My panel, my table, my stuff —just a corner of Trekland in the HUGE Star Trek year at Comic-Con San Diego

Wow.  Maybe it's because this is Comic-Con NUMBER 47?

San Diego Comic-Con has never been about Star Trek; it's always been about, well, comic books. And manga. Superheroes. And, for the past 20 or so years, the blockbusters derived therefrom. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror and anime, you get to come too.  

"Oh well, see you in Vegas" has been the cry among Trekfolk at SDCC the past decade or so, since I started going in 2006.  I've always felt badly that Star Trek's golden age and its incredible casts and creators came too soon for the bigtime, Hall H Comic-Con treatment.

UNTIL NOW. And good on CBS Consumer Products, and CBS and Paramount in general, for finally corralling an historically huge, Dyson Sphere-sized year for Trek. Having both the new mpovie AND the new series AND the 50th anniversary to play off is about as natural an opening as you're going to get, and they have not disappointed. Starting with a Comic-Con program cover featuring Leonard Nimoy's Spock (at right)!

Of course if you don't have a way in by now, you ain't gettin' in ... but if you're among the 150,000 plus on business and/or pleasure in San Diego his week...Here's a huge list of all things official Trek and licensees here. Huge! The MAC Trek cosmetics line and the 50 on 50 art exhibit with artist signings and that cover Spock image are among the panels and products.

And I'd just add to that, the first Trek pin collectibles from my old buddy Dan Madsen's FanSets (too new to get its own booth) will be at Comikaze and StylnOnline booths—and an even bigger hit now that folks can see "augmented reality" with the PokemonGO craze.

Now for my little corner of Trekland, here's my deets—and THANKS AGAIN to Cat Roberts, our Lt. Palmer of Star Trek Continues et al, and John for hosting our "Dr. Trek" crowdfunder again on Friday night!

—WEDNESDAYMaybe I'll see you before or after the 8 p.m. IMAX World Premiere of Star Trek Beyond?

—THURSDAY:
8-9 pm, 29AB: "Trekland's Between the Cracks Show: The How We Got To 50 Edition" PANEL — Our annual updated look at all things Trek in-perspective and in-jokey will also this year hopefully have a brand-new sneak-footage reel for The Con of Wrath! Plus we'll have a lightning PORTAL 47 beam-aboard bonus for this night only!

I'm up against some good folks in this slot, sadly, but you can click here in to the SDCC event site/app scheduler here as well. Please do!

—FRIDAY:

2:30-5:30 pm, AA23: Autograph Alley table— Easiest place to catch me! I'll have photos, On Speaker CDs, Portal 47 info, maybe even a book or two--and get into the Portal 47 prize drawing.  Oh and opinions and news on all things hot. Click here to save on your SDCC site/app scheduler.

Just be advised I must leave sooner than the normal 7:00 ending time because of ...

First SDCC doc crowdfunder, in 2012!

6:30-8:30 pm, Dr. Trek Show crowdfunder for The Con of Wrath, adjoining Petco Field*—The annual event supporting my doc wherever I am a live con guest—now wrapping up its final year of filming: as usual $20 not only gets you a screen credit but here live it's access to prize trivia, rare Trek footage and newest sneak-peek footage for the doc—including the latest, of Nichelle Nichols and Laura Banks.
*Check out the Facebook event page for the exact address and arrival directions. Share it if you can! 

—SATURDAY:

4:30-7 pm, AA23: Autograph Alley table—Ditto as above! But note I will be delayed past the 2:30 start time due to covering the big Hall H panel 2-3 and media afterward. Still, it's the last, easiest place to catch me—photos, On Speaker CDs, Portal 47 info, maybe even a book or two--and last chance for the Portal 47 prize drawing. Late news punditry, too. Click here to save on your SDCC site/app scheduler.
This schedule means, sadly, I will be timed out of Ben Robinson's Star Trek Ships panel immediately afterward with Rick Sternbach and Dan Curry...but again, it's all Treklanders all long overdue for a little Comic-Con love.



Here's hoping we all survive the Comic-Con crazy.... Especially me, because Tuesday starts our incredible #LA2Vegas / #SFx2  50th anniversary expanded edition of the Trek Film Sites Tour. And then right into sold-out, five-day #STLV.

Trek well!

Old-school San Diego: See you at ConDor this weekend!

UPDATED with schedule adds/room changes: 

It's not often you get a chance to see three non-actor icons from the original Star Trek spotlighted at a convention—and at a hotel-based, sci-fi convention of not-insane size, on the old-school model. But come this weekend, Feb. 26-28, ConDor Con XXIII in San Diego is such an event—and I'm pleased to be a part of the bill that is headlined by three front-seat folks from the actual TOS Desilu days of the '60s.

Yes, you'll be able to see Dorothy Fontana, David Gerrold and Bjo Trimble as guests of honor—plus a whole lot more authors, artists, and the like. And you can still get in easily and economically!I am so thrilled to have been asked to join the guest list and have this chance—and if you can get yourself there to the Town & Country Resort in north San Diego, you should jump at the chance. Especially if your convention experience, all-Trek or otherwise, is of the huge ticket/ huge mob variety....cause this ain't.

What's more, Janet will be with me as a "low key" con guest for the first time since our Terraformers II Greece trip in 2010.

There's plenty of rooms and memberships (ie, tickets) available for one or all three days—and discounts for military and vets. And kids 12 and under free. Online reg is closed, but you can do it easily on-site.

Here's my own line-up for the weekend:

—Tabling, off and on in the dealer's room—with a PORTAL 47 prize drawing on Sunday.

FRIDAY
7pm: Meet the Guests/Opening Ceremonies (Le Chanticleer Room)

9:30 pm: The Captions Logged: Home Edition blooper image late-night caption contest that was such a hit at FedCon 2014, with prizes!  (Le Sommet Room)

SATURDAY
—10 am: My main "Trekland: Between the Cracks—Big 5-0 Party" slideshow and fan forum hour (Windsor Rose Room)

—11 am: Open Autographs (Dealer's Room) (will be tabling otherwise most hours)

—Noon: Actual multi-panel: "Star Trek: The Reboots" "Did Trek really need rebooting? And did the newest films do it justice, or seriously screw it up? Opinions are all over the spectrum. Come give us yours." ( Windsor Rose) 

—8-10 pm: A Dr. Trek Show Crowdfunder party for The Con of Wrath, (Clarendon Room)


And maybe some more to crash, who knows. 

Hope to see y'all SoCallers there!

STV: Kevin Dilmore with Hallmark's 2015 Trek ornaments —and 2016's!

Quick! 


If you haven't run out yet to get one of the 2015 Trek variety of Keepsake Ornaments from Hallmark, there's still time! Here's the inimitable writer Kevin Dilmore from Hallmark, in our annual visit from Comic-Con to tell you all you need to know.

Or if you are all stocked up and just want a sneak peek ahead to 2016—we gotcha covered.  As always, right?

Stay tuned to the end for a Pocket Books Trek novel update on Kevin's titles, and those of his oft-partner Dayton Ward, too.

And this year we even got it all in one take…





FYI: Portal 47 members got to view this video up to 72 hours early before it went public—as one feature of their deep-dive Trekland backstage access. 

Fun AND big news from me at Comic-Con San Diego!

Hey, it’s time for the modern model and granddaddy of them all these days, San DiegoComic-Con—and as usual I’ll be there amid the ruckus helping hold up the Trekland corner of pop culture.

And—to finally unveil one of my new projects I’ve been teasing about for the past couple years!

With nearly 200,000 bodies, the entire downtown and most hotels in San Diego involved, this is no relaxacon—and any veteran will tell you you need a plan and some strategies for optimum enjoyment, much less survival; the fact that you actually have at least one day’s pass shows you are either very astute, very lucky, or have an inside track!

That said, the entire schedule for SDCC (or Comic-Con International/CCI, as they like to be called these days) is available online and as an ongoing mobile app for Apple or Android.

In there you’ll find three of my four events, and I’d appreciate it if you’d go ahead and click on the sched.org MySchedule ticker there if you think you’ll make it. The fourth, of course, is our own “Dr. Trek Show” crowdfunder for The Con of Wrath—this year on Friday night, and with an all-new relaxing venue thanks to our friends via Star Trek Continues, John and Cat “Lt. Palmer” Roberts.

So here’s where I’ll be, with those click-in MySched links:

THURSDAY
8-9pm, Room 28DE: The SDCC version of “Trekland: Between the Cracks: 2015 Losses, Rumors, and Birthdays Edition”—and boy, have we had a lot of them. (Well—69 clicks and counting already!) We’ll have some smile amid the pathos, as always—room for fans in the room to share….. and, plus, I’ll finally be announcing that NEW BIG THING. In fact, check out my follow-up Trekland post on that. 

FRIDAY
10 am- 2:30 pm,  Autograph Alley AA15, Sails Pavilion: Signing your program or any of the Trekland: On SpeakerCDs and my photos—plus you can see the Enterprise in Space orbiter model and non-profit program info.

7-9p.m., next to Petco Field*:  “Dr. Trek Show” crowdfunder benefitting The Con of Wrath, now wrapping up its final year of filming: as usual $20 not only gets you a screen credit but also access to prize trivia, rare Trek footage and newest sneak-peek footage for the doc—including now Nichelle Nichols and Laura Banks.

*Check out the Facebook event page for the exact address and arrival directions—and very special thanks again to Dr. Cat for hosting us!

SATURDAY
10am- 2:30 pm:  Autograph Alley AA17, Sails Pavilion: Back again, one table over from Friday’s spot.

That's it's for me…. but: I also plan to squeeze in a visit for the second edition, after its rousing debut last year, of Her Universe’s Geek Couture Fashion Show at 6 pm Thursday at the Hyatt —where I hear there are two Trek entries among the genres represented this year. That’s the one where old buddy Dan Madsen once again gets it together for Ashley Eckstein’s  growing HU feminine geek-chic fashion empire. 

You’ll also likely catch me at 7:30 pm Saturday for the latest edition of Drs. Ali Mattu and Andrea Letamendi’s “Psychology of Star Trek vs. Star Wars” I helped to lauch at WonderCon.  And there's all the big family of official CBS Consumer Products stuff going on, as well as the Roddenberry.com hour as well.

Off the con grid, for you Wrathers, I’m excited to say we’ll be getting Ali on camera for the doc as well this weekend. He was a tad young for being a “Survivor” from our June 1982 Houston subject meltdown, but I think his insights on both fandom and psychology, then and now, will be great context when we look at the actors, organizers, fans, and dealers  through that filter. 

Hope to see many of you at any or all of these touch points, amid the 200K!

And then… Vegas Khhaaann is just around the corner, baby!

Trekland in Comic-Con: Lots to see & do amid the mob!

Whoa! Time to go attack another San Diego Comic-Con!

Trekland will be making its usual rounds and appearances across all four days of San Diego Comic-Con—with two sales sittings in Autograph Alley and a Saturday night panel—and of course a meetup for "The Con of Wrath" after our San Diego hootenanny was a hit last year (below). We'll also be moderating the panel for the New Starship Foundation Ent-D restoration and museum with Huston H., and around their huge floor photo-op.

So, check it out—my known whereabouts for San Diego:

FRIDAY:

2:30-7 pm: Autograph Alley Booth 25, 2:30-7 p.m. Trekland CDs, photos and Star Trek Continues goodies: and flea market old 80s movie buttons!

SATURDAY:

2:30-5:30 p.m.: Autograph Alley Booth 25 (ditto of Friday).

5:30-6:20 p.m.: I moderate Huston Huddleston's New Starship Foundation panel on the Enterprise-D bridge restoration museum. Boy has THIS been building from the original exciting yet simple idea we showed you before anyone else did... you have to come hear the latest, and throw some feedback as well.

7:30-8:20 p.m.: OUR Panel: The Con of Wrath update and more—some raw footage, and who knows what else from Trekland (new projects, anyone?). Welcome DP Neal Hallford and our other associates Lex Wochner and Dawn Gagliano, too!

(If you are going, click HERE to "Log in" early at the SDCC site. There's already 51 signed on ... and you can do the same for other panels.)

9:30-11:30 p.m.: The "Con of Wrath" benefit meetup: Once again, as we've been doing live at cons across the country: you chip in $20 for a screen credit BUT get two hours live of the Dr. Trek Show!: prize trivia, rare Trek clips and raw doc footage.... and a screen credit, of course. Site in Gaslamp area backroom bar TBD.

I'll also likely try to support the projects of friends like the new version of Trek-vs.Wars psychology debate, the Roddenberry panels and Mission Log podcast, and Marc Zicree's Space Command...to name but a few.

I won't be camped there 24/7, but it's a good bet I'll be around Huston's gye-normous Enterprise-D photo-op spread on the Main Floor at times as well.

It's amazing how much SDCC has changed just since I started going in 2005—or that I feel like a battle-hardened veteran about it all now. I already know I'll be seeing a lot of old friends and maybe even transact some commerce.

So please—any Treklanders in the neighborhood, come by at least once to say hello. AND survive the week. I have slots open ... !