Convention attendees check out the collectables for sale in one of the two vendors area.

     The first guest to appear on stage was long time Gene Roddenberry associate Richard Arnold. He reviewed the history of Star Trek from the original TV series to the current Star Trek Voyager. He provided a lot of insight to what went on behind the scenes in the making of all of the Star Trek TV shows and movies. For example, Lucile Ball was one of the people responsible for getting NBC to air a second Star Trek pilot show after the first one didn't impress them. Later in the day Mr. Arnold talked about the remaining Star Trek Voyager episodes for the season (the final one will be a cliffhanger) and mentioned that a new Star Trek television show was in the works. He wouldn't elaborate on that.

     The next guest to appear was June Lockhart from Lost In Space, Lassie, Petticoat Junction and General Hospital fame. She discussed her role as the mom on Lost In Space and how a lot of the science fiction on that show has now become reality. She then went on to talk about how many scientific innovations we use every day were originally developed for the astronauts. Who would have know June Lockhart was such a technology buff. Overall, she was just as charming and friendly in person as she is on TV.

June Lockhart reminiscing with the audience about Lost In Space.

     The following event was the no minimum bid auction of Trek and other SciFi items. One of the highlights of the auction was a autographed picture of the entire cast of Star Trek The Next Generation. It sold for $575.

     The next guest to grace the stage was Grace Lee Whitney. She is the actress who played Yeoman Janice Rand on the original Star Trek TV show. Ms. Whitney started to talk about her experiences on the original television series. She then went on to mention how she was forced to leave show because of some sexual harassment incident that happened (we will have to read her book to get the details). Then  Whitney began to talk about her book. The book tells the story of her Star Trek days, her bout with alcohol and substance abuse and finally her recovery. When William Shatner's wife drowned (who was supposedly drunk at the time) Whitney called Shatner. She consoled him by letting him know that it wasn't his fault. That alcoholics can only help themselves. It was kind of sad to hear about her experiences but Ms. Whitney has made it through them very well. The title of her book is The Longest Trek, My Tour of the Galaxy. The book is widely available and you can purchase it online at bn.com or amazon.com. Whitney said she would like to see her book turned into a TV movie of the week. She would like Heather Locklear to portray her in the movie. She also talked about how she loved making a guest appearance on a episode of Voyager. Whitney played Commander Rand serving on the starship Excelsior under the lead of Captain Sulu. She also played that role in 3 of the Star Trek movies. There are so many fans that would like to see the Excelsior back. It has become a movement to convince Paramount to create a television show based around the Excelsior (see website: excelsior.iftcommand.com ). Whitney mentioned this as well. It was great to see a cast member from the original Star Trek series at the convention.

Grace Lee Whitney posing with the editor of SciFi Times who was having a bad hair day.

    Following Grace Lee Whitney was the costume competition. Three guys dressed as the Space Marines from Aliens took First Prize. A Federation Officer turned Borg ( seen in the following photo) took second place. 

A member of the audience was assimilated.

    Throughout the day preview clips of upcoming movies were shown including Dinosaur, Battlefield Earth and of course X-Men starring Patrick Stewart (official site: www.x-men-the-movie.com). A promotional clip for the TV series Harsh Realms which will be coming to FX was also shown. 

      The finally of the convention was the arrival of Patrick Stewart. He just finished a matinee performance of the Broadway play The Ride Down Mount Morgan. Because of this he said he was feeling tired and losing his voice so he wouldn't be able to stay too long. He ended up staying on stage for about 45 minutes. He talk about his role in the upcoming X-Men movie and how the creators of the film spent a lot of attention to detail. Mr. Stewart asked the audience if they considered X-Men to be SciFi or Fantasy. Most people said fantasy. He talked about his future with Star Trek. At one point Paramount Pictures had no plans for a motion picture with the Next Generation cast but now that has changed. He didn't comment any further on it. 

     A lot of interesting facts came out as  Stewart began a question and answer session with the audience. He wasn't aware that X-Men fans wanted him to play the part of Charles Xavier in X-men until he already started the project. He also stated that he prepared for his role in X-Men by reading comic books, watching the X-men animated series and practicing using a wheelchair.

      In response to one question he admitted he deliberately took very different roles from Captain Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation after the series ended. He wanted to be know as an actor rather then just Picard. When asked if he would appear in A Christmas Carol again on Broadway he said he didn't think he would do it for a long time. Although he did it 3 times and enjoyed doing it, he didn't want to do the same thing over and over. Stewart did note that Star Trek fans were the early supporters of that show. Someone in the audience asked if he planned to work with members of the  Generations cast again. He responded by saying that he and Jonathan Frakes talk about it all the time. He keeps in touch with the cast of Generations because they are too important to his life. Mr. Stewart proved to be a very entertaining guest. He was very friendly with the audience and displayed a great sense of humor.

Actor Patrick Stewart answering questions from the audience.

     Everyone who was at the convention seemed to be having a good time. There were about 400 to 500 people attending. The atmosphere of the convention didn't seem to be as festive and exciting as it should have been. The reason could have been because of the small number of guests who appeared. Creations Entertainment who organized the convention might have been better off limiting it to one day. Combining all the guest appearances to one day for a bigger impact. It doesn't help that most TV/movie celebrities live on the west coast. Hopefully for the next SciFi convention on the east coast there will be more celebrities visiting.

Actor Jerome Blake who played 5 different alien  characters in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.