributed, but I did get most of the $300 I donated - $6 which they warned me about beforehand. I was wrong about Tim.

Doesn't change the fact that, from what I've heard, the whole reason the campaign to save Enterprise was stopped was due to Paramount's threats directed at Brazeal's own Hollywood aspirations. IE: shut up, you're making too much noise, you might actually force us to do what the fans want, and if you do, you'll never work in this town.

-laughs-

The campaign to "save" Enterprise was stopped because A- Paramount made it very clear that they would not accept any money raised from fans, and B- Brazeal's group had piss poor levels of support anyway. The "the fans can fund the show" was a non-starter which never had a chance of actually occuring. If Brazeal had any "aspirations", they were never practical anyway. Like everything his group does, it's entirely based of delusions and people convincing themselves they have more influence than they actually have. Unfortunately, the failure of this convention is not a surprise. It's typical of Brazeal's group and their delusions of grandeur.

What I heard from people who where associated with TU, inside of it, and then left after getting wind of this, was that the level of publicity and money that had been raised was making TPTB worried about public image and perception. They may not have been "forced" to make more Enterprise, but if the pressure had stayed on, they would have had a lot of egg on their face.

This sounds like TU spin, and anyone who told you that was talking complete and utter bollocks. This absurd reason given for the failure of "save Enterprise" is absolutely ludicrous.
 
That's just terrible. Completely unprofessional.

Reminds me of the Booster Events Serenity debacle.

Say what you want about Creation, at least they show up and finish what they start.

My condolences to those who spent their hard earned cash and valuable time on this mess.
 
Good thing Billingsley was there, otherwise it would have been even more chaotic.


Next time, Phlox should organise the convention.

LOL
 
What a disaster. This is all over all of the different trek boards. Some people are blogging about how awful it is to be there. Sad.
 
I can't speak for everyone else who contributed, but I did get most of the $300 I donated - $6 which they warned me about beforehand. I was wrong about Tim.

Doesn't change the fact that, from what I've heard, the whole reason the campaign to save Enterprise was stopped was due to Paramount's threats directed at Brazeal's own Hollywood aspirations. IE: shut up, you're making too much noise, you might actually force us to do what the fans want, and if you do, you'll never work in this town.

Do you have anything to back this up? The only thing I've heard (consistently since the time it was ended and the money began to be returned) was that Paramount flatout said they would not accept fan donations. After that, the money was refunded and things stonewalled from there.

On topic, this is crazy (and a bit sad). Once a convention starts, you can't cancel it in the middle for any reason. It's unprofessional and disgraceful (the fact that there wasn't enough attendence is a bit depressing too, but it should have gone on).
 
That's crazy. I came that close to buying tickets on Friday. But each time I went to the FedCon website the purchase area was down for maintenance. Glad I didn't waste my time.
 
On topic, this is crazy (and a bit sad). Once a convention starts, you can't cancel it in the middle for any reason. It's unprofessional and disgraceful (the fact that there wasn't enough attendence is a bit depressing too, but it should have gone on).

It's hard to see how continuing would have lost them more money than giving everyone refunds
 
Sucks man. I think cons are going down in attendence. There's just not a lot of new stuff for cons aside from the big ones in L.A. I was at a con last April, and it was only busy on the last day cause Shatner and Nimoy showed up, but it was still in a small room. At least I got to sit in the second row.
 
Sucks man. I think cons are going down in attendence. There's just not a lot of new stuff for cons aside from the big ones in L.A. I was at a con last April, and it was only busy on the last day cause Shatner and Nimoy showed up, but it was still in a small room. At least I got to sit in the second row.

IMHO I have more fun at fan-run conventions. Slanted Fedora and Creation left a bad taste in my mouth several times. I have enjoyed the Starland based conventions in Denver.
 
I think it's pathetic that some people are gloating about this guy's failure.

I've worked with a load of promoters and have promoted more than a few events myself.

If a promoter feels that it's cheaper to shut an event down than to keep it going at a greater loss, that's a decision that needs to be made. Things like that happen out in the real world. The math is a lot more complicated than one might think.

I will be more than happy to elaborate and explian it to you in real terms if you all can be a little more civilized about it.

Having a Trek Convention so south because of poor promotion and poor attendance is never a good thing to have happen, no matter who is putting it together.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top