Trek Xpo & State of Conventions

[golakers]

Hey all,

Did anyone else here stop by Trek Xpo at the Universal City Hilton in Los Angeles this weekend?

I dropped by Friday afternoon and it was....a bit sad. It's been 5 years since I last went to a Con and it all seems to have dried up a bit.

Trek Xpo has a great lineup. I went late Friday afternoon for about two hours. The only panel that I saw as of some old TOS guest stars including the actors that played The Keeper (The Cage), the belly dancer from Wolf in the Fold, and Grace Lee Whitney. There were only 15-20 people in the auditorium by my count. The guests were showing there age - it made me a bit depressed to see the years fly by us.

I missed Nichelle Nichols who came on afterwards, but judging by the sparse attendance there couldn't have been more than 30 people to see here.

The dealer room had some great prop makers, but it was small - only 15 or so total. I remember a Con in L.A. sometime during the mid-1990s with at least double that number.

Hopefully things picked up on Saturday. It would be great to hear another report from the weekend. Again, they put together a great program.

Unfortunately, the average attendees age of attendees looked to be in their 50s-60s. Is the internet and lack of new TV Trek to blame?


golakers

 

[sbk1234]

I was there Friday and Saturday. It was definately one of the smaller conventions I've been to in a long time. The plus side is that there was really no waiting to talk with any of the guests, and you could spend as much time chatting as you wanted. As always, everyone was very nice. Hats off to Mr. Richard Sternbach who was nice as Hell to my little daughter at her first convention. He even played ball with her before his presentation.
The dealer's room was very small. I spent very little time there, and I ended up leaving a lot earlier than I expected.
It was a nice convention, but small.
However, some of the other conventions I've seen have been damn crowded, so I don't know if this is a trend.

 

[davidl28]

i was there today (Saturday)--and we were VERY Disappointed... the website hype did not match the reality..part of it maybe b/c Creation Convention had a conventionn in LA this weekend as well.. but it also shows the reality/state of fandom for Star Trek...the biggest Star Trek convention now is in Las Vegas and every year, the number of people going to that convention is also going down..

And here's the reason for it---Failure of Star Trek to renew/keeping building up a new fanbase--aimed at younger people...the last time they did it was during the high of TNG ~1995-1996... How come Star Wars conventions (Celebration)--attract thousands, media press etc..and yet the pure number of hours/movies of Star Wars pails in comparison with Star Trek 11 movies, 4 TV series--can't muster the same base....REASON: Star Wars attracts families, has a cartoon series, and has stuff for kids (toys, content, games, etc)--while Star Trek/CBS/Paramount can't figure it out...Who wants a Star Trek Fork ? or a $3000 Star Trek Captain's Chair ? vs.. the Hasbro Star Wars toys geared for kids ?

*****************

Separately, I was not only disppointed in this convention, I was very UPSET with the convention organizers because some of the stars cancelled such as Nicole De Boer with enough notice and yet the organizers made no announcement...AND What really was pathetic was that some of the "stars/major guests" like Stan Lee, Evira, etc...saw the low attendance and withdrew for some of the events and yet-- no notice--just lame excuses...my son brought his Iron Man costume for the Kids Costume Contest to be judged by Stan Lee in the late afternoon...Stan come for his morning session..and then in the late afternoon---someone gets on stage and says: Stan is receiving an award across town late today and won't be back for his afternoon session and won't be around to judge the *Kids* Costume contest--so that's it for events today--good bye...*right---so if Stan was scheduled to get an award, why even schedule a late session/Kids Costume Contest then ?? How much do you want to be that if there were 10K people Stan would have been there in the late afternoon...and then to add insult to injury, someone asked: isn't Evira following the Kids Contest/Stan Lee's afternoon contest ? and the person/convention staff person said: "She isn't feeling well and went home early from the autograph signing room"--- No Apologies.. and of course, no refunds... so No Nicole De Boer at all, Stan Lee left early (and disappointed about 10 kids who entered in the Kids Costume contest--and I saw some of them entering the room all dressed up--only to be disappointed (including my son)), Evira has a "sudden headache" and leaves...and the so-called art room had only 2 vendors in there --Starship Farragut and Star Trek Phase II (and they were at lunch/away all day it seems)

**In the future, I highly advise people to Not attend future conventions organized by these people***

the only good news, is that if you really wanted to talk to Jonathan Frakes/Michael Dorn, you could have walked up to them and spoke to them for awhile...

sad state for Trek Fandom...no more Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, no more "Grand Slam" Conventions in LA, no new Star Trek TV Series, and Star Trek XI movie that wasn't really Star Trek...

CBS/Viacom: Wake up and create a new Star Trek cartoon series and a new TV Show !

 

[WillsBabe]

If there are fewer people going to cons maybe the answer is to restructure conventions so they work with fewer attendees. In the 80s, before TNG arrived, Trek cons in the UK had 300-400 people attend them. They were thriving, energetic, entertaining events full of life and activity. They ran for years like that. Smaller conventions can be successful and enjoyable.

 

[Frontier]

The factors that lead to a convention "failing" like this are so plentiful...

Timing (Creation had a con the same weekend, same city?), the Location, the economy (so little disposable income these days), the relative lack of younger fans, the disinterest of the younger fans that do exist, bad publicity/advertising, lots of recent fan burns (fraud cons) so on and so forth.

I've been to conventions small and large, but even the smallest I ever went to had well over 100+ people, and was likewise designed to be a small event with low expectations.

Just so many problems with doing events these days.

That said, as much as the business of conventions has shrunken... I've seen the turn-around when the time comes. Was a few years ago, the week before ComicCon when Quinto was cast in Star Trek, but was at a convention with Shatner and Nimoy here in Philly. Fairly low-key, fairly small when you got there. Dealers "room" was more a hallway. But about an hour before they showed up? The ballroom *FILLED TO THE GILLS* with people. When the time came for their stage talk, a ballroom usually used for weddings and proms and the size of a football field was crammed full. It was heartening to see.

 

[Greg Cox]

On the other hand, I was pleased to see several Star Trek costumes at the NY Comic-Con last weekend. Given that the emphasis was on comics, not Trek, it was encouraging to see various Starfleet types wandering the halls--including a green-skinned lieutenant who was clearly supposed to be Gaila from the new movie . . . .

 

[sbk1234]

There were some folks in Trek costumes at Hollywood Xpo. There was also a showing by the club U.S.S. Angeles, a Trek based group.

 

[sbk1234]

I spoke with one of the celebreties a couple days later, who mentioned this was the worst convention she'd been to. She did say that she hadn't been to that many conventions, though. She mentioned that most of the celebrities she spoke to lost money on it.

 

[Rick Sternbach]

As always, everyone was very nice. Hats off to Mr. Richard Sternbach who was nice as Hell to my little daughter at her first convention. He even played ball with her before his presentation.

Aw shucks, Mickey. 'Twern't nuthin'. Call me Rick, and don't call me Mister. Your daughter was cute as a button. Raise her on a healthy dose of media AND literary SF and she'll be fine.

Rick