Irish Star Trek Convention Petition

MrVestek

Hey guys, I have started a petition to get an Official Irish Star Trek convention here in Ireland, asap. Me being a big fan of Star Trek never actually got to experience the last one, as it was over nine years ago, and I'm sure many others didn't either. Here is a link to the petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/trekeire/petition.html

And my original thread about the petition:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139118

Please Sign as we need as many signatures as possible. This petition will be sent off at the end of the year to Paramount Pictures. Please tell all yer trekkie friends and trekkie family. Also, dont be surprised if you see the attatched flyer in Forbidden Planet and other Sci Fi and Comic Book stores around town very soon.

Thank you.

Woden

done good effort in general

bizmark

Their all ship mods from Bc Ill sign

MrVestek

LOL, yea they are, i was wondering when someone would notice that. Anyways a mate of mine has printed me out one high quality black and white flyer from his lazer printer. It uses alot of toner tho so i only asked him to do one. Then i'm gonna go to the library or something and get like 20 or 30 copies. Then post them in different places like forbidden planet and comic book stores and the like. Can you guys recommend anywhere else? I'm sure forbidden planet wouldn't mind... would they?

midget lord

*laughs*

bizmark

what the hell are you laughing at




Achilles its a nice poster m8 ships suits it .....as for where to post them....Hmmm not sure on that what you said should work ....But remember that a lot of trek fans wont go near a comic book store

midget lord

did i laugh, ooops, i meant *stares in awe*

MrVestek

Well, no no think about it man. Those comic book kinda places attract alot of trippy kinda people, if u know what i mean. The sort i do usually see in Forbidden Planet too. That doesn't really mean that they're trekkies or anything, but they're sci fi fans nonetheless, and would be interested, no? What other sci fi places are there in town anyways, besides Forbidden Planet?

Woden

Originally posted by midget lord
*laughs*

you would do well to read the charter, post another smart comment and your banned.

have a nice day

data

bizmark

You go data!

User45701

That shut him up
Its true
Data IS god

I told a few people about the petition 2day and will tell a few more

Woden

awwww schucks folks i love ya's too

MrVestek

Thanks man, hope ya get me a few more signatures. Anyways did any of you guys notice any of my flyers in or around town?

OmeGar

What Work have you done so far to help set this up?

From what i can tell you want someone else to do all the work, all you seem to have done is advertise a petition.

Have you investigated the cost of locations? HAve you even thought that far ahead?

MrVestek

Actually i've been talking to a few members of the 'Gay Trekkies Ireland' group for some time now, enquiring as to how would be best going about setting up a convention and, as i just realised last night from an email, it wouldn't be viable to set up a trek only convention here in ireland. Conventions as it is dont get a very high attendence anyways, not to mention the complex contracts that need signing if we're to have any guests. So, unfortunatly it's only a dream now, and best we can hope for in the future is to have a boards trip to the uk for a night to check out one of their conventions. Here is a copy i recieved from one of the members of gay trekkies last night, it's not very encouraging at all and, unfortunatly, has lead me to give up on ever getting a trek convention over here. Sorry people.

Email:

Hi Steve,

Your original message about the petition was forwarded to me from the Gay
Trekkies mailing list by our ECH along with a copy of her response, as I'm
taking over the list mail from her for the month of March. I know the ECH
was very enthusiastic and encouraging about your petition, but she has not
been involved in fandom as long as I have been - I'm the group member she
mentioned who has been involved in running the last two major Trek cons (ie.
attendance figures greater than 100 people) to happen in this country,
namely Visicon in 1996 and Timewarp 2 in 1995.

By coincidence, I happened to meet up with some friends from the Timewarp
committee last, week just after I got your first mail. They had seen your
poster in Forbidden Planet, and like me, felt that you were not only taking
a shot in the dark with this petition, but that you probably didn't know
much about how conventions are run. And having seen the mail you sent today,
I understand why, as you are so young! I guess my con running friends and
I would all be around your parents' age group.

So here - from three seasoned members of the Timewarp 2 committee - are some
hard and unfortunately cold facts about conventions and Star Trek fandom in
Ireland :

First of all, there is no such thing as an "Official" Star Trek con, not
here and not anywhere else in the world. All of the Trek cons that happened
in this country ran because a bunch of friends (some of them mine) put in a
lot of hard work in their spare and took huge financial risks. Sometimes we
were able to give a big bundle of money to charity, but the last time we ran
a con, we ended up owing money.

Next, Paramount Pictures are in the business of making money, movies and TV
shows, in that order, and have absolutely no interest in running or
promoting cons. In fact, in the year running up to Visicon, Trek fandom
worldwide (all of our committee was on the net) was incensed at the attitude
of a new accountancy department at Paramount, which was trying to shut down
fan run websites and cons if they didn't pay royalties to Paramount for use
of the words "Star Trek". Having spoken to merchants from the UK and US
(the dealer's room was my resposibility) I can tell you Paramount royalties
are not cheap. They did cop themselves on and realised that they were
antagonsing the very people who pay to see the movies and buy the
merchandise, so they lightened up.

As for cons themselves, they come in two kinds - at least in the US, and
unfortunately in the last two years, the second kind has crept into the UK.

First is the kind of con I helped run - a bunch of fans who wanted other
fans to have fun, pay the costs and raise money for charity. Tickets in
Ireland back then were around 50-60 punts, and nowadays are usually under
£100 (that's not a mistake, that's pounds sterling - cons still happen in
the UK), seating is first come first served, and actors will sign one
personal item and then charge for autographed photos.

Second is the kind run by businesses - Creation Entertainment in the US are
the most famous, longest running and frequently reviled by fans for their
money-grabbing ethos. They are out to make as large a profit as possible,
and they often bill themselves as "Official" cons but are no more "Official"
than anyone else's. (In fact, they tried to tie up the actors from the
"Farscape" series with contracts which meant they could only appear for
Creation.) The cost of a ticket for one of their events is usually several
hundred dollars, or pounds. There are cheaper tickets (knock off fifty bucks
or so) but that means you sit very far away, and don't get a chance to pay
about double what you would have to pay for an autographed photo at a
fan-run con.

Here's rundown on the way cons have been since the first Timewarp in
Malahide in 1993 :

T1 - 1200
T2 - 1500
Visicon - 600

Apart from another group which ran Irecon (they held fiercely to holding
cons outside Dublin and so were lucky to get attendances of 150, and are
also defunct, thier last con with an actor guest was in 96 too) there were
some Babylon 5 cons which attracted small but dedicated attendances - around
100 or so - in the years following Visicon. There have been some Buffy
events in the past year, which, given the huge popularity of that show, only
managed to pull in, again, around 130 -150 people. The friend who runs these
has seen the writing on the wall, and is not planning to run any more.

Since the early 90's SF and fantasy shows have proliferated and fans now
have a bewildering choice of shows to follow - and the fanbase hasn't
increased correspondingly as dramatically in numbers. In my opinion, this is
the main reason why running cons has become impossible in Ireland. My
friends commented when we were talking about your petition that widespread
access to the net has also been a factor in the demise of Irish con-going -
many fans are happy to track their favourite shows and actors on the net,
and don't want to pay our their hard earned cash for a con.

Most cons in the UK may have Trek as a major theme (as did one I was at
recently) but will also feature actors from other series to appeal to as
wide a fan base as possible, but with the small population of this country,
the cost of having more than one guest is prohibitive, and if you pick the
wrong guests from the wrong shows at the wrong time (as we did for Visicon),
people stay away in their thousands.

Since you mentioned in your latest email about not being sure if you'd be
'allowed' to run something because of your age, then let me tell you that
conventions involve appearance contracts for Hollywood based actors -
serious legal documents form a foreign country, for which, unless there is
someone you know personally who could help, you would require professional
(and expensive ) advice of solicitors before signing anything. As far as I
recall, you have to be over 18 to sign such contracts, or have a guardian
who is wiling to sign on your behalf.

I really hate sounding so negative, but that is the reality of the situation
- Trek fandom began to fragment and die off after Next Generation's last
episode aired over here back in....oh dear, I've forgotten, about ten years
ago at a guess. The Gay Trek group is, as far as I and my friends in SF
circles know (and we have contacts all over the country), the only
functioning Trek fan group left in Ireland. Gay Trekkies meet once a month,
to chat and watch videos, and we do well if the attendance is more than six.
There's no membership fee, just a small contribution to the cost of the room
in Outhouse. You are more than welcome to come along on the second Tuesday
of any month (Next meeting's on the 9th March) to talk to us and join in, so
at least you don't feel like the only Trek fan in the universe!

Live long and prosper!

Science Officer Spoof
________________________________________________________________________________
Fan : Mr. Takei, have you seen the movie 'Galaxy Quest'?
George 'Captain Sulu' Takei : 'Galaxy Quest'? Oh, you mean the documentary?
- at Starfleet Ball, Bournemouth, England, February 2003

OmeGar

I am sorry to see that you have given up on this idea, but it is probably for the best, there is a lot invloved in convention running, and it is best to try and get on a committee and just sit in the background and help out.

the best way of getting on a committee is showing up on the day and asking to help out. this may be something like helping move chairs, or even getting the drink orders for the guests at the panels. from there you can move on to the committee and bring fresh blood, which all committees need.

If you are intrested in Sci fi cons there are two that i know of in Dublin This Year.

they can be found at
http://www.octocon.com

Octocon bills itself as the National Sci-fi convention for the republic, and i suppose is very much that. they have a very broad remit. which allows them to have a lot of fun.

and

http://www.slovobooks.com/phoenix/

ok first off i must say that i am on the Committee for this one, just to acknowledge bias. P-con is going into it's second year, it is a small convention (about 60 people last year) which means that there is a large chance to interact with the guest's.

go have a look.

actually there is one more, but as it is taken place on friday, unless you were planning on traveling to Belfast it is not going to do you much good.
http://www.mecon.org.uk/

i am planning on attending all 3 event's and already have a membership to them all. Look at the websites and see if you can find something you like.

I look forward to seeing you at one of those events.

.......does this count as an add? if so sorry, edit it out? and let me know. Ta, still a newbie so not sure where the line is drawn.

Spock

I just go to the conventio in london and make a holiday of it. It makes far more sense for paramount to go to Lodon than it does to come here.

MrVestek

Not all of us have money to burn. Although in saying that i have a job now so i could afford it. Wouldn't be more than 400 altogether right? Did somebody say boards.ie official trek convention trip? :P

Spock

Prices vary depending on the treatment you want.

MrVestek

I think we should organise a boards thing... if a few people come the price wont be too bad.

The Energiser

Achilles wrote:

I think we should organise a boards thing... if a few people come the price wont be too bad.

Good idea, 69 signatories so far. I feel we need more

MrVestek

Ahh don't ya love it when people don't pay attention? I gave up on this thread ages ago mate, if you had read it properly you'd know that. Still I appreciate the enthusiasm.

moonser

we should definitly have a star trek convention we never have had one before so we need one asap.
also there is the fact that viacom really do rip you off with the price of their dvd's

doh.ie

moonser wrote:

we should definitly have a star trek convention we never have had one before so we need one asap.
also there is the fact that viacom really do rip you off with the price of their dvd's

Viacom/Paramount's prices not really a cause to have a convention! It would still need to be legal in the sense that permission would be needed for showing episodes in public. Would also need to be above board for any guests to turn up.

There have also been at least 6, if not more, Star Trek convensions (with guests) in Ireland, and several more one-day specials.

They simply don't make enough money for charity to be worth the time and effort. There is also a significant amount of work involved, and for the later cons, not a sufficient turnout to be worthwhile.

If Irish people want to go to a Star Trek con, with flights as cheap as they are these days, we're just as well to go to one in London or one of the bigger UK cities.

One I went to in Blackpool years ago which had the majority of the Voyager cast was on the kind of scale that just would never be possible in a country this small, with such a small population, and an even smaller base of Trek fans.

Tristram

bad luck Achilles.

MrVestek

Tristram wrote:

bad luck Achilles.

Cheers but this thread died a long time ago...

john_

cool ill sign

MrVestek

Erm, do people not read entire threads anymore? Especially ones from ages ago? This thread, as I said 6 bloody months ago, died a long time ago. So did it's dream. Thanks for your interest tho.

Skatedude

i renember the last one 9 years ago.
I went with a few friends, but could not get in. It was completly packed out within an hour of the doors opening.
Security said they had to turn away hundreds off people already and it was only about 10:30am

DCU|Robby

Heh, i just met Colm Meaney in my local pub (Tolka House) in Glasnevin the other night, hes quite sound and i got his sig on a beermat! lol.

Course i dont think hes the kinda guy that'd do a Convention, i shoulve asked!!:D

Motley Crue

I was at a star trek convention in ireland years and years ago, out near bray somewhere, can hardly remember it now...my parents brought me when i was a little boy