55 Year Mission Las Vegas 2021

This was a Star Trek Convention in the Rio Suites hotel. This is the BIG Star Trek convention. I have heard about it for years. They always have an amazing guest list. The guest list is amazing because of how many actors attend and the caliber of stars. One of my SDCC buddies convinced me we should go this year. I bought a ticket, booked a flight, and reserved a room. Since it was in Vegas, The Wife had to come along too, even though she didn’t go to the convention.

I worried about the rise of COVID cases and wondered if the convention would be cancelled. Fortunately, it was not cancelled and I attended all 5 days.  I did need to provide proof that I was fully vaccinated. For those that were not fully vaccinated, they needed to provide negative test results that were less than 72 hours old. Those attendees also needed to be retested when that 72 hour period expired. On-site testing was possible. Everyone needed to wear masks at all times (except eating). Plexiglass partitions were set up on the actors’ tables to put an additional barrier between you and the guest while signing or chatting. Something similar was done for photo ups.

plexiglass screen between guest and fan

I have never attended this show before and I have never been to a convention at a casino before. This was unique for me.  Add a little seasoning from the pandemic to the mix and it’s hard to say how this show compares to others or previous years. I will say I had a good time and I got a lot of autographs even with a lot of guest cancellations.

At the last minute, the wife and I decided to switch hotels. Even though the other hotel was only 1.2 miles away, I Uber’ed back and forth. I did not want to walk a mile in 100 + degree heat with a backpack. I’m sure the Rio would have been good but we splurged a little.

Vegas was odd. It was more dead than normal during the week. Some of the hotel shops and restaurants were closed. Eating was a slight challenge. It was either very casual (mall food) or high-end dining experiences. The Rio did have a nice Fridays-like restaurant open and a nice breakfast place that was fast.

The Wife and I did some gambling during our stay.  Unfortunately, the Rio’s Poker room was closed. I wanted to play poker at the Rio which is the home to the World Series of Poker.

The guest list was in flux even as the convention was running. A few cancellations occurred after opening night and additional guests were added a few days before the close. The organizers hustled to keep the guest count at 100 people.

Most of the guests/actors had tables in the vendor’s room. You could approach any time. Some actors only appeared on the days of their panels or photo op schedule. That can be expected. Because of the duration of this convention, most lines for autographs were only a few people deep. Wednesday was a very productive autograph day for me.  By Thursday, I had just about everyone in the vendor room. The exceptions were people scheduled for later in the week.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were short days for me. I only needed to get the people appearing in the main theater. These were the larger names and would have larger lines.  The convention holds these signings in the main theater to accommodate the ‘gold’ level attendees. This way the gold level could sit in their assigned seats and listen to the panels as they waited for their row to be called. It’s a nice perk.

While waiting for guests’ availability, I sat in the main theater and listened to some panels. As with any convention, some panels were interesting and some weren’t. I spent a lot of time playing Pokémon Go. Even met a fellow player that was from Tucson.

The fans were friendly but by Saturday many were tried and getting cranky. That is not an uncommon for shows that run multiple days.

The vendor room was smallish. I would say it was easily less than 100 vendors. There were a few podcasters there. There were a few vendors selling autographs. One unique vender (Jewels of the Earth) sold jewelry from meteorites. The Wife now has a pair of earrings. Not quite as romantic as Leonard’s snowflake to Penny (Big Bang Theory) but the material has traveled billions of miles – I get points for distance, right?

While listening to the panels, I noticed that the ‘Trekkie’ vs ‘Trekker’ division is back. How did we return to that silly elitist mindset?  A couple of moderators, nodded approvingly when an actor stated they were a ’Trekker’.  One of the moderators even re-enforced that behavior with a comment like ‘Yes, Trekker’. So much for infinite diversity and inclusion.  I grew up with Star Trek and always considered myself a Trekkie. It is odd we are revisiting this old battle. It's unneeded drama and tells me are not as mature and enlightened as we think we are. As I listened to panels and fans speak, I see these are no longer my people. I’m not part of this community anymore. 

AH