To Boldly Go to a Sci-Fi Convention

Are you afraid to go to a sci-fi convention (Comic-Con, Fandays, Dragon Con) because you are afraid they will be too geeky or you won't fit in? Never fear, Mom, they are fun, exciting for the kids, and you'll have a blast!

I’m going to share with you my first visit to a full-on Sci-Fi convention! We get them here often, but periodically, one is definitely worth the whole family slogging through the crowds to get a peek at a character/actor we’ve loved. This year, there was a plethora! I apologize for the bad photos ahead of time. This was back before awesome smart phones and the beginning of the digital camera phase.

Note, this is from 2011, and the beginning of a convention series to show Moms that it’s okay to join in, have fun, and really embrace those geeky things that they enjoy, and participate in the things their children take such joy in. Click here to experience a step up in conventions — 2012 Dallas Comic Con with Patrick Stewart

We boldly met Brent Spiner

We actually just ran into Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek Next Generation) coming out of a photo room as we happened by.

As Brent came out and saw the boys, he looked at Geek Boy #1 and said ‘Oh THERE you are! Where have you been?’

Geek Boy #1 said “Hi”, somewhat nonplussed. Brent told GB1 that he was glad he was there, and it was good to see him. Then Brent said, ”I want you to know, out of all the ones that watched the show, you were always my favorite.” Of course we got it and had a great laugh.

Geek Man’s’ favorite part of the story is hearing a voice behind him chuckling, and realizing that he recognized the laugh. He turned to look behind him and there stood Jonathan Frakes who played Commander Will Riker, his favorite Star Trek character. Next to him was Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf) I actually think Geek Man fan-boyed just a bit at that point.

We boldly met so many cosplayers

Soon after, the boys ran into this Star Wars Bounty Hunter-hybrid guy. The kids love seeing all the costumed characters. Aiden still has a little trouble understanding that they’re not real, nor are they the real people in the movies, so his reactions are always fun.

We Boldly went Shopping

After sneaking a peek into the big autograph room to see who we might be able to see, we headed into what can only be called the Room for Men Who Still Live with Their Mothers. It was a big toy and memorabilia room. It was mostly focused on Star Wars/Star Trek toys and stuff, and a lot of comics. Having never really experienced it before, that’s how I felt about it. Granted, I’m married to a man who has a TON of toys from when he was a kid and is still a collector today. The boys had a great time drooling over their favorite sci-fi and cartoon characters.

We boldly stalked favorite actors at the sci-fi convention

After finishing the toy room, we went back to the autograph gallery and found out that we could actually just go in. The long line was actually for Christopher Lloyd (from Back to the Future), which we weren’t really there to see (but did sneak a peek from across the room), and the non-VIP people like us could just go in to see the other actors. Turns out that Jonathan Frakes and Brent were in doing autographs, etc. There was a break in the line, so we went to talk to Jonathan for a bit. Russ was really happy to meet his favorite actor from the show.

Other Notable Sci-Fi Characters We Saw

We also met the man who played Boomer on the original Battlestar Galactica show, Herb Jefferson, Jr. He told the boys a neat secret about the dog-robot character on the show: it was actually a chimp inside the suit named Eve.

While wandering the aisles, we looked up into a small anteroom/stage and saw William Shatner and Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick and Willow) signing autographs. It was hard to convince the boys that they were seeing Captain Kirk because he’d changed so much.

We were boldly disappointed by a star

We completely experiences the Dr. Lazarus/Alexander Dane effect (performed so brilliantly by Alan Rickman) with one of the actors that day, that made us realize that they’re just people, not always happy where they are, wanting to be elsewhere, and not necessarily appreciative of your enthusiasm to meet someone you admire. It was a great lesson for the boys, even though they were really disappointed in how it played out. I really wanted to go back and give him a piece of my mind about how he treated my kids, but didn’t.

We boldly eyed a Slytherin

On our way out the door, we were walking by all the original autograph rooms and happened to peek in one and see Tom Felton who plays Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter. Our oldest was already to go kick his backside. He’d just been introduced to Harry Potter, and he was NOT a fan of Draco.

I boldly had a lot of fun

While I’d been involved in a Star Trek community back in my early adulthood and had gone to a couple of Star Trek conventions, I really came into my own when I began going with my family. It was so much fun to enjoy my kids having such an awesome time, and getting to geek out a little on my own.