Star Trek Conventions

For the main convention page, see Conventions. For a list of Star Trek cons, see :Category:Star Trek Conventions.
==Star Trek Presence at Science Fiction Cons==
Star Trek programmng first appeared at general science fiction conventions.
The earliest known Star Trek presence was the September 1-5, 1966 "Tricon World Science Fiction Convention" in Cleveland, Ohio. Gene Roddenberry attended, and he promoted his Star Trek series which was going to air the following week. Roddenberry showed con attendees the first two pilot episodes for the series, "The Cage" (uncut original version) and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (revised version, as this episode was already slated to air). 
Another early Star Trek presence was also at FunCon in 1968: 
 
==The Very First All-Star Trek Con== 
 [[Image:startrekcon1969.jpg|thumb|cover of early con program from 1969 University of Iowa Digital Library There were about 300 attendees.]]
==The First Major Star Trek Cons==
For much more see: Star Trek Lives!.
The first major Star Trek convention, Star Trek Lives!, run by Joan Winston and others, was held in New York in 1972 and drew 3,000 people. The 1973 convention drew 6,000, and in 1974, 15,000 people attended and 6,000 more were turned away at the door. These cons vied to have the largest number of professional guest stars.
The 1975 Star Trek Convention was one of transition. First, there was a split in leadership with Devra Langsam becoming chair, stating that this con's association with Al Schuster was finished. This con also promised to limit membership to 8000. 
From a flyer in Probe #1: 
==The Rise and Fall of the Star Trek Supercon==
 
The first major Star Trek cons, the ones with celebrity guests, were huge affairs; fun for some, much less so for others. After a number of these monster supercons, attendance began to dwindle. Some people felt this was because the market was saturated, that even the ravenous hunger fans had for these gatherings began to fade. Others pointed to the kind of fans that attended different kinds of cons; many Star Trek fans complained that the large, for-profit cons were so big that they never got to do what they really wanted to, which was to see talk and interact with other fans on a more meaningful level. Some fans complained of cons being overrun by casual fans that asked the same shallow questions over and over again and added little depth to interactions. Some fans resented the hefty prices cons were charging, and they resented the increasing amount of hucksters selling inferior goods and ripping them off. 
 
From an editorial in The Hole in the Deck Gang Newsletter #10 in 1976 regarding the ST con in NYC in February 1976:
==Star Trek Fan-Run Conventions==
The first media fan-run cons (small, no guest stars, no profit) were ReKWest*Con in July 1975 and August Party in August 1975. While not specifically Star Trek, by default of its time, that show featured heavily.
This first con that would become MediaWest*Con was called T'Con and held in 1978 at the Lansing Hilton Inn. It was organized by Lori Chapek-Carleton and Gordon Carleton, who were zine publishers. The convention was formally re-established as MediaWest*Con in 1981. It also had a strong Star Trek presence. In 1991 for the show's 25th anniversary, Star Trek Canada: The Active Fan Network held a special one-day convention, The 25th Anniversary Gala
==British Star Trek Conventions==
Star Trek conventions in the UK have a long and illustrious past (and present?)
The very, very first British Star Trek convention was held in 1974. Like its American counterpart, which was an afternoon event held at a public library, the very first British Star Trek con was held in a church hall. "I suppose that was the first real convention, People came from the length and breadth of Britain, all for a one day of slide shows, talks, and friendships." from Jenny and Terry Elson in Star Trek Action Group #100
After that first con, fans became quite organized and began a series of conventions, each with its own number. These conventions, voted on by fans two years in advance, lasted until the fifty-first convention which was held in 2001. 
For more information, see:
* The British Star Trek Convention, a long-running series of cons, each with its own number
* The British Star Trek Convention, the first two cons in the long-running series, the first in 1974 and the second in 1975
==Other European Cons==
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==Australasian Cons==
AussieTrek in Sydney, featuring George Takei, was the first major Star Trek con in Australia in 1979. The year before, a small one-day event, TrekCon, had been held in Melbourne.
In New Zealand, a major convention with a large proportion of Star Trek content was the science fiction media convention, ConVERGE, in 1988 in Wanganui. Its featured guest was David Gerrold.
==Star Trek Cruise Conventions==
Another kind of con unique to Star Trek was the cruise convention, for-profit cruises that combined travel and fannish activities. See flyer and SeaTrek.
 
==List of Star Trek Cons==
For a list of Star Trek cons, see :Category:Star Trek Conventions.
==Further Reading/Meta==
* Support Your Local Conventions in 1985 (1985)
* Guest Interview: Adam Malin (1991)
* , August 2002 post by Wheaton on his experiences as a con guest
* Interview with Jim Rondeau (2005)
* panel notes and photos that discussion Star Trek tie-in novels, games, cons (2016)
* , article about Star Trek: Mission New York con, includes recollections and photos of the first Star Trek con organizers (2016)
==External Resources==
* many con reports and photos for Star Trek conventions, Totally Kate
* many, many photos taken by fan Patrick O'Neill: public Facebook page and public Facebook page
* many photos taken by fan Susan Batho: public Facebook page
* Con Reports by Leigh Kimmel, from My Life in Fandom
*Newsweek has a slideshow of early Star Trek con photos.
* Photos and more info at SFWorld's Star Trek Lives!WebCite for Star Trek Lives! accessed April 16, 2012.
== References ==
Category:Star Trek Conventions