melinda’s star trek las vegas convention report / aug 9-12, 2007 the las vegas star trek convention was the first large scale convention that i have attended. from what i’ve read, there were close to 4,000 fans in attendance. what a remarkable testament to this beloved franchise. it’s been over 20 years since i went to a convention, so i was more than a little excited for this big trip. wednesday, august 8th my good friend, karen, and i arrived in vegas on wednesday night and pre-registered. thank goodness for pre-registration the night before the convention because the lines the next day to register were ridiculously long! when we first walked through the large convention area, giant star trek banners of the various crews in the star trek series were hanging on the walls. one very large banner had all the guests pictured that would be appearing at the convention. after grabbing a bite to eat, it was on to the “chocolate on the edge of forever” welcoming party where they had all kinds of chocolate goodies. tim russ (tuvok from voyager) was performing with his band as the entertainment. i really had no idea that tim russ was a singer and a guitar player, and i was impressed with his talent. after he ended his set, he stayed and signed copies of his cd that he was selling and graciously posed for pictures with fans for quite some time. it was a very casual setting. while tim russ signed, there was also a karaoke contest going on, and the fans had a lot of fun with that. i was almost persuaded to participate in karaoke, but i’m a chicken when it comes to getting up in front of people, especially to sing! there are basically three main rooms that the convention takes place in. 1. the main auditorium (coined the gene roddenberry theatre) - this is the large room where all the guests speak throughout the day, and where the autograph sessions are done. 2. vendors exhibit area (called the deforest kelley marketplace) which is the dealer’s room where all kinds of memorabilia is for sell and where the photo ops are done. 3. secondary programs in the james doohan theatre - this is where all the secondary speakers and other events take place (ie: auction, blooper reels, etc.) i thought it was a nice touch to name the vendor’s exhibit area and the secondary program room after deforest kelley & jimmy doohan. i appreciated that. there are so many things scheduled at this convention that you really have to pick and choose what are the most important events you want to attend. it’s a bit overwhelming. i did not see every guest star that spoke, but i’ll give you a few highlights of the ones i did see, and other events that took place each day of the convention. during each guest’s appearance, they had two microphones set up on either side of the stage where you could go up and ask questions. you have assigned seats, and we were sitting in about the 6th row but way over on the far right side, near the wall. i took pictures with my digital camera, but the pictures are pretty grainy because i was so far away.

thursday, aug. 9 th tim russ (tuvok on voyager) was the first guest i saw. he has a multitude of talents - acting, directing, singing, publishing. he told us about some of his projects. one of the coolest things was when he showed us a trailer from the internet production “star trek: of god’s and men.” this is being put together by volunteer fans of star trek, at their own expense, and it is very professional. if you have not checked out this project, go to www.startrekofgodsandmen.com. i think it’s pretty neat. it was cool to see it on the two large screens in the main auditorium. to me, this kind of project keeps the excitement going for star trek, especially when there is no current series on television. after visiting the dealer’s room (which i walked many miles in by the time the convention was over!), i went back to see catherine hicks speak about her experiences when she filmed “star trek iv: the voyage home.” she came across as very sweet and sincere, and she said that all the cast members were so nice to her and treated her like part of the family. of course, catherine hicks was also on “7th heaven” for 11 years, so she is well known for that role too. next up to speak was levar burton, who talked about being a part of both st:next gen and “roots” and how he feels like the people he worked with on both of those projects are like family to him. he was very gracious in complimenting his wife and daughter and expressing how grateful he is every day for having them in his life and for all he‘s been given. he is also a director and producer, most recently doing commercials. i’ve never seen levar at a convention, and i really liked him. last to speak on thursday was gates mcfadden, who still has that gorgeous long red hair. she faked us out at the beginning, sitting down at the piano and saying she had created something special for us. everybody got quiet, waiting. she hit a few notes and then said that it would have been really great if she only knew how to play the piano! too funny. the funniest story she told was when she had to go to an emergency room in hawaii because her appendix was rupturing. when the doctor came in, he exclaimed, “dr. crusher!!” this doctor operated on her, and on the follow up, he was treating her like a fellow doctor, explaining all the details of her operation to her! gates was just a joy to listen to and was very funny. i missed the last speaker, wil wheaton, in the secondary auditorium after gates spoke in the main theater. my friend, karen, went to his talk, and she said that he was so entertainingly funny. she said she laughed so hard! i think he read some excerpts out of the book he just wrote where he reviewed some of the episodes from the next gen but with his funny twist on them. i actually had seen wil in the dealer’s room earlier that afternoon, signing his books, and i took his picture. he was very nice, and you can tell he enjoys doing the conventions. i wish i would have seen his talk, but i had to prepare for my next event of the evening! after a full day at the convention on thursday, i made a non trek diversion to see my favorite singer, barry manilow, in the hilton showroom. i’ve been a barry manilow fan for years, and i’ve seen him quite a few times in concert. if you have never seen him live in person, you should. he is one of the best entertainers/showman to see live. you’ll leave the show smiling. i don’t think people know just how talented a musician barry is. i think they only see him as that “geeky guy back from the 70’s.” he’s a lot more than that, and i was happy to see this particular show “music & passion” for the first time. friday, august 10 george takei, walter koenig, and nichelle nichols took the stage separately on friday. i have a warm place in my heart for these three because they are the ones i’ve seen speak at other conventions i’ve been to in the past, and the original crew is still my favorite. george is definitely the most talkative of the bunch - very friendly with the fans, very positive. he talked about the first time way back when he got a call to come to a gathering, and he said, “you do know the show is cancelled?” he thanked the fans for 40 years of support. his current projects include his recurring role in “heroes” and he is in the next episode of “star trek: new voyages” which is another internet show. there was a fan who asked why he had not “come out” sooner, and he basically talked about trying to protect his chosen profession as an actor, because there are so many other reasons why actors get rejected, and he didn’t want to give them another reason. he said he is working on another autobiography that will now include his experience of growing up as a gay man. walter is a quiet, reflective type of person. he has been busy writing, producing, and directing his new film called, “inalienable.” it was awesome when he showed us part of a trailer from the movie, and the fans were very enthusiastic about it. he’s not sure about how it will be released yet, but they are working on it. he also shared with us about his visit to thailand, to help bring awareness to the public of the trouble going on there, specifically in burma. he talked about some of the terrible things going on there, and that his visit there was a very significant part of his life right now. he encouraged us to go to his website and read about his trip there. nichelle spoke that afternoon. before she came out, we were treated to a fan video about uhura, and this fan won an award for her video. nichelle came out, was very touched by that video, and called the fan up on stage. the lady was dressed in the mirror universe outfit from the original series. she did a great job with her outfit and the video. what a treat to get to go up on stage and be complimented by nichelle! nichelle also has a part in “star trek: of gods and men” that i mentioned earlier. i love it that some of the original cast members are involved in this fan created project! she also told us about the new fans she has (children) because of her role in the movie, “snow dogs.” the children recognize her more from that movie, and the parents still think of her as uhura! after nichelle, there were several other speakers that i didn’t stay for (dc fontana, dominic keating, connor trinneer) mainly because i wanted to go to the dealer’s room at some point! my friend, karen, heard dominic and connor, but i’ve never watched “enterprise” so i didn’t really know them. back in the dealer’s room, i found several trading cards and tribute cards of the beloved dr. mccoy which i bought. i’m sure most of you know what the dealer’s room is like (with tons of different memorabilia) so i will talk about another area of the dealer’s room which is the autograph/guest celebrity area. most of these guests had portrayed one or more of the guest roles in star trek series, along with many other roles in other shows from the past. it was so cool to just be able to walk up to their section of the tables and chat with them. the ones i spoke with were all very friendly. 1. lawrence montaigne (he was the right hand man of the romulan commander played by mark leonard in “balance of terror” from the original st series, and he also played stonn in “amok time.”) he was one of the nicest ones there that i spoke to, and i found out he went to the university of north texas in the same program i did which was in the radio/tv/film department. i also found out that he became a professor there in the same department right after i graduated. 2. arlene martel (t’pring in “amok time” from tos) i found out she was also in one of my favorite twilight zone episodes. that was cool. 3. felix silla (twiki from buck rogers and cousin it from addams family and a talosians in the first st pilot) what i was really excited about finding out was that felix was in the original “planet of the apes” movie, as a young gorilla. that movie is a classic, and pota was another thing i just loved as a child. i said to him, “you mean to tell me that you played that little gorilla that saw charlton heston sneaking around and you pointed him out and said, “it’s a man!” yep!! 4. stephen manley (young spock from st 3: the search for spock) he was more of the teenage spock when they have spock going through all the metamorphosis on the unstable planet. stephen was very nice and very cute. i asked him how he got the part in the movie, and he said that when he want to audition, they sent him into a room, and leonard nimoy was in there by himself and they just talked about various things for like an hour. nimoy was a big part of why he was picked, and stephen had “the look” they were after. later that weekend, i asked him if i could take a picture of him, and he asked if i wanted to be in the picture with him, that he would “pon far” with me, the way savik and the young spock character did when they touch their index and middle fingers together on the genesis planet. that was so funny, but i did get a picture of it! i passed the table he was sitting at many times as i strolled in the dealer’s room, and we just waved at each other every time i passed by 5. chase masterson (leeta in deep space 9) she was selling her jazz album at her table. i had no idea she was also a singer. i have to mention our lunch trip to quark’s bar and restaurant. this place is designed like a futuristic restaurant, and they have several of the st ships hanging overhead, and display lights flashing in the metal plates on the walls. the highlight of that for me was when they had several guys walking around, dressed up as st characters, interacting with the customers. they had a borg, a vulcan, and a klingon. i made the mistake of asking the vulcan if he was a romulan or a vulcan, because i wasn’t quite sure, and he just had to point out that i was unaware of the differences between them. i told him i thought he was a vulcan, and he said i was correct! he was very unemotional and rather stern! then i asked him if i could take his picture, and he said, “you may replicate my image.” that was great! i then started talking to the borg. i called to him, he came over to my table and said, “human female.” i asked him about his very elaborate arm piece and what it does. he explained it to me, i told him i really liked the arm, and he said, in a very borg voice, “i have no opinion of your appendages.” that was hilarious! and the klingon was just giant! his costume was great! the restaurant also has standing figures of the gorn, the salt monster, and the borg queen. around 5pm that afternoon in the secondary theater, i attended a presentation called, “remembering deforest kelley.” this was going on at the same time that terry farrell was speaking in the main theater. i hated to miss her, but i just had to go see the deforest kelley presentation where they played some vintage footage of de appearing at one of the past conventions. that is also where i first met the author, kristine smith, who would speak the next day, who wrote a book about deforest kelley. deforest is so endearing, and if you haven’t ever seen him or seen this footage, you should. they now have it available on dvd through creation entertainment, and i’ve bought it. on to friday night! karen and i bought tickets to go to the friday night dinner party held at star trek: the experience and quark’s bar. they had a buffet style set up for the food, and you just mingled around. connor trinneer and vaughn armstrong were mingling around with the crowd in the same area where we were eating, and then chase masterson sang a couple of songs as entertainment on a little stage area in the restaurant. that was fun, but the best part of the whole night for me was going on the rides. before you go on the ride, you go through a section that is like a star trek mini museum with star trek stuff in glass cases, like props and costumes, outfits from the series and movies, pictures of the different crews, video screens playing various episodes, a glass case that has klingons figures in it and another case that has borg. the borg “ride” is cool because you have borg walking around coming after you, and you go into this ship area where you sit down and wear these 3-d glasses, and you see things coming at you and you will jump in your chair. you see the holographic doctor from voyager talking, and the borg queen makes an appearance also. the borg try to assimilate you. there was one point when something happened while i was sitting in the seat. something felt like it came from underneath me, and i literally jumped half way out of my chair! i will have to say though, that the klingon ride is absolutely fabulous! you must go on it if you ever get to vegas! you go through the bridge and get on the turbo lift, and you finally get in the shuttlecraft, and you are off on a virtual reality ride where they show you flying through space, dodging ships and other things, and the shuttlecraft seats move as if you are really flying around. it is totally awesome! they warn you not to ride the ride if you are prone to motion sickness, and i can understand why. it really feels real! we had to go on that particular ride again that night because it was so cool. definitely a highlight of the whole weekend for me! saturday, aug. 11 saturday was a big “deep space 9” day! it started off with a bang with rene auberjonois & nana visitor, which were my two favorites from the series! nana said she lives in new mexico and films a show called “wildfire” and that she has done a guest appearance on “battlestar galactica.” rene will continue to do some episodes of “boston legal”but wants to concentrate more on his artistic endeavors and photography. it was endearing to hear rene talk about his love for his first grandchild. i think he said he was “ga ga” with love over this child. i found rene to be so funny, but not in an “over the top” way. it’s like he isn’t trying to be funny, but it comes out really funny. a fan asked him where he got his inspiration for the character in “benson.” he thought for a moment, and in a contemplative, slow manner said, “my deep, inner, asshole.” i nearly fell on the floor i was laughing so hard. the next guest speaker was kristine m. smith, an author who write the book, deforest kelley - a harvest of memories. she was a close friend to de and helped take care of him in his final days. she shared some excerpts from her book and talked about what an amazing human being de was, and how much he reflected love and kindness to those around him. after kristine spoke, she went to the dealer’s room to sign copies of her book, and that’s where i met her in person. she has a very kind spirit, and i’m glad i met her. her book is very moving, and really gives an inside glimpse of the real de kelley. the cardassians of ds9 appeared next on stage together and that would be marc alaimo, casey biggs, and andrew robinson. it’s amazing to me that these actors could create such established characters behind the layers of make up they had to wear. their characters were not one dimensional but complex. the only time the whole weekend i went up to ask a question was during their appearance. i simply asked them how long it took to put all the cardassian makeup on. i think it was marc alaimo who said at first he was getting to the studio around 3:30am! i think he said at first it took about 4 hours. it was funny when casey biggs mentioned an episode where kira (nana visitor) beat his character up. nana was signing autographs behind stage and promptly came out on stage in a very “kira” way, walking up to him boldly, as if she was going to beat him up again. it was cute. i was still standing at the mic waiting to ask my question, and as nana walked back off the stage, somebody ran by where we were standing by the mic and jogged in front of the stage, and as he turned around and jogged in front of the stage back towards us, i saw that it was rene auberjonois! i have no idea what he was doing, but it was just so funny in the moment. i think i heard him say something like, “i’m trying to find the bathroom” but don’t quote me on that. it was just so funny because he just came out of nowhere, jogging in front of the stage! you can tell he is very playfully funny! now what can i say about jonathan frakes and brent spiner (riker & data)? they spoke on saturday afternoon and were just hilarious. jonathan started singing “volare” which cracked me up. they just kept going back and forth with one liners. they both did impressions of patrick stewart. jonathan even imitated data by just a head pose, and then he did the “riker walk” which looks like john wayne crossing the stage! it was like a comedy routine between the two! jonathan mentioned an episode he has done on “masters of science fiction.” one last thing i remember. sometime in the middle of their appearance, jonathan looked out in the audience and said, “is barry manilow here?” i have no idea why he said that, other than he knows barry’s show is at the hilton, but being a manilow fan, i did catch myself looking around in the audience for a moment!! it was a pleasure to see kate mulgrew (captain janeway from voyager) speak next, and i really liked her. she mentioned that she was currently in an off-broadway production in new york. she just loves theater. she was complimented by a fan for being a great role model, and there were several young girls that came up to the mic to greet her and ask a question. she said this was her new demographic! one girl said she had been watching kate on tv since she was two! when another girl came up and said she had been watching her since she was born, kate said, “where is that older two year old?” kate had some positive, inspiring things to say to the young girls, and i found her very intelligent, well spoken, and proud of the work she did on “voyager.” the last group of speakers for the day was avery brooks, penny johnson, and cirroc lofton, which was the ds9 family tribute to commander sisko, kasidy yates, and jake sisko. all three appeared together on stage. it was cirroc’s birthday, so everybody sang “happy birthday” to him. you can tell just by watching cirroc and avery on stage together that they are like father and son in their relationship. for some reason, avery brooks reminds me of martin luther king. very inspirational, very articulate. i’ve never heard him speak before, and i’m glad i did. he talked about how gene roddenberry saw the possibilities and hope for a better future, which was what star trek was all about. avery mentioned his own cd he as been working on, although it’s not ready to be released yet. i had no idea the man was a singer. cirroc said he had finished filming a basketball movie, and penny is involved in “october road” and “the 4400.” the most touching moment for me was how avery closed their portion of the show by singing a beautiful song that sounded like a prayer. it brought tears to my eyes, and you could have heard a pin drop in that place. two more events were to come on saturday. are we getting tired yet?? the costume contest is always fun to watch, and it’s remarkable what kind of work goes into making these elaborate costumes. i’ll just mention a few of the best ones. there was an older gentleman there dressed up like scotty, i think from one of the later movies. he looked so much like scotty, and he got a lot of applause. one lady was dressed up as ilea from star trek:the motion picture, complete with the short, white robe outfit and the red gem in the throat. i heard that she actually shaved her hair off as well. there was another man that dressed like captain picard, and he looked so much like patrick stewart! an outstanding outfit was a borg. i saw this guy in the elevator on the way to the costume contest, and he said he made the whole thing himself, over a period of ten years, out of old car parts and such. it was fabulous. the last person i’ll mention was a man dressed up as cyrano jones from “the trouble with tribbles” from the original series. his outfit was so great, and he had purring tribbles in his pockets. he got a very enthusiastic response! the winner of the contest this year was the guy who dressed as the borg. from what i was hearing, he also won last year, with a different costume. throughout the whole convention, you would see different people walking around dressed in outfits: klingons, andorians, orion slave girls, borg, the borg queen, data, and on and on. one man i spoke to had on the original robin hood outfit worn by patrick stewart from the next generation, and the man looked so much like patrick stewart too. this man was associated with a group of vendors who were selling original costumes and props in the dealer’s room. the last thing we attended on saturday night was the las vegas gala celebration of star trek. it was a concert given by the las vegas philharmonic. they played several pieces from the various soundtracks of the star trek franchise (the motion picture, the voyage home, generations, first contact, insurrection, nemesis), with a special suite dedicated to star trek: the next generation since it was the 20th anniversary of the show. the music from star trek is some of the best orchestral music i have ever heard. listening to it independently, it’s amazing how detailed and intricate the orchestrations are. just beautiful. i think the music has always been a big part of star trek, expressing a lot of themes and feelings that can’t be put into words. we were also treated to a musical performance by nana visitor. she’s been on broadway, so it was great to see her perform and sing for us and give us a glimpse of her further talents besides acting! sunday, aug. 12 sunday was the big day i had been waiting for, the day we got to see leonard nimoy on stage. my friend karen and i had bought photo op tickets to get pictures made with leonard, and that took place prior to his stage appearance, in the rear of the dealer‘s room. i was rather nervous about it, but the people in line, who had done other photo ops before, said it went very fast. we were near the front of the line which i’m glad, because there were probably at least 200 people in this line, and if i was the celebrity, i’d be pretty tired of smiling and having a flash go off in my eyes after that many people! the photo op area is set up behind black curtains in the dealer’s room, with a photo backdrop and lighting. it’s a lot like when you get your school picture made. they line you up, one person steps in, the camera is snapped, and then the next person steps in. i was so dumbfounded in the moment that the only thing spoken between us was “hi.” i determined to look him in the eyes and say hi while i walked up to stand beside him, and i did. he was sitting down on a stool, and i stood by him, gently put my hand on his back, and bent down a little to get to his level where he was sitting on the stool. the picture was snapped, leonard said, “thank you” and i simply patted his back for a moment and turned and left. just to be near him for a moment is a thrill. so many people love the character he brought to life, and i just admire him and think he is so talented and creative. i love his poems and his photography too. when leonard took the stage a little later in the afternoon, the applause was thunderous! he took off his jacket, and the t-shirt he had on said, “#1 vulcan” on the back. the crowd yelled louder! he said in a spock like voice, “so emotional. you humans are so emotional.” once the applause calmed down, he said, “i can’t imagine what you want to talk about today!” of course people started shouting, “movie!” leonard said he had been reading some blogs off the internet of people expressing their opinions about where star trek was headed now, and he shared a few that had some critical things to say about the upcoming new movie. his point after reading some of these blogs was to tell us that we have to give these new people working on the new film a chance and that they are very talented people, both the director and the writers, and that zachary quinto, who has been chosen to play spock in the new movie, is a very talented actor. leonard asked us to welcome zachary. when leonard started taking questions from the audience, a young boy who was dressed in a blue uniform shirt from the original series asked him a question. leonard called the boy up on stage, found out he was 9 years old, and that his dad had brought him to the convention for his birthday. on the spur of the moment, leonard proceeded to tell the boy that he was inviting the boy and his entire family to the dec. 08 premiere of the new star trek movie and would do so at his own expense. the crowd erupted in clapping. what a lucky kid!!! and how nice of leonard to do this! william shatner came out to take the stage from leonard a short time later, and they kidded back and forth about bill still waiting for that call from jj abrams to be in the new movie, and then leonard left the stage. bill started off with a bang by telling a story that had happened to him the day before, as he was on his way to take his flight to vegas. bill shatner is a funny guy. he can over dramatize his story very well! he talked about his road rage incident, where he got mad at somebody that had cut him off in the car, and he decided he was going to get out of the car and confront the person, because he’s captain kirk! turned out it was a stuntman who wanted to meet him! he told a story about a dangerous stunt he performed once and how he was in the hospital with injuries, and how a nurse pulled the curtains back (at the exact moment he was trying to pee in a bottle) and the nurse exclaimed “i‘m your biggest fan!” that got a lot of laughs from the audience. he is a crack up but he is soooo over the top! he started grumbling again about not being in the new movie. “i’m up for two emmys, and i’m not in the movie!!” about this time, leonard came back out to join bill on the stage together. bill mentioned some new talk show he will be doing called, “raw nerve.” bill then asked leonard what the new star trek movie was about. leonard started talking about an opening sequence and then put his hand to his ear like he was getting a message from jj abrams in an earpiece. “i’m just telling them a little bit, jj!” too funny. leonard said that he starts filming his part in december and then again in feb & march. his part is not huge but it is more than a cameo. leonard hasn’t acted in awhile, so he said he was a little nervous about how he was going to play spock again, where the character of spock is now after all these years, how the character has grown and changed. one thing i like about leonard is that he takes this very seriously and treats the spock character with a lot of respect and dignity. he seems to feel a lot of responsibility to the essence of what star trek is about and about the essence of this character that he breathed so much life into. i think leonard is just the person who can do this. he said he really wants this new star trek movie to work, as well as his portrayal of spock again. after some more sparring back & forth about bill not being in the new movie, leonard explained that he had told jj abrams (the director) that star trek would be better with kirk in it. leonard had to remind bill that kirk died in star trek 7, and then leonard said he would not have allowed him to die if he had been in the movie! awe! bill and leonard put their hands together like spock and kirk did when spock was dying in st2, and leonard said, “i have been and always shall be, your friend.” the crowd loved it and cheered. some last minute questions followed about the charity work bill is involved in with his horse therapy program, and about leonard’s new photography book coming out in november called, “full body project.” leonard got a lot of applause when he was explaining this project, and how these large bodied women are beautiful and proud of their bodies. when their time on stage was over, bill and leonard both expressed to each other what a dear friend each was to the other and then thanked us for coming. i headed over to dealer’s room for a quick look and then back to the auditorium to catch the tail end of nicole deboer’s appearance (lt. ezri dax from ds9) then, the last guest speakers i saw for the day were the ferengi from deep space 9 - armin shimerman (quark), max grodenchik (rom), jeffrey combs (brunt), and wallace shawn (grand nagus). this was the first convention appearance by wallace shawn, and we gave him a very warm welcome! wallace is famous for his role in “my dinner with andre” from 1981. he said the make up team gave them a lot of inspiration with the makeup they invented for the ferengi characters, even though i’m sure it was grueling for them to go through that makeup process. all four of these men seemed like very nice people, and i enjoyed hearing them. armin shimerman is short! i made one last swing through the dealer’s room as the convention was ending, and i bought two small figurines of spock and mccoy, my two favorite characters from all of the star trek series. on the way back to the hotel room, i stopped off at the star trek store that is by quark’s bar. they have a lot of neat things in that store, and the staff had been very busy that weekend because of all the fans who attended the convention. as i was walking around in the store, i came upon the large cardboard stand up of dr. mccoy! well, i had to get the camera out to take a picture. it would be too hard to buy it and try to transport it in the luggage on the plane, so a picture would have to be sufficient! a very nice man saw me trying to take a picture, and asked me if i would like him to take a picture of me with the stand up. i immediately said, “yes, as a matter of fact i would!” we had to take a couple of shots because mccoy kept reflecting too much in the light, but finally the man took the picture, and it turned out great! i love it! since it is no longer possible to have a photo opportunity with deforest kelley (bless you de), this is the next best thing to having my picture with him. there were several other events and activities which took place at the convention which i just could not afford to do. you could buy an autograph ticket for any of the guests that appeared, and they would sign anything you brought for them to sign. likewise you could buy photo op tickets with any of the guests. the convention had several special lunches and parties (resistance to bingo is futile, beam up breakfast celebrity bashes, classic star trek luncheon, deep space nine luncheon, saturday evening desert party, klingon luncheon). they certainly give you a lot to choose from and to do. and that, my friends, wraps up my las vegas star trek convention report for 2007! to see my convention pictures, visit my album at this address: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0acugtvq0ytgl5g the pictures are basically the photo diary of my vegas report.