It's Quicktime, and it's slow to load, so it seems for 20-30 seconds like nothing is happening, but I got it to work.alidar..
http://www.vadercast.com/
that is the link for the thing with john b.
though i cant get it to play
Star Trek Convention Cancelled DURING Event
- Thread starter Frontier
- Start date
I've been thinking the very same thing. It also makes me question the business practices of "others" on this forum, that they would be so eager to excuse Brazeal's offenses and call legitimate reporters such names.
number6
Vice Admiral
And which "legitimate reporter" would that be?
I have no connection to Brazeal in any way.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
I wish that this could happen to Fan Expo/SFX in Toronto, which has pulled the same bullshit as this FedCon USA thing, but it won't happen anytime soon.
Why are they such bastards? Check here and here,
or if you want,
here.You might have been able to check out the Stop Hobbystar blog, but it's gone-apparently, the ire meter of the webmaster was exhausted. But the real pissiness can be seen here.
Reasons like these are why I won't attend anything like Creation Con, which is no better than FedCon USA.
As to FedCon USA: this reminds me of what happened to the Star Trek convention at the Royal York hotel back in the 1970's. The convention couldn't afford what they wanted to do, and it was a bust, IIRC. This convention advertised on TV and everything, and even boasted about the major stars that would come to the con. Another event like this was the 25th anniversary event at Nathan Philips Square (Toronto City Hall), in 1992; although that went off without a hitch and DeForest Kelly, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, plus Walter Koenig were able to come, the guy who held it was in the red at the end.
Why are they such bastards? Check here and here,
or if you want,
here.You might have been able to check out the Stop Hobbystar blog, but it's gone-apparently, the ire meter of the webmaster was exhausted. But the real pissiness can be seen here.
Reasons like these are why I won't attend anything like Creation Con, which is no better than FedCon USA.
As to FedCon USA: this reminds me of what happened to the Star Trek convention at the Royal York hotel back in the 1970's. The convention couldn't afford what they wanted to do, and it was a bust, IIRC. This convention advertised on TV and everything, and even boasted about the major stars that would come to the con. Another event like this was the 25th anniversary event at Nathan Philips Square (Toronto City Hall), in 1992; although that went off without a hitch and DeForest Kelly, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, plus Walter Koenig were able to come, the guy who held it was in the red at the end.
Last edited:
To be honest, I've read the complaints about SFX, however I'm not sure if things improved last year, since they were awfully good to me!
My wife and I had had a photo taken with Charisma Carpenter last year at SFX, and when they sent it to us later in the week the postman decided to bend the envelope clearly marked 'DO NOT BEND' to force it in out mailbox and so ruined the photo. I contacted Hobbystar to investigate the possibility of getting a new photo (so that I could claim it in compensation from Canadapost), and they said it would cost $25. So I got the $25 back from Canadapost, and sent a cheque off to Hobbystar for the replacement photo. The replacement photo arrived quickly, however the cheque was never cashed, and eventually the 6 month deadline passed.
I have no idea whether the $25 dollar amount quoted was just something to test whether I would be willing to pay for the photo (thus contributing to the legitimacy of the complaint), and in fact there was no charge (but they didn't want to promote that so people could get free photos), or whether they just forgot to cash the cheque...
My wife and I had had a photo taken with Charisma Carpenter last year at SFX, and when they sent it to us later in the week the postman decided to bend the envelope clearly marked 'DO NOT BEND' to force it in out mailbox and so ruined the photo. I contacted Hobbystar to investigate the possibility of getting a new photo (so that I could claim it in compensation from Canadapost), and they said it would cost $25. So I got the $25 back from Canadapost, and sent a cheque off to Hobbystar for the replacement photo. The replacement photo arrived quickly, however the cheque was never cashed, and eventually the 6 month deadline passed.
I have no idea whether the $25 dollar amount quoted was just something to test whether I would be willing to pay for the photo (thus contributing to the legitimacy of the complaint), and in fact there was no charge (but they didn't want to promote that so people could get free photos), or whether they just forgot to cash the cheque...
number6
Vice Admiral
So basically you want someone to fail because they piss you off??
Newsflash: Promoters want to make money. Putting on a convention isn't some kind of generous philanthropic fan-love fest. They want your money. They want you to pay extra for the "Gold" section seating and the VIP package. They want you to go to their event. That's why they do it. If they go into the red too many times, they won't be doing it for long. That is a fact of life.
These people are in the business to make money. If they see an opportunity to take advantage of a built-in crowd, by scheduling their event near another, they will take it. It happens. You can go or not go, but wishing for someone's demise as a result is pretty silly. Your voice speaks louder with attendance. Complaining about it doesn't make you interesting. Those letters you posted of whiney bitter fanboys won't change the ambition of your average event promoter.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Yes, if they pull predatory bullshit practices as mentioned in the links above, while giving conventiongoers shitty service. They deserve to die completely and I hope that they will roast in fire for it too.
There are way to do business that do not involve underhanded tactics like HobbyStar's. Polaris, a local Star Trek-based con, runs theirs non-profit, and in a courteous manner to other cons in Toronto; they do not destroy others. or make life miserable for others. And they also have all of that a la carte stuff as well. Plus, they donate to charities too!
And doing that helps fandom how? It destroys it, as has happened in certain cities in the U.S., with no conventions left whatsoever. Plus, all that's left is a shitty product.
Yes, I don't have to go to HobbyStar's shitty conventions, but because of the way that they operate, I won't be able to go to other conventions either, because as I said above, those other conventions will be gone, or forced to scale back, as has happened in the case of Toronto Comicon, which has had to scale back from being a three-day event held at the Ricoh Colosseum and the National Trade Center to being a two-day event held at the King Street Holiday Inn. It won't affect Anime North, thank God, but it might affect Polaris though-actually, I think that it has. Yeah, predatory practices really work, Number 6.
Last edited:
I gave money to Save Enterprise. I was promised that if we didn't save Enterprise my money would be returned. We didn't save Enterprise. My money has still not been returned. Yes, he pissed me off. Yes, I think he's a con man. Yes, I want him to fail at conning people.
number6
Vice Admiral
Yes, I don't have to go to HobbyStar's shitty conventions, but because of the way that they operate, I won't be able to go to other conventions either, because as I said above, those other conventions will be gone, or forced to scale back, as has happened in the case of Toronto Comicon, which has had to scale back from being a three-day event held at the Ricoh Colosseum and the National Trade Center to being a two-day event held at the King Street Holiday Inn. It won't affect Anime North, thank God, but it might affect Polaris though-actually, I think that it has. Yeah, predatory practices really work, Number 6.
It worked for Creation all through the 80s and 90s. I generally avoided those, going to "smaller" conventions instead. These were poorly organized but they had more guests and you could hang out and talk to them and get their autographs without having to pay extra money or buy a special ticket.
I'm not saying that I approve of promoters' often "predatory" practice, which seems to be your implication. For profit promoters are in business to make money. And there are plenty of promoters who don't care about the people who are providing them with their income. I state it as a fact of life.
To Pookha: I don't believe I've ever been to a convention run by a non-profit. i honestly don't remember if I have or not. I do know that most non-profit events i've ever been a part of have been run by clueless people with good intentions.
I gave SE my money. I got it back.
Got my money back as well.
I would like to get someone's money back.
Luke Lightsaber
Captain
I don't know why people attending these cons think they can get a 10 minute personal conversation with the star there. Really people. The stars aren't going to be your personal best buddies during the weekend.
Yes, I saw that up thread. I still don't have mine and I will continue to believe he's a con man until I do.
I have always had very good conversations. George Takei grilled me with questions for about an hour. This was right after Shatner's Folly... er, I mean... ST: TFF. This sparked a friendship that I treasure always.
Many of the actors are grateful to the fans who support their careers. So far I have only known a few who were jerks to their fans (Shatner for one) at the conventions.
Another Vadercast broadcast, this one is an interview with Brazeal , It explained a few things I was wondering about. Am sure some will say differently but I'm sure each person will see it differently.
http://vadercast.com/
http://vadercast.com/
I kind of feel sorry for him after all this. It's just complete inexperience, more than any malicious intent.
I don't.
Yeah, but part of successfully organizing something like this is having the judgment required to separate hopes that are little more than fantasies from realistic expectations and to make responsible planning decisions based on the latter. That judgment is something one acquires (or not) through life experience rather than simply any task-specific learning.
I watched several conventions either fail outright or drive their organizers into steep debt during the 1970s. Always the same two "mistakes:"
1) They were just under-capitalized, with the organizers running on the faith that what they were offering was so damned irresistable that money to make good on their obligations would roll in from registrations just in time to pay their bills, and
2) They would never pass up an opportunity to add a popular (and expensive) guest to the roster - again, justifying it with the unfounded and unresearched belief that "if we have Guest X we'll get a lot more pre-registrations and commitments from dealers/sponsors/whathaveyou."
Perhaps not surprisingly, this kind of overreaching project tends to attract organizers who are clinically bipolar.
