It's the Con That Got Small

Before I left Denver for Virginia almost six years ago, I used to attend Denver's local Star Trek convention every time it came around, spring and fall. I'd been to every one for about 7 or 8 years, and always really enjoyed it. When I left Denver, of course, that came to an end. My convention-going in general came to an end, too. I attended over a dozen events during my time at Decipher, but always as an exhibitor. Always to work. I hadn't gone as a fan since my last Denver Trek convention. Well, this weekend was the spring Star Trek convention here, and I decided to go down and check it out, to see if I could recapture any of the fan feeling I used to get from conventions.

If you needed any further proof of the decline of the Star Trek property, it was this convention. The last time I'd been to "StarFest" in 1999, the event drew about 5,000 people. Depending on the guests, they sometimes had even more. (Patrick Stewart came one year, for example, and they nearly pulled in 10,000.) Times have changed. Despite having William Shatner on the guest list (albeit for Sunday only), there were I'd estimate under 2,000 people there this time.

The con had moved from its regular hotel to a new, smaller venue. They neither needed nor could afford the older, larger one. I'm told the normal spring/fall rotation is no longer in effect here. The local fan organization has cancelled the fall incarnation of the con, and now does spring only. The dealer's room was roughly the size of the art show room at one of the large summer game cons. There were only around 20 exhibitors. There were only about 7 or 8 rooms of scheduled programming.

There was still a little fun to be had. I saw a few of the guest actors in their talks on stage. In particular, I quite enjoyed hearing Jeffrey Combs (the awesomely talented actor behind Brunt, Weyoun, and Shran). Nevertheless, within only a few hours, I felt like I'd seen everything worth seeing at the show. I could go back tomorrow for Shatner, I suppose, but it doesn't seem worth shelling out money for a pass for another day. I saw Shatner the first time the Denver con hosted him back in the 90s. There were about 8,500 con attendees that year.

I think my fanboy factor is still big; it's the con that got small. That said, maybe five years of working cons did sap me a little of the ability to go to one for fun as a fan. Who knows?