Derby-Con

Star Trek Convention
Name:	Derby-Con
Dates:	May 2, 1976
Frequency:	one time
Location:	Louisville, Kentucky, US
Type:	fan-run fan con
Focus:	Star Trek: TOS
Organization:	the editors of Delta Triad
Founder:
Founding Date:
URL:
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flyer from Spectrum #23

Derby-Con was a one-day Star Trek: TOS convention held May 2, 1976.

Con Reports

Louisville, Kentucky has at last reached the ranks of New York and Chicago as it finally had its very first Star Trek convention (May 3rd) on the weekend of the busiest time in the city: the Kentucky Derby. Although it was only a one day event add was held at the rather small Bluegrass Convention Center, there was a very good response from Star Trek fans in the area and we are to be blessed with another con in late July (DeForest Kelley has been tentatively scheduled).

There was only one guest from the original show, and that was the very charming James Doohan who portrayed the lovable chief engineer, Scotty, (he made three appearances through out the day), but this was sufficient for the fans (membership was limited to 600). Compared to those we hear of in other cities, the Derby Con was small, intimate, and unusually well-run for its size. The con occupied one floor and took place in five rooms: the Film Room (which showed the ever popular Blooper Reel), the Hospitality Room, The Dealer's Room, The Art Room, and the Enterprise Room which featured a slide show on Star Trek and the sessions of James Doohan.

The one talk I attended was uncrowded; Mr. Doohan was interesting, humorous, and friendly; and the autograph line was fairly short, probably due to the fact that there were to be two others later that afternoon.

I did not have a chance to visit the art show but I was greatly impressed by the volume and quality of the dealer's room which had items ranging from photos of the stars to a working model of the Enterprise.

The July convention is destined to be bigger and even better than the previous one and we certainly hope so. The fans in this city deserve to have something that pertains to our interest in Star Trek as well as the other things Louisville: the city is at last on its way.

Louisville's first STAR TREK convention on May 2, DerbyCon, was a complete success. Everyone present enjoyed themselves and went away with the impression that STAR TREK is alive & well and ready for a return to the screen.

The main attraction of the evening was the star guest of honor, James 'Scotty' Doohan. Doohan gave two separate rap sessions( the capacity crowd of 6OO was divided into two groups) and signed hundreds of autographs for eager Trek fans, rather than give a speech from the podium, Doohan elected to stroll thru the crowd and shake hands, answering questions on the way. He now sports a beard, which is sprinkled with gray, and he jokingly remarked that fans had started a "save the beard" campaign for his appearance in the new STAR TREK movie.

While fielding questions from the audience he emphasized that Paramount is 100% committed to the movie as of today. They have narrowed their script selection down to two (one will be decided on soon) and they've started construction on a stage which will be used for the movie. If everything goes well, he expects filming to start in September and the movie could possibly be released in late 1976 or early 1977. When asked if he thought STAR TREK would ever return to television, Doohan replied that he thought so, but not as an hourly, weekly series. More likely it would be a mini-series of 4 or 5 ninety minute movies in the style of NBC's Mystery Movies. Episodes wouldn't be as frequent, but the quality of the programs would be much better than an hourly show (bigger budget and more time to work on scripts).

Mr. Doohan stated that the original cast have expressed their desire to maintain the roles they created in the movie. If the price is right, there is no reason they wouldn't. All of the original cast have a deep loyalty to the show.

So, what we can expect is a feature theatrical movie soon. If it's a success. Paramount will probably want to make additional movies. After that, it is possible the show would return to NBC.

During the course of the rap sessions, 'Scotty' even did his Scottish accent which pleased the crowd. He said his favorite episode is "The Doomsday Machine".

He discussed many things, such as the fact that he has been typecast since STAR TREK. The crowd seemed a bit awed at the fact that they were present with a member of the crew of the Enterprise.

Prior to Doohan's sessions, the con opened in the film room with a showing of the famed 'Blooper Reel'. It was hilarious, as such comments as: Kirk imitating Spock saying "I find that highly illogical"; The cast chanting in unison "Hail to the Fuhrer" as the camera zooms in on Gene Roddenberry during the taping of the episode "Patterns of Force"; Uhura answering a request by saying "Why shoah Mr. Spock, Sugah!"; And in one out take a little boy with pointed ears comes up to Spock (who is all alone on the bridge) and says "Hi, Daddy!".

After the 'Blooper Film' the scene switched to the Enterprise room where STRAK president Lee Staton gave a presentation called "STAR TREK Lives" (which was a nice history of the show). After the talk, Staton showed a splendid slide show.

In between the rap sessions with Doohan, there was a special 30 minute private session for STRAK members which Doohan was nice enough to consent to attend.

Films were shown continuously. Episodes such as "Operation: Annihilate!" and "The Immunity Syndrome" were shown. The sci-fi movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was also shown. An art display and dealers room ware other attractions.

All in all, DerbyCon was extremely exciting. If you missed it, take heart! On July16-18 OmniCon #1 descends on Louisville. This will be a 3 day con and the special guest will be DeForest 'Bones' Kelley. Be there!!!!