Seattle Star Trek Convention, Day One

Towards the end of October, my Mom sent me an email with information about the Seattle Star Trek Convention. My Mom is an old-school Trekkie, having been a big fan since the original in the 60s. She went to many Star Trek Conventions over the years, most notably, she was in the first row of the 25th Anniversary of the series in the 90s. She hasn't been to a convention in a few years now, as she says she has had the opportunity to see all the big names that she has wanted to. However, she wanted to let me know that this year's Seattle convention was going to be at the convention building in Bellevue, which happens to be in the complex as my apartment.

I was with my friend, Gina, when I received the email from my Mom, and found out that Gina is a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation Fan. She's always wanted to go to a Star Trek Convention, but never lived close enough to one to be able to go. Did I mention that Gina lives in the same building as I do?

I have been to a Star Trek convention with my Mom once or twice when I was growing up, but it's been well over 20 years since I've been to one. Gina was totally excited about going, and since it was being held in our building, I figured I'd have to go, too. I also mentioned it to some other geeky friends to see who else wanted to join us.

The convention started today, and will go through Sunday. Gina, Reeves and I went today. We were there for the opening speaker, Richard Arnold (Gene Roddenberry’s right hand man for 15 years). He gave a nice intro, then we stayed for the first cast member to speak, Travis Mayweather of Star Trek Enterprise.

To be honest, today's event was kind of a disappointment. While we were there, the crowd was very small. Maybe around 100 people in the theater. I thought that perhaps there would be a lot more people on the vendor floor, which was always my favorite part of the conventions. The vendor floor was fairly empty this morning, with only a dozen vendors or so, and hardly anyone else in there. I realize the crowd was going to be the quietest today, as it is a Friday versus a weekend, but I did expect a lot more people.

We'll be going tomorrow night for the special STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION REUNION SHOW. That should be a ton of fun. BRENT SPINER, JONATHAN FRAKES, MICHAEL DORN, MARINA SIRTIS, DENISE CROSBY and JOHN de LANCIE on stage together. Dick will be coming with me, as well as Gina and John, Reeves and Paula, and Nicole (we'll miss you, Dan!). I'm assuming the crowd will be a lot larger by tomorrow evening, and that this will be a very popular event. Should be fun.

For now, here are some photos from today.