ROC of Ages

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Convention
Name: ROC of Ages
Dates: May 10-12, 1996
Frequency:
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Type: fan run, celebrity guests
Focus: multimedia
Organization:
Founder:
Founding Date:
URL:
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ROC of Ages was a multifandom media and science fiction con.

Con Report

Mother's Day weekend a number of Kitty Hawk personnel rendezvoused at the Airport Sheraton hotel in Charlotte for a new convention. This convention was patterned loosely after MOC, which seems to be making a last gasp for life, having been killed by it's creator, but that's another story. As for ROC of Ages, it was not bad for a new convention being put on by people who had never done this before. There were some Snafu's, as would be expected. The biggest one was that many of the events were scheduled to take place in a large tent which had been set up in the parking lot. Unfortunately, on Saturday afternoon, a big storm blew through and knocked the tent down, permanently. That left only the atrium of the hotel available for the larger activities. Of course, there were already activities planned for that area, so everything had to be rescheduled and shuffled. This pushed some activities, such as the costume contest and dance, back quite a bit. However, eventually everything was worked in. The guest list for the convention included James Doohan, whom I got to meet, and even got a kiss from him. (Of course, so did every other female in the place. He is quite a flirt!) I told him that Graeme's middle name was Montgomery, after Montgomery Scott. He said that was his middle name, too. He named the character after his maternal grandfather. Other guests included David Prowse, Gunner Hansen, and numerous others associated with movies and comic books. The dealer's room was rather heavy on comic books, and not a lot else. Autographs were available from all the guests and the lines were not too awfully long.

As for the facilities - beautiful hotel, nice pool, good layout and facilities, terrible, expensive food, lousy service. Since we were guests of the convention, our room and food were paid for. We ordered room service several times and got the buffet one evening. All I can say is, if we had been paying for the food ourselves, we would have been very unhappy. Also, we had to ask 3-4 times to get someone to come change the bed, and when they finally came, they grumbled and complained, and it took 2 people an hour to do it!

Over all, it looks like these people could have the start of something good here, if they learn from their mistakes and can make things go a little more smoothly next year. [1]

References