A few reflections (some good, some less good) from my first Star Trek Conference
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I got back from Las Vegas last night, exhausted, but excited, inspired, but a bit disappointed, all at the same time. I’m a Star Trek fan and going to a Star Trek conference has always been on my bucket list, I finally pulled the trigger and went, and it opened my eyes to a strange and wonderful new world.
Like most discoveries, it wasn’t all good, or all bad, there was a healthy balance between the two. But, like any conference, I left with lots of nuggets, some new friends, and most importantly, a fresh perspective on an ecosystem I knew existed, but didn’t fully understand.
So let’s dive in, starting with the good, because there was a lot of really positive, uplifting things about the convention worth highlighting. First and foremost — the people. Star Trek fans are without a doubt some of the most kind, welcoming and truly inspiring people on this planet. And for anyone that thinks it’s just geeks who live in their parents basements, think again.
I met Doctors, Lawyers, CEOs, Venture Capitalists, Software Engineers, along with yes, some people who might still live in their parent’s basement. It was an incredibly diverse crowd with people from all over the world coming together to share in a common passion. In many ways the conference itself embodies what Gene Roddenberry had envisioned for Star Trek:
“Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms.” (Gene Roddenberry)
When Star Trek was first created it pushed the boundaries in many ways — this was important to Gene, he imagined a future where humans and aliens worked together and looked past things like skin color or pointy ears. The conference encapsulated this vision beautifully. I was often in group conversations with people from all over the world, not once did we talk about politics or anything that might divide us, we talked about science and technology, we shared a vision for an exciting and bright future ahead of us.
Honestly — the world needs more of this now. We are at a time of great polarization yet there is likely far more that connects us than separates us, and that needs to be brought to the forefront more in my opinion, and I think Gene would agree too if he was still with us.
I talked with one of the bartenders at the conference who said she had been working the conference for years, she said — “out of all the conferences and events I work, the people here are the best — they are so kind.”
This kindness I experienced all weekend, and it was truly magical. Everyone wanted to meet each other, help each other, and include absolutely everyone, every step of the way. The idea of anything dividing us had dissolved, we were together as humans and it really was something special.
So that’s the good, and yes — the good far outweighs the bad, but life is about balance and I’d be remiss if I didn’t share where I did feel true disappointment and some disillusionment this weekend.
Also just to give a bit more context on myself and my level of Star Trek fannery (that’s a word right?) — while I do love Star Trek, and have considered myself a Trekkie for some time now, I learned quickly - I am far from as devoted or knowledgable as many of the attendees at the conference. I don’t know all the actors names, I don’t really know any of the episode names, and I’d likely place close to last in any Star Trek trivia competition.
At the same time, I do truly love Star Trek (Next Gen and Voyager are my jam) and I have watched a lot of it, but clearly not nearly as much as most die hard fans. I think it’s safe to say that most people at the conference knew every actors name, and most knew the episode names from their favorite series, many could also do a deep into an episode proving they’ve clearly watched it many times over.
These fans are the real deal, they love the show, it has changed their lives in many ways, and getting to meet the actors in-person seemed like a transcendental experience for them.
And sadly, this is where I left feeling a bit deflated, and here’s why. The actors from various Star Trek shows come to these conferences and charge for either taking a photograph or getting their autograph, cash only, often charing $50 — $80 for one or the other (not both).
I’ll just come out and say it — to me this felt a little icky. Now this could just be a newcomers perspective, so maybe my thoughts on this will change over time, but honestly it was pretty deflating. Here you have these amazing fans who have supported this franchise like no other fans, and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. And on the other side you have actors who, while I believe wholeheartedly do appreciate their fans, are charging money and often herding their fans like cattle through lines, one after the other.
All of the actors have “handlers” that help with this process, some more abrasive than others. Since I don’t quite understand the point of having someone write in shiny pen over a photograph of themselves I opted to get a few photos with some of my favorite actors. Overall the experience was fine, they were nice — some asking questions about me, others just engaging in normal conversation — Brent Spiner and I had a good chat about how we both like a good nap, and agreed we both needed one!
At the same time, some of the handlers were quite abrasive and clearly didn’t respect the fans. They were snappy with fans, saying sternly, “stand over here, now, faster!” and then “okay you’re done, move!” afterwards. It was hard to watch, it made me cringe in a few cases, and did sour the experience for in some ways.
To give you a feel for the scale of just the photo ops, here’s one of the screens for one day at the conference. And note, there were more screens on both sides of this one so you’re seeing probably one fifth of what was available that day.
As you can see — next to the actors name is the cost to get a photo with them, ranging from $40 up to $80, and when Shatner came on Sunday, he took the $100 spot.
The hard part for me is - these fans are the people who made all of this possible. Star Trek struggled in the late 60’s and was almost canceled until the fans came together and saved the show. And this wasn’t the only time that happened, there’s a rich history of Star Trek fans working together to save the show.
“Save Star Trek” was the fan response to threatened cancellation after the second season. Their efforts successfully renewed the show. (Source — History of Star Trek Fan Campaigns)
In many ways this felt like what would happen if politicians were to charge money to the people who voted for them to take photos or get autographs. Of course, this never happens — say what you want about politicians but they seem to always be more than happy to pose for photos with the people who elected them, free of charge.
Now I’ll admit — maybe this is a world that I just don’t understand. At the end of the day, the fans seemed genuinely thrilled to meet their favorite actors and more-than-willing to spend hundreds of dollars doing so. But for me, it took a lot of the magic out of the experience and made it feel more cold and transactional.
This is a fan base that has fought for the show, saved it, and helped propel it into what it is today - I think those fans deserve better. But like I said, this is all new and my guess is most Star Trek fans will tell me they actually want to support their favorite actors and doing so brings them a bit of joy, and if that’s the case, then so be it.
Coming back from the show, like I said above, the positive far outweighed the negative, but I feel like it’s important to highlight both. At the end of the day it was a powerful experience, one that showed even at a time where we may feel so divided - people from all over the world, from all different backgrounds can come together, in harmony, and celebrate their similarities, rather than focusing on their differences.
To me it shows that we do have a brighter future ahead of us, and in reality, a brighter today, but it’s up to us to choose the path that gets us there. We all have the ability to let these wonderful, positive, connective experiences into our lives, and the more we do it, the better off we’ll be. Just like we can choose to doom-scroll on Twitter, or glue ourselves to polarizing TV news broadcasts — we can also choose to do things that celebrate our similarities and show how far a little kindness can go.
I left the Star Trek convention with a new perspective on the show, the franchise, and Hollywood. Maybe I was naive in many ways, or maybe I just never took the time to look at things more deeply. At the same time, I’m still learning — this is a new world to me, with the strike, maybe actors do need a way to make some more money, and getting that money from their fans helps them pay the bills and allows them to keep moving forward through difficult times.
For me, without a doubt, the best part of the entire experience is the new friends that I’ve made - kind people who share a common passion. I can already tell some of these people will be friends for life, and I can’t wait to see them next year because, yes -I’ll be back. Like Spock says to Kirk, I say to the entire Star Trek franchise, the good and the bad parts of it — I am, and always will be, your friend 🖖
