FedCon Opening Ceremonies Video is AWESOME!

Check this out. It is amazing what animators can do these days.


Fedcon 2009 Opening Ceremony Animation from Tobias Richter on Vimeo.

FedConUSA - The Disaster in Dallas - Part II

Here is an update from Katie Harrison, one of the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum's star members who made the trek from Houston to Dallas, a 4 1/2 hour drive.

FEDCON FIASCO

The morning began early, at 3:30 a.m. for us avid sci-fi con adventurers! It was truly an exciting morning, not only was I excited that I was going to my first non-trek convention, but I was going to meet members from the Star Trek Forum, run by Alec Peters! I was worried we would be late and miss Garret Wang, who was scheduled to appear at 9:15 a.m. We got to the hotel and there was a 30 minute-long line to get tickets. We conspicuously noticed there were not a lot of people roaming around, but it was early. As we stood in line with some fans from Arkansas we heard that the schedule had been changed and that Anthony Montgomery and other Battle Star Galatica actors were not coming.

We ventured to the ‘Ferengi Market’ aka the Dealers room to browse around. This too was a bit sparse as there were only about 12-15 dealers in total. We realized that John Billingsly and Bonita Friedency were suppose to be on stage, so we headed to the ‘Main Bridge,’ to find John on stage and the crowd asking questions. He was absolutely fabulous! And Bonita was super great as she bounced around the room giving the microphone to inquisitive fans! It seemed like it was going to be great and very personal. I was hearing stories all around about how the stars partied the night before in the hotel lobby with the fans! Then it all came to a screeching halt when the master of ceremonies, Richard Anderson announced the Con was cancelled! The fans were shocked, amazed and terribly disappointed. All of a sudden the crowd was flooding Anderson with questions about refunds and demanding to know why, what happened and how could this be? Then John Billingsly grabbed the microphone and stood in the audience and demanded that the hosts give the fans the answers they wanted and said “let’s get someone in here that knows the answers about these things.’ Other Star Trek actors, Garret Wang, Connor Trinnear, J.G. Hertzler, Robert O’Reilly and Menina Fortunato all retired to the autograph room and signed autographs and took pictures with the fans!! Robert O’Reilly and J.G. Hertzler were both mid-way through their Klingon make-up when they got the announcement of the cancelation and they went on with the show and came down and took pics with the fans and even sang some Klingon Songs of Glory!!!

So, in essence, the actors saved the day!! Had it not been for them, the Con would have been more of a disaster than it was! For me, the best part was getting to meet some of the wonderful people on the forum!! While this convention was suppose to be an equivalent of the FedCon in Germany, it was to say the least a pitiful attempt and whether FedCon was not a part of it or not, shame on them for lending out the trusted name, for in the U.S. the name is now MUD!!

Katie

FedConUSA - The Disaster in Dallas

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