WAYFARER

Reflecting on the weekend and the comments that have been posted since, one of the most important factors for the success of a future DSTL, for me, would be more open, clear and honest communications: No inadvertently misleading articles or hyperbole exaggerating an event. For example, the stunt show. The full description of who was taking part accurately matched what was presented, if you followed the link, but there was an implication that the show was far more Star Trek themed on the front page. Whilst I didn't really expect a Gorn to battle a Kirk-alike, I expected a bit more Trek-ness. Part of the trouble with anything like this is managing expectations. Making it clearer what events are taking place, without spoiling any surprises, would help. Please don't take this as a negative post because it isn't meant to be mean and critical. I just think that improvements can be made in this area simply and beneficially to all.

Thanks #timelord81r! I thought I'd got it wrong. I would have checked on it had I been at home when I posted that.

Wasn't there a Captain's get together as an extra on the Next Gen movies Blu-ray release? (it wasn't the Shatner doc but not far off)

Highlights for me; The comedy during the Captain's Talk where Scott Bakula got his first embarrasing "fan moment" Avery Brooks being such a warm and friendly guy during both photoshoot and autograph Marianna Hills trying to nick my comm badge Getting the opportunity to ask Ron Moore a question about BSG and DS9 Meeting fellow fans in costume and setting up photo ops with them Breaking the world record for costumes: The joking around and friendliness of it all.

If there was something more to do, I'd go again in a heartbeat. I dropped out of the Sunday due to the transport problems and not being able to get there early enough for Stage B tickets. I didn't fancy another day of wandering around, despite how much fun my fellow fans were.

I'd like Nana to dress as her Mirror Universe counterpart

I've rarely ever seen any professional videos of conventions. This is based upon what I've seen as DVD/Blu-ray extras on movies and TV show boxsets. Sometimes, at smaller events videos have been made but they tend to be someone's low def video camera. Ebay has loads of examples of these and I've got some Firefly related footage.

If lessons could be learnt and acted upon for a future event, it could be something that would really knock Vegas out of the ballpark for quality and fun. There were issues and they've been documented plenty of times already but I do feel positively that with some consultation with fans, the next event could be mind-blowing.

Whilst I did have issues with the event, the blue and red shirt wearing staff were very helpful, especially the woman who was looking after the Avery Brooks autograph queue on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for your patience and for providing information when asked.

Whilst the goodie bag was a bit naff, I found the Standard Pass to be good value.

In defence of the organisers, on this occasion, there is an overall reliance on technology (note the irony at a Star Trek weekend) to communicate. This is because the technology exists and many people use it but it's also an environmentaly friendly thing to do. The trouble is not everyone thinks about checking websites, Twitter, Facebook, signing up to email updates. That's not the organisers fault as plenty of information was released including the hard work by this site's mods. Of course, the argument could be that, advertisers appear to have no problems with printing off leaflets and ads, so why shouldn't the organisers print off a timetable? Well, as discovered, timetables are fluid at events like this, so electronic means are far more up to date and accurate. Does it always work? Nope.

I've voted "yes" because I did enjoy it despite having views on what could be improved next time and views on how the event seemed more geared towards autograph hunters than Star Trek fans. My views on this are/will be scattered on other threads or forums.

He told a story about how he hated to see fans treated like cattle. This was from a previous event, at an unamed convention as I understood it. He went on to say that fans queueing for autos were told to move on. He said in future he would take his time. Got a huge cheer from us. Shatner joked that he was pandering. The irony of this was, no-one learnt from it :)

What made the last two days fantastic was the spirit of my fellow fans. The people that I got to meet were fun and made a lot of the waiting worth while. I didn't have high expectations, thankfully and got what I went there to do; opening ceremony, one talk, one photo, one auto and a couple of Stage C talks. All of that was great fun and great entertainment. I won't go into too much detail about the negative aspects of the weekend on this post, but I'm home today because one and a half days of trying to negotiate queues for event with clueless "security" staff was enough. Avery Brooks summed up some of the attitude in the opening ceremony The blue shirts that I met were all friendly and helpful. They had a difficult job at times and if the organisationo of the rest of the event is anything to go by, I doubt they had much training and briefing as to what to expect. That's just a speculation. I'll probably attend something similar in future and just hope that this was a lack of foresight rather than a cynical way of making money from a passionate fan base.

The performers were outstanding! But, put a Star Trek shirt on a freerunner and that suddenly makes it a Star Trek stunt show? Laughable! The entry on the official site had Kirk fighting the Gorn and implied a recreation of a Star Trek scene. I quote the publicity: Was that an attempt at humour, by the organisers?