Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thanks: Our 'Wrath of Con' fundraiser is a hit at Vegas

So far this convention year, I've not gotten in a single stand-alone post about those meetup-fundraisers for The Con of Wrath in a timely way—but what better place to start than with Vegas Khaaan!

I mean, look at this last-cycle crowd (below)! And yes.. that's my HOTEL ROOM. That was a risk.

I mean, San Diego and the comic-cons have more bodies, but only Vegas Trek Khhaaan! could truly field the passion and "get-it"-ness for a Trek-based historic documentary—and human nature, of course.

So, I'll indeed reflect on the Official Las Vegas Star Trek Convention for 2012 soon—the 12th in Vegas and the 11th for Creation. And recap our debut Geek Nation Tours' "Hollywood2Vegas" Trek film site trek, soon.

But today, I have to say it was a blast to "go for it," and finally host the VegasTrek version of the event I first cooked up in Seattle for Emerald City CC.

In many ways, it was a first-of-its-kind.

For one thing, the Rio's lack of decent meetup space and those famous "every room is a suite" quarters led me to risk ...hosting it in my own two-queen-bed room! Just in case, I limited it to 30—plus, no real eats or bevs. And everyone still had a blast, even with a little come-and-go.

Too, it was amazing to finally have a complete AV system for clips—video AND audio. White closed-space walls, no band or fan noise, new mini-speakers from San Diego, and a projector—saved, at the 11th hour, TWICE when I was separated from my intended unit:

First, Paul Walker and crew of the USS Las Vegas, the big local Star Trek club, offered their  projector as a fill-in loan ... but with a half-hour til show time I realized it had no VGA cable! Even THAT was saved when ASU/NASA speaker and Phoenix buddy Dr. David Williams did his Bugs-n-Daffy impersonation and pulled a VGA cable, without missing a beat, out of his near-empty shoulder bag—just  as I had written off video yet again. (Who WRITES these shows?) But a big THANKS to them both for saving Star Trek... well, at least this corner of it.

So with all that... we not only raised more funds for THE CON OF WRATH, but it was great to hear gasps at some of the old and new clips. It was also great to have some of our H2V "Tourists" come by, too.

I also have to thank, quite in shock, the unexpected and generous donations made point-blank at my table on Sunday and around the floor. It's truly made it possible to press on with the project, at this stage.

Look for another live meetup--somehow, somewhere--at my next guest jaunts to the El Paso Comic Con Sept. 14-16 and then Starbase Indy's con Thanksgiving weekend in November. If I can do one for Walter's Star Celebration weekend without being a distraction, I will.

Of course, you can always check out the online donor page and gift list using Paypal.

What's up for us? We're catching our breath, launching into tape transcripts with more staff help, and planning the next step—so stay tuned as our "shadetree" project picks up steam.

Meanwhile, my DP Neal Hallford is still feeling his loss—so please give his stolen Redrock unit Fundrazr replacement project a help if you can.

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