When Tweetworlds collide: Star Trek and my Sooners

We've come so far.

As a kid and teen in Oklahoma, your fandoms of football and Trek were almost never even allowed to intersect, much less thought of as even on the same plane—and it wasn't from a mainstream culture-vs.-geek minority standpoint, either. Many litfans I know zealously guarded their anti-sports reputation (and in Oklahoma that might as well have been anti-football). IDIC, schmIDIC—you got it both ways if you were caught in the middle!

No longer. The subject comes up from time to time—and, with a growing relationship between Trekland and trek.fm, the podcast/online empire of Alabama native and fan Chris Jones, Thursday's Oklahoma-Bama meetup in the Sugar Bowl was an inevitable Tweeparama in the making.

First off, I had to share when this graphic flashed across the screen of the pre-game show—and I knew any Vegas Khaaaaan veteran of more than 3 years could have told ESPN Something was Wrong with their captions!

But then I was blindsided by this gem that Chris Photoshopped:

(Apologies to the Rikers and to Late Season 2)

But them, as my Sooner crimson outplayed the Crimson Tide and shocked not only the whole world but their own fans as well ...thanks to the sudden blossoming of young quarterback Trevor Knight!... I had this exchange of Tweets with Chris that hopefully you TOS'ers will appreciate:

Followed up by a great touche from my gracious-in-losing target:

Finally, after a goofy, salt-in-the-wound fumble off 'Bama for a late touchdown that OU unexpectedly added on:

What can I do when they just keep slapping me in the face?

And if you are wondering just what that 47 is doing in my temporary Twitter avatar this weekend, it has nothing to do with Trek or even that play. You're welcome.



So—do you notice sports and geekery colliding more these days? Or is it ALL just becoming one big pastiche of enriching distraction?

"It All Started With a Big... Borg?"

Did today's Geek Revolution really all stem from Locutus and "Fire!"?



This was my most recent guest blog over at startrek.com, on June 20 — (with new mashup art!) and I just wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see it. It elaborates on a thread I got into on a podcast brainstorm recently... and really stuck with me.

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All right— I have a theory to propose. See what you think. It’s pretty deep, so hang with me:

Ahem.

For the current “geek revolution” that permeates our culture and brought all things “genre” to the mainstream of America ….

... we can thank Next Generation showrunner Michael Piller. And his insecurities.

Yep, I think it was the late, great executive producer of TNG (left) who set in motion events that led to all the fan-love that’s sweeping the country (and a lot of corporate board rooms to boot).  After the last round of CBS’s incredible TNG Blu-ray remasters and their Fathom Events theater showcase, well… my mind started to put 2 and 2 together one night while I was yakking away as a guest on a Trek podcast.

And it hit me like a ton of thermoconcrete. Here, just follow along:

It’s obvious that we live amidst a “Geeks Rule the World” vibe these days, right? For a lot of us over a certain age, it’s incredible that Star Trek fans and every other nerd nirvanist of all ages are allowed—nay, encouraged—to wear their con badge of honor openly, their heart on their sleeve, as it were…in full uncloseted view of everyone! The “geek girl” explosion, the cool-kids cosplay club… football Trekkies... the designers of cell phones, iPads, even a Vulcan-loving President —yep, it’s an amazing time, when you think about it.

What lit the fuse on such an explosion? Well, network TV can play a big role in changing the culture, reaching millions easily and putting new memes and ideas into play almost overnight —and there’s the clue. We have more than anecdotal evidence of this, of course: What better old-guard metric to check than your friendly A.C. Nielsens, the same TV audience ratings that ironically once doomed the original Star Trek (using, by the way, only raw numbers, not targeted demographics). Yes, check out the runaway No. 1 comedy on the list for forever, and—duh— you’ll come up with The Big Bang Theory. (For that matter, you could also check out the top syndicated-rerun package in every local TV market, and just about get the same answer. TBBT rules.)

Sheldon and Leonard’s excellent adventures (with constant Trek references and guest stars in the mix) have been a hit ever since their debut, and come from the great comedy bloodline of creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. But there are never guarantees in show biz, and TV series are an expensive gamble for a network —which is why few survive the process to be written, green-lit, filmed as a pilot episode, and then picked up to be risked in a high-pressure prime-time slot to deliver ratings and pay back the investment, with dividends. Now, what might have helped convinced CBS to take such a chance on an offbeat premise back in the spring of 2007?

(Okay, stay with me— it’s about to get thick and fast:)

I remember it well: 2007 was the year that everything melted down at San Diego Comic-Con, the granddaddy of what we now know as the new generation of megacons . This and every other “comic con” are hardly about just comics, writers and artists anymore, right?  It’s the stars who have the magnetism, and those tens of thousands of fans who swelled attendance numbers in the Aughts were there because of stars brought in by Hollywood—the Hollywood  that had begun to put those blockbusters on the big screens in a big way never seen before. The “day trip” vibe down to San Diego, for one thing, and the fertile audience of hard-core fantasy, sci-fi and comics fans just ripe to test-market: it was too much for studios to resist, and the mutual love affair bloomed big-time. That shockwave of numbers and the pop-culture headlines couldn’t help but put an obvious “new” hot audience on the radar of any network savvy enough to jump on it in a smart way.

But what had happened to Hollywood in the first place, going all-out on summer blockbusters and epic franchise flicks? I mean, comics-borne movies and fantasy epics have always been around, but this many? And with this attitude? And with this much respect—usually!—for the source material? (Oh, and cue the return of even the Star Wars saga by the late 1990s.) And—why the merger of studios and comics lines landing front-page in the Wall Street Journal as well as Variety?

Probably, in turn, because the small screen just couldn’t hold it all anymore. Yes, in many ways those big genre movies of the Nineties and Aughts were a no-brainer after all the sci-fi, swords and superheroes making inroads on network TV—like Buffy, Angel, Firefly… Lois and Clark, that begat Smallville … not to mention X-Files and the new quirk of humorous paranoia, plus Voyager and Enterprise, of course. It was also a time when, with the coming of CSI and all it inspired, a typical police procedural drama suddenly had more CGI “real science” visual effects each week than any ol’ space opera ever dreamed of.

The Big 4 networks, in turn, were just passing along the spillover from the genre explosion they saw on lower-risk cable nets, and even non-network syndication—like Babylon 5, Hercules, Xena, Farscape, Andromeda: Where did they and the wanna-bes suddenly come from? In fact, where the heck did syndication come up with anything but talk shows and game shows, anyway ?

You got it—you can “blame” it all on the riskiest gamble of all, The Next Generation (with Deep Space Nine the original second-wave series). As executive producer Rick Berman has noted, the TV world of 1986 gave TNG little chance to survive its triple knock as sci-fi, as a sequel and as a syndicated show.  The first two seasons were rocky—but eventually the show not only settled, but skyrocketed in quality and viewers ... and did, indeed, set off that sci-fi boom of the Nineties. All of which, of course, became competition for the Trek franchise itself.

So where did TNG’s turnaround occur? Remember—the show was budgeted to last seven years, yes, but a full yet mediocre run would never have sparked a revolution in anyone’s entertainment universe. In the long run, we can all pretty much agree it was that amazing, rags-to-riches third season when Piller came aboard —with “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” “Sins of the Father,” “The Offspring,” “The Defector,” “The Price,” “Hollow Pursuits,” “Captain’s Holiday”… But even with that list, we know what really put TNG on the map with the masses in one fell swoop.

That amazing cliffhanger, “The Best of Both Worlds,” the Borgification of Picard… Riker’s one word, “Fire!”… and then a blackout, a slamming music cue, and the simple but excruciating words “To Be Continued."

That epic moment, borne of head writer Piller’s angst about returning to the series or not, was his way of painting the conclusion writer into a horrible corner—before he knew that writer would be himself, after all.  

Of course, you could argue there’d be no TNG at all without the original Star Trek… and no Star Trek without Gene Roddenberry’s inspiration from The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel and Forbidden Planet, for starters. Yes, you could take this back even further, if you wanted.

But for now, I like this cause and effect. Without Michael, Locutus and “The Best of Both Worlds”… there’d be no Evil Wil Wheaton,  snark, and the verbification of “cosplay.”  We owe today’s sweeping freedom of geek pride to a Borg wash-out and a last-minute red laser unit.

I mean, isn’t it obvious to you?

LA ALERT: BlasterCon celebrates '70s-'80s Birth of Geek—say hi, and get a discount from TREKLAND

UPDATE:
Hey, turns out FRIDAY is "Star Trek Night" with Huston's "New Starship" Bridge restoration/Sci-Fi Museum panel at 5 p.m., our Con of Wrath and things Trekland show is at 6, and a Fan Films featuring ST Continues panel is at 7 p.m.
But there are a lot of unique touches with this show: check it out. Plus, the classic arcade games arcade will be open after Thursday's preview Red Carpet of celebs at 7 ish, too; check that link.

A new con in L.A.?

You bet—though the organizer of BlasterCon is hardly a rookie, and its focus is fresh: across-the-board genres, but a cool micro-focus on the fandom and franchises that exploded in the '70s and '80s, when everything in pop culture changed.

But it's coming up fast—so keep reading. And here's a special discount just for you Trekland guys and gals.

BlasterCon is just a month away, the May 10-12 weekend—and I only found about it a few weeks ago, when Todd Whitesel—a 20-year con vet and the 10-year organizer of anime's Pacific Media Expo—and program coordinator Tom Bateman asked me to be a guest. I guess something about the birth of media conventions with Star Trek in 1973, before Star Wars, and that whole "Con of Wrath" thing I've been soaked up with—much less the TNG rebirth in 1987—seemed to qualify for their theme.

It's over at the Warner Center Marriott, on Topanga Canyon and Oxnard; con rates, and all that. I'm still talking about programming details with them, and more of their other guests are to be announced—but it will be a cool, new, young con... so I hope to see you there. We'll have our Trekland "On Speaker" CDs and fundraiser Klingon PADDs to boot, as well as a laid-back day to have fun. And, potentially, one of our patented live "Con of Wrath" MEETUPS on Saturday night to boot.

And that discount? Go to the BlasterCon ticket link page and use this code just for TREKLAND readers to get $5 off admission: Q5RDB. It comes on top of whatever other discounts you may be getting already.


It'll be a fun weekend—right here "in town" (for me, anyway). Bring your cool mom on Sunday!

Day of tragedy: keep on keepin' on, fanfolks

UPDATE: Now the L.A. TImes has applied the chill of Aurora's monster attack on box office to the next pop-culture movie event, and wondered if it will impact final turnout for Monday's TNG 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray event nationwide.

Let's not let it happen.
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You don't have to be from another country, or speak another language with a different skin tone, to be a "terrorist."
We do think of Timothy McVeigh and his rental truck-bourne fertilizer bomb as the chief example of our domestic variety, but get back to the root of the word, according to the Nemecek Dictionary: "one who causes terror, chiefly with the intention of instilling fear and disruption of daily routine." No, we don't know everything yet about onetime medical student and careful plotter/boobytrapper James Eagan Holmes—but we do know that he apparently acted alone.

Yes, a crazed solo act, one that can carry just as much mass wallop as a full-bore death squad when it comes to "instilling terror"—intended or not.

Bottom line: Talk to your kids, reassure them... and by god don't be scared away from seeing The Dark Knight Rises ... or ANY movie of your choice this weekend.

What's more, watch out for the demagogues on this: Not those who argue the gun issue either way (sadly inevitable), but anyone who might happen to try to connect up the motive dots using anyone in costume, or even genre fans of all stripes—from Trek to any comic superhero, and beyond. One pundit on MSNBC already likened the shooter's state of mind or personality today to a "dark, Trekkie-like person." WTF? Just like the way innocent gamers, or any current hobby or craze that sweeps up the "impressionable young," gets blamed for "corrupting" some heinous perpetrator's mental health into a state of mass killing.

Nope, the vehicle—in this case, Batman and its dark core, or the chaos cover provided by a bevy of costumed, innocent superhero fans—is not the end-all, be-all "cause." Sick minds and broken psyches have always been with us, sadly, but what we do know is those determined to act out will find a channel for their actions, one way or another. It doesn't matter which one they latch onto from pop culture or any passing parade: anything out there in our rich culture can provide the wrong kind of imagery fodder—no matter how some may try to blame or sensationalize it in hindsight. You take away one, the irrational will just find another.

So this weekend—go see Batman. Or see ANY movie. Pack the theaters, and malls, and anywhere you like with all the bodies of friends and family you can. Go in costume if you like, proudly. And pack your costumes for Vegas Khaaan, or wherever it is you fly your harmless and healthy freak flag.

Just don't let the terrorist win.

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. ...

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 ...

Once again: Fangirls rule

So I saw this story come across the Interwires today—I'm sure you did, too— and could not help but noting, once again:

What A Different World it Is Today in fandom.

Mila Kunis:  ...Let me give you my rundown of the series in order of most favorite to least favorite. ... Okay. You should know this list is an ongoing argument between Seth MacFarlane and myself. But I have it: The Next Generation; the original series; then Voyager ... then I have Deep Space Nine. Then last is Enterprise.

GQ: Did your Star Trek fandom extend further than just watching the show?

Mila Kunis: Uh, I went a little bit further. ...

I mean, come on: Mila Kunis? This is cool news, and I totally know she's for real as a Trekfan: Trek is cool again since JJ '09, but we're not to the point yet where it's YA Hollywood A-List resume cred. But note that she didn't go shallow with a Kirk-vs-Picard-ohI'mfemaleIbettermentionJaneway easy out. No, friends, she went for the more penetrating series-on-series level to easily dispense her Trek cred.

The whole "story" and layout just made me stop and realize, once again, that I wonder where people of her persuasion—and by that, I mean female—were 10 or 20 years ago, before the big Geekgirl Revolution in fandom generally, and Trek fandom particularly. Yes, I'll admit to indulging the chauvinist hormonal fanboy that's still in me, as well as the sentimentalist.

Or then again—am I a falling victim to old "no girls" stereotypes and perceptions, even of my own eyes and years? The kind of needed meme-busting I railed about on startrek.com?

One thing is for sure: Reality or not, this article and promo alongside hot pictures of Mila is a reflection that's there sure a new truth in MEDIA meme realities, at least. And, in the end, the medium is the message, you know.

TLS Reprint: When is a Fan Not a Fan?

As a guest blogger over at the new startrek.com, every couple months I contribute a "Trekland, Supplemental" log entry to that reborn site with rights to do as I please with it. Here's one topic I wanted to make sure we had here "in the flesh"—it seemed to spark a lot of buzz:
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Can there be such a thing as a fan who’s not “fan” enough?

Or better yet, to steal an old philosophical poser: “If a fan fell in the forest and there was no one to hear it, would he/she still make a fan noise?”

I think we all know there’s diversity (ahem) in Star Trek fandom, as in the great world of sci-fi/genre followers in general.

But news reports spawned by some polls and survey results in recent weeks have sparked an interesting reaction from some in my circle when the results challenged traditional thinking about Trekfans. More females than males? Fan majorities who did not view wearing fan costumes as typical?  Surprising results, yes?

But I soon got to be far more intrigued with the reaction of mainstream fans to those accounts, as to the results themselves— and even a little amused.  One even told me that, even if such fans existed, they were obviously so far off the radar that, well, who cares?

In other words, the most intriguing, underlying —and apparently disturbing— question is: What if everything you thought you knew about Star Trek fans was wrong? Or even skewed? What if your own “lyin’ eyes” are not enough?

Now, even legit or academic polls of individual Star Trek fans can be sketchy, and depend upon methodology for any grounding, of course. And they can all be done with the best of intentions and planning and “survey math.” In the lay world, my mind goes back to the famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” premature headline and the telephone polls of voters that set up the expectation —until someone realized later that, in 1948, a lot of folks still just didn’t have phones. And, apparently, in key areas a lot of those “invisible” folks without a phone voted for “Give ‘em Hell” Harry. The lesson: Not owning the media channel in play did not make one less of a voter, much less a stake-holder.

So —have we at last, thanks to the Internet, been able to tap into the great body of what I call “armchair” fans? Up til now, the only measuring stick anyone at the top of a pop culture enterprise had available —say, the Star Trek franchise in this case— were the raw numbers of simple TV viewer ratings and demos or box office receipts, refined in ever more niche-ier ways by retail sales figures for various model kits or action figures, or even convention tickets.

As Star Trek and geek culture go more mainstream, for good or bad many such surveys can be taken more easily and in more detail on-line by self-volunteered fans; they are hardly the pre-selected “scientific sample” type often seen in political polling, for instance. Or even for consumer trends.

But does that negate the finding when done over a broad scale? Especially for those fans who self-report as “not active”? And then, what does that mean?  Some are mere viewers, some are on both the high and low end of the spectrum for buying books, DVDs and other merchandise —but all quietly.

Again, my point is not so much the veracity or standing of individual poll results —but just being open to the idea that, just as with Amazon or Arctic explorations even today, there may be still new species of critter yet to be discovered.

Years ago, the literary sci-fi fan world would get into debates about defining “true” fans —with the litmus test being whether or not they had read certain science fiction classic authors or novels.  In Trekland, we bemoaned for years the lack of reality and respect showed by local TV stations nationwide who always popped up to “cover” a local convention in its dying hours —and then invariably grab only the overly costumed and made-up alien folk to go on-camera as the “face of fandom.” Over the years, that old hack has even colored how otherwise devout Trekfans measure their own “fannishness,” according to some of these surveys.

So, is a true Trek fan one who remains glued to their screen, talkative to their friends, but “invisible” to convention photogs and fan club charity drives?  I threw out this question re: the truth and even scope of “invisible” fans to my online Twitter and Facebook Trekland community:  One thought you had to be a fan of more than one series to be a Trekfan, beyond one’s lone fave series —unless it was Classic Trek only, and they never returned, which it made it OK as the pioneer. And so it goes.

If nothing else, this whole subject does do a great service by holding up a mirror —to our assumptions, if not our faces. Respected folks I know in Trekland seem to dismiss the possibility —or even the worth or value — of knowing about “invisible” fandom out there if it doesn’t cross into more commercial, and thus, identifiable aspects. Or doesn’t look “typical” even when it does —as one well-dressed, Steve Madden-heeled woman did as she Tweeted to me her last action figure buy at her local store. Another simply posted that perhaps being a “true fan” meant not being ashamed to admit you like Trek.

I used to refer to those of the convention-shy, club-averse corner of Trekworld  as simply “armchair fans,” but maybe there’s a far more vast “cloaked” fandom out there  than even those who will see this blog online, much less respond.

What say you? Does that Trekfan falling all alone in the forest really make a noise? Is that you, or someone you know? Or should anyone really care?

I’d love to hear from the “silent majority”!

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And, as you can see, we did. Follow on the conversation here, if you'd like.

"invisible" fans: Not just a blog, it's a breakthrough!

Yes, amid being way behind on my deserving video and posts, folks...

It's showtime for yet another guest post of mine over at the "new" startrek.com in the series I like to call "Trekland, Supplemental."  I think the topic of "invisible" fans is not only timely but intriguing and, well, a big blind spot that will do well for people to think about.

More importantly, it marked a landmark for slow-learnin' me as I tackle the Online Social Digital Revolution—not having been born in the last 6 years, and all.

Namely, I want to thank all the Trekland peeps on Facebook and my @larrynemecek Tweetsters who answered my call to opine, and who still continue to sound off on the points and questions I raised this week. I used a few of your comments in this TLS this week.  It's a discussion that can go broad, and not one where I wanted to simply rehash the old "truefan" debate chestnut ... but to explore, as I say, the nature of the "unknown" fan, if it exists. And if any online results can be quantified enough to describe this new "fan species," if legitimate.

And when Treklanders get a chance to "pre-comment," so much the better.

My one regret: Since I didn't state up front on either platform that your words might be quoted by name, I decided to limit and paraphrase what I did use. This time.

Next time, we will do it—and you all can go cross-platform social right along with me and we'll all make our points. We'll exploit that true social-media brain machine for all she's worth!

The OTHER Trek anniversary this week... sorta

While *I* had presumed the focus of attention in Trekland was on the decade birthday of one occasion this week in particular ... it turns out a lot of pop-culture brainpower was devoted to something else:  the annual recall of the first invasion of Beatlemania to America, as the Fab Four landed in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964, for the storied Ed Sullivan Show appearance and debut tour that changed the culture.

So, I guess I can share the bill... since this too is vitally important to Trekland. Thanks to one of my Tweklanders, @Grimation, who jogged my memory—but no, it was not for the Vulcan haircuts. Something much more profound—and I'm just shocked, shocked, that the entire Treknological world missed it. I can even visually chart it in the form of a mathematical progression:

b > d > c

In which b = Beatles, d = Davy Jones (of the Monkees, natch) and c = Chekov (fake Beatle wig, or no.)

Here—let me go to the digital artboard:

Any questions?

Trek 2 Will: Thoughts from Barrow

Seventy-five years ago today, my hero died. And today, on that anniversary, I’m making a life-long mission come true: visiting far north Barrow, Alaska.

For it was here on the Arctic Ocean coast, this northernmost point of all America, where Will Rogers—and aviation pioneer Wiley Post—died in a freak plane accident on Aug. 15, 1935.

What does that have to do with Trekland?

Well, it’s only been the last couple years that I have figured out that very question for myself. And it’s a much firmer connection than Star Trek IV, where the Earth “landing” of the Bird-of-Prey “HMS Bounty” was actually on Will’s polo field at his Pacific Palisades ranch, now a California state park where I am a docent.
Yep, I’ve about decided part of the appeal for me personally is that Will Rogers was Star Trek before Star Trek was cool —much less invented.

How so? Well…pick your favorite angle from Gene's universe:
—You want exploration? Will pushed the wild blue yonder, nagging locales to build airports and nailing the Feds for an independent Air Force. And his globe-trotting amounted to three orbits of the world over his 55 years, beginning in his early 20s : the Far East, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and twice across Soviet Russia.
—You want IDIC—“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”? Will, a quarter-blood Cherokee who grew up with the kids of former slaves, says: “We will never have true civilization until we learn to respect the rights of others.”
—You want the Prime Directive? Will says: “When you get into trouble 5,000 miles from home, you’ve got to have been looking for it.”
—You want gadgets? Will could “duct tape-‘n’-baling wire” anything together, but he’s the one with the surround-spray nozzles in his 1930 shower, or the hand-crank “hurdy-gurdy" piano music box in his home.
—You want a thirst for knowledge? Will had a pull-down classroom map set mounted over his desk, besides his book library; he would have been the first guy on his block with a modem, if he’d lived to the 1980s.
 
Throw in the fact that Doctor McCoy is about as sage and keen a country wit as Will is—and that he and De share the same big, friendly, lined smile—and the link is complete. Suddenly, all is clear. I need no longer keep my two loves separate from each other any longer.

Not only that, but I knew Will invented both the “nightly monologue” on timely topics, and the concept of a “goodwill ambassador.” But now it hits me: Will started his little “Daily Telegram” of 1-3 paragraphs in 1926 in over 600 newspapers. He was the original blogger!
And here in Barrow, site of the world-stopping death of Aug. 15 that was every bit the shock of Pearl Harbor or JFK or 9/11 in its day, we ask the old question once more:

Oh, Will, where are you when we need you today?
And with that, the follow-up thought is not far behind: Surely, there has to be a new name out there someplace to fill that all-in-one, irreplaceable gap… and boldy go where only Will has gone before.

Fan mail from some flounder?*

No wonder everything in Trekland, and MediaWorld in general, is so topsy-turvy these days.

I got a fan letter today. Not an email, or a tweet, or a Facebook "DM" ... but an honest to god letter. On paper. Using ink. With a stamp on it. And—bless my heart—a SASE** inside to boot.

If you think I am mocking, I am not. I think it's adorable. And very revealing: Steve H. is a con-going fan who is very much not ready to climb into his own empty photon torpedo tube just yet. He just wanted me to sign a photo card, and an old Official Fan Club Enterprise-E sketch postcard giveaway. I'm touched, and also mindful that once again the leading edge is only because of what's behind it: the other 98%.

See, Steve's little missive stopped me dead in my tracks. How could this be? Smack in the middle of our insanely socially-mediafied world of both words, and word-spreading? Okay, so he had actual physical materials to transmit, but still: It wasn't even in a postal Priority Mail, er, mailer.

It just goes to show that the human contact is still at the heart of fandom: Actor, creator, designer to fan. Communicator to fan. Fan to fan. Social media is incredible and can almost beat subspace radio today for speed... but some things the bits and bytes just can't do. And some folk still live by them. And.... we all need to take a breather sometimes and remember that. Not everyone, even the Xs and Ys, "do" EVERYthing. Every where.

Oh—and BTW Steve, I hope you don't mind me sharing everything (but the addresses) re: this. Somehow, I think you don't mind at all.


*"Fan mail from some flounder"—You're looking for help? See 2nd section of the link. (Sorry, there's no good YouTube, but we do have audio.) Bottom line: With 500-channel cable, there's no excuse not to know your Pop Culture Touchstones.
**"SASE": At one point, the lifeblood of fandom.

Finally: the Mundanes *get* fandom

Yes, Virginia, there really is karma.

It's the 21st Century: Trek not only gets respect, but leads the way...

Overheard recently in a local story about the G.I. Joe convention in Providence, RI:

“I always used to look at the Star Trek dorks and say, ‘What’s that about?’ ” he said. “Now, I’m a G.I. Joe dork.”

Oh, and if you have to ask who the "mundanes" are? Well, you're really freakin' me out.

(Photo above: The Providence Journal/Andrew Dickerman)