Holodiction

Star Trek Convention
Name:	Holodiction
Dates:	1992-2003
Frequency:
Location:	Sydney, Australia; interstate
Type:	celebrity guests, for profit
Focus:	Star Trek
Organization:	Photon Productions; in cooperation with Astrex Star Trek Fan Club
Founder:	Maria and George Papadeas
Founding Date:	1992
URL:
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Holodiction was a Star Trek convention first held in Sydney, Australia. They ran from 1992 to 2003.

The first ever Holodiction was held in Sydney at the Gazebo Hotel in 1992. The 2nd Holodiction was held the following year, also at the Gazebo Hotel. The original conventions spanned 2.5 days and were run by the members of Astrex, the New South Wales Star Trek Fan Club. They were run by fans for fans and their reason for existing was to have fun. Most of the convention members stayed at the hotel for the weekend, and the convention area and even the lifts leading to rooms in the newer wing of the hotel were decorated appropriately - at one con they were re-named "agony booths". Breakfast was a social event where fans mingled with guests. There were multiple streaming programmes for greater choice & a friendly fan oriented atmosphere. Prices were reasonable & included a souvenir convention package & con book that could be autographed. Reasonable restrictions were placed on the number of autographs and there were no restrictions on what items could be signed.

Guests & fans were welcomed to the convention on Friday evening & a cocktail party was held on Friday night. There was a banquet & costume parade on Saturday night & a dinner on Sunday night after the closing ceremony. Guest talks & autograph sessions plus slide shows etc. took place during the day. Episodes of "Star Trek" and other SF shows and movies ran almost continuously & room parties went on into the night.

The cons had the usual problems that are associated with dealing with a large group of people, but overall they were a feel good experience & a great way to meet fellow fans and the people behind the TV shows that we love.

Then a major shake-up in Australian fandom occurred. Some members of Astrex obtained a licence from Paramount Pictures to start an Australian version of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. Astrex's wonderful newsletter, Data became a general SF magazine with very little "Star Trek" content & eventually Astrex itself faded into oblivion. Other Australian fan run "Star Trek" clubs, such as Austrek (Victoria) & Quest (Queensland) were either changed or closed down. The Holodiction Conventions also mutated into a more commercial venture - devolving into (barely) one day events in the style of the U.S. conventions. The friendly, fun conventions that were more suited to the smaller fan population of Australia came to a sad end, and Mum and I ceased to attend, especially as travelling across the country for a one day convention was out of the question.

1992

May 15-17, 1992

The Guest of Honors were George Takei, Suzie Plakson, Richard Arnold, Ronald D. Moore, Naren Shankar and Guy Vardaman.

In 1992, Photon Productions, in cooperation with ASTREX Star Trek Fan Club ran their first licensed Star Trek convention in Australia, Holodiction, with Guests of Honour George Takei, Suzie Plakson, and Richard Arnold. Convention-goers were asked to make a donation towards the loss that this first convention made.... Holodiction 92 did not claim to be sponsoring a charity, nor did they offer any accounting of finances after the event to attendees. This caused some dismay and friction between Photon Productions and the fan-run conventions and the clubs, which saw the introduction of the Holodiction-style convention as a death-knell to their own more socially orientated conventions. A business-backed convention could afford to take chances and get big name actors from the Star Trek series, instead of writers, behind the scenes workers and minor actors. If the takings from a fan-run convention did not cover the costs after a donation was taken out for the charity, then it would be the convention committee members who would make up the shortfall with their own money.

Con Report: 1992

Guests of honour were George Takei, Richard Arnold and Suzie Plakson. All gave good talks, although I missed George because I arrived late. Richard Arnold has settled most of his differences with Paramount and will be doing conventions but with less material than before the "split". Suzie fielded questions very well; it was her first convention (I think) outside the US. She has an unusual problem; her long auburn hair gives hairdressers a problem when the script calls for short. For Selar she had it french braided and bundled into a knot, which is why the character is photographed mainly from the front. The dealers room offered a variety of Trek merchandise from books to the very expensive Franklin Mint Enterprise. Starland Enterprises had a table offering ties, jackets, stickers, plates and mugs. All these goods had attracted the eagle eye of our customs who charged duty on the jackets, something not quite expected by the retailers. Ah well, they could have asked before coming. I didn't have much to spend as the membership and room fee took most of my dollars but I did manage to find a copy of the December Newsweek with Spock on its cover (it's about time a magazine did something like this, especially after that National Enquirer piece was picked up here) and some stickers and notepaper. I skipped the video room altogether as I found a lot of good friends to talk with.

1993

Guests of Honour were James Doohan, Jane Badler, Guy Vardaman and Michael Piller.

1998

BRENT SPINER IN AUSTRALIA!!! Sydney, December 19, 1988, ^{Archived version}, con report by Tanya Dean, also printed in Data Entries #40/41

2000

Con Report: 2000

• con report, ^{Archived version} by Brenda
• a con report, ^{Archived version} by Mel

2002

There were many in 2002.

• Wentworth Hotel in Sydney
• Perth, hotel unknown
• Carlton Crest Hotel, Melbourne
• Brisbane, hotel unknown
• Hindley Park Royale, Adelaide