Trekland hits Vegasland 2014: Tour, trivia, TNG, The Experience

Whoa, here it is—where you Vegasites will find me at the Rio after our LA2Vegas Trek Tour
comes rolling in Tuesday night, and our "Kirk memorial" day trip to the Valley of Fire.

Special note this year: The annual debut of TREKLAND: On Speaker! This year, it's  Vol. 3, "DS9's Finale: What They Left Behind," on the 15th anniversary of the 2-hour epic and the end of the series!

You can also find Vol. 2 at my TABLE, but specific hours will be posted this year. Still working on that—check in later.


WEDNESDAY:

9 pm, Masquerade Bar (casino): Really? Our fourth annual preview-night "Landing Party" sponsored by Trekland, Mission Log Podcast and Glue Guns and Phasers. Fun and prizes and a hard-core's early-bird meetup of your Vegas regulars!  Hope I'm not too sunburned.


THURSDAY: 
12:30 pm.:  Rapid-Fire Trivia—the return of this pretty simple trivia bash with prizes supplied by our freinds at CBS Consumer Products. Just me and you... just get in line!

9 p.m.: Special screening off-site (Brenden Theaters,  across the street 2 blocks west) of THE GREEN GIRL, bio-documentary about Susan "Vina" Oliver and her long career, studio rebel, speed pilot/driver life, and early push as a female director. I was one of many to talk on camera for director George Pappy, including Celeste Yarnell. Panel afterwards! Only 96 seats: Some seats still available (online only).

11:55 pm: Special free screening off-site (AMC Town Square, on the Strip) of "Fairest of Them All," Star Trek Continues' "Mirror, Mirror" followup.  I am still proud to remain as a creative consultant. Panel afterward includes most of crew and cast present.

FRIDAY:

Daytime: At the table, but check hours: I'll be doing vidchats at times.

SATURDAY:

Daytime: Same as Friday, but get for a little cosplay surprise...

9-11 p.m.:  My Rio room 18006: The annual "Dr. Trek Show" crowdfunder to benefit THE CON OF WRATH: $20 not only gets you a screen credit but also a shot at prize trivia, rare Trek video and sneak peeks at the docs so far. And a shot at getting some more Trek tales out of me.

SUNDAY:
1:50 pm:  Panel talk; "20th Anniversary of the TNG Finale" This will be fun, and I have a surprise reading: The Lost Draft of the theft of the Enterprise-D!

5:20: "We Touched the Future: The Impact of Star Trek: The Experience"—panel with STTE veterans and fans/coworkers from the audience.

You're not coming to any of these by now unless you're already AT Vegas. Hope to see you, off this quick intro!

Last call: No deposit, but LA2Vegas Trek film site tour for 2013 closes THIS Friday, May 31

Yes, last call!

Our "LA2Vegas" Trek film site tour from Geek Nation Tours is back for its second year, running Aug. 3-11—before and then through  Creation's Vegas Khhaaann! Trek convention and carrying some tweaks for 2013 .... but hurry!

We've talked about it on many, many podcasts since we first announced it, but allow me to say how proud I am that Teras Cassidy came to me in 2011 to develop this tour together with him and lead it for everyone headed to Vegas. (In fact, if you don't want to attend the core con, you could still go with us Trek-touring, hover on the outskirts of the Rio events, and just enjoy Sin City that weekend!)

You can get aboard now for no deposit, but the registration ends THIS Friday, May 31. Click on the email at GNT's site, but as always you'll soon be talking to Teras directly for a personal chat as to what exactly you need for your trip—and it doesn't have to be cookie-cutter off the basic template, either more OR less.

Geek Nation Tours, home of many "geek" niche excursions, is travel agent Teras's own boutique company, and the personal care shows:

Have your airfare already set for a Las Vegas arrival? No problem. Already have your hotel at con host Rio, or elsewhere? Never fear—Teras will adjust your plan. As our tourists learned last year, getting to the idea late with plans in place is no reason to not come along now!

Sorry if the used-car salesman is coming out here, but I really do enjoy this—and everyone on the shakedown cruise last year was happy to say so at Vegas 2012 and the Facebook site.

A chunk of the tour is the same as we mapped out in that debut —with photos here on Facebook as well from a lot of our "tourists."

But check out these tweaks for H2V 2013:

First, we've got some great promotional sponsors this year with discounts and goodies—Creation Entertainment, Robe Factory, Bye Bye Robot and Stronghold Games.

Then, we've moved the Saturday welcome dinner to Cirroc "Jake Sisko" Lofton's own hands-on restaurant—and he has a lot more than Cajun on the menu!

Plus, our  all-new final stop pre-con is none other than the site of Captain Kirk's death in Generations: Nevada's incredible Valley of Fire State Park—and with none other guest host than Trek makeup guru Michael Westmore, one of the few eye witnesses from the shoot's  final days. And Bobby "The Gorn" Clark will be back to tour us around iconic Vasquez Rocks himself and recreate vividly for you exactly how "Arena" was made. Larry, meanwhile, will point out the Vasquez angles from TOS's "Friday Child,"  TNG's "Who Watchers the Watchers" and JJ's Star Trek '09, among others shot there. As always, bring your uniforms and props for the "Oh yeah!" photo opps at every stop—or we may have some to loan

Whatever your favorite series or cast, we'll hit one or more of their iconic off-the-lot filming locations—and all of them double as famous or beautiful L.A. postcard-perfect vacation spots to show off even to your non-fan friends. Which you means you see a LOT of "SoCal" as well as the Federation!

Just remember: what even your own personal tour can't bring you, apart from my expertise and that of our guests, is the chance to do it with fellow Trekfans—much less those from around the world, from Asia to Europe and then some, reflecting Teras's clientele and the adventursome souls who have already, and plan to now, join us. That means, in turn, that no one on the tour enters Vegas Khaann a stranger.

Give the page a look, email Teras and get in for a call—but whatever you do, hurry!  You have three days to at least claim a seat and pay later.

I hope you can make it!

The week's OTHER anniversary bash: A Bittersweet Happy 15 to The Experience

I missed a party last night that I really hated to miss.

Because there's not just one big Trek anniversary to celebrate this week: It was 15 years ago January 4—just yesterday/Friday—that Star Trek: The Experience had its gala opening for a couple thousand bigwigs and exuberant fans at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Of course we all know by now that hotel machinations ended the three-way deal when its 10 years ran out in 2008, and fans everywhere mourned the closing of STTE, its Klingon and Borg simulator rides, Star Trek museum, Promenade shops and especially Quark's bar and grill. Today, thousands more mourn that they never had a chance to visit—or weren't even fans at the time—and listen wistfully to the stories of old now growing more vivid than Klingon battle songs.

So, to mark the occasion, Vernon Wilmer—the unofficial archivist of it all and creator of the Star Trek: My Experience web documentary series—and Trekcast podcaster/former Quarks bartender Darren Benjamin gathered fellow onetime actors and other employees of "STTE" as well as fans to mark the 1998 opening last night. I wanted to zoom up to Vegas from Burbank, but simply could not as my January has exploded (In fact, this will be a thin month for TREKLAND postings, I'll warn you).

And just as we pine for a Star Trek SERIES to return Trek to its rightful spot in society as well as our imaginations .. so do folks yen for a return of The Experience, in some real-life, hands-on Trek-theme interaction. The quickie attempt by a local developer fizzled under the weight of the decision-making as well as the market crash, and now the CBS-desired idea sits without a rudder or a leader.

So, yes, a party for grander times! Changes at the LV Hilton, er "Hotel," have rendered even the old STTE-adjacent SpaceQuest Bar a moot place to go, so the bash came to Darren's current digs at McMullan's across town. (I'd send you to the Facebook event page and photos, but it's a private list). I feel badly for missing it because I WAS there at the grand opening—as a museum contributor as well as a Trek licensee (Communicator managing editor) and overlapping press. I've shared stories of that night many times...and I have video to put up, still... but for today I thought I'd share these (as well as the link to Vernon's documentary Facebook page, as well)...

Vegas Khaan 2012: Thoughts & thank-yous in review

I've been talking about this curve since 2009.

I was stupid enough to get separated from my Canon HD cam and didn't grab any vidchats this year—and I missed a few great ones.

And I don't care IF the "numbers" were down 10 % this year (blame it on the "last Nimoy con" spike of 2011), or that the Guinness Trek-costume-meetup world record didn't get broken (though "we" still hold it, by the way).

Fact is, this was still an incredible Vegas Khaaann we all just survived—and not just for the Hollywood2Vegas Tour I hosted before it (more on that soon).

You Trekland readers may recall I dubbed 2011 the "Comic-Conification" of Vegas Trek because of the explosion of really clever, obscure or elaborate, "out of the box" costumes—a huge jump last year.

Not only did that trend this year go off the scale, Captain, but my predicted "Comic-Conificiation Phase II" phenom came true as well: Vegas-goers simply had a slew of Secondary Theatre panels to choose from—from fun fan debates to hands-on updates from licensees, in non-stop schedules that kept that stage as busy as the main. A chunk of that was under the banner of the newly revitalized startrek.com, finally, and the rest was just licensees and our Trek names getting to their expanding audience.

Virginia Madsen: TruFan since TOS

Personally, I finally got to meet both writer-bloggers John Tenuto and Jordan Hoffman (though I missed meeting Trek professor Anthony Rotolo). And my theory of Virgina Madsen's appearance on Voyager was totally turned on its ear. Virginia was a table-mate of mine, and confided that she's been a Trek fan all her life, thanks to her mom: "I had to FIGHT my agent to get on Voyager," she told me, in between hopping up to take pics with every cool fan costume character who walked down our tween-table aisle.

Sorry, Paul R: it's not my book, it's yours—but I happened to have a Voyager Companion on me and presented it to her, with her "Unforgettable" right there in the sixth season where it belongs.

The above was an example of my Vegas Resolution 2012: to get out and see more peeps—pro and fan—than I did a year ago, when the scale of the new huge Rio environs just sneaked up and exhausted everyone who were used to the Hilton's smaller scale. I think everyone did a better job on that count, too.

Aside from success with my own projects, like our first Vegas fund-raiser meetup for The Con of Wrath—and my surprise CD, still yet to be fornally "launched"—I want to thank everyone who jumped into the RECORD-sized line at my annual Rapid-Fire Trivia on Thursday, and who seemed to enjoy and bravely speak out at our "state of the franchise" forum on Friday. I appreciate those of you came by to say you enjoyed that more than any other panel... at least, by Friday afternoon.

Kudos as always to CBS' Bill Burke and John Van Citters for our trivia prizes—the fans' smarts level was way up this year, and for the first time ever I had people pining for more trivia session later, on Saturday, before the stage pace got even more insane. I was thinking the Secondary Theater's turnout was smaller than last year, until stagemaster Doug Murray tipped me off that one wall had actually been opened up to make the room bigger this year for the Guinness record try (whew). But more on numbers and demos in a post to come, thanks to great points to ponder from my CBS buds. (That includes you too, Marian and Yasmine!).

I didn't get to see as many of our old actor peeps around stage as before, but did high-five a lot of them. That runs the gamut from Avery's really perception-challenging midnight concert Saturday, to Ira Behr's comical takeover of my table for pics (left). Most of all, I had not talked with Gates McFadden since 1995, so our chat was especially welcome (stay tuned).  It was also wonderful to see the last surviving brother of original Enterprise designer Matt Jefferies, Richard, tabling with his book on Matt's life again—after our chat in 2008; you really DO need one of these beautiful coffee table tomes if you are a fan at all. 

But most of all, those costumes! (I still avoid saying "cosplay," as that should refer to those who actually roleplay as well as don the duds—and there were still some of those. I'm looking at you, all-day-Pakled Ron Aponte (right). :-)  My regrets at not seeing the Vasquez Rocks live, nor any of the Crystalline Entities.

And those new fans! How many, one after another, came by the table and let me worm it out of them that this was not only their first Vegas Khaan!, but their first con anywhere, of any stripe. Some had been armchair fans for years, some came in with JJTrek—but all said it was just time to do it.

Trek teen geekgirls rule!

And that brings us to all the stereotype busters, god bless'em. Nervous Trek marketers worried about the under-30-fans dwindling, and that seemed to be true in the mid-Aughts—at least as far as the barometer of con attendance. Middle-age folks with hard-core jobs, more into actors than con-going, turned out on Saturday and/or Sunday on one-day tickets, especially for the TNG reunion or the "Four Captains." But the Vegas phenom has exploded since mid-decade for twentysomethings—thanks to JJ's movie, and thanks to the TNG-watching parents' kids now in their 20s and coming alone when their parents remained armchair fans (I heard that over and over, too: those '80s babies finally grew up).

Our other meme-buster remains women—and how. Not to be all sexist, but I've long fought to undo the meme that there were no women, much less attractive ladies, in Trek fandom. Of course that's silly: Spock's Vulcan sexual aloofness/seductiveness DROVE fandom in the first decade. But the con-going generation didn't replace that until recently, in big numbers, and now we have delightful young ladies all over the place--and smart, savvy, sassy ones sciencing and entrepreneuring up a storm, as part of the geekgal revolution. And thanks to 24/7, cross-platform media and online awareness.

Vegas Trek is also now so big that one can spend all their time in just one non-actor-focused angle—say, Star Trek Online's parties and events and developer-worship... much less the costumes... or the exploding podcaster community, led this year by a huge "Podcasters' Row": G&T Show, Priority One, Podcast UGC, Primetime UGC, Gates of Sto'Vo'Kor, and STOked Radio—all syndicated or live on Trek Radio, taking turns at their booth. (BTW: All you Cryptic and pod folks I finally met in the flesh are just a blur! Avatars and handles—not helpful!)

Ex-McFadden's: lost opp

Of course Vegas is still the place to see sights and hear news like no other: Mike and Denise Okuda inspecting the new Qmx Enterprise-A and Enterprise-D, or the unveiling of LaLaLand's amazing all-in-one TOS soundtrack  project. News that William Shatner's follow-up is a TNG doc with David Zappone and his Get a Life crew... and that David Gerrold is filming a doc on his works, too. Oh, and a personal mini-reunion with my old colleague Dan Madsen as he helps to ease Ashley Eckstein's Her Universe geekgirl fashion line into the Trek realm, with my buds Mary "Televixen" Czerwinski, Charity "Bye Bye Robot" Wood and Kayla Iacovino. Or see Rod introduce the slick and in-depth  Roddenberry episode-review podcast Mission Logs with host John Champion (and getting to meet co-host Ken Ray that night). Not near enough time with my buds Ian Spelling, Alec Peters and Anthony Pascale... or missing many, many others. (Ron and Brannon, my regrets.) 

Thanks also to all the early-birds who hit up our "Party Like a SpockStar" event at the Masquerade Bar, cosponsored with DVDGeeks review podcast; John and Mary's Bozo Buckets were a DVD-prize hit. Not so lucky was my voice, lost along with our space last year in the former McFadden's (above right) to rebranding/weeknight closure and the dull ambient roar of the Masquerade Village "stage" we were stuck with. So much for my karaoke.

Amid the mobs, there was a place for little moments: my Twitter bud and STO's Thomas Marrone fulfilling a lifelong dream of having Mike O. signing his TNG Tech Manual (left)... introducing "FX Ron" B. Moore, VFX supervisor from TNG's pilot through Enterprise's finale, to the radio guys (right) and getting him on live (and seeing his Memory-Alpha page for the first time!)  .... and catching a Nog-Jake reunion, as Cirroc Loftin and Aron Eisenberg found each other for a quick chat just at Sunday closing time in the vendor's room, right across from me:

Ferengi-Hewmon unscripted reunion

Touching history

Or even me, finding a rare fanboy moment and actually touching a piece of the original Galileo shuttlecraft plywood hull with the actual builder, car customizer Gene Winfield (right) in the original AMT Models deal that paid for the set piece.  But not to say, in all that, that I was crowdaphobic: I had to see the TNG reunion and most of Four Captains as well, myself.



But Vegas Khaan has gotten not just large but diverse—the 9-p.m.-bedtimers and the party peeps alike—and even spawned empowered fans who make their own events and spinoffs to fill the gaps that still remain, even after Creation's Adam and Gary keep expanding it ... proving that there's  plenty of small moments and personal bits that everyone can take away.

Thanks so much for all of you Khaaaners who shared little moments with me—either a question, or a trivia try, or a photo op (yours or mine).  My gratitude and thanks for all the support so many of you give Trekland, my new CD "On Speaker", and The Con of Wrath—both at the table and at the events.

And most of all—thanks to all of you who admitted, one way of another, that this was your FIRST Vegas Khaan... or first con, altogether. (Hey, don't forget to find and support your local sci-fi fandom, too!)  That's what keeps this event fresh, that's what keeps fandom fresh... that's what keeps STAR TREK and Gene's vision fresh and alive.

As if they need any help.



(Like so many others, I have these and more choice Vegas pics in an album at my Trekland Facebook page. "Like" the page, would you, if not already? There's plenty more albums of pics there, as well.)

Blast from the Past: The "old" ST.COM team at Vegas '07

I just realized, again, that I refuse to wipe out the oldest photo still on my "old" Canon Elph (below). It's so iconic: it's a dinner gathering of the old StarTrek.com team—and the smiles of guests and spouses with us together reflect a total unawareness that this would be our last Vegas together as a unit.

Thank goodness, that after the surprise layoff wipeout just six months later and then the agonizing 2 1/2 years of the disused URL, the site is back in a new configuration and going strong under CBS Consumer Products (licensing). Thank goodness.

It was just ironic that this '07 trip marked the largest-ever contingent from then-ST.com: for the first time ever, everyone out of our LA news/digital production office made the trip in a whirlwind of both covering and providing STLV panels and games. It was also ironic indeed that, after the first time I thinned out the pics and left this one as the oldest, that it would be 5 1/2 years and counting, and I still can't bring myself to wipe it out. So there.

Clockwise from left: Wendy and Robert Jeschonek, Erin Escobar, moi, Toni and Marc Wade, David Reddick, Darianne Galden, Sandy Stone, Grace Tejano and Tim Gaskill

Meanwhile, my Vegas 2012 recap... coming up... And plenty new, too.

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.

FLASH: One more chance at Vegas Khaaan tix? Hurry!

This is amazing... and kudos to the Intercasters at Tribbles in Ecstasy and TrekRadio for offering this last-minute pair of tickets giveaway to the 2012 edition of Creation's Vegas Trek extravaganza ... next weekend!

Thus— better hurry! Offer ends this Friday, Aug. 3!

Incredible must-read: The '92 Vegas Star Trek that almost was

You HAVE to see this. And kudos to Gary Goddard for sharing the story—a bitterly ironic one.

As someone who worked on the final weeks' detail layer of Star Trek: The Experience—that's only the later, topmost layer, on top of a lot of planning and wrangling by many, many others—I'm familiar with Gary's former Landmark resort/theme park development company in the mid-late 90s. But I had no clue to even dig about this ....

Gary now has his Goddard Group, and it's from that podium that he shares the incredible story of how we almost have an even more awesome Vegas landmark in 1992—FIVE YEARS before the Experience opened in January 1998. The ENTERPRISE '92 project at least led the way and got a lot of wheels turning as to possibilities.

It also points to the glaring OMISSION of any current "destination Trek" landmark in Vegas' makeup, since the Experience's premature closing in 2008, its replacement with nothing since at the dying former Hilton, and the collapse of Rohit Joshi's hoped-for "Experience revival" downtown at the Neonopolis center.

And yes, Gary's  recollection revelations come complete with concept art and the whole shebang—just READ:

Now It Can Be Told: The Las Vegas "STAR TREK" Attraction That Almost Came To Life in 1992

The real winner of the 1992 downtown Las Vegas redevelopment competition was NOT the FREMONT EXPERIENCE – it was the STARSHIP ENTERPRISE from STAR TREK.  But no one knows this – until now. ...

STV: Rod previews Nov. 30's 'Trek Nation' on SCIENCE—and chats about even more

I'm so glad that, after a decade in development, Rod Roddenberry's Trek Nation has finally found its final voice and a home—broadcast to a huge audience via the SCIENCE Channel on cable. As you surely know by now with all the great buzz and promotion, it debuts THIS Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 8 & 11 ET/5 & 8 PT.

I'm also glad I had the chance this summer to sit down with Rod for a chat at the Vegas Khhaaann... where we talked about this, and even more changes at Roddenberry Inc, including the new namesake foundation that has already made its first potentially life-changing award. Oh, and the fun and exploratory stuff is all still there, too.

I remember going in with Dan Madsen at the first Creation Vegas mega-convention in 2002 and meeting Rod, director Scott Colthorp and their crew when they first began, becoming one of the first of what became hundreds of hours of interviewees ... part of the mass of footage behind Rod's apologies to fans for the delay in getting to a final product the past few years.  But it is, premiering at last and well worth the wait.

Take a listen to his story of the process... and then tell him "hi" at the next big convention where he and partner Trevor Roth are on hand. Meanwhile, the good reviews are already pouring in for Trek Nation, but we'll wait til after Wednesday to weigh in. For now, take a listen to our chat ...and Rod's thoughts on his other projects:



The official Trek Nation promo is up everywhere now, too...

But don't miss this, either: a lot more Trek Nation from Scott Colthorp's short-form "Director's Log" series of unused footage and personal thoughts on Trek and the whole project, on YouTube and via the Facebook page... plus Twitter, too!

STV: 45 years ago today, Bobby Clark gave us the Gorn!

Here's the danger of only linking your Star Trek anniversary parties to the debuts of series... you miss moments like this:

45 years ago today, the living breathing icon we call the Gorn was born. No, not the aired date of "Arena"—that would be Jan. 19, 1967—and no, not the Oct. 10, 1966 first draft date of the story—with all due respect to Fredric Brown's story, included in Gene Coon's first Star Trek script.

No, I'm pinning this to the date when that script and Wah Chang's budget-classic costume came together at the equally iconic Vasquez Rocks County Park under the direction of Joe Pevney, in his first assignment for Star Trek—on a Wednesday, the second of six long days for the shoot.

And lucky we have Bobby Clark, the stuntman/actor who donned the suit for two days that would forever endear him to pop culture (much more than the other three episodes he appeared in, out of his long, long TV and movie career). I talked to him last year at Vegas, finally, and saved our chat for this day—look him up when you can at the larger cons and shows such as Creation and the 2012 WonderCon, for starters:

STV— Fotos and Fan Faces: More Video Vegas Khhaaann 2011

Hey, it's Chicago Trek con weekend from Creation— and in honor of the occasion, and of Leonard Nimoy's final planned convention appearance, here's some sights and sounds from Vegas Khhaaan! that I've been holding back these past few weeks. (Video below the fold) I sounded off already on what we learned there ...

But here's a little more of the fun flavor: To start, some pics from what turned out to be Leonard's next-last con appearance, for one thing—the long-term highlight of that Vegas weekend, for me ... and what I know will be just as moving for the Chi-town fans now:

And a hoot of a panel that Anthony Pascale asked me to join, apart from my own ...  and one just as vociferously attended: the "Captain Smackdown" panel. Alec Peters and I played not so much a dominant role, but a set-up for audience debate and voting—which is how I liked it. Here's the results—with 1 point for 1st place, 5 for last place in each category, and all representing actual audience vote results. And, yep, the woman outdrew the Brit and lost the tiebreaker to the Original: Who knew the Kathryn Janeway Protection-Promotion League would show up en masse?

The most personal moment of all was the fan who caught me to sign a photo—nothing special there, but what a photo: a stunning 8x10 print of my "Civilian #2" among the guest cameos in the audience of the Enterprise finale. You can bet I especially did a double-take when I saw the ENTERPRISE branding like a licensed photo (of me?) ... but it was all a custom home job. Thanks Willie—that was a moment for the ages. And thanks Dawn, Charity & Chris for the camera work, and helping make it a "corridor moment" for even more passers-by curious at our little mini-party there for a couple minutes. It just really got to me.

I think that was even more of a hoot than having The Shat's Fan Addicts film crew (led by Bill "in cognito" in his stand-out white hat) crash not one but two of our events: The annual rapid-fire trivia (thanks once again for prizes, CBS Consumer Products!) and our game for the evening freebirds at McFadden's on the Casino "strip" (with DVDGeeks' John and Mary and Treknews.net's Brian)...

And finally, as promised in that first post-Vegas '11 TREKLAND post, I went in wearing some new hats this year—producer, for one—and did it (like everyone else) in a new "home." So, that translates as a bit thrown out of routine, and not a lot of video shot. But here's some fun stuff, nonetheless—and, as always, the kind of thing that stops me in my tracks and forces me to whip out the camera... even after all these years, and over such a crazy-busy weekend ....




A big shout-out of thanks to Gary and Adam, and Stephanie and Val and Michelle and Richard and all the Creation gang, once again ... And a reminder not to forget my video visit from our own @Televixen Mary during her MakeMeDehner.com "tour," already up as a Trekland post, too ...

Vegas in my aft viewer: A year like none before

Artwork courtesy CharityWood.com

Something happened this year ... still not exactly sure of all the reasons ... but the big annual Creation Trek bash in Vegas—Vegas Khhaaan! to the Facebookers and simply #STLV to the Twitterati—went to a whole new plane. A whole new critter.

And I should know—I've seen them all.

In a time when the Trek anniversaries are piling up right and left—the 45th for the franchise debut this year, the 30th for Star Trek II and the 25th for TNG both in '82—this was also the 10th year for a grand "Vegas Khhaaan" since they started in 2001... and Creation's had them all after that first one by Dave Scott's now-defunct Slanted Fedora shows. So, maybe it was about time for what happened.

Especially in a year when the overall U.S. economy remains poor-to-middling, these numbers and demographics are Just Amazing.

Now, you've read all the basic reporting elsewhere already; I'm going to save my stills and video for a separate post, and some more sentimental bits with it. So THIS missive will be  some general observations with big-picture touches. And brother I've got more than a few, but the overall bottom line?

Vegas Trek simply EXPLODED this year, pure and simple.

And on so many levels!

—Pure numbers? Reports say about 20,000 total sold seat-days—about 13,000 unique fans in all —and only the bigger space afforded by the Rio absorbed the uptick. Many complained of the longer walk in these post-Hilton digs, but at least there was no Sardine Factor at work anywhere. And Creation thankfully saw it coming: we got an email note a week earlier that doors and dealers would be open an hour earlier on the weekend—starting at 7 AM!

—Costumes? Oh my god—at one point I Tweeted that the overwhelm onrush felt like the "Comicconification of Vegas"... meaning, in reference to the huge cosplay rep of Comic-Con San Diego, that we had not the just the number but the ingenuity and obscurity—ie, the coolness factor—of so many outfits and concepts had just shot through the stratosphere. (See more later, soon!).

—The secondary room, after one or two years as I've been keeping tabs, is now clearly a monster to be reckoned with. Time was when the "side stage" was home to great but woefully under-attended scientists who'd attract maybe a dozen or so hard-core fans, the ones not aware they were supposed to be in a line somewhere. But, beginning with the new influx from JJ's movie we saw in '09, that room has reeked with newbies the first year, and then just simply big numbers—usually 150 or more. My events were there (trivia line, at right), as were Anthony "trekmovie.com" Pasquale's, and many more.

—Those two groups famously thought to be absent from Trek fandom by hand-wringing marketers only three years ago—a) anyone under 20, much less anyone under 30 ... and b) those of the female gender—were instead, in a word, EVERYWHERE. The Orion slave-girl explosion of 2010 has just evolved into so many guest-star homages—or totally creative getups with skin—that it was simply breathtaking. Of course, Uhura/Rand red miniskirts remain a staple, but there were so many more—in both Nichols and Saldana versions. And so many more adult incarnations were busting out, too, if you know what I mean. Congrats to Mary Czerwinski & Co. who hosted both a first-ever geekgirls panel for Vegas—again, heavily attended—as well as a crafting panels for anyone, especially the kids and parents. It was just the tip of the iceberg.

—A twenty-something crowd also translated into a party crowd, both at the Creation planned events as well as the Rio's nightclubs in general. For the "overflow" fans shut out of Creation's sellout events, we co-sponsored a Thursday night game night with DVD Geeks and treknews.net  at McFadden's, an early but noisy fan favorite—but the open-area'd iBar and Masquerade Bar also came in for a lot of biz. As they, and a special indie Trek party at Crown discovered, Trekfen like their volume low for talking... but, again, that's a growing pain.

Setting the record: LV Weekly/Sam Morris photo

—And all of it combined for smashing the ever-climbing Guinness World Record for The Most Real Star Trek Costumes In One Place—a total that in just the past couple years has become a big annual triangular rivalry between Vegas, Dragon*Con in Atlanta, and FedCon in Germany. Each one constantly raises the bar in turn, but this go-round all those factors above helped Vegas smash the record of 691 with an incredible 1,040—and it stopped there only because of the clock, and that the Guinness folk ran through all their "official counter cards." Reports of at least 60-100 more waiting in line would have boomed it bigger,  of course.

But why?

Maybe it was simply the new digs at the Rio, after the two-year farewell to an Experience-less Hilton finally gave out for Creation owners Adam Malin and Gary Berman and crew. Certainly in part it was the hubbub about being Leonard Nimoy's last Vegas appearance before his retirement from the con circuit this year (and what a farewell it was.) Maybe it's the ongoing earthquake caused by the JJ movie of 2009, where "new" fans continue to tumble into "old fandom," assimilating not just TOS but TNG and all the rest.

It's all of that, and perhaps one more factor: one I stumbled into just a few short weeks earlier.

In the words of social science, Trek big-con fans are finally "self-empowered" as never before—mostly thanks to social media, which finally hit con fandom in ways far beyond mere one-to-one contact. Groups like the "Unofficial Star Trek Las Vegas Convention 2011" on Facebook, whose 250+ members fast evolved into a fertile ground for hatching meetups, party ideas, newbie help, costume details—and simply introductions. In short, Creation provided the main program, but fans had a way to organize themselves, and early on, when they had the time and inclination.

Not to get too Vulcan about this, but what we did was just see a huge shift in the culture of fandom, yet again—the impact of online media. It was hardly an Arab Spring, but the effect is the same: self-powered organizing. And it's got nowhere to go but up. Already, plans are in the works: you can see the wheels spinning, plans evolving, and shields adapting...

All of this shows a few things, coupled with the "show of hands" polls I took in my audiences, or in just talking with peeps at my table or happenstance in the halls:

—Fans old and new, whether first-gen Trekkies or converts from the 2009 flick, have NOT forgotten any of the "700 Club" TOS or TNG, etc.,  series. If there was to be a mass migration to "modern" Star Trek alone, and a virtual "Forget" mind-meld of All That Went Before... well, it's not with this bunch. Even though a lot of them do owe their fandom entry to JJ-Trek.

—In fact, the image of young, partying, good lookin' and nay even imbibing Starfleeters was everywhere in media—not that that's not 180-degrees misleading in its own way, too. A lot of those folks ARE workin' it this weekend, in any of a zillion niche jobs. But the fact that media admitted to the possiblity the image EXISTS, 25 years after Shatner's "Get a Life" SNL skit forever sent stereotypes askew, is shocking enough. And long overdue. Creation's Vegas con logo (right), the play on the historic Vegas tourism logo, actually finally begins to make sense!

—Which in turn, finally, points to a trend I've noticed in the days since—this one in national media: maybe generational, maybe part of this post-2009 "mainstreaming" perception. And it may be the most shocking one of all: the Era of the Respectiful National Journalist Who Gets It. Maybe, finally, someone realized that the guys who paint their bellies topless in subzero endzone cheap seats for football are no more/no less crazy that the Trekfans who get their Orion green or Andorian blue on—with a lot more philosophy and a lot less alcohol involved in the latter. Somewhat less, anyway.

Yessir, we may finally have gone where no Vegas Khhaaan—and the ever-powerful national media meme—have ever gone before.

Beyond the new hotel thing, even.




On the fun side: More pics and video to come. Stay tuned ...

Trekland in Vegas—and a blast from the past

As if this wasn't enough to get you in the mood for Vegas Khhaaan—and don't forget: this year you can pay-stream the big acts if you can't make it—I thought I'd toss out another goodie... and let you know where to track me down and bend an ear, if you are so inclined.

First the goodie: here's Keep on Trekkin' .... one of the dozen cloth patches officially licensed by Paramount to the old Star Trek Welcommittee as a fundraiser for the non-profit info service. Pretty groovy in all its mid-70s glory, eh? The Welcommittee was how hungry new Trekfans got info in the pre-Internet days... by mail...!  (more below the fold*).

Meanwhile, truck on into Vegas this weekend and catch what just might be the biggest annual Star Trek blowout Creation Vegas ever—and in new digs, at the Rio. Here's one clue to our curiosity: To meet huge demand, dealers and signers were advised that their area would open up an HOUR EARLIER both Saturday and Sunday—to 7:20 a.m.!

TREKLAND THURSDAY:
—2:50 pm: "1986: The Lost Anniversary"—World premiere topic—and I actually do a real "show" for Creation at Vegas.
—7-11 pm, McFadden's Bar: "Spockstar Party" meetup, co-sponsored by Trekland with Treknews.com and DVDGeeks—we'll have prizes, games, trivia and you get your own tab—ordering old-time Quark's specials at prices cheaper than the Hilton's!

TREKLAND FRIDAY:
—2:45 pm: "Rapid-Fire Trivia," for the third year, my tribute to our old startrek.com event
—5:15 pm: "Captains Smack-down" panelist on startrek.com's panel

TREKLAND SATURDAY & SUNDAY:
— Table times and party/events TBA: I will UPDATE here and Facebook/Twitter with daily tentative table times, since as usual I will not be there 24/7... just out and about. Unless I'm on a mission with a bullet at the moment, stop and say hi when you see me. But I do look forward to meeting all the new fans, seeing you oldsters, offering my works and telling you all about The Con of Wrath this year and our fan-donor opportunity for a credit and gift package. 

It's gonna be a whole new feel this year—fans, staff, actors, handlers, dealers, EVERYBODY will be busy "learning" all the ins and outs of the Rio... much less looking to see what the numbers, and the makeup of vets/rookies, will turn out to be... how the economy affects sales ... how many fans at home try the live streaming ... and if the recent TOS era in costuming  trends still pushes on, or if ST09 makes any inroads. Plus— just what kind of Trekkers will Shatner latch onto for his new film Fan Addicts with Creation about Trek fandom? And just what will author Dayton Ward think of his FIRST Trek trip to Vegas—with co-writer Kevin Dilmore in tow. Among the many fine special events, DON'T MISS Jeff Combs' free performance of his Edgar Allan Poe one-man show, either—catch our original Trekland preview here.

As usual... I just hope we all survive it again. Vegas KHHAAAAN, indeed!

*BTW, back to this mid-70s phrase and groovy font are not just a creation of Trekfen: it plays off the iconic 1968 R. Crumb comic book illo and catchphrase "Keep on Truckin' "—pirated famously for years on posters and T-shirts—that, crazily, in turn inspired two totally different hit same-named singles: soul-funk from Eddie Kendricks, and trucker-country from Dave Dudley. (And to think its roots are as a jazz-underground phrase from the '20s!).