Post by Janeway Forever on Jun 16, 2008 14:22:01 GMT -5
Ok guys, here's my report from the now debunked FedConUSA convention.....this is only my story. So, I will answer other questions that aren't answered in here. This is also my myspace blog, so there will be info in here (like the fact I'm a Voyager fan ;D ) that y'all already know.....
A few months ago, I bought tickets to FedConUSA, a sci-fi convention in Dallas, TX. I had decided not to go, for a number of reasons that won't be mentioned. However, last week, when everything with Chris went to Hell, I decided that getting out of town was exactly what I needed. After all, what's a better way to get your mind off of things then by being with people who share your interests? And meeting your favorite stars?
While the guest list seemed to be in constant flux (A fact I was unaware of, up until a few days ago, because I had never been on the forum), I am a huge Voyager fan, and since Garrett Wang was a "confirmed" guest, I decided to make the trip. I was looking forward to seeing his Q&A session since I'd missed most of it when we went to the Cleveland convention. I was also interested in meeting John Billingsley again. I have never watched a full episode of Enterprise. But, I met him in the hotel bar at the Vulkon Columbus convention last year. He and his wife were funny, gracious, and down to earth. The rest of the guests I was unaware of, or had no real desire to meet.
Unlike other conventions, I did not have Tina and Mel with me. It was difficult to deal with at first; being in a strange city and knowing no one. It took me a few hours just to muster out of my hotel room and down to the convention area. I was slightly shocked to see so few people wondering around. It was right after the opening ceremonies had finished up. I hopped in line to pick up my ticket. They were slightly disorganized, however, from what I'd later hear, my experience was near perfect.
I sat in the lobby for a bit before the Early Bird Party. I met a very nice lady, Linda, who's a convention regular. She was one of the first to tell me of all the problems the convention seemed to be having. I had bought an economy ticket, because, not knowing who most of the stars were, the gold ticket seemed like a waste. As such, I was completely unaware of all the hassles the gold ticket holders had been going through. Autograph agreements had changed, promises had not been met, etc.
We made our way to the Early Bird Party, which was a massive disappointment. What had been promised as an exclusive party with the guests, turned out to be a bunch of fans sitting around talking amoungst themselves. After about two hours or so, John Billingsley and his wife Bonita Friedericy came in. They were so fun, walking around and introducing themselves to everyone there. John even remembered me from Columbus! Once the music started (the promised d.j. never showed up, and rather we had songs playing from Chuck's laptop), Bonita pulled a big group of us up there to dance.
Around ten or so, it really started to die down. Perhaps people had gone to the Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast. My newfound friends left, and so I migrated to another table. Thank God I did! I met Elishka at that table! She was the one purely good thing about the whole weekend. Her friends left shortly after, and we sat there talking for a while. Then, someone tipped us off that Garrett Wang and Conner Trinneer were in the bar. Heading that way, we ran into Garrett in the lobby and stopped to talk for a minute. Then, heading into the bar, we were amazed to find that their "specials" were $9!! I've been to expensive bars in my life before, but seriously!! And so we each had a drink. But only one.
We were sitting around trying to figure out what to do, since neither of us was ready to sleep, but nothing seemed to be going on. A guy walked past our table, and made eye contact, so I smiled at him. I only realized, after he passed, that it was Conner Trinneer. I looked over to see Elishka in total disbelief. I believe I said "hey, isn't that your guy?" It took her a minute to compose herself. A bit later we decided to go check out the Rocky Horror thing. That only lasted a few minutes. There was just far too much going on for my poor ADD to keep up. So we walked back up to the party room. It was d**n near empty (at 11), though it was supposed to last until 2. In the corner though, Bonita, John, and Conner were talking with a group of fans. Ellie and I headed over there, and when a guy moved out of the semi-circle, I pushed her into his spot. She was about three feet away from Conner.
We all stood there talking, and listening to stories for about thirty minutes, until John realized that they'd packed up the bar and left. So, we all shifted to the hotel bar. It was, perhaps 11:30. Unfortunately, the hotel bar was also doing last call. Whoever heard of a bar closing at midnight?
? We grabbed a bunch of tables and put them together. And basically, for the next hour, John and Conner shared stories. Even though I've never watched Enterprise, it was still a good ending to a long day. I excused myself and headed to bed around 12:30.
Waking up the next morning, I headed down stairs at 9:00 to purchase my ticket for Garrett's photo op. Unfortunately, the registration desk was not yet opened. Heading back upstairs, I found Elishka in the lobby. We talked for a bit, then at 9:30 made our way back down. Waiting in line, we also ran into Linda. She told us that neither Anthony Montgomery or Richard Hatch were going to make it to the convention. The ilne moved slowly, and we stood for about forty-five minutes. I was interested to watch the ladies infront of us get their tickets. They were buying single day passes, and their tickets were nothing more than carnival tickets (like you'd see at the fair), with their names written on the back of them.
I asked to purchase a photo op picture with Garrett, and his name was the only one not on the price list. The lady I spoke with asked Tom (I believe it was) to find out how much his was. We stood there an additional ten minutes waiting, and eventually were asked to "return in a few minutes." I told her nevermind, that I'd just track Garrett down and get a picture myself. I was highly irritated.
We walked over to the dealer's room, which wasn't opened yet, and discussed how very unorganized this convention was turning out to be. We had no clue what we were in for. The dealer's room, when it did open, was nice sized. However, I wasn't very impressed with the merchandise. Tina had asked me to get her another Starfleet Academy sticker since she'd lost her last one. However, there was very limited Star Trek merchandise available, and no stickers.
We left in time to make it to Billingsley's Q&A. Having had a bit to cool down, I told Ellie I was going to find out if they'd ever determined how much Garrett's picture would be. She headed into the Q&A, and I went to the registration desk. The girl looked at me, and handed me the slip. I asked her how much it was. And she said there was no charge, for me to just take it. I am sure now, that she knew what was about to happen.
I went, and got my picture done with Garrett. I was surprised to find that there was no line whatsoever. I was also happy to see him in green (not his signature black). Then I headed into the Q&A session. Ellie was easy to find in the uncrowded room. We listened and laughed as Bonita and John entertained the crowd. Around 11:15, 30 minutes before it was scheduled to end, Richard Anderson (the emcee for the event) came in and said he had to make an announcement. He told us that they'd all worked hard to stop this from happening, but that they had no other choice but to cancel the rest of the convention.
We were in shock. No one knew what to say. Fortunately, John Billingsley became an advocate for the fans. He said that he would not leave that room until every question had been answered. He pressured Richard to find the people who were responsible and have them in the room as well. He became a facilitator for very difficult questions.
He also gained huge respect amongst the fans. It was refreshing to know that the stars were just as upset at Tim Brazeal's behavior as we as fans were. He told us that should we not get full refunds, to contact him, and he would see to it that all money was returned to all people. He said that FedCon NEVER should have allowed their name to be used, because it gave fans a false sense of security. He said that the way this convention was handled was completely unforgivable. He agreed to honor ALL gold passes for autographs. And urged the other stars to do the same. Had it not been for John, I doubt the cancellation would have gone as smoothly.
And so, the hotel moved us all into the autograph room. There, until 3pm, the stars and fans mingled, and tried to salvage whatever fun might be had. Ellie got Connor's autograph and a picture with him. We both got Garrett's autograph. And we got a picture with John and Bonita. Everyone did their absolute best to make a horrible situation manageable.
However, at 12:30, we'd met everyone that we were going to meet, and proceeded to try and figure out how we were going to spend the next 24+ hours with no way to leave the hotel. That's when Rob came and talked to us. He was so sweet! He had driven to the convention from Odessa, TX. And he offered to run us (well me) to the liquor store and to get food. There was no way I was going to pay $9 a drink all night long. And if I was going to salvage this horrendous weekend at all, I was going to need alcohol to do it.
We stopped at a gas station and I asked the attendant where I could find liquor. He pointed me to the back where they had their beer and wine. I told him that I needed the hard stuff, and he pointed me in the direction of the closest liquor store (20 minutes away). We made it, and I got my midori. Then we had lunch at a restaurant called Burgers and Brats. We swapped stories of other conventions, who we'd wanted to meet, what we were going to do for the next 24 hours, etc.
Back at the hotel we decided it was too early to start drinking. So we sat around talking to other dejected attendees who were trying to figure out what to do. I met a guy who's shirt had Captain Proton and Buster Koncaid on it! I took pictures of them. Walking downstairs to take a picture of the "cancelled" sign, I overheard a lady talking to a hotel employee. She'd just arrived with her son, who appeared to be seven or eight, and was saying that she'd driven from Irving to bring him down. How horrible I felt for him. As an adult, it sucks, but I can process it. I can't imagine how in the world I would have explained it to Richie, had he been with me.
Then we met Pipa. Pipa had just arrived, and walked downstairs to find it deserted. We tried to help her track down someone who could give her a refund. She had paid cash onsite the day before. All they did was take down her information and tell her someone would be in contact. At five we decided it was time to drink. And we headed to the bar. Rob left us at that point, so it was Ellie, Pipa and I.
Our first round was bought by Chuck (Tim's son). When he heard that Pipa hadn't gotten her money back, he offered her his digital camera. She refused, of course. I felt very bad for him. He had pretty much been brought down there at the last minute to try and save the convention. And now, he had to carry the burden on his shoulders when it should have been his father's.
We laughed, and tried to make the best of the situation. We even came up with an idea for the ultimate scavenger hunt! The bad service in the bar didn't help us much. I ordered a junebug. When the bartender didn't know how to make it, I even told her how. They still made it incorrectly. Around six or so, John and Bonita came down to the bar. When Pipa left us, Ellie and I migrated to Chuck and Eric's table.
Chuck went over to the bar and got me a properly made junebug. Bonita came over and talked with us for a while. She is such a nice lady! She even bought us a round of buttery nipples! They were the running joke of the night. It was eight o'clock. And I was already drunk. Unfortunately, I realized too late, that it was not going to be a fun drunk night. It was going to be a depressing drunk night.
Someone, probably me, brought up Grey's Anatomy. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was talking about Chris. It started out small. But just seemed to get bigger and bigger. It was too late. I couldn't stop myself.
Around nine or so we went up to Chuck's suite. There were probably about ten of us or so. I went out on the patio. There was a lady out there, and I don't remember what her name was, but I just went off on a Chris rampage. She was very sweet, and reminded me that Chris is a coward, and that is not a reflection of me.
I calmed myself down and went back inside. I was discussing Janeway and having a good time. Until I picked up my phone. I had a friend whom, even though I'd talked to him earlier, I could sense that he was avoiding me. I texted him and when I found out the reason, I just had a complete emotional meltdown.
At 11:30 or so, I went into Chuck's room, and sat on the chair. People kept coming in and talking to me but I was just out of it. At some point I slid off the chair and ended up in a ball on the floor. It had nothing to do with my friend. And everything to do with Chris. Apparently, I am not as over all of it as I want to believe. I laid there on the floor for about an hour. Everyone tried to get me to leave. But I couldn't move. I was stuck. Finally, after everybody else had left, I got up and slipped out of the room.
I slipped into bed and slept. The next morning, I couldn't believe that I'd let myself do that. I should have known better than to get that drunk so quickly after the whole thing. I should have known that Chris would resurface.
Ellie and I hung out in the room until 11:30 or so. Then we went ahead and headed over to the airport. She was able to get on an earlier flight (her original was scheduled for 8:30 that night). So we grabbed lunch and then parted ways. I sat at my gate for about three hours just wanting nothing more than to get out of Dallas.
Finally, they boarded the plane. Then, once we were all on there, they told us that maintanence had to check the windshield. We sat on the VERY warm airplane, at the gate, for an hour and a half. I was nearly on the verge of tears by the time that the plane took off.
My getaway trip turned out to be a huge mistake. Ofcourse, there were a few bright spots...but overall, I felt worse when I got home then when I'd left.
I did my absolute best to make the best of a bad situation, but the more I sit here and think about it, the angrier I get. They knew, days in advance that they were not going to be able to make this work. They should have cancelled this convention long before any of us ever got there. I could have gone somewhere else. I could have spared myself the hotel fee (as well as the embarrassment of an emotional breakdown infront of people who don't know shit about me).
A few months ago, I bought tickets to FedConUSA, a sci-fi convention in Dallas, TX. I had decided not to go, for a number of reasons that won't be mentioned. However, last week, when everything with Chris went to Hell, I decided that getting out of town was exactly what I needed. After all, what's a better way to get your mind off of things then by being with people who share your interests? And meeting your favorite stars?
While the guest list seemed to be in constant flux (A fact I was unaware of, up until a few days ago, because I had never been on the forum), I am a huge Voyager fan, and since Garrett Wang was a "confirmed" guest, I decided to make the trip. I was looking forward to seeing his Q&A session since I'd missed most of it when we went to the Cleveland convention. I was also interested in meeting John Billingsley again. I have never watched a full episode of Enterprise. But, I met him in the hotel bar at the Vulkon Columbus convention last year. He and his wife were funny, gracious, and down to earth. The rest of the guests I was unaware of, or had no real desire to meet.
Unlike other conventions, I did not have Tina and Mel with me. It was difficult to deal with at first; being in a strange city and knowing no one. It took me a few hours just to muster out of my hotel room and down to the convention area. I was slightly shocked to see so few people wondering around. It was right after the opening ceremonies had finished up. I hopped in line to pick up my ticket. They were slightly disorganized, however, from what I'd later hear, my experience was near perfect.
I sat in the lobby for a bit before the Early Bird Party. I met a very nice lady, Linda, who's a convention regular. She was one of the first to tell me of all the problems the convention seemed to be having. I had bought an economy ticket, because, not knowing who most of the stars were, the gold ticket seemed like a waste. As such, I was completely unaware of all the hassles the gold ticket holders had been going through. Autograph agreements had changed, promises had not been met, etc.
We made our way to the Early Bird Party, which was a massive disappointment. What had been promised as an exclusive party with the guests, turned out to be a bunch of fans sitting around talking amoungst themselves. After about two hours or so, John Billingsley and his wife Bonita Friedericy came in. They were so fun, walking around and introducing themselves to everyone there. John even remembered me from Columbus! Once the music started (the promised d.j. never showed up, and rather we had songs playing from Chuck's laptop), Bonita pulled a big group of us up there to dance.
Around ten or so, it really started to die down. Perhaps people had gone to the Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast. My newfound friends left, and so I migrated to another table. Thank God I did! I met Elishka at that table! She was the one purely good thing about the whole weekend. Her friends left shortly after, and we sat there talking for a while. Then, someone tipped us off that Garrett Wang and Conner Trinneer were in the bar. Heading that way, we ran into Garrett in the lobby and stopped to talk for a minute. Then, heading into the bar, we were amazed to find that their "specials" were $9!! I've been to expensive bars in my life before, but seriously!! And so we each had a drink. But only one.
We were sitting around trying to figure out what to do, since neither of us was ready to sleep, but nothing seemed to be going on. A guy walked past our table, and made eye contact, so I smiled at him. I only realized, after he passed, that it was Conner Trinneer. I looked over to see Elishka in total disbelief. I believe I said "hey, isn't that your guy?" It took her a minute to compose herself. A bit later we decided to go check out the Rocky Horror thing. That only lasted a few minutes. There was just far too much going on for my poor ADD to keep up. So we walked back up to the party room. It was d**n near empty (at 11), though it was supposed to last until 2. In the corner though, Bonita, John, and Conner were talking with a group of fans. Ellie and I headed over there, and when a guy moved out of the semi-circle, I pushed her into his spot. She was about three feet away from Conner.
We all stood there talking, and listening to stories for about thirty minutes, until John realized that they'd packed up the bar and left. So, we all shifted to the hotel bar. It was, perhaps 11:30. Unfortunately, the hotel bar was also doing last call. Whoever heard of a bar closing at midnight?
? We grabbed a bunch of tables and put them together. And basically, for the next hour, John and Conner shared stories. Even though I've never watched Enterprise, it was still a good ending to a long day. I excused myself and headed to bed around 12:30. Waking up the next morning, I headed down stairs at 9:00 to purchase my ticket for Garrett's photo op. Unfortunately, the registration desk was not yet opened. Heading back upstairs, I found Elishka in the lobby. We talked for a bit, then at 9:30 made our way back down. Waiting in line, we also ran into Linda. She told us that neither Anthony Montgomery or Richard Hatch were going to make it to the convention. The ilne moved slowly, and we stood for about forty-five minutes. I was interested to watch the ladies infront of us get their tickets. They were buying single day passes, and their tickets were nothing more than carnival tickets (like you'd see at the fair), with their names written on the back of them.
I asked to purchase a photo op picture with Garrett, and his name was the only one not on the price list. The lady I spoke with asked Tom (I believe it was) to find out how much his was. We stood there an additional ten minutes waiting, and eventually were asked to "return in a few minutes." I told her nevermind, that I'd just track Garrett down and get a picture myself. I was highly irritated.
We walked over to the dealer's room, which wasn't opened yet, and discussed how very unorganized this convention was turning out to be. We had no clue what we were in for. The dealer's room, when it did open, was nice sized. However, I wasn't very impressed with the merchandise. Tina had asked me to get her another Starfleet Academy sticker since she'd lost her last one. However, there was very limited Star Trek merchandise available, and no stickers.
We left in time to make it to Billingsley's Q&A. Having had a bit to cool down, I told Ellie I was going to find out if they'd ever determined how much Garrett's picture would be. She headed into the Q&A, and I went to the registration desk. The girl looked at me, and handed me the slip. I asked her how much it was. And she said there was no charge, for me to just take it. I am sure now, that she knew what was about to happen.
I went, and got my picture done with Garrett. I was surprised to find that there was no line whatsoever. I was also happy to see him in green (not his signature black). Then I headed into the Q&A session. Ellie was easy to find in the uncrowded room. We listened and laughed as Bonita and John entertained the crowd. Around 11:15, 30 minutes before it was scheduled to end, Richard Anderson (the emcee for the event) came in and said he had to make an announcement. He told us that they'd all worked hard to stop this from happening, but that they had no other choice but to cancel the rest of the convention.
We were in shock. No one knew what to say. Fortunately, John Billingsley became an advocate for the fans. He said that he would not leave that room until every question had been answered. He pressured Richard to find the people who were responsible and have them in the room as well. He became a facilitator for very difficult questions.
He also gained huge respect amongst the fans. It was refreshing to know that the stars were just as upset at Tim Brazeal's behavior as we as fans were. He told us that should we not get full refunds, to contact him, and he would see to it that all money was returned to all people. He said that FedCon NEVER should have allowed their name to be used, because it gave fans a false sense of security. He said that the way this convention was handled was completely unforgivable. He agreed to honor ALL gold passes for autographs. And urged the other stars to do the same. Had it not been for John, I doubt the cancellation would have gone as smoothly.
And so, the hotel moved us all into the autograph room. There, until 3pm, the stars and fans mingled, and tried to salvage whatever fun might be had. Ellie got Connor's autograph and a picture with him. We both got Garrett's autograph. And we got a picture with John and Bonita. Everyone did their absolute best to make a horrible situation manageable.
However, at 12:30, we'd met everyone that we were going to meet, and proceeded to try and figure out how we were going to spend the next 24+ hours with no way to leave the hotel. That's when Rob came and talked to us. He was so sweet! He had driven to the convention from Odessa, TX. And he offered to run us (well me) to the liquor store and to get food. There was no way I was going to pay $9 a drink all night long. And if I was going to salvage this horrendous weekend at all, I was going to need alcohol to do it.
We stopped at a gas station and I asked the attendant where I could find liquor. He pointed me to the back where they had their beer and wine. I told him that I needed the hard stuff, and he pointed me in the direction of the closest liquor store (20 minutes away). We made it, and I got my midori. Then we had lunch at a restaurant called Burgers and Brats. We swapped stories of other conventions, who we'd wanted to meet, what we were going to do for the next 24 hours, etc.
Back at the hotel we decided it was too early to start drinking. So we sat around talking to other dejected attendees who were trying to figure out what to do. I met a guy who's shirt had Captain Proton and Buster Koncaid on it! I took pictures of them. Walking downstairs to take a picture of the "cancelled" sign, I overheard a lady talking to a hotel employee. She'd just arrived with her son, who appeared to be seven or eight, and was saying that she'd driven from Irving to bring him down. How horrible I felt for him. As an adult, it sucks, but I can process it. I can't imagine how in the world I would have explained it to Richie, had he been with me.
Then we met Pipa. Pipa had just arrived, and walked downstairs to find it deserted. We tried to help her track down someone who could give her a refund. She had paid cash onsite the day before. All they did was take down her information and tell her someone would be in contact. At five we decided it was time to drink. And we headed to the bar. Rob left us at that point, so it was Ellie, Pipa and I.
Our first round was bought by Chuck (Tim's son). When he heard that Pipa hadn't gotten her money back, he offered her his digital camera. She refused, of course. I felt very bad for him. He had pretty much been brought down there at the last minute to try and save the convention. And now, he had to carry the burden on his shoulders when it should have been his father's.
We laughed, and tried to make the best of the situation. We even came up with an idea for the ultimate scavenger hunt! The bad service in the bar didn't help us much. I ordered a junebug. When the bartender didn't know how to make it, I even told her how. They still made it incorrectly. Around six or so, John and Bonita came down to the bar. When Pipa left us, Ellie and I migrated to Chuck and Eric's table.
Chuck went over to the bar and got me a properly made junebug. Bonita came over and talked with us for a while. She is such a nice lady! She even bought us a round of buttery nipples! They were the running joke of the night. It was eight o'clock. And I was already drunk. Unfortunately, I realized too late, that it was not going to be a fun drunk night. It was going to be a depressing drunk night.
Someone, probably me, brought up Grey's Anatomy. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was talking about Chris. It started out small. But just seemed to get bigger and bigger. It was too late. I couldn't stop myself.
Around nine or so we went up to Chuck's suite. There were probably about ten of us or so. I went out on the patio. There was a lady out there, and I don't remember what her name was, but I just went off on a Chris rampage. She was very sweet, and reminded me that Chris is a coward, and that is not a reflection of me.
I calmed myself down and went back inside. I was discussing Janeway and having a good time. Until I picked up my phone. I had a friend whom, even though I'd talked to him earlier, I could sense that he was avoiding me. I texted him and when I found out the reason, I just had a complete emotional meltdown.
At 11:30 or so, I went into Chuck's room, and sat on the chair. People kept coming in and talking to me but I was just out of it. At some point I slid off the chair and ended up in a ball on the floor. It had nothing to do with my friend. And everything to do with Chris. Apparently, I am not as over all of it as I want to believe. I laid there on the floor for about an hour. Everyone tried to get me to leave. But I couldn't move. I was stuck. Finally, after everybody else had left, I got up and slipped out of the room.
I slipped into bed and slept. The next morning, I couldn't believe that I'd let myself do that. I should have known better than to get that drunk so quickly after the whole thing. I should have known that Chris would resurface.
Ellie and I hung out in the room until 11:30 or so. Then we went ahead and headed over to the airport. She was able to get on an earlier flight (her original was scheduled for 8:30 that night). So we grabbed lunch and then parted ways. I sat at my gate for about three hours just wanting nothing more than to get out of Dallas.
Finally, they boarded the plane. Then, once we were all on there, they told us that maintanence had to check the windshield. We sat on the VERY warm airplane, at the gate, for an hour and a half. I was nearly on the verge of tears by the time that the plane took off.
My getaway trip turned out to be a huge mistake. Ofcourse, there were a few bright spots...but overall, I felt worse when I got home then when I'd left.
I did my absolute best to make the best of a bad situation, but the more I sit here and think about it, the angrier I get. They knew, days in advance that they were not going to be able to make this work. They should have cancelled this convention long before any of us ever got there. I could have gone somewhere else. I could have spared myself the hotel fee (as well as the embarrassment of an emotional breakdown infront of people who don't know shit about me).
