Star Trek Convention, Las Vegas 2008 - Day Three
by Fazia Rizvi
8 August 2008, 7:45 PM

Wow. What a day. I'm happy.

We started the day with lunch. Every day of the convention had various themed breakfasts or lunches with several of the actors/actresses. There was the "Classic Trek Luncheon", a "Star Trek Deep Space Nine Breakfast" (and lunch), the "Sunday Klingon Blood Lunch", etc. I'd gotten tickets for the "Boys of Enterprise Lunch" with Connor Trinneer ("Cmdr. Charles 'Trip' Tucker") Dominic Keating ("Lt. Malcom Reed") and Anthony Montgomery ("Ensign Travis Mayweather").

We lined up outside the entrance to Benihanas (in the hotel, just outside the convention area), at the head of the line for once, then were told that the lunch had been moved to the ballroom. Jeff wasn't pleased at first about the change of venue, but I was. The lighting would be better for photos early on and a larger room would likely fit everyone better. Since we hadn't been to one of these things before, we had no idea what to expect, but one of the other convention attendees standing behind us in line, and who'd been to many of these things, clued us in. Typically a buffet, we'd all eat first, then he actors would arrive and move from table to table and chat with that table for a time (with someone tailing them to keep them on time to meet with each table). Interesting. While we waited I listened to the woman in line behind me chat with another woman from the Hubble space telescope program. I didn't catch her name.

We sat down at a table off to one side, and were joined by some interesting folks - one guy in an Enterprise uniform (actually the uniform for one of the stunt doubles for Scott Bakula. He even had the prop tags, which included the name of the stunt double and knew what scenes the costume had appeared in.) with his wife in a loud Florida-type shirt, an African-American couple who were fun to talk to, and two guys who talked camera lenses with Jeff. (They had the same camera and same lens.) There was also one lady who'd apparently been to several of these conventions. It occurred to me then that I probably could have sent out a few Tweets or posted some inquiries to other fans to know what to expect at the convention.

Food was indeed buffet style, but much nicer than the Experience Party buffet. We all got something to eat and chatted with our table mates. By the time most people were finishing or starting in on desserts was when the convention organizers brought in the actors.

With a gentle reminder that the poor guys needed to be able to SEE their way to the stage (hold off on the flashes for a minute!), we were allowed to take pictures. They hammed for the crowd - particularly Keating and Montgomery, the latter of whom dragged all three back to re-enter the room to a bigger and more enthusiastic cheer. Then we were told to put our cameras away and the guys would come to our tables in turn. I think that was a good idea - it certainly made things more comfortable without folks sticking cameras in their faces the whole time.

A couple of times the tables had a bit of a cheering contest as the guys move from one table to visit another (egged on mostly by Montgomery as far as I could tell). He was an especially bubbly personality - something that stayed with him the entire day! He seemed to put everything he had into his appearance at the convention. I thought he would end up exhausted! (I would be. But maybe I'm just thinking like an introvert.) Trinneer was quieter but earnest and very kind, and Keating was easy to chat with.

The guys at our table with the similar camera struck up the conversation with Trinneer when he came to our table, mostly about another previous failed convention in Dallas (FedCon USA) that Trinneer had been at.

Keating complimented the henna designs on my hands and asked me what it was called (mehndi) and where I'd had it done (6th street in Austin). He mentioned he'd almost moved to Austin once long ago, because of a girl so I got a chance to ask my question about his early Enterprise-related interviews where he'd mentioned that he had at one point thought about giving up acting and moving to Austin to start a restaurant. (Why Austin, and why a restaurant?) It was all about a girl, and unfortunately didn't work out. (It's always about a girl or guy isn't it? Trinneer got into acting because of a cute girl. Keating almost got OUT of acting because of a cute girl. I got into computers and the last 15 years of my career because of a cute guy. Geez.) But only weeks later Keating got the part on Enterprise so it surely worked out for the best.

Montgomery sort of chatted with all of us at the table when he was asked what he's working on now - a children's book(!) and a new movie. He talked a bit about his music and got some compliments from those who had heard it.

All in all, the lunch was the highlight of the day. It was laid-back enough but still a nice setup, decent food, a chance to get to know fellow fans and a chance to talk with the actors in a way we don't get to when they're on the stage or in the autograph line. I'd easily do more of these sorts of things.

Though "the boys" were still making rounds around the tables (I think they spent over an hour with us all), our table had been visited by all three so we headed out. By this time I'd decided I wanted more than more just the two paperback novels I'd brought with me autographed, and that I wanted to get Montgomery's autograph too. I decided to buy a copy of the novelization of "Broken Bow" (the pilot episode for "Enterprise") for all three to sign. (I'd like to try to get the Broken Bow novel signed by all the cast of Enterprise, the novel's authors and as many people involved with the show as possible, including - if I can pull it off - paw prints from the three dogs that played Porthos throughout the series. That'd be fun.)

After lunch Jolene Blalock ("Subcommander T'pol" on Enterprise) was on stage in the main room. She seemed a bit shy and not as comfortable in front of a huge audience as some of the other, obviously-the-class-clown in-high-school actors we'd seen so far. Being a former model, I suspect she also gets a bit more of the scarier fan attention than some of the male actors. It took her a while for her to really relax, but she did and she was sweet and gracious to all, and had a few good stories to tell. One in particular was about about William Shatner (do I really have to mention that he was THE Captain Kirk on Star Trek?) feeling her up during a photo shoot. The fan-made music video before Blalock took the stage was about Trip and T'pol and was one of the better ones I'd seen. I liked the music enough to later buy it off of iTunes.

We didn't hang around for the session on "new Star Trek projects and products" though I'm sure there was some movie news there. Instead, Jeff headed up to the room and I went back to the vendors to to collect all the freebies we were entitled to. During registration on Tuesday, when we got our badges, bracelets and programs, we'd also been given a card good for a number of free gifts in the vendor's room on Friday. We ended up with a couple of bookmarks, a couple of IDIC lapel pins, some baseball cards, some Stargate SG-1 (!) photos, and a couple of signed photographs of Brent Spiner and Colm Meany. I briefly chatted with a guy in the vendors room who had built, and was displaying, most of the ST model kits. He gave me some tips on building the NX-01 kit and I got his card in case I need more advice.

After that, I headed up to the room and parked it for a while until the next big celebrity took the stage. We checked a bit of email, I got my bag ready for autograph collecting and myself for photo taking, then headed back down to the main event room.

They started off with a music video of Uhura, set to one of Nichelle Nichol's ("Uhura" of course, on the original Star Trek!) own songs, before finally bringing her out on stage. She sang a bit of the same song while walking back and forth on the stage before introducing George Takei ("Sulu" on the original Star Trek of course!). They sat together and talked AT LENGTH about some of their recent projects before taking some questions from fans. Takei announced he was getting married to his partner of many years and that Nichols would be the best lady and Keonig the best man at the wedding. They also teased each other several times about talking too much and not taking enough questions. Several times. At the end they talked all over each other, trying to one up each other before taking their bows.

Another fan-made video (there was one before every actor's stage presence, and awards for these videos) was shown - a sort of celebration of the dark mirror universe version of Enterprise. Then Trinneer, Montgomery and Keating took the stage. They fielded lots of questions, some of them with double entendres, and Keating told of several funny situations on the set, including the Canada Dry gag they pulled on Scott Bakula. I loved his comment of Scott having gone from "Nought to F-ing bright red in seconds". (Apparently Bakula had done a song and dance commercial for Canada Dry in the late 70's or early 80's. The crew and cast pulled a gag on Bakula by mocking up some CD bottles and playing the commercial on every monitor on the set when Bakula stepped out of the turbolift.)

The three were on stage for nearly an hour, longer than many of the other events (which were usually a half hour), possibly since Takei and Nichols were still signing autographs. When the three started doing the autographs I bid farewell to Jeff. I was likely to be getting autographs and doing photo stuff until 9pm. He headed to the room to chill until I was done.

Not only was this the first Star Trek convention we'd ever been to, it was also the first time I'd ever gotten autographs from any actor or actress. Again, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but over the course of the convention I got a better idea of it. Some of the guests make an effort to spend some time with their fans while they autograph (Takei and Spiner for example) so it can take a little longer. Others can be pretty quick about it. At large conventions like this - outside of the vendors room - the process is a little more controlled, with an assistant who takes your autograph items and lines them up for the person to sign. At smaller conventions, or if the person has a table in the vendor's room it's far less of a process and you can end up spending more time with the actor or actress. I guess it depends on your reason for getting an autograph in the first place, as to which you might prefer. Some folks just go to collect as many autographs as they can, others do it just to get to meet the person and talk to them. I'm in the latter category, really. Really, I just want to meet them.

I got an autograph with Keating first since he was doing autograph tickets only. (His were not complimentary with Gold patron tickets like Trinneer and Montgomery. Their line was really long.) The line moved quickly, and I chatted a bit with the guys in front of me in line. At some point I mentioned that Creation - the organization putting on this conference - also did Stargate related conventions and that the next one was in Vancouver. It turned out these guys were from Washington state, really close to Vancouver, and real Stargate fans. One of them was positively excited about the prospect, especially since a tour of the set might be included.

By the time I reached the table for Keating, Nichols - who was seated a the table next to him - was done with her autographs. She leaned back in her chair and gave up tired sigh, though she looked happy. (I told her to take a deep breath. She'd been on stage and then signing autographs for two hours, and she's 75 years old now!) Keating signed fairly quickly, so there wasn't any chat, though I did get a "Hello, love," in that British accent. I had him sign the Broken Bow novel, and Enterprise paperback with his picture on the cover and a photo.

After that it was more waiting, since Montgomery and Trinneer were still working their way through the Gold ticket holders. I checked out YouTube videos on the Olympics, read CNN and Twittered while I was waiting. After Takei left, they separated the line for Trinneer from Montgomery so the former could get through signing in time for photo ops. I was finally able to get in line, which moved rather quickly.

As with Keating, I had Trinneer sign a photo, the Broken Bow novel and a paperback with his picture on the cover. Rather than just sign the first blank page the assistant had opened the paperback, he asked me if I was sure about that page, then took the time to find the title page (for some reason it eluded us for a bit) to sign. He didn't rush at all, despite the fact that he had more obligations that evening. But all three of these guys take the interaction with fans seriously, and do seem to put the time into it.

Next was the photo op with Keating and Trinneer - another first, and one I felt slightly silly about (though that wasn't going to stop me!) I walked on over to the photo op area and got into line - right behind the guy Jeff and I had met at lunch! I asked him a bit more about his Enterprise costume. He'd paid, um, quite a bit for it - just a bit out of his and a lot out of his wife's comfort zone. But, as he put it, "this is why we work so hard, isn't it? To have some fun?" It was also unlikely he'd get another chance to not only own something like that but that it would fit him so well. He was the same height and build as the stunt double, so he really looked like he could have been an extra on the set. His wife had her picture taken with Nichols and was still on cloud nine from that so his little extravagance was fine. He talked a bit more about what he'd found out about the costume and where it had been (what scenes etc.) and I mentioned that, as an anthropologist who loves archeology, that the provenience of things like this really was interesting to me.

The short line moved quickly. We set our bags down on a table and there were folks there to keep those moving so we could pick them up again after we were done. I thought for a moment about taking my glasses off, but opted against it - I'm blind without them and I wanted to see! The woman there, directing people to the photo op, answered, "Enjoy the view". Heh.

Up until this point I'd done well and not gotten nervous, but I have to admit that I was a bit shy at this point. It went so quickly and I hightailed it out of there faster than I had to - there was plenty of time, very few people behind me and they were willing to visit with and talk to people. Oh well. Such is the way I am.

Last, but not least, I headed back for Montgomery's autograph. He was still signing, and when he was done would have to head straight to The Experience party to do a little number (I think he was going to sing) for the crowd there. He mentioned something about catching a flight too - I'm not sure if that was a late night flight or early in the morning. He chatted with _everyone_ through the line, teasing one woman who'd cell phone went off, "I'll answer that for you!" and keeping up a non-stop buzz of conversation. I ended up chatting with his assistant (who had a sign out "I'm not the wife." Montgomery got married a year ago.) about my mehndi.

As I was walking back, on my way to head through the casino and to the elevators back to my room, I stopped to text message Jeff. When I started walking again and looked up I was a few feet behind Trinneer, who was obviously headed out as well. He was promptly tailed by two young girls (Maybe 12-14 years old?) who hung on to each other, followed him and loudly giggled like crazy! It was almost cliched. Trinneer (like most of the guest when they left the convention area) was being escorted by someone who seemed like a convention worker. They ducked into one of the hotel restaurants just outside the convention area. I don't know if he was meeting someone or just trying to lose the giggle-girls, but I wouldn't blame him if he was. Ouch.

Back in our room, I share all the evening's details with Jeff and then we tried to figure out where to get dinner. Though we had free passes to the buffet dinner in The Experience that night, I really wasn't up to that kind of crowd and noise again.

We checked out what restaurants were available to us via the monorail from the hotel and almost decided on an Italian restaurant at the Bellagio. Had the buffets and other dining-out experiences not been so brutal on our budget, we might have opted to try out one of the more expensive restaurant by our favorite chefs, like Mesa Grill, Micheal Minas, or one of Mario Batali's restaurants. But, while we were looking for something nice, we wanted slightly less expensive than those typically would have been. Since it was already 9pm, the monorail would have been and extra $24 on top of whatever dinner cost - it seemed better to just choose one of the nicer restaurants already in the hotel. We waffled a bit, then decided to try the Italian place called Casa Nicola. If the menu didn't appeal we'd consider the steakhouse next to it and then finally the Mexican one on the other side of the hotel.

After getting off the elevators in the hotel lobby I again found myself a feet feet behind Trinneer. He headed through the casino pretty quickly (lighting a cigarette!). I suspected he was meeting Keating, since they were good friends. We headed to the hotel map near the front desk to find the Italian restaurant.

We found the restaurant on the map (right outside the convention area - we passed it every day and hadn't noticed it) and headed over. The menu was posted outside and looked decent (though a bit pricey for what they were offering, dang Vegas) so we decided to go for it, and got seated. By the time I'd ordered I realized that I'd been right - Trinneer was indeed meeting Keating for dinner, just a few tables away!

The restaurant was pretty good, but I would rather have spent the same amount on Roy's. I had a cioppino - a fish and shellfish stew. Lovely, but bit difficult to eat gracefully. Jeff had a rissoto with scallops that was okay. The bread was excellent, and we chatted about all kinds of non-convention stuff. Now that I'd had my fun day at the convention my mind was thinking thesis, papers and other stuff I needed to do once I got home! Jeff was thinking of hacking his iPhone. :-)

We ended with an excellent trio of sorbets for dessert, but had to send the check back because they'd charged it to someone else's room! If we were less honest people we could have let some other poor schmuck pick up our tab, but we couldn't do that. After dinner, Jeff and I tried a couple of machines in the Star Trek themed casino, and the machines promptly ate $6. I like the idea of winning a lot of money but am loathe to risk any to try for it!