Well, I decided to stop in Dallas for FedCon as I drove from Atlanta to the West Coast. It was a bit out of the way, but FedCon was to have Aaron Douglas and James Callas, Chief Tyrol and Baltar from Battlestar Galactica, and Aaron Douglas said he would bring a DVD of the mid-season finale, "Revelations" for everyone to watch together on a big screen in one of the conference rooms. Well, that sounded like fun, and my buddies Dana lives in Dallas, and Kenny Friedman, a prop and autograph dealer, were both going to be there.
But as I drove into Dallas this AM, I started to find out that there were problems with the Con. The Con organizers had failed to fly in Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek on BSG) for the show and weren't returning his calls. Richard had been a scheduled guest for months. When I got to the show I ran into Anne Lockhart (Sheba on the original BSG) and we started chatting as I had her at a show in 1999. She started telling me how disorganized the show was too. Then I spoke to Richard and found out that not only was he not coming, but Aaron and James were not either.
Dana and I jumped online and went to the FedConUSA web site and found that Aaron Douglas had actually posted about how they had been stiffed by the con organizers and how disappointed he was. It seems the con organizer has been avoiding any phone calls and has taken to ignoring these stars, rather than dealing with the situation.
Well, it is obvious the con organizer, Tim Brazeal, ran out of money, and then, rather than being a stand up guy and admit the problems, has chosen to avoid dealing with them in an honest manner, screwing fans and stars alike. We have been hearing the excuse that he has been in and out of the hospital, but honestly, are we to believe this?
A real shame. None the less, we are trying to make the best of our time here.
Alec
But as I drove into Dallas this AM, I started to find out that there were problems with the Con. The Con organizers had failed to fly in Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek on BSG) for the show and weren't returning his calls. Richard had been a scheduled guest for months. When I got to the show I ran into Anne Lockhart (Sheba on the original BSG) and we started chatting as I had her at a show in 1999. She started telling me how disorganized the show was too. Then I spoke to Richard and found out that not only was he not coming, but Aaron and James were not either.
Dana and I jumped online and went to the FedConUSA web site and found that Aaron Douglas had actually posted about how they had been stiffed by the con organizers and how disappointed he was. It seems the con organizer has been avoiding any phone calls and has taken to ignoring these stars, rather than dealing with the situation.
Well, it is obvious the con organizer, Tim Brazeal, ran out of money, and then, rather than being a stand up guy and admit the problems, has chosen to avoid dealing with them in an honest manner, screwing fans and stars alike. We have been hearing the excuse that he has been in and out of the hospital, but honestly, are we to believe this?
A real shame. None the less, we are trying to make the best of our time here.
Alec
Comments
Our organization - the Dallas Future Society, which holds FenCon (www.fencon.org) - is in no way, shape or form associated with FeDConUSA.
We first heard about that organization last year, and were somewhat taken aback that they had chosen a name so close to ours, seeing as we had been in existence for over four years at that time.
We are working on a press release which we plan to send to as many SF related information sources as possible to explain that this similarity in names should not reflect on our organization or convention.
FenCon prides itself on being a successful, non-profit, fan-run convention, which is operated in a professional manner. We always strive to show the highest respect to both our guests and members.
If you feel the need and have opportunity to spread this information to other SF professionals or fans, we would greatly appreciate the effort. As you know, a convention such as ours relies heavily on word of mouth, and any negative implications can be unintentionally damaging.
Thank you for your attention.
Michael Nelson
You can read a bit of background in several articles at SyFy Portal...
http://syfyportal.com/news425123.html