Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Civil warp: Dueling ‘Star Trek’ conventions duke it out for Las Vegas supremacy

Creation Entertainment's: "Star Trek: The Official Convention 2002."

In the early years of the "Star Trek" galaxy, the evil Klingon Empire waged war against the United Federation of Planets.

In subsequent series the Klingons became allies, while the Romulans loomed as their chief adversaries.

For Las Vegans, though, the conflict is even more sinister: Trekker vs. Trekker.

In a strange twist of fate and odd scheduling Las Vegas hosts two national "Star Trek"/scifi conventions a month apart.

Friday through Sunday, Creation Entertainment beams into Las Vegas with "Star Trek: The Official Convention 2002" at Las Vegas Hilton. And on Sept. 6 through Sept. 8, Slanted Fedora Entertainment warps into town at the Alexis Park Resort, 375 E. Harmon Ave. (No official event title has yet been announced for the Slanted Fedora convention.)

"It's very unusual," Leonard Nimoy said of the dueling Las Vegas conventions, one of which Creation has booked the former Mr. Spock. "I would say, in this case, there really is an unfortunate territorial battle going on."

The "battle" for local "Star Trek" fans began several months ago when Slanted Fedora posted a link titled "Vegas Wars!!!" on its website: slantedfedora.com.

Though the link has since been removed, in a statement on the Web page, Slanted Fedora said it had scheduled their convention nearly a year before Creation's was announced.

The Vegas Wars page also included a lengthy (37 pages) sidebyside comparison of both conventions, from scheduled appearances by "Star Trek" series stars (as well as those from other scifi TV shows and movies), to ticket prices and cost of autographs.

For example, Slanted Fedora stated, "Every one of our guests appearing live at the show will sign an inperson autograph for all VIP ticket holders at no additional price. When we contract for a guest, we prepay the guest to sign for all. No hidden costs."

The Slanted Fedora guests will include: William Shatner from the original TV series, Avery Brooks from "Deep Space Nine," and Jolene Blalock and Connor Trinneer from the latest "Star Trek" series, "Enterprise."

Slanted Fedora claimed patrons attending Creation's event would be charged additional costs for autographs from the convention's top guests: Nimoy, Kate Mulgrew from "Voyager," Majel Barrett from "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: Next Generation" and Terry Farrell from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," among others.

"I haven't done a lot of conventions," Mulgrew said. "(But) in my experience Creation is beautifully structured and executed, every time."

General admission to the Creation show is $35, and separate autograph fees range from $60 for Nimoy, to $10 for Chase Masterson, who played Leeta on "Deep Space Nine." Admission to Slanted Fedora is $250, but there are no additional fees for autographs.

When contacted via e-mail, Dave Scott, who heads Slanted Fedora, which is based in Shawnee, Kan., said he was not interested in discussing the dueling conventions.

Slanted Fedora's "Star Trek"/science-fiction convention.

Gary Berman, co-owner and creator of Creation, acknowledged it is unusual for two "Star Trek" conventions to be held in the same city, let alone just a month apart.

"This is kind of a rarity because I think both promoters have tried to put on dense programs of other guests," he said from Creation Entertainment offices in Glendale, Calif. "Pretty much the whole 'Star Trek' world will be there within a month, which is nice for 'Star Trek' fans."

However, Berman said the short time span between events was not done out of spite.

"It took quite a few years for the Hilton management to agree to let us in," he said.

In fact, it was only 10 months ago that both the Hilton and Creation came to a deal.

"They had announced theirs even the year prior, when we were trying to arrange for our event," Berman said. "Did we know about their convention? Honestly, yes.

"(But), the availability of the Hilton, and when they would allow the event in, affected when the event would run. That's why we have another event taking place."

Berman said he is friendly with Scott, having talked with him at previous conventions, and that neither promoter is facing a "do-or-die situation."

"It's a big world," he said. "There's enough room for everybody."

Mulgrew agreed.

"Well I can only conclude that if I were a promoter, I wouldn't undertake such an endeavor unless I believed that there was" a big enough fan base to support two conventions. "In my experience there certainly has been, a great allegiance from the 'Voyager' fans."

Meanwhile, Nimoy, who is being presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by Creation Entertainment (Shatner is scheduled to present it), said he was curious about how it all plays out.

"These things are very expensive to produce. And I don't know if there is enough critical mass to support two of them within (several) weeks of each other," he said. "I don't know."

But from what Creation has told him thus far, Nimoy said the first convention has not been hurt by its competition a month later.

"The people I'm coming for ... are telling me that their advance is highly successful," he said. "They're very, very pleased with what's happening: the number of people coming, the number of people rooms rented. There's actually a chartered flight of 'Star Trek' fans coming from Europe.

"It's going to be a big crowd. It's going to be a big deal."

archive