Farpoint 2006 Convention Report

Thank you to everyone who came to this year's Farpoint. The convention was overall a wonderful experience for everyone, and we have received wonderful comments from all of our guests about the caring and friendly fans who attend our convention.

Friday started off with Happy Hour, our opening Banquet, panels, a performance by Prometheus Radio Theatre, live Charity Auction, Vic's Place karaoke and a late night showing of "Serenity" on the big screen. Guests who attended the banquet: Harve Bennett (Executive Producer, Star Trek movies II through V), Penny Johnson Jerald (Sherry Palmer, 24 and Kassidy Yates, Star Trek:DS9), Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye (co-authors, Myth series), Jack Stauffer (Bojay, Battlestar Galactica), Terry Rioux (biographer, DeForrest Kelley), Marc Okrand (linguist), Peter David (author), Kathleen David (editor and puppeteer), Inge Heyer (Hubble Space Telescope), Howard Weinstein (author), and Michael Jan Friedman (author). Convention attendees had the opportunity to visit with our guests and enjoy a great meal.

Prometheus Radio Theatre performed the latest chapter in their ongoing "Arbiter Chronicles" series with special guest Jack Stauffer. The performance was very well received, and showed once again that PRT deserves all the attention and accolades that have been coming their way.

This year's live Charity Auction raised $1,428.00 for our charities: The Julien Fleming Memorial Fund, All-Breed Search and Rescue, and The Epilepsy Foundation. Additional funds were raised on Saturday with the auction of "Harve Bassett", an original Wonder Twins creation for The Julien Fleming Fund. Thank you to all our convention attendees for the generosity and willingness to give.

Friday also had celebrations in honor of "Taken Liberty", the first book by Farpoint founder Steve Wilson, and the fifteenth anniversary of the USS Chesapeake, whose members volunteer many hours at Farpoint every year. Congratulations to Steve and the USS Chesapeake on these milestone achievements.

Farpoint 2006 was definitely the place to be for live music and theatre! Besides the performance by Prometheus Radio Theatre, convention members were treated to performances by The Great LukeSki, Boogie Knights, Luna-C and The Usual Suspects throughout the weekend. The Great LukeSki performed songs from his new CD that were well received. He also spent a lot of time visiting with fans and performed at Vic's Place on Friday. Luke's generosity with his time was very much appreciated, especially as he was recovering from a cold. The Sunday performance by The Usual Suspects was staged at 1pm this year to allow more convention members to see the hard work the cast and crew put in. This year's performance was certainly something special: "BatsALot", a Batman parody combined with the music of the show "SpamALot". The show was written by Ethan Wilson, with music adapted by Scott Farquhar and Steve Wilson.

All of our convention attendees had a wonderful time visiting with our guests Harve Bennett, Penny Johnson Jerald and Jack Stauffer. They were all very generous with their time during the autograph sessions and were thrilled to be with us in Maryland. This was Harve Bennett's first convention in 20 years, and our Farpoint members made it very special for him. There had been unconfirmed stories in the industry that Harve has been working on a memoir, and he came to Farpoint not intending to discuss his writing as it is in the early stages. Harve was so impressed by the dedication and caring of our fans, however, that he not only announced his book project, he actually READ the first chapter to the audience. What an incredible honor. One of the most interesting things to see was how interested Harve Bennett was in our other guests. He attended talks by several of our other presenters during the weekend, and was genuinely interested to hear what fans had to say about his work and the future of Star Trek.
Penny Johnson Jerald is a Baltimore native, and enjoyed some family time during Farpoint. Her nephews and niece were thrilled to see some of the costumed fans up close! Jack Stauffer entertained the fans with his cabaret act and told many wonderful stories about his work on the original Battlestar Galactica. All 3 of this year's actor guests want to come back to Farpoint next year!

Our author and scientists guests spent many hours talking with fans about topics covering a huge range of interests. Many thanks to Robert Asprin, Jody Lynn Nye, Terry Rioux, Marc Okrand, Peter David, Inge Heyer, Howard Weinstein, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Eric Kotani (Dr. Yoji Kondo), Robert Jeschonek, David Batchelor, and Richard White. We were very sorry to lose guests Tim Brazeal and James Cawley at the last minute. James came down with the flu, and Tim unfortunately was dealing with both an ill sister and the death of his brother. We unfortunately did not get the messages from them until near the end of the convention, and apologize to fans who were planning to attend their talks. The entire Farpoint family sends their condolences to the Brazeal family on their loss.

The GIV Squad was reactivated this year through the tireless efforts of committee member Nancy Kippax. We are always looking for people interested in helping for a few hours during the convention. GIV Squad members are still able to attend the activities they are interested in, but being a member gives you the chance to make Farpoint even better by lending a hand. GIV Squade members receive reserved seats at the front of the ballroom, a continental breakfast on Sunday with many of our guests, and autographs without standing in line.

The Art Show had a wonderful time in the Garden Room, its new location! The show and auction were both housed in the same room, making it very convenient for everyone. Next year, we're thinking of offering discussions related to the Art Show in the room as well.

Both Starfleet and the International Federal of Trekkers held meetings at Farpoint this weekend, and other local clubs and conventions were in attendance as well. We are always interested in working with local clubs throughout the year on club-related issues.

The Collective was back again this year with another wonderful display of models, and ran the annual model making contest throughout the weekend. We hope to get a list of the winners on the website soon. Thanks to Jim, Mary Ann and the other members of The Collective for their hard work.

The Masquerade was held on Saturday evening and featured wonderful costumes, with several entries by first-time participants. The judges were Penny Johnson Jerald, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Asprin, Jody Lynn Nye, Terry Rioux, Bob Greenberger, June Swords and Sarah Yaworsky. Everyone was entertained at halftime by Jack Stauffer and a new edition of "Whose Trek Is It Anyway". One of the most exciting parts of this year's competition was the large number of entries by fans under 12, seven in all. It looks like the future of costuming is bright! Our Masquerade team, led by Cindy Shockey, also staged several costuming panels during the weekend.

The Gaming Oasis was open from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, and was one of the places to be. Our hard working gaming staff take a lot of time putting together a selection of games and activities to appeal to all levels of game participants. You don't have to be a regular player of role-playing or strategy games to come to the Gaming Oasis. Along with these favorites we normally offer pickup card games, traditional board games, coloring, contests, jigsaw puzzles and "Dance Dance Revolution" which was a big hit.

Our Quark's Place con suite was jumping this year as more convention members each year use this amenity. Just a stone's throw away from the main ballroom Quark's Place offers a bit of quiet, a place to sit and chat, and snacks for a quick pick-me-up throughout the weekend.

Thanks to our many dealer members who came to Farpoint this year. This year's dealers room featured several dealers new to our convention.

Our own Scott Farquhar put on a great show as the new DJ at Ten Forward! He took a risk by offering a new type of program, music and video clips through the decades, and the place was jumping. Scott plans to do an all-request show next year and asks that you send your song requests to him so that he can be prepared with peoples' favorites.

Thank you to the many fans who offered topic ideas and their time to be panelists at this year's convention. We had a diverse selection of topics this year, and the entire weekend's schedule (guests, presentations, special events, performances, etc.) was put together by Renfield, our Program Chair, and held together by Karen Donnelly, our Program Logistics Chair, along with her talented team. Congratulations to all of them on a great job!

Con chairs Sandy Zier-Teitler and Sharon Van Blarcom send hugs, gratitude and a multitude of thanks to the entire committee, staff and helpers who made this convention go! Your hard work, loyalty and generosity is inspiring and always appreciated.

Finally, as always, our committee thanks all of the fans and friends who attend Farpoint. We stage this convention for you, and we couldn't do it without you!

Sharon Van Blarcom
Farpoint co-chair

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