Space City Con - Jan. 2014 - B5 Reunion

[Looney]

SPACE CITY CON IS BACK ! ! ! !

http://spacecitycomiccon.com/guests.html

Unfortunately no one from Babylon 5 is scheduled to be there. . . yet. Still there are some worthy names on the list. May need to make a trip to Texas to visit Mom about that time. Looks like it will be at a big venue that is actually in Houston this time.

[babylonlurker]

SPACE CITY CON IS BACK ! ! ! !

http://spacecitycomiccon.com/guests.html

Unfortunately no one from Babylon 5 is scheduled to be there. . . yet. Still there are some worthy names on the list. May need to make a trip to Texas to visit Mom about that time. Looks like it will be at a big venue that is actually in Houston this time.

I am tempted, but "no can do" this time.
Would have been fun to meet again, though, Looney.

[Looney]

I am tempted, but "no can do" this time.
Would have been fun to meet again, though, Looney.

Yeah it would be so great to hang out with you again babylonlurker. It is a real shame it isn't another B5 reunion with some of the people who weren't there in 2014 like JMS and Walter Koenig. I will keep my fingers crossed for a 25TH Anniversary Celebration.

I don't think it is really worth it for me to try to go to this Space City Con, unless some guests get added whom I can't resist.

[Jan]

Glad to see that it's going to happen again. Looks like it's a pretty central location, but not too 'high-rent', either.

Jan

[Looney]

Guest list updated!

http://spacecitycomiccon.com/guests.html

Looking more and more like Looney might take a trip to Houston to visit his mother in late July. If Marshall Teague is going to be there it might be my chance to get an even better picture with him than babylonlurker did. I'll have to start planning now. Possibly have him stab me with the sword.

Actually maybe we should start a thread or a poll to see who has the best B5 fan pic. I think babylonlurker's would be up toward the top of the list, if not the top. The only thing that might have made it better is if one of them was in full Ta'Lon costume.

[Looney]

Well it is very last minute, but it looks like Looney is indeed headed to Space City Con 2015. I honestly don't know why because it appears to, once again, be a Con that is not very well organized. It starts Friday and there still isn't much of a schedule posted on their site unless you are only going to spend a small fortune on Photo Ops. Plus what is scheduled is changing constantly.

On top of that issue there are guests listed on the site's schedule that aren't even listed as guests on the guests page. And there are guests listed on Facebook that are not listed on their site.

They also have autograph pre-sales which now say "Sold Out", but I assume that is simply a deadline issue. It says cash will be accepted on site. Where it gets tricky is William Shatner and Robert Picardo's autograph pre-sales say "Limited Quantity" and "Sold Out". I will be quite upset if I can't get Picardo. Along those same lines, the autograph and photo op pricing seems ridiculous in most cases. Maybe I just don't realize what huge stars some of these people are in realms I am unaware of, but there are way too many $40-$60 range autographs and photo ops in my opinion. Maybe the organizers feel that the venue being more recognizable and more central to the Houston metro area will bring in more people looking to spend a lot of money, but I know it has definitely discouraged me from attempting to meet most of the people I'd like to meet.

Which brings me to the biggest slap in the face of it all. Like the B5 Reunion of 2014 they are billing this as Star Trek Voyager's 20TH Anniversary Reunion Con. They have seven people from the cast. They are having a Cast Q&A that looks like the equivalent of the B5 Reunion panel with one huge difference, you have to pay an additional $20 for a ticket to attend. I know that isn't going to break the bank, but it just seems wrong. That is the one panel of the weekend that the masses will want to attend and now they are getting stuck for it. I can't imagine how mad I would have been if they did this for the B5 Reunion Panel. I would have paid it without hesitation, but I wouldn't have been happy about it. Thankfully I have no interest in going. I've only seen a few scattered episodes of Voyager. It seems like such a slap in the face to all those fans coming to see these people. On top of that they don't have many free Voyager panels on the schedule yet.

The positive is that I get to meet Marshall Teague again, so I am glad I get to go. I don't know if it gets mentioned enough, but I sure would have liked to see B5 continue with the cast who took over. Ta'Lon in particular could have had sooo many adventures in his new role.

[Looney]

WOW! Now all FREE Voyager Cast panels have been removed from this 20TH Anniversary Reunion Con. Now the only panel on the schedule with any cast members will cost Fans an additional $20. Having pointed this out I should also say that it can change at any moment. I think the B5 20TH Anniversary Con schedule didn't list all of the panels until the night before the Con started. Then when you arrived the next day they told you to ignore the schedule they had printed up and were planning to hand out for one that was coming from the printer well after the Con started. Still I would be hugely upset if I was a Voyager fan. I am very upset because one they removed was Robert Picardo's Q&A and I had questions about Stargate, The Mentalist, and other stuff he is involved in.

[Looney]

WOOOOO-HOOOOO ! ! ! A Marshall Teague panel showed up on the schedule for tomorrow afternoon. He had a solo panel in 2014 that was pretty good.

Anyone have any questions they want me to ask Ta'Lon?

[Jan]

Hope he brings Ta'Lon's sword again. That was so cool! Let us know what he's working on now, okay?

Jan

[babylonlurker]

Hope he brings Ta'Lon's sword again. That was so cool! Let us know what he's working on now, okay?

Jan

Oh, yes, that was *extremely cool* . Thanks Looney for reporting, I am looking forward to more. Agree with Jan. Current work.

[Jan]

Looks like he could stand to go all Ta'Lon on the airline:

Marshall R Teague @MarshallRTeague BIG ? Will I make @ComicConHouston #Houston @AmericanAir stuck at #DFW bumped off conf. am flight stuck as #Standby REALLY?? #nosymphathy

Hope he makes it okay.

Jan

[phazedout]

Reading about this and also the feedback thread for LFCC (Lopndon Film and ComicCon) I note the overhwlemign commercialisation of these cons. I've been to two, large, american ones (Phoenix Comicon and Dragon Con) and by and large they were not hugely pay based. Many cons with film and television based acting professionals are increasingly pay pay pay, for panels, for auto, for photos etc.

Compare the majority of my con experiences, which are discworld based. Hotel and membership, that is it. I've never been to any panel at a discworld con which required additional money (although anyone who's been with me at a charity auction might disagree).

Thoughts?

Also Jan if you wish to wield the giant mod stick and split this kind of thing off in to a separate thread, feel free.

[Looney]

I can report that the more I look at the Space City COMIC Con, sorry I didn't say that earlier as it is the new official name, schedule I see that there are more pay events than I thought. For instance you can train with Miltros Yerolemou of Game of Thrones fame. He was at Space City Con 2014, but I don't remember it costing an additional $50. I could be wrong. Maybe there was an additional fee of $50 for that, but I don't remember seeing it when I was there. All I know is, as of right now, none of the panels I plan to attend cost an additional fee. I expect that might change when I arrive, just like I know the schedule will be changed - just like 2014.

And now I have to go get ready. #FREEBABYLON5 shirt ready for action. (I am actually wearing out the one that fits me best.)