ShadeUK

Doesn't appear to be on Red Bubble any more but I have found a picture of it here: http://fashionablygeek.com/t-shirts/hello-trek-kitty/ (the link to Red Bubble from that page gives a 404 error) and it seems to have the name of the designer of it on there too.

Well we had to write out emails on the sheet, so maybe we'll get an email of some description about it?

I think the only people I didn't speak to that I thought were awesome were two couples: The "Steam Punk Star Trek" couple - amazing outfits, looked truly fantastic, so much effort put in to look just right! The couple dressed as Riker and Troi - so sweet! So, if either of you spot this - you were awesome!

Sure there were a few teething problems and some of the queues could have been better managed, but overall I really enjoyed myself. In fact the majority of problems that I experienced over the weekend that could be fixed then and there were fixed by the end of the day, or at least vastly improved if they couldn't rectify something completely.

Overall I loved going to DSTL and had an amazing time, but there were definitely a number of things that could be improved for next time! Information - obviously appreciate this event was the first of its kind but SO many people I spoke to had no idea they had to queue for free talk tickets (nor where to queue!) nor how the numbered tickets for photoshoots thing worked. I only knew from trawling this forum daily for weeks beforehand. The programme (which not everyone bought due to price) had only basic info. I did find the information stand eventually (and the staff there were very helpful) but it wasn't marked on any of the maps! Layout - mostly good but did get a bit squishy between photoshoot areas A&B and outside stage B and the Captain's autograph area. Also, having come in at the East entrance as recommended, I didn't see the goody bag collection point nor the fact that you had to enter the Main Stage from out in the main concourse until much later in the day. Vendors - more and a better variety of stock would be awesome. Kept getting asked where I got my Tribble from and lots of people disappointed they couldn't get one at the show! I expect a price hike in events like this for the "captive market" and impulse buys, but having things that are commonly-available online at double (or more!) the online prices is a bit ridiculous. More seating space in stages - partly for the numbers of people interested in the talks and partly because the seating arrangements were "cosy" to put it politely! I had one of the guys sitting next to me during the opening ceremony joke that he usually had to pay for so much thigh contact! Raked seating would have been awesome too. I couldn't see anyone on stage properly, only on the screens. On a positive note, however, I loved the screens on the smaller stages for this reason and the repeater speakers too. Better Free Talk ticket arrangements - I knew beforehand that I needed to queue first thing to get talk tickets. I only knew this because I'd looked thoroughly through these forums. Thousands didn't and were somewhat disheartened that they didn't get a chance. Perhaps moving to a "first come, first served" basis at the time of each talk would be fairer for both those that didn't know and those that couldn't queue first thing for whatever reason. The Stunt Show - Really? That was a stunt show? It was a load of blokes dressed in Star Trek shirts jumping around on scaffolding and steeldeck for 10 minutes. That's £1/min for something I can see for free in my local multistorey car park or town centre, and it's usually more interesting and spectacular in the car park! "Stunts" for me would involve at least a staged/recreated fight or something. Probably the lowlight of the weekend for me. Goody Bags - like others I was expecting a bit more than advertising and a beer mat, to be honest. The quality of the draw-string bag for Silver pass holders was actually surprisingly good, but it did mean my event poster had a nice large crease across the middle (roll it up in future?). A (quality) keyring or one of the DSTL lanyards would have been better "goodies" and, while I appreciate that advertising probably plays a large part in paying for such goody bags, it would have been nice if there had been other things in there too. Themed areas - "Awesome!" I thought initially. Visually they looked cool but the food and drink available - pasties? £5.95 for a small cup of blue raspberryade? They could have been so much more. Parties - Didn't go to the Klingon one, but haven't actually heard much positive about it apart from seeing JG & co's band. The TNG one was a bit of a damp squib. No theming, pasties AGAIN, overpriced blue raspberryade AGAIN. I tried to listen to Avery and Chase singing and couldn't get close enough to really hear anything. Acoustically awful. Didn't bother trying to hear the stand-up show, by that point I was sat on a giant beanbag simply chatting to other people. Signage for photos/autographs - I'm sure all the poor staff running these parts had no voice left by the end of the weekend. So much confusion as to what was going on. A simple scrolling LED sign saying "Patrick Stewart - Tickets 1-300 queuing now" or something would have been SO much clearer, especially when it was so difficult to hear what was going on in a high-noise environment. Stage positioning with regards to noise levels - While I thought that it was awesome that the smaller stages were integrated into the overall layout, so you could perhaps stop by and listen to whatever talk was going on for 5 minutes while waiting to go to something else, the general noise levels in the area (and especially the gong from the Klingon area, which could be heard on Stage B. ) made it quite difficult to hear the guests at times, despite the repeater speakers. Autograph areas - On the whole I loved these! Who was signing where was very clear and the style meant that you got a glimpse of all the guests even if you couldn't go and meet all of them. Signs like suggested above for the photo areas would have improved things a little (it was quite difficult to get close enough to read the white boards at busy times) and the area round the captains and a couple of the more popular guests did get quite difficult to move past at busy times, so maybe a little more space was needed for a couple of specific areas. Consistent information from staff - while this was mostly fixed as the weekend went on, getting told to go (and spend all the time queuing!) to three different places for the friend I was with to get a stunt show ticket and finally being told on the door (that we were told tickets would be sold at) that no that wasn't possible (only for them to hastily change their minds in the face of an increasingly frustrated crowd!) was stressful and frustrating. I would like to emphasise, however, that I did really enjoy my weekend and am really hoping there will be a "DSTL 2" to look forward to!

This was my first time at any sort of Star Trek event and I loved it! I obviously don't have any direct comparisons but similarly sized events for other things give a reasonably good idea of what was better here and what could be improved on. Obviously there were a few glitches over the weekend, most of which have been touched on already, but, on the whole, anything that could be fixed there and then was, for which the crew should be congratulated. Highlights: John Barrowman hosting the 5 Captains talk (which was awesome in itself!) which was a great surprise, an excellent choice and led to a number of comedy moments! All the guests I got autographs and photos with seeming genuinely pleased to be there and actually surprised at how happy and friendly everyone was - actually commented on by guests in a number of talks (particularly Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew's on Sunday) how every guest they had spoken to "behind the scenes" thought the same way, so it wasn't put on! The number and variety of free talks. The queuing system for the photos - brilliantly efficient how the drop bag get/photo/pick up bag + photo thing worked. The volunteer show staff - with I think one exception, everyone I spoke to was really helpful and friendly or at least tried to help as much as possible if they couldn't help directly. The layout for the autographs - great to be able to clearly see whose queue was where and get a glimpse of the guests even if you couldn't get an autograph with them all. Breaking the world record for costumed people - really fun atmosphere and amazing that we did it when there was very little knowledge beforehand that it was going on! Video screens on stages - I expected this for the main stage, but it was really nice to see this on the other two stages too. Things that could be altered/improved for the next time!: Information - obviously appreciate this event was the first of its kind but SO many people I spoke to had no idea they had to queue for free talk tickets (nor where to queue!) nor how the numbered tickets for photoshoots thing worked. I only knew from trawling this forum daily for weeks beforehand. The programme (which not everyone bought due to price) had no info either, though it did have basic info on other things. I did find the information stand eventually but it wasn't marked on any of the maps! Layout - mostly good but did get a bit squishy between photoshoot areas A&B and outside stage B and the Captain's autograph area. Vendors - more and a better variety of stock would be awesome. Kept getting asked where I got my Tribble from and lots of people disappointed they couldn't get one at the show! More seating space in stages - partly for the numbers of people interested in the talks and partly because the seating arrangements were "cosy" to put it politely! As you can see, the highlights far outweigh the little glitches - am most definitely looking forward to next time!

See my post above, there were definitely two official "5 Captains" pics on the pre-order site The end of this thread confirms it, though they are not available to view online any more: http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78151 Personal preference was the captains on the Starfleet Delta.

This is pretty much what I was going to say! I saw in the autograph pre-order shop they had two "5 captains" pictures, one that was 5 captains arranged around the Starfleet Delta symbol and the other the 5 captains with their ships below.

I see your squee and raise you another squee in a very excitable voice! Going to be packing this evening - excited!!!

Don't worry, if your written English is anything to go by, you're already managing to speak it better than a lot of the English people I speak to on a day-to-day basis!

You meet lots of new friends as a Borg, though, and you get to keep in contact with them even if you're half a galaxy away!

Well I'm a female Trekkie as is the friend I will be going with

Says on the website that it will be available at the event :)

This will be my first convention too, I'm going with a friend (also a first-timer) but always good to meet new people! We will be going to the Saturday TNG party too!

Thought that was the case, but good to get it confirmed - thanks!