It's APRIL FIFTH: Make First Contact with #StarTrekDay & share your pics!

WE WANT YOUR PICS! Of what? See below...

So, first the cool news:

In this, the FORTY-SEVENTH year of aired Star Trek .... we have exactly FIFTY YEARS until first contact with the Vulcans.

In Bozeman, Montana*.

On April 5, 2063.

Sparked by Zephram Cochrane's test warp flight of the Phoenix that day, a landmark in human history.

(Since the Vulcans, Romulans and Klingons, for starters, had all already been there/done that.)

Meanwhile, back in our time ... the boom in social media has led to the cutesy mainstream appearance of memes and trivia in posts and tweets that geeks formerly had to pass amongst themselves, like secret handshakes. Such as the launch of the Jupiter II (Oct. 16, 1997), or the day the Moon was blasted out of its Earth orbit (Sept. 13,1999)—did you miss them both? (And if I have to explain either one of those non-Trek references, you need to go back to Go and not collect 200 quatloos.)

But thus was how Star Trek's birthday on Sept. 8 (1966, first airing of TOS on NBC), and May 4th over in SWarsville  (May the Fourth/ "May the Force...",  get it?) got even more note among the mundanes .... and were soon to be joined by 4/5/63 as just as key a date in Trekland—The Day Everything Changed. Finally.—when humanity not only got a faster-than-light engine but a Galactic Consciousness as well (according to First Contact, of course.)

And in typical Twitter  "hashtags" or trending label protocol, that begat  #firstcontactday or #starwarsday or #maythefourth. #Startrekbirthday seemed a little long for Sept. 6 every year, though.

Now, this year and this week, I'm being told, via TrekRadio and others, that there's a movement afoot to unify behind "Star Trek Day" as a sole hastag/moniker for April 5—only to enlarge the outreach and the viral factor for those mundanes who see it and recognize more easily the franchise, not just an event.

Now, as usual, it's not a lockstep monolith of ideas on this. Some folks resent not saving Sept. 8 for #startrekday, and want to keep April 5 as #firstcontactday. I can see both sides, but I also see that #firstcontactday has limited recognition to a wider audience... nay, even the vast armchair fandom out there who merely sit and watch and enjoy Trek, and not much more beyond their living rooms and dens.

So, I'm all in for the unified #startrekday hastag. Call it #firstcontactday to your Alpha Beta Trekka frat brothers and sisters if you will, too—for it is. But let's think big.

Celebrate in your own burg and check out all the Facebook events—which, of course, touch on Star Trek's greater message of IDIC and world peace and understanding or even reveling in the Other—not fearing it, as our dark sides (and recent politics) would have you do.

In fact, are you having a Star Trek Day event for First Contact? If so, send us your pics at  larry@larrynemecek.com and we'll share them with all.

But don't ever underestimate the power of marketing to keep your passion bigger than a cult.

Look what #ST2009 did for that!



*Thus becoming the second immense event in history ever to happen in that burg. Along with the birth of Brannon Braga.

The Vegas Vamp: Where to Find Me—and a SURPRISE

It's the busiest year ever for me AND for everyone else setting foot in Creation's annual Vegas Trekapalooza event.

I'm debuting a NEW SURPRISE product to be announced on Thursday ... for one thing... all part of my promotion and fundraising for THE CON OF WRATH, among the usual fun stuff. So please be on the lookout for that.

(And please note: Anything I host or co-sponsor in the EVENING hours is for those of you who are sold out of, or do not wish to partake of, the scheduled convention events and parties. Please support Creation all you can in this once-a year blowout like no other.)

I'll be rolling into town about 6 p.m. Wednesday after five days with the Holywood2vegas Trek Film Tour with Teras and Geek Nation Tours (check out the booth and future plans, shared with TrekRadio) but I barely have time to grab my room key becasue it all starts Wednesday night:

And note this does not include table time—check my table, and at Geek Nation Tours, for posted hours there—because I did a lousy job of seeing fans and pros alike last year!

WEDNESDAY
—9 p.m.: The "Second Annual Party Like A Spock Star" Game and Trivia Night," co-sponsored with DVD Geeks and Trek News.Net. at Masquerade Bar in the Rio's casino nightlife area. No cost! Just come have a blast!  (At left: Here we are last year!)


THURSDAY

—5:30 p.m.: The Fifth Annual Rapid-Fire Trivia Prize Challenge —And once again with prizes thanks to CBS Consumer Products (at right). Get in line, take a Q, win a prize or lose and get back in line—it's that simple. Secondary Theatre

—"Evening" : I'll be hanging out with fans and the DJ folks in the TrekRadio party at Irish Pub (formerly McFadden's) in the casino area ... and who knows what all that will be, but I've been told I'll be "handing out prizes." So it sounds like a blast!

FRIDAY:

—2:15 p.m.: "Star Trek: Today and Tomorrow," my forum to engage YOU and your fellow fans on the status of Star Trek--how it got here and where it might be headed, with business, cultural and even ego-political angles you might not have considered. Secondary Theatre  (At left: In Dallas/Plano, 2010)

—9-11 p.m., in MY SUITE! (Room to be announced)  My latest Meetup/Fundraiser for THE CON OF WRATH: Vegas Edition! Yes, we do what we've been doing all year on the con trail: offering fans a chance to chip in to save some Trek history and expose an amazing human-nature tale all in one with our documentary. Have you read about this?: For a $20 (or more) chip in, you get not only the screen credit and thank-yous later, but a chance at trivia/prizes, rar trek videos and sneak-peek raw footage from the doc...and the chance to ask me tell tales I'd never do on stage in public! After doing this on the run, and even attacking massive Comic-Con San Diego (left), I want to see what our Trek Tweeps can do at VegasTrek.  (And ... whether we need to do a second party on Saturday night?)

SATURDAY:
—9:40 a.m.  (gulp): Panelist on Jordan Hoffman's "Best TOS Episode" debate panel for startrek.com, Secondary Theatre.  Well, THIS should be fun: "Friday's Child," anyone?

—Oh come on, you know I'll be doing more. I gotta see the costume record attempt, for one thing...


SUNDAY:
—I'll be recovering, but look for my posted hours at my TREKLAND table and the Geek Nation Tour/TrekRadio booth, where we'll have fresh pics from our adventures along our just-completed Trek, even as the group stays together for night events and dinners during the con.

There you go. If I survive the Tour, I'll be in great shape for this and probably a lot more...!

And mark my words: the formerly forgotten "secondary stage" is EXPLODING with panelists, historians, academics, scientists, and oh yes LICENSEES to talk about their Trek products. If last year was the "Comiconification" of Vegas in a costumes/cosplay sense .. then it's happening this year again but in regards to companies and presentations.

More about that later, but for now I just want to scope you out on Trekland Central for Vegas...

Whoa.