Treklanta Review
I will be the first to admit, I am not a hard core trekkie but, my boyfriend is. Since his birthday was the previous weekend, I thought what could be more fun than going to a Star Trek convention? And despite a few hiccups, it was fun.
The con was smaller than I had anticipated, but small is not always bad. A small con allows you to get to know other fans, and be able to have more one on one conversations with the special guests.
It took a little time to get signed in and get our badges, but after some bugs were worked out, we were ready to go. This year’s theme was Klingons. They had a couple of panels that taught you how to make parts for your own Klingon costume, which I thought was fun and really cool.
We enjoyed sitting in on panels listening to the special guests (David Gerrold, Gary Graham, J.G. Hertzler, James Horan, and Scott L. Schwartz) talk about their time on Star Trek as well as other projects they have been a part of. My boyfriend got several more autograph pictures to add to his Star Trek actors collection. All the guests were engaging, enjoyable and fun to listen to tell stories about the different projects they had worked on.
If you needed a break, you could slip into the Star Trek Fan Film Festival room, and catch some original short films based in the Star Trek universe. There was also an artist’s alley that had some wonderful artists with amazing works. A dealer’s room was also available with lots of fun ways to spend your money.
The big attraction was the Miss Klingon Universe Beauty Pageant. It is such a draw that there was even a participant from Germany! She had a film crew that was shooting her participation for a show back in Germany. Very exciting. I got to talk to her a little, and she was very sweet, and enjoyed engaging with all the fans at the con. There was also a Klingon opera singer, Konora the Klingon, who dazzled us with her superior pipes.
The main event of the weekend was a Star Trek themed wedding which was sweet and definitely unique. Everyone at the con was invited too! The couple had met last year at Treklanta, and decided to share their vows with their Treklanta family. It was very true to the fandom and there were a few teary eyes in the audience.
Sunday, we kept with the theme and spent the day watching all the episodes of Star Trek that each of the special guests had been in. Many many episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes were watched that day.
A few notes: Since the convention is small, it might be better served if they combined forces with another small space/fan convention​. The current programming for Treklanta feels more suited to a single day or a single track at a larger event. Hopefully, this could help encourage a new audience to get involved and help with the dwindling attendance.
