LA ALERT: Whoa, WonderCon: Meetup & Trek co-panels in Anaheim

Annnnd this insane month of March—from Seattle to Orlando to our Con of Wrath shoot in OK/NorTex that has depleted my postings!—comes to a close "back home" THIS weekend in Anaheim with WonderCon—via not one but three panels, plus a meet-up for the doc, of course! And you're all invited.


WonderCon, sprawling San Diego Comic-Con's little brother, is again back in Anaheim while its normal digs at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco are being renovated. As a comic-ccn it covers comics, authros and anime plus games and all things sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre—but Trek increasingly plays a bigger part, you TLers. But by not being quite the behemoth of SDCC, it's not so sold-out and intimidating—and there still are Friday and Sunday one-day passes, all at the Anaheim Convention Center just south of Disneyland.

My buddy and increasingly famous Bridge Saver Huston Huddleston has graciously offered me space in his restoration Enterprise-D bridge chair area, sure to be a high-traffic hit with all the photo posers. So, between panels on Friday and Saturday, we'll have Trekland: On Speaker CDs and fundraiser Klingon PADDs and info all about all stuff Trek Tour and Star Trek Continues for all the SoCal folk who never get where I'm at ...

PLUS I hope you can catch me at any of these panels (or support those linked)—if you use THESE links, you can "signal" you are intend to attend, and join the crowd...

FRIDAY: 1:30 p.m., Room 213

At 1:30 the psychology/fan duo of Dr. Andrea Letamendi (UCLA) and Dr. Ali Mattu (NYU) have slated "The Psychology of Star Trek vs. Star Wars," and I'm on to represent guess-what, along with writer Hugh Sterbakov (Robot Chicken, City Under the Moon). Surely we can all call "IDIC" and just get along, right? Brian Ward of Shout! Factory is along to moderate, to boot. "Join" us early on Facebook?

BONUS FRIDAY PICK! 2:30 p.m., Room 300DE

PLUS, right after that, stay in Trekland for a bonus and head over with me to Room 300DE to experience "Star Trek: Into High Definition" about all the amazing Blu-Ray remastering projects with Brannon Braga, Mike and Denise Okuda, producer Roger Lay and director Robert Meyer Burnett. Enterprise S! is out, with TNG S3 not far behind ...


FRIDAY: 6:30pm, Room 208

Later on, also be on the panel of folks with dreamer Huston and his co-hort Brian Uiga as they update fans on the non-profit "New Starship" Star Trek Enterprise Bridge Restoration and Sci-Fi Museum that has taken fandom and potential marketers by storm since we first helped break the news and vet the source and then had our follow-up.

I actually have to bow out midway through this one so as to conduct a long-delayed interview for THE CON OF WRATH on-site (yes, work!), but after being at Huston's chair/table area all day it won't be a loss.



SATURDAY: 7 p.m., Room 210BCD

After a day of seeing everybody on the floor, we'll close off the panels at 7 p.m. with our annual "Between the Cracks" Trekland show for 2013—with even an angle on that JJ thing right around the corner, plus some looks back at TNG and DS9 and ahead at our Star Trek Continues world premiere May 24 in Phoenix Comicon!


And finally ... for your after-panels, after-buying pleasure while stuck in "strip mall town"...


SATURDAY, 9 p.m., Room TBA adjacent

Somewhere along Friday we'll announce the adjacent site (a fun place with spirits, hopefully) of our first CON OF WRATH Meetup-Fundraiser for Anaheim, running Saturday 9-11 p.m. in the usual format of fun, prize trivia and rare Trek videos and doc sneak peeks that we've done the past year at my live events... like Seattle ... San Diego (right)... Vegas... and many more. If you plan to pop in your $20 and make the party, you could even "Join" the meetup Event page on Facebook, just to give me an idea ...


BONUS SUNDAY PICK: I won't be on-site Sunday, but the usual uspects are back at it with an ALIEN ARMAGEDDON debate panel 3-5 p.m. akin to the infamous Starship Smackdown at SDCC, at 3-5 SUNDAY. Treklanders will especially know Robert Burnett again and Daren Dochterman, Jeff Bond and moderator Mark A. Altman among the herd.

Now, if I ever get caught up with March—I'll tally up how Seattle and Orlando meetups have been, and thank all the folks who turned out and helped there.

From here, though, we thankfully take a breather— and I'll next see you out on the con trail over in El Paso April 26-28!

Meet us up at Emerald City, Seattle!

Yo, Seattle Treklanders, I hope to see you at Emerald City Comicon this weekend, again hitting town with all the latest in the Trekland show.  You might also be happy to note that Sir Patrick, Young Wil, and recent  Hollywood Walk of Fame star awardee Walter are also guests amid a big media line-up.

No panel this year for us, sadly—it's my own fault for my distractions in January!—but we will be seeing everyone OUT FRONT in the South Lobby with our Trekland table: CD copies of TREKLAND: On Speaker Vol. 1, our last six fundraiser Klingon PADDs for The Con of Wrath documentary,  info on this August's Trek Tour redux and the just-filmed Star Trek: Continues... plus all the usual stuff from my attic trunk. Including my brain cells.

The Six Arms upstairs—our very first meetup-fundraisers a year ago, after Emerald City Comicon/Seattle!

MOST OF ALL—please spread the word that we'll have one, and perhaps two, evening meet-ups to benefit THE CON OF WRATH just a couple blocks up the street from the convention center—back again at the Six Arms upper loft, 300 E. Pike Street. Hey, Seattle was where it all began for this great experimental show last year with the worthy cause, and I thank you and hope to see a lot of you guys-n-gals again. 

And THIS year we'll have video!

Yes, rare Trek vids —and sneak peeks from celebs and grunts alike of The Con of Wrath  ... with prize trivia to boot, and prying secrets and stories out of me with the right ... beverage. Our sophomore editions will begin at 9 p.m. Saturday and 5:30 p.m. Sunday—a "just afters" for all you locals who hate to go home right off.

The ECCC show hours run 2-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, with a lot of fun after-hours events in the 7-9 p.m. Saturday slot—which is why we don't want to overrun that with our meet-up til 9. We Treklanders are a well-rounded lot.

If you are going to be at #ECCC this weekend—or heck, just anybody anywhere in Trekland—now's a good time to follow us on Twitter for just such occasions: @larrynemecek. The Facebook page Larry Nemecek's Trekland will also post updates as well if need be.

See ya, Seattle! Come say howdy at Emerald City ComiCon

Hey, if all goes well, we'll have a bigger splash than ever at Seattle's Emerald City ComiCon this weekend—Friday through Sunday.


There may be more surprises and impromptus... but for now check us out at these panels, all in Room 3AB:
—Friday,  5 p.m.: The return of my annual "Between the Cracks" Star Trek show: rare and blooper pics and info—and my big news of the year.
—Sunday, 1 p.m.: "Whither Star Trek?": Our traveling show and survey of the state of Star Trek today and in the future—heh: our opinions and your thoughts.

In between, I'll be tabling in the Exhibition Room in support of TREKLAND, larrynemecek.com, some of my past work, and this weekend's big news... check up later on!

Also in Seattle is friend & colleague Dr. Daryl Frazetti and his panels, with research and new books coming out on fandom—via anthropology: the fun kind, not the thick unintelligible kind.


Daryl will be sharing the table with me when not crazed by his schedule, also in Rm. 3AB:
—Friday, 4 p.m.: Anthropology of Star Wars
—Sunday, 11 a.m.:  Anthropology of Firefly
—Sunday, 2 p.m.: Cultural Symbolism of Gotham City and Metropolis

Oh, and Frakes, Spiner, Wheaton, and other guys 'n' gals will be there too. This marks Emerald City's first time to expand into three days, thanks to the new media influx. We'll see how it goes! And thanks again, Jim, for having us!

STV: John "Phlox" Billingsley hawks his own show!

No interview or even chit-chat here:

Just a couple minutes of John "Phlox" Billingsley in an inspired reaction to a small turnout for his Q&A hour on Sunday morning at the recent Hollywood Xpo. Well, this sure woke'em up.

I really don't have to say anything more—except that I'm sorry we didn't get his, ahem, pitch from the very beginning.

We join our rant already in progress...

Big week: Hear Sci-fi Diner & see you in Plano/Dallas!

Hey gang--the ever-cool Scott and Mike had me on for my first visit over at SciFi Diner this week, and we obviously had way too much fun pod-talking what's up with Trekland these days.

So much fun, in fact, that they have threatened to have me back...! (Grab it at the link above, of course, or get SciFi Diner on iTunes.)

 
And then... Well, if you find yourself anywhere near North Texas THIS weekend and have a week to kill before the Super Bowl, pay attention:

My mutley male mug joins the otherwise heavenly lineup with Nichelle Nichols and a raft of ladies for the next Sci-Fi Days convention honoring "Women of Sci-Fi."  It's at the Plano Center, and Dr. Daryl Frazetti is there with his irrestible fandom academics along with a couple other male holdouts...

But mostly we're inundated with the lovely likes of Morena Baccarin of Firefly and V, BSG's Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff, Stargate Universe's Alaina Huffman, and more!   Looking forward to the wall-to-wall coverage from Chris and Charity at Subspace Communiques, as well.

I really hope all of you who gave us such a great response in October are up to it again—this time WITH my "Between the Cracks" show in store!

Twivia Tweetup, Seattle ! You heard right!

I think we're in the Emerald City for Comic-Con, Toto!

If you find yourself in Seattle this weekend, get to the Convention Center downtown in the shadow of the Space Needle for Emerald City ComicCon. I've only been here once about, gulp, 15 years ago...and that was a quickie. And yes, the Sci-Fi Museum is on my itinerary. Finally.

But enough about me. YOU need to make it to my "Between the Cracks" Star Trek show at 3 p.m. Sunday--worth hanging around for! And drop by the table, too.

And...[PRIZES]... we're paired up with my Seattle Geekly buds Shannon and Matt... [PRIZES]... to have a Twivia Tweetup ... [PRIZES] .... TWICE: 6:30 Saturday, 9 am (!!) Sunday ...[PRIZES]... outside Caffe Dior on level 1 of the Washington State Convention Center. Thanks to CBS Consumer Products for the swaggy, btw.

And oh yeah... Leonard and Wil and stuff is going on, too.

LA ALERT: Whoa, busy weekend: See you at Gallifrey One

Gallifrey One is this weekend—and no, as I've learned this year, it's not just a Doctor Who convention any more. If you make it by the LAX Marriott for the con, I'd be pleased to have Treklanders in the hall for my infamous slideshow at noon Saturday... and then a 2 p.m. panel on the big-picture future of Trek, whatever that is. Outside of that I'll have a table around somewheres, too. Then "Spirit of Star Trek" with Trekkies' Roger Nygard and "Anthropology's Genre Professor" Daryl Frazzeti is Sunday in Reseda

The past few weeks have been insane. My apologies for not being here more--I have loads of great news and vidlogs but the time is just not there—yet. Stirred up a hornet's nest when I pled for "cloning time" on my Facebook page...but sadly, no parallel extra time has materialized.

But for starters, stay tuned the next few days for video with Ethan Phillips and scenes of Star Trek: The Exhibition in San Jose, CA (too early for the wedding, durn it.).

Crazy weekend: See me live, hear me live--twice!

Wow. Between the big public Trekkie upswing after JJTrek and my recent lack of exposing myself in public, I seem to be a fresh (??) voice of Trek old and new popping up on Internet radio and podcasts this fall. There's TWO live spots coming up this weekend over Internet airwaves.

On Saturday/TODAY at 8:00 Eastern/5:00 Pacific I'll be online live at science fringe/fiction's "The Edge" with host Daniel Ott for over an hour. During this live and lively offbeat little show, you can toss out questions or comments via chat or email through their site at www.theedgeam.com. (Check the home page's left-hand button links).

Then tomorrow, the very next day on Sunday, Nov. 29, this seeming Turkey Weekend Marathon seems to continue when Ian M. Cullen's dulcid British tones have me on for an hour-plus on SciFi Pulse on BlogTalk Radio, along with the guys from Star Trek: Continuing Mission. Call in! Tune to it at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/scifipulse.

We already did Trekcast, DVD Geeks and Roger Noriega's NDB Radio recently--with the Dec. 5 podcast posting of my guesting on Slice of SciFi still to come. See, talkin' Trekland is usually a lot easier than writing it.

And from the in-the-flesh department: If you're in SoCal, drop by the city's long-running mainstream litcon, LosCon 36, at the LAX Marriott. As a last-minute add, I'll be crashing panels there today with Daryl Frazetti and Curtis Webster, both notables in ther own right, and hobnobbing in general. Come by and we'll compare and contrast. Discuss.

A cool, uncrammed Comic-Con in Long Beach!

Lots of folks can claim residency in Trekland. One of them is an old buddy and one of the crack Licensing team at Viacom/Paramount in the 1990s and later: Chip Carter, whose solo company now is on the team that just launched the Long Beach Comic Con. Everyone loves San Diego's breezy show on the coast with hotels and clubs adjacent the convention center, but many long for the smaller, simpler days—and that's the feel we got today. If you're in the area this weekend, it is NOT too late to check it out: Saturday and Sunday are full days with lots of celebs, premieres, exclusives... plus panels and dealers, of course.

Here's but a sample: We were tickled today to get a peek around on the very first day of the very first year ... even before doors opened ... as the first hundreds were streamed in and the lines began:

Grand Slam & cast reality: it's a movie world

Almost let this get by, but Creation's recent regretful announcement postponing of the Trek side of its planned new "Grand Slam" show move to November due to a lack of ST '09 cast coming aboard was ... well... too bad, but not totally unexpected.

Kudos for Creation for trying for an event that would make sense after a blockbuster June opening, of course.

But as we wondered aloud a year ago—a movie-only franchise cast is different than a TV franchise cast:

... For now, anyway, while you’ll see their beaming faces all over at promo time next May, I’m betting they’ll be absent from standard convention slots fans are so accustomed to. They will likely love this movie—and the next ones—and their fans, and what they do for their careers… But as film actors they will likely be out doing just that, trekking the studio/meeting circuit, rather than the con circuit.

I’m just sayin.’

Zack Quinto had a bit o' fan background, and had his Heroes genre experience going in; he's been a Vegas visitor more than once. Give the rest of 'em time. Meanwhile, Adam and Gary, we still think a fall L.A. media con is still a great idea, down the road.

STV: Launch Week special—a vidchat with Marina, Part I

Always a treat to speak with the lovely and busy Marina Sirtis! So when we had the chance to catch up while guesting at DeepCon in Fiuggi, Italy, this year, she was gracious enough to v-chat for all our Treklanders. I wanted to share it all, so be looking for Part 2 coming up very soon ...

Vegas: First thoughts

Quick thoughts from a Vegas survivor: If you didn't laugh at Trek's many doomsday death notices back in 2005, you can safely chortle and guffaw now.

Fully half of the steady-to-higher turnout at Creation's annual Vegas shindig were either first-timers or those coming back to the fold after 15 or 20 years. And this with no ST: The Experience to visit at the Hilton... or anywhere ... yet. I heard it over and over again from the folks who stopped by my table—many of them true stereotype-busters. I even saw an honest-to-goodness Barbie-and-Ken who'd be totally out of place if not for their wide-eyed stares as they paced the dealer's room—and they were on Day 2 of their honeymoon!: he the armchair fan who stumbled into the con with no advance idea, she the patient one who "gave him one day" to indulge.

Credit J.J.'s Star Trek '09, of course, and the energizing new green blood it pumped into not just fans but mainstream media and public perceptions.

More proof: The "side room" at Vegas notoriously draws maybe 30 or so fans between all the bigger events elsewhere; this year, a thrown-together panel on the new movie I co-guested with Anthony Pascale of trekmovie.com and host Doug Murray had 300+ ... who were, by shows of hands, a room HALF-full of first-time Vegas attendees, about HALF-full of first-time con attendees anywhere, and somewhat less half a room of completely new fans brought in by the movie.

And not just questions, but testimonials. From adult NEW fans who say they've gone to check out the TOS DVDs, or even moved on to TNG and later shows. From preteens who, somewhat stillin shock, said they are no longer the "outcast Trekkies" of their class but the "cool kid" with all the info on teh hot new summer movie.

My friend Dr. David Williams even reports the same for his real science visual talks on the NASA science missions he works on: 300 for Friday, 150+ Saturday, from the routine 30 or so. Even the larrynemecek.com --AKA "startrek.com Memorial"--trivia quiz Sunday morning had 50-60 in line and 150+ in the seats for over an hour...

As I said at the panel—this is music to a lot of folks' ears. Pointed or otherwise.

STV: JG Hertzler IS Martok!

It was a shame that only 100-some people caught a truly historic moment for the Empire recently... the Klingon variety, that is.

Our two favorite chancellors, JG Hertzler and Robert O'Reilly, took the incredible step a few years ago and appeared in Germany in full makeup and costume as their famed alter egos, Martok and Gowron. The FedConUSA (eventually, no relation to its German cousin) tried the same thing on US soil—but after the con famously shuttered its doors one day in, let's hope the boys get to recreate this moment somewhere else in the States for a lot more live eyeballs.

Til then, here for all posterity are just a few seconds of the sage (and surprisingly catty) insights of our good buddy, JG/Martok... on his way out the door.

(BTW—that was a completely unsolicited plug ...)

Sooner Born and Sooner Bred

(written June 8, 2008--posted later)

No, it’s not football season or Christmas season. So why do I find myself Back Home In Oklahoma?

Con season, of course… with humidity, spring tornadoes and T-storms a-plenty (love the latter, hate the former two). You’d think I’d be up the turnpike at big multi-guest Tulsa Trek Expo, but my home peeps had me in town in OKC for Restarted SoonerCon No. 3, as guests of the worldwide-but-OKC-based fan group "United Federated Planets" on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. All this to say that while it was old home week again, it’s also fodder for thoughts on mainstream SF and media fandom quite apart from the framing of bigtime media cons, where we tend to guest and/or hang out in recent years.

The “Trek recession,” real or imagined, has seen a damper on these smaller cons. But those like SoonerCon are bucking the trend—keep it local, keep it simple, keep it fun. While that's always the mantra of any good convention (at least it was the one that *I* preached), these guys have to do that to survive—and they do. Not just old litcons, not just media—they embrace the best of all worlds, and find the offbeat and unusual to carve their own niche.

At SoonerCon that was actually a track of adult events called “SinnerCon”—and you get the picture. Fandom is big tent, depending on the group and venue, but everyone agrees that it has been aging lately with all the competition from Internet stay-at-home Googlers and home/networked video games. As long as cons—and, by extension, marketers—can find the way to link in to making live fandom vibrant again and, well, alive, we’ll survive whatever media hiccups and "franchise fatigue" come down the pike.

(Excuse me— I said I'd never use the phrase "franchise fatigue." More on that pet peeve later.)