Star Con Denver

Star Trek Convention
Name:	Star Con, Star Fest, Star Con Denver
Dates:	1977-2014
Frequency:
Location:	varies
Type:
Focus:	Star Trek
Organization:	Denver Star Conventions, Ltd.
Founder:	KathE Donnelly, Karolyn Donnelly
Founding Date:	1972?
URL:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

For similar cons, see Starcon.

Star Con (often "Starcon") and Star Fest ("Star Trek and Media-Oriented Science Fiction Convention") was a series of Star Trek conventions.

It is an annual pop culture and science fiction convention held in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is one of the longest running fan conventions in the United States and as of 2014, one of the few events of this kind still run by fans rather than large companies. The 40th Anniversary of the convention took place in April 2017.

Kevin Atkins has acted as Master of Ceremonies since the beginning.

Title and Date Split

In later years, it had the title "Star Fest" (often "Starfest"), which was in the Spring, and Star Con Denver which was in the Fall. In 2002, when the two cons were combined and stuck with the name "Star Fest."

This split and then recombine was due to membership numbers and hotel space. From a June 1985 fan's letter in Star Con Newsletter:

Dear Star Con: I have attended many of your conventions and they seem to be getting larger and larger. Will you be moving to a larger facility to accommodate the crowd or will we all have to learn to live like Sardines?

DEAR JANET: Many Hotels are not 'tolerant' of SF conventions. Since The CLARION HOTEL has always gone out of its way for us, we decided rather than moving the convention, we would begin holding TWO STAR CON's [sic] each year and limiting memberships to each convention. We want STAR CON to remain a friendly and fun convention, where everyone has a good time.

About

It was organized by KathE Donnelly, her sister Karolyn and a group of friends. Kathe had attended several fan conventions in New York and liked them so much that she decided to organize a similar event in Denver.

Star Con Newsletter

the June 1985 newsletter

This con had a newsletter called "Star Con Newsletter." It is unknown what the dates of its print run was.

See Star Con Newsletter.

Star Con (Spring 1977)

flyer for 1977

Star Con Denver 1977 was held on May 7–8, 1977 at the Denver Regency Hotel.

Co-founder Walker recalls a time in 1977 when, two weeks before the inaugural StarFest (or StarCon Denver, as it was known), a producer from a little-known company called Lucasfilm contacted her about screening a trailer for a new sci-fi movie. Walker agreed—but only if they could get her a 16 millimeter print in time for the convention.

“The guy flew here with it and we drove to Stapleton (airport) to meet him,” Walker said. “He gave us some T-shirts and other materials to hand out, then we showed it at the convention because we were one of the first people to have it.”

After running the trailer “about a million times” for the 1,000 people in attendance, the rest of the world eventually got to see “Star Wars,” and its massive success swiftly changed the mechanics of Hollywood and pop culture in general.

Star Con (Spring 1978)

Star Con Denver 1978 was held in Denver at the Regency Inn May 27–28, 1978.

the front cover of the 1978 program book, this example has Jonathan Harris' autograph

The con chairs were Jim Donnelly, KathE Donnelly, Flo Dubowitz, Phil Dubowitz, and Karolyn Popovich.

The skit of the con was Stark Wars, a parody of Star Wars, and was included in the zine The Plays of Star Con Denver.

The program book contains 20 pages. It contains scheduling, short bios, film descriptions, and a Star Trek illo, and a Star Wars illo.

The guests of honor:

• Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space)
• George Takei (Star Trek)
• Bruce Hyde (Star Trek)
• Michael Goodwin
• Jean Lorrah
• Kevin Atkins (Master of Ceremony)
• Carrie Brennan & Judith Brownlee (Society for Creative Anachronism)
• John Davis (special effects guy)
• at least one fan mentions Susan Sackett being a guest

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  from the 1978 program book, schedule

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  from the 1978 program book, schedule

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  from the 1978 program book, play roster

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  from the 1978 program book, uncredited illo

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  from the 1978 program book, uncredited illo

Star Con (Fall 1979)

It was held September 1–2, 1979 at the Stouffers Inn.

It was chaired by Jim Donnelly, KathE Donnelly, and Karolyn Popovich.

The program book was 24 pages long.

front cover of the program book for 1979

The skit was Battlestar Galaxative , and it was later printed in a standalone zine and in "The Plays of Star Con Denver".

flyer for 1979, printed in A Piece of the Action #76, click to read

There was much Radio Program (old science fiction and horror) programming.

Two clubs showcased:

• The Denver Dracula Society
• L-5 Society

Guests:

• James Doohan (Star Trek)
• David Prowse (Star Wars)
• John Colicos (Battlestar Galactica)
• Kevin Atkins (Master of Ceremonies)
• Stephen Goldin
• Kathleen Sky
• Michael C. Goodwin
• John Davis
• Michael Thornton
• Craig Anderson

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Con Report: (Fall 1979)

Star Con Denver '79 held. September 1st and 2nd at the Stouffers Inn was another great con! There were four event rooms all going at the same time, a movie room, an episode room, a main speakers room and the fourth being a radio room where everyone laid on the floor (there were chairs) with the lights turned down very low.

The radio shows were from X Minus One, some were creepy others were funny, but all were Science Fiction, a good place to catch your breath. Of course there were the usual Star Trek episodes in the small events room with shorts from Star Wars and Superman that did little more than whet your appetite, after all twenty minutes out of a two hour movie leaves much to your memory. Not to be outdone,the movie room was showing the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Fantastic Planet (a french animated film) and Silent Running,my favorites, although the Thing, Them and Colosus: The Forbin Project were there also. The guests at the con were James Doohan, David Prowse and writers Steve Goldin and Kathleen Sky. Jimmy Doohan answered as many questions as he could, shook hands with people in the audience and gave out autographs He was witty and charming, a delight, but very closed mouthed about Star Trek: The Motion Picture saying we'd all have to wait and see for ourselves. David Prowse, on the other hand,did answer some questions about The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel to Star Wars and talked about his experiences with the movie and how he felt about his part in the Star Wars universe. For those of you who are interested, David Prowse wears a black quiana jump suit and he looks very nice! His autograph line was two hours long (Egad!) but he really tried to make personal contact with everyone. After the costume contest Saturday night, the Mile High Starship (a local adult ST/SF club) presented a spoof on BATTLESTAR: GALACTICA called BATTLESTAR: GALAXATIVE, a space

opera. Yes, folks, they sang, they danced and they were headed for Mirth and when Starstud and Appealing came out in their Triad outfits (bvd's with suspenders), they brought the house down. This is their second play at Star Con Denver (they did it to Star Wars last year) and they're threatening to do it to Star Trek: The Motion Picture next year at Star Con Denver '80. This is not to mention a talk by the L-5 Society, Dracula Society, art show, model building contest, art auction (run by Michael Goodwin) and film makers contest, the winner of which did an excellent job and he did it in 8mm! The local news media reports 1000 people attended the convention and I can believe it since there were people everywhere! By Sunday evening we were all exhausted as we sat back in the main events room and watched a laser light show put on by the people at Gates Planetarium. Here's to STAR CON DENVER '80!!

Star Con (Fall 1980)

Star Con Denver 1980 was held in Denver at Stouffer's Inn on August 30 and 31. Confirmed guests were Bjo Trimble, Mark Lenard, Kerry O'Quinn and Walter Koenig. One play was a parody of ST-TMP ("Star Trek: Where Nomad Has Gone Before") that was included in The Plays of Star Con Denver.

Con Report: Star Con (Fall 1980)

I enjoyed Star Con Denver from beginning to end! It was the best of all the cons we've done so far. Walter seemed to enjoy himself and I know for a fact that the audience LOVED him. He had lots of amusing little anecdotes that he told, especially a really neat one about what happened to him on the plane trip to Denver. And, I think he enjoyed our play- parody of the ST movie. We had our Chekov with a Swedish accent, and instead of phasers, he used a plastic baseball bat to fight off the gigantic asteroid dirt clod that threatened the Enterprise.

As a member of the Con Comm, I do want to say that not only was Walter a great guest for our audiences, but he was a great guest for a con comm to deal with. All our dealings were so pleasant and went so well! I had the chance to eat lunch with Walter once and hear him speak at various times, and it was really an enjoyable experience.

This is the fourth Star Con I have attended and to my delight I find each year they keep getting better and better! This years guest list included Walter Koenig, Mark Lenard and Kerry O'Quinn. The convention was held at the Denver Stouffer's Inn which probably has the best convention facilities I have ever seen. Everything is all in one area so there aren't any elevators to mess around with. Saturday program book. The wait in the registration was short (gratefully) as the con organizers seem to have made sure that there were enough people at registration to take care of everyone quickly. The program book and schedule outlined the many events offered and I could see that it was going to be a difficult choice deciding what to see first. I found the 'special effects presentation' done by Kevin Atkins and John Davis a fascinating trip into the world of illusion. Not only did they tell us how holograms are achieved, but how the various effects done on the screen are accomplished. Mark Lenard was a fascinating speaker and told the audience some interesting 'behind the scenes' stories about his experiences on the Klingon ST:TMP set. Never having seen or heard Walter Koenig speak before I was very impressed with how easy he talked with the audience. He had some terrific stories to tell about the filming of the movie and I found the same sense of humor that I had enjoyed in his book "Chekov's Enterprise" present in the incidences he was telling us. Mr. Koenig definitely made me a fan of his! Kerry O'Quinn was a genuine surprise to me. I'm not really sure what I expected—some stuffy old man maybe, but Mr. O'Quinn certainly wasn't that! He brought with him a slide show presentation plus some special effects shorts. One that sticks out in my mind as being really good was titled "The Wizard of Speed and Time". Mr. O'Quinn made himself readily available for questions and was a very easy going person to talk with. Saturday evening there was a costume contest that featured everything from a small version of Yoda to a Robot named Greebley that actually shot fire from his top. But probably one of the events I enjoy most about the Star Con conventions is the annual play done by the people putting the convention on. This year the group did an original play parody of the Star Trek movie called "Star Trek: Where Nomad Has Gone Before". We got to see the Starship Enterprise battling with V'Gin! V'Gin turns out to be a vehicle sent out by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to find planets untouched by smog and such and bring back clean air to Denver. (VGin stands for Virgin, by the way) These people call themselves amateur actors but the amount of polish and quality that goes into their productions (this is their third play parody) shows that they have a professional additude towards their plays. The convention had many other events offered like a Trivia contest, old time SF radio room, filk sing, and more. The convention ended Sunday evening with a fantastic Laser Light Show that was put together especially for the convention by a group called Unique Light and Sound. It was the perfect ending to a very packed two day convention! I understand that there were 1200 people attending this years convention and I can well believe it. I am really looking forward to next years con!!

Star Con (Fall 1981)

flyer for 1981

Star Con (Fall 1982)

front page of the 1982 flyer

back page of the 1982 flyer

another 1982 flyer

Star Con 1982 was held Sept 18-19, 1982 at the Stouffer's Denver Inn.

One flyer lists these plays:

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CURSE OF HOLLYWOOD (Doctor Who and the crew of the Enterprise face their greatest challange yet...the evil Doctor Hans Reinhart and his diabolical plan to destroy Science Fiction!)

RAIDERS OF THE SAUCED ARK (See Indiana Jones...See Marian...See the rotten Nazis and the silly French Archaeologist all wine over the Ark.)

THE VELDT from Ray Bradbury's ILLUSTRATED MAN

RAIDERS OF THE LOST GUMBY - - (Must I say more!!)

Another flyer lists these plays:

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CURSE OF HOLLYWOOD (Doctor Who and the crew of the Enterprise face their greatest challange yet...the evil Doctor Hans Reinhart and his diabolical plan to destroy Science Fiction!)

STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF STAR KAHN: See Admiral Kirk -- See Captain Spock -- See Kahn (boss - de Starship, de starship!!) -- Can the Enterprise and her crew save the universe from THE WRATH OF STAR KAHN.

THE CLOUDED MINDS -- a Star Trek episode muddled with humor.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST GUMBY - - (Must I say more!!)

Guests of Honor were:

• Nichelle Nichols
• John Nathan Turner (producer and director of Doctor Who)
• Michael C. Goodwin (science fiction artists and cartoonist)
• Lynne Anne Goodwin (fantasy artist)
• Reuben and Sherry Fox (sound effects and art show directors)
• Kevin Atkins was the Master of Ceremonies

Star Con (Fall 1983)

front page of the Spring 1983 Star Con newsletter discussing the upcoming convention

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Star Con 1983 was held on Sept 3-4, 1983 at the Stouffer's Denver inn.

Star Con (Fall 1985)

This Star Con was held September 7-8, 1985 at the Airport Clarion Hotel.

flyer for 1985

It was the ninth con.

This was the year that the con split into two dates due to size and hotel challenges.

Guests: Robin Curtis and Robert Englund.

Master of Ceremonies was Kevin Atkins.

Programming:

• Kandy Fong's Star Trek Comedy Slide Shows: "Come and enjoy Kandy's Star Trek Slides mixed with music and narration."
• Reuben and Sherri Fox: "a couple of real Artsy folks!"
• Michael and Lynne Anne Goodwin, artists and editors of The Starry Night
• costume contest
• art show
• dealers room
• fan panel
• model building contest
• Star Con Denver Slide Show (with slides from past conventions)
• autograph sessions
• poetry and story contests
• The Star Con Denver Play
• Hit or Miss, the con's version of Puttin' on the Hits
• films and episodes

Star Fest (Spring 1986)

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  cover of the Star Fest 1986 program book

Star Con (Fall 1986)

Star Con Denver 1986 was held in Denver.

cover of the 1986 con program

Guests were Mark Lenard, Walter Koenig, Terry "The Silver Fox" Erdmann, David McDonnell (Starlog), Eddie Egan, Fidel Run (NASA).

This con had a "Computer BBS Forum. A round table discussion hosted by Jay Melnick, sysop of the Colo Snow Bank BBS. Topics will include current trends in information transferal, ethics and the legal ramifications of running your own Computer bulletin board." There was also a surprise birthday party for Walter Koenig, a trivia contest, and a costume contest.

Koenig's zine, It Ain't the Lollipop!, was sold at this con.

The program book (16 pages) had many humorous articles, three poems and two short stories (winners of a contest).

From KathE Donnelly:

I remember when we did the very first STAR CON, we had no way of knowing that 10 years later we would still be doing this. When we received the first phone call after our first convention, Joyce Thompson answered the phone "STAR CON 1982, can I help you?" We all had a good laugh, since 1982 seemed so far away. Well, she's still answering the phones, but she doesn't speculate anymore on when our next convention will be.

It hasn't always been easy - I'll never forget the time that I had to tell several hundred people that Mr. Kelley would no longer be able to sign autographs. Yes, I'd say they were a little upset. Or how about the time we had the worst snowstorm of the year the day before our convention - our guest couldn't get into Denver because the airport was closed and convention attendees couldn't get to the con vention either. That convention was MicroCon (which is was) and it taught us to never plan convention for the month of January again. Does anyone out there remember when we did GUMBY RAIDERS? 'Nuff said!

But for every awkward or bad time we've had, we have managed to have three times as many good ones. With all the wonderful memories we have of past STAR CONS why then are there only six original STAFF MEMBERS left to share them with? Call them die-hards, call them responsible, but I call them whenever it's time for another convention. Thank you. Joyce, Phil, Kevin, Angel, Dan and Debi. Also a special thanks to Michael and Stephen who were four years old when we first started and have grown up answering the phone "STAR CON DENVER, MAY I HELP YOU?" They've had to learn, sometimes the hard way, that S.I.A.W.O.L. (STARCON IS A WAY OF LIFE) .

Someone who deserves special recognition is my sister, Karolyn. She is one of the founding board members of STAR CON and she is still involved (in her own way) with the convention. Of course, without all of you the conventions wouldn't even be possible. Thanks for sharing all the fun with us. How does STAR CON 1999 sound to you?

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Star Fest (Spring 1987)

March 28-29

Leonard Nimoy was a guest of honor, as was Jonathan Harris.

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  cover of Star Fest 1987 program book

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  an ad and description in Starland News (summer 1987) for "Starfest '87 Highlights" - of a VHS tape for purchase

Con Report: Star Fest (Spring 1987)

I have attended several conventions put on by the Star Con folks and I would have to say that I am never disappointed. Mr. Nimoy was their main guest speaker and he was quite charming, enjoyable and fun to listen to. Mr. Jonathan Harris was also on hand and he told us wonderful stories of Hollywood. My favorite part of the convention is probably their original play parodies. This time our intrepid crew was trying to reach Denver and save the Cockroaches from total destruction. The finale had our crew singing a rousing song, dressed in old TV series uniforms claiming that they were truly The Next Generation! Great fun for everyone!

Star Con (Fall 1987)

September 26-27, 1987 at the Regency Hotel in Denver

Confirmed guests:

• NICHELLE NICHOLS (Uhura of Star Trek)
• DAVE MCDONNELL (editor of Starlog)
• TERRY ERDMANN (MGM Studios)
• RICHARD ARNOLD (Paramount Pictures)
• JEFF WALKER (Warner Bros.)

Invited guests:

• MATT FREWER E. (Carter/Max Headroom)
• PAUL DARROW (Avon of Blake’s 7) (a transcript of Darrow's speech is in Tarriel Cell #1)
• PETER WELLER (Buckaroo Banzai)

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  flyer for Fall 1987

Star Fest (Spring 1988)

March 26–27, 1988

In 1988, actor Patrick Stewart made his first convention appearance at StarFest Denver to promote the new television series Star Trek: The Next Generation where he played the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. When the show was canceled in 1994 after seven seasons, Stewart came back to Denver to “end it where it all began”. ... the Denver convention had a Music Video competition. First place honors went to Megan Dargan, and the third place went to Jackie Edwards, both DKFC members. That's pretty astonishing considering the attendance was about 3500 people.

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  front of winter/spring 1988 flyer

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  back of winter/spring 1988 flyer

Con Report: Star Fest (1988)

This was to be my second fan-run con and one I had been looking forward to for a long time because DeForest Kelley and Patrick Stewart (his first convention) were going to be there.

[snipped]

Friday night we got to register and hit the dealer's room. I found some great bargains and my backpack got heavier and heavier until I made it to my room to unload. I got it all--new zines, t-shirts, buttons, photos (got some great "Beauty and the Beast"). The guys from Hollywood Book and Poster were there, too.

An impromptu party at Sue's on Friday night, and this was the second night with little sleep. After making arrangements to be in line early, we attempted to get some sleep; the walls were a bit thin.

Saturday morning the line-up began very early, and DKFC members, of course, were at the head of the line. We had to be there for front-row seats. We were there way before the restaurant opened at 6:30 a.m.

Let in the auditorium at 8:00, we stretched across the entire front row. We had a sign for De, "Here we are again!"

After getting our places, some of us went to donate blood. Blood donors got a ticket to go to the head of the autograph line for Patrick's autograph. Over 85 units of blood were collected during the four hours.

DeForest Kelley is amazing, I could watch and listen to him for hours. He made sure we got a good look at the silver belt buckle that the club got him for his birthday. He pointed it out to Sue especially; she didn't have a camera, though, to take the picture.

De was on at 11:00 a.m. and Patrick was on at 1:00 p.m. There was just enough time between the two to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water.

Patrick was a bit surprised at so many people,but he soon became at ease with the crowd and spoke for about a half-hour without a microphone. That great stage presence and Shakespearean training came in handy.

We had a little bit of difficulty when we left Patrick's talk early to get in line for the autographs. Apparently there was a mix-up over the time and we were not going to be allowed to get In line. After a talk with those in charge it was ironed out and we got his autograph. ! got my picture taken, too; I threatened Mary Francis that she had better have gotten a good picture—or else. The picture was great, by the way.

I was a little late for the DKFC party because I wanted to see the skit Saturday night. It was very good and I learned what the "Picard maneuver" really was.

We raised almost $600 for the North Shore Animal League at the DKFC party. Sue had arranged with De to have certain items personally autographed—lobby cards, pictures, and an original script of "The Corbanite Maneuver" that I happened to get. I spent about $79 and there were a few others that parted with more money, but it was all for a good cause.

Sunday morning Patrick was on at 11:00 and De was on at 1:00. On Sunday Patrick didn't use a microphone at all. After another tour through the dealer's room to spend any leftover money, Mary and I headed toward our room, tired but happy.

We had a semi-dead dog party in Denise's room; Domino's Pizza in Denver is delicious and arrives on time. Denise and Richard had a portable VCR and we watched—what else—Star Trek: The Next Generation. What a great ending to a great weekend!

Monday morning after a long breakfast with Pat and Kris, we took the shuttle to the airport. Mary and Barbara were delighted because it was snowing. All I wanted to do was get home and get some sleep; besides, I had had enough snow when I was living in Ohio. After a two-hour and twenty minute wait, we finally got off the ground. The flight was even bumpier than the arriving flight—lots of wind around the Rocky Mountains. At least the sun was shining when we got back to Los Angeles.

We had all arranged to have Tuesday off to recuperate from the long weekend. After all, everyone should get a total of maybe eight hours sleep over four nights. Too much sleep isn't good for people.

Thanks, StevE and KathE, your Starland people are great, and I definitely p Ian to return to Denver for future conventions.

Been a long time since you had an interesting conversation with a fellow Star Trek lover? Desperate for an in-between-Trek-movies fix? How about a shot of just plain good fun? You missed your chance if you missed the March '88 StarFest convention, Denver's way station for the hopeful starbound. Stephen and KathE Walker, and a dedicated staff of forty, hosted 3,300 enthusiastic devotees of science fiction to a convention packed with quick moving, well-organized events. Aside from a long list of science fiction films and Star Trek episodes, meeting rooms housed everything from panel discussions to trivia games to fan club rallies. Exhibits of quality artwork and detailed models drew long lines to the conventions official gallery room. The creativity department, however, was not limited to pen and paper (or styrofoam and toothpicks as with certain models). Fans took up the challenge of a cheerios creation contest with crunchy gusto. Among the favorite breakfast sculptures were two model Enterprise's and two Vulcan IDICs. For memorabilia collectors, the spacious, fully-stocked dealers room proffered everything from specialized T-shirts, buttons and fanzines to a dazzling display of crystal starships. What to wear to one of these festive occasions? Take a clue from the eighty-five spectacular enteries into the costume contest—dragons of fantasy, the Rancor of Star Wars, even a Leia dressed in filmy palace garb would not have been out of place, and wasn't to the enjoyment of the audience. And the entertainment continued. As always, the StarCon Denver 'Not Ready for Anything Players' were ready for everything, despite their disclaimer. "Star Trek: The Perplexed Generation —Encounter at Denver," a witty and comical satire written by Ms. KathE Walker and Ms. Joyce Thompson, inspired friendly audience participation in one of the most outstanding and frequently spoken lines of the evening, "Shut up, Wesley!" However, the main attractions of the convention, to fandom's delight, were two of Star Trek's foremost personalities—DeForest Kelley, our own favorite "Bones" of the original series and movies, and Patrick Stewart, Captain Picard of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Kelley, forever the country gentleman, charmed standing-room-only audiences by reciting his inventive poem, "Big Bird's Dream." After sharing a humorous anecdote of his separation from the service at Lowry AFB, he graciously displayed an engraved belt buckle which had been presented to him from a fan club for his "135" birthday. (See "Encounter at Farpoint," ST:TNG premier episode.) To the audience's pleasure, he also introduced his lovely wife of forty-three years. Kelley's warm and affectionate humor held his admirers captive for two separate hours of informative dialogue, and prepared hearts and minds to receive the Enterprise's newest captain. Patrick Stewart, alias Jean-Luc Picard, was welcomed to his first-ever Star Trek convention—and into the arms of fandom—with an overwhelming standing ovation. Stewart immediately discarded his microphone and thrilled the audience by addressing them in his own robust and well-seasoned voice. His quick and positive responses to questions such as, "Do you fear being typed-cast?" and "How does it feel to follow in the footsteps of Captain Kirk?" gave the audience a vision of this dynamic actor and his potential as Captain Picard. Stewart ended each speaking event with a lively and dramatic recital from portions of Henry IV. He graciously extended autograph sessions beyond scheduled time until he could no longer hold a pen, but did not disappoint fans even then. With a determination resembling that of a starship captain, he walked the lines of those hundreds still waiting for autographs and shook as many hands as he was able. His magnetic personality left no doubt that he will not only measure up and surpass fan expectations, but will also carve a new and fresh path for himself and the entire cast of ST:TNC. (To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before!)

Star Con (Fall 1988)

September 23–25, 1988. It was the 12th Star Con.

Guests of honor were Michael Dorn, George Takei, and Roy Dotrice. Also sceheduled were Dave McDonnell - Editor of STARLOG and Terry Erdmann - Publicist for Star Trek V.

Some events:

SPOCK HOP - Come and enjoy a special get acquainted party on Friday evening in the Lower Level at the Regency Hotel. Music, Refreshments, Dancing and Fun. From 8:00 to 10:00 Friday evening we will be sponsoring an event that even Mr Spook would enjoy. You don't need to wear a costume, you don't need to speak Klingonese, you don't even need to be human, but you do need to come. So come and help us celebrate!

BROTHER ERSATZ - Saturday morning we present this wonderful comedy team. Come and enjoy their Star Trek Parody and more.

SPACE SIDE STORY - Yes, our musical version of the Broadway play. The Romulans have invaded the Neutral Zone and the Federation is hopping made. Can Picard and the gang restore the peace? Do we need to learn Romulanese? Will Riker wear a tutu?? Come and enjoy SPACE SIDE STORY on Saturday evening following the Costume Contest.

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Con Report: Star Con (Fall 1988)

StarCon '88 in Denver, Colorado, September 23–25 presented Mr. Roy Dotrice on stage for those attending this fine, annual convention. Mr. Dotrice entered to a standing ovation and thoroughly entertained the audience imtil leaving the stage to another ovation. His extensive stage training was obvious in the professional manner in which he interacted with the enthusiastic audience, the warmth of his personality capturing everyone's attention. Mr. Dotrice began his presentation with a biographical monologue, punctuated with anecdotes and snatches of British humor. His recitation of a childhood on the Channel Islands, escape by boat from the German occupation at age fourteen, and subsequent underage service in the RAF was interwoven with adventures which led him to the theater and life-long acting

[snipped]

When asked how he liked working with Mr. Perlman, Mr. Dotrice replied "wonderful" and explained they had performed together previously and lived one above the other in the same apartment building in Los Angeles during the auditions for the proposed series "Beauty and the Beast". When Mr. Perlman (who auditioned the day after Dotrice) received the role of Vincent, he called Mr. Dotrice to give him the news. "I'm playing the Beast", Mr. Perlman announced. "1 have bad news for you," Mr. Dotrice informed him, "I'm playing your father!"

In the autograph sessions, Mr. Dotrice was extremely gracious, taking time with each person, slighting no one. He was warm and generous, a reflection of a man at ease with himself and his art.

It is hoped this will be only the first of many convention appearances by Mr. Dotrice.

Star Fest (Spring 1989)

March 31-April 2, Denver

spring 1989 flyer

Con Report: Star Fest (Spring 1989)

Reported by: Vel Jaeger. If I had to pick just one convention to have attended in the past five years, it would have been StarFest. Not only did they have super guest stars:-- William Shatner, Harve Bennett, Marina Sirtis -- but have polished their convention skills to a fine art. Organization is the key factor, and everything was planned and considered ahead of time. This isn't to say there weren't problems, but those were mostly from the huge crowds -- which were also well controlled, no mean feat with 3000 enthusiastic fans! The programming was incredible, with films, panels, and special interest group activities running concurrently with the main events. Here we had the unusual problem of chosing among several programs we wanted to see -- obviously, we weren't able to see everything. The only real disaster wasn't the fault of the Con Committee (hats off to KathE & Steve Walker and their team) -- Continental Airlines screwed up our schedule and caused us to miss our first flight out of Tampa: we had to fly stand-by through Houston, and didn't get to our hotel room till nearly mfdnight that Friday. But Cynthia Baird (my traveling companion) and I are seasoned travelers and we didn't let a bit of itinerary problems keep us from having a good time. Harve Bennett gave a presentation both Saturday and Sunday, and the runaway hit was the clip he brought from the finished version of THE FINAL FRONTIER: himself as a Starfleet admiral. His acting debut was received by thunderous applause, and he was naturally inordinately pleased. Also appearing both days was Marina Sirtis (Deana Troi from THE NEXT GENERATION), delightful as always with her lilting London accent and obvious enjoyment at being a convention guest. Slides and clips from TF2 were shown by Terry Erdmann, a publicist hired by Paramount to do convention appearances -- though with such a partisan audience, it didn't really matter who presented them. Unlike most conventions, Sunday was the busiest day -- no doubt because that was the only day that Shatner appeared. In my own admittedly prejudiced view, it was a very good performance for Shatner: he was upbeat, enthusiastic, and playing to the back of the ballroom. He toyed with the questions from the audience without putting down the questioners, and seemed to be enjoying himself all the while. The only disappointing aspect of StarFest was a relative scarcity of zines for sale in the dealers room -- only a few and none of them new--but every thing else wast here. I did all my family giftie ("what did you bring me'?!") shopping there: T-shirts all around. The key to any convention review is the answer to the question: Would you go again? In a heart beat!

Star Fest (Spring 1990)

Con Report: Star Fest 1989

There is a detailed report of a fans having brunch with Dean Stockwell in The Imaging Chamber #3 (April 1990).

Star Con (Fall 1989)

September 29-October.

Richard Chavez (Ironhorse from War of the Worlds) was a planned guest.

William Shatner presented his directorial debut, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, at this convention.

Con Report: Star Con (Fall 1988)

The StarCon Denver convention was held in Denver on September 30th through October Ist, 1989. Although this is primarily a Star Trek convention, the previous year Roy Dotrice had made StarCon his first convention. This year was made special because JND, Ltd invited and sponsored "Beauty and the Beast" staff writers Linda Campanelli and M.M. "Shelley" Moore.

The attendance of the convention was down, due to Leonard Nimoy's nearly last-minute cancellation, but the contingent of "Beast" fans was there, as strong as ever. JND, Ltd provided an open forum and trivia bowl as part of the events. The writers were wonderfully refreshing. Linda is married with two children, and Shelley is single with a boyfriend. They answered questions carefully, as they had been instructed to do, and many of our members specifically asked questions designed to put them at ease. Incidentally, they are the writers who conceived and scripted "Gentle Rain" and "The Watcher". These episodes were aired, and then the writers answered questions about the episodes and the series in general each of the two days.

A few of the questions were asked by less-informed fans not in the know about the tight security for the third season, but were honestly defused by gentle "I can't answer thats."

There were a number of questions about how to start writing for Hollywood, and the strong underlying message throughout these responses was to "write, write, write", and that an agent, while usually more than helpful, is not always necessary to get started. They revealed they got their own start meeting through a mutual friend. Years later, Shelley had sold a "spec" script for Remington Steele (which was never filmed). George Martin called them in and asked them to pitch ideas.

They pitched several, and called them back in days later to discuss what became "Gentle Rain". Eventually they came on staff, and wrote "The Watcher" as well, and have written a couple of the third season episodes as well. Linda told a warming anecdote about when George Martin called them back, she had a screaming baby on her shoulder. He continued the conversation as though nothing was going on. This only can reinforce our positive impression of the special people writing and producing in the production office.

A question asked several times, Shelly would not reveal what "M.M." stands for. It evidently is a family joke or secret, but certainly makes her name distinctive among the writers in Hollywood. Almost as good as "George R.R...." As the only women writers on the staff, they expressed their struggles at keeping Catherine's personality strong and her self intact. The fans expressed concern that Catherine had seemed indecisive, and even unsympathetic at times. In response to that they would like to write if given carte blanche, they replied with two "pitches". In one, Catherine has the flu and is being nursed by Vincent, who reads her a fairytale, and they lapse into that tale as the characters themselves. In another, Vincent and Catherine meet an old woman who has had an invisible? ghost lover for years... sort of the continuation of "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", with some of the magical possibilities touched on in "Bluebird". Both ideas were received enthusiastically.

Anyone listening out there in this coming season of unrelieved darkness and despair? In a smaller session in the Hospitality Room, the fans asked for more upbeat episodes, such as "Bluebird", since the second season had spiraled downward so far with little relief. At that time, of course, we knew so little, the dire plans for Catherine were only heinous whispers...

But Linda and Shelley are out there, wonderfully vociferous in their opinions and trying to struggle with maintaining a woman's viewpoint among the male scripts. We thank them for their continuing contributions toward making "Beast" the excellent show it has been and promises to continue to be.

Both ladies were totally delightful in all ways, and we would recommend them as exceptional guests to any would-be convention organizers.

Star Con (Fall 1990)

Star Con Denver 1990 was held September 28-30.

Mark Lenard and Walter Koenig repeated their non-Trek play "The Boys In Autumn."

Star Con (Fall 1991)

Star Con Denver 1991 was held September 27, 28, 29.

cover of 1991 convention program

Star Con (Fall 1993)

Star Con 1993 was held September 24, 25, 26.

an ad for 1993

Star Con (Spring 1994)

February 25-27, 1994.

Tom Cruise came to the convention to help promote his upcoming movie Interview with the Vampire.

Con Report: Star Con (Spring 1994)

"Ron Perlman is going to be in th emain events room at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday." Kay Anderson's voice rang in my ear and disbelief taunted my mind. The Supporters of Beauty and the Beast Fan Club had heard Perlman was coming to Denver since the show started, and had even offered to pay to bring him here.

[...]

Friday night my husband and I, with a 20 month-old in tow, rushed to registration. I simply would not let myself believe Perlman was coming, not until I saw the program. We didn't even make it to registration before I was shouting, "Yes, yes!" Another club member flagged us down in the hallway and flashed us the program cover. The cover was a Starfest Illustrated, the Swimsuit Issue. In the past we've had The StarCon Enquirer and Starfest Digest. The theme this convention was baseball (The Rockies are Denver's dream team), and the cover photo was Vincent with baby Jacob, Patrick Stewart in swimsuit, and Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh Borg) with the caption "The Dream Team." When we finally made it to registration, we learned Perlman's movie Cronos was the midnight movie at the Continental Theater, the last 70 mm theater in Denver. Imagine Ron Perlman on a screen that was three stories high. Since the movie had won grand prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival Critic's Week and 9 Ariels (the Mexican Academy Awards), we went and saw it.

[much about the movie snipped]

Cronos is billed as a vampire movie; written, directed and made in Mexico outside of the Hollywood ordeal. I think it is not so much a vampire movie as a movie of transformation and a very strange and unique love story between a little girl and her grandfather. The plot was so unusal I'm afraid that Cronos received a Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment; in other words, the audience critiqued it quite vocally. The plot, however, was solid. The special effects were excellent. The granddaughter stole every scene she was in. Even with all that, movie was only okay. As my husband said, "Had it not been for Ron Perlman, the movie wouldn't have been worth seeing."

What Perlman's character was doing in that movie, I don't know. But I'm glad he was. His comedic relief made the movie.

[...]

Saturday in the main events room, Ron Perlman went on an hour-and-a-half before Patrick Stewart. Since there were three sections of reserved seating, I thought no one would get in their seats until the hour before Stewart thus not a lot of people would be there to see Perlman. I was wrong. About eight thousand people packed in to see Perlman. Stewart had about ten thousand. The big surprise was that everyone seemed to know who he was. Phew! Beauty and the Beast hasn't died. We learned Starfest was able to get him as part of his promotion for Cronos.

The reserved seating that was empty was opened to those of us who wouldn't pay for reserved seats. My friend and I rushed to the front row, center stage seats. Perlman seemed three stories tall. I'm sure Perlman enjoyed those front row incredibly shaky blinding flashes and telephoto lens, but he just smiled for us.

Surprisingly, there was no B&B questions until almost the end of his talk. There were questions about Cronos (some people really seemed to enjoy the movie), about The Cisco Kid, Quest for Fire, The Name of the Rose, and even a question about Sleepwalkers and Ice Pirates.

Someone asked why he was even in Cronos, and Perlman said, "I don't know. If you figure it out, let me know because I thought it was a love story between the granddaughter and Jesus. I'm glad I was in it. I enjoyed it, it was the most refreshing script I'd read in a long time."

Perlman related the director's ideal working conditions on Quest for Fire as being rainy, 30 degrees, frost, puddles, and the actors walking through the snow clad only in a blanket. Shooting began when the blanket was taken away, and no the actors and actresses didn't get to wear anything under their animal skins. Many more questions followed about Quest for Fire.

Many people asked questions about Salvatore, my favorite pre-Vincent character that Perlman played. I loved The Name of the Rose, and had a hard time envisioning the man who played Salvatore as Vincent until I actually saw him in the pilot. I had heard about the series prior to its start at StarCon and had seen photos of the cast. Perlman told of his attempt to get the Salvatore part, the death of the real-life hunchback days before shooting, the last minute phone call, and the flight to bring him to Europe. On the plane he read the script and the book, and realized that the script contained very little language. In the book Salvatore ranted nonstop in five different languages. He approached the director, who said make up something. Perlman bought the book in five different languages, and wrote down a word of French, a word of German, a word of English, a word of Latin, and so on. Every morning he would hand the director a piece of paper and say this is what I'm going to say today, and the director would say great. I appreciate the film version of Salavatore a lot more now.

Someone asked how he liked getting his face eaten off in Sleepwalkers, and someone else asked how he liked working with Angelica Houston in Ice Pirates. What can you do, there are some in every crowd. Personally, I did want to go up and tell him that even though he wishes everyone would forget about it, that Ice Pirates is one of my husband's favorite movies, and he has pretty good taste. But I controlled myself.

Next came the B&B questions. Perhaps the funniest question came from a nine or ten-year-old boy who said he'd watched all the shows with his mom, but still didn't get it. His questions was, "Did they or didn't they (I held my breath) kiss?" A big sigh of relief was heard in the audience. Perlman said after much hesitation, "Yes." Then the boy asked, didn't Catherine get hair stuck in her teeth. Perlman answered that Linda's makeup artist followed her around with a big roll of dental floss just for those moments.

Several questioners were new to the show via the Sci-Fi Channel and asked questions like was Vincent human, what was his origin, how did he get named, or expressed grief over the fact they'd just seen "Though Lovers Be Lost" and didn't know Catherine was going to die. It was nice to see that B&B withstands the test of time. Other shows get old before they hit reruns.

Perlman said no he would never wear the Vincent costume even if for charity. He would only re-don it in the same context as it was created. And he said yes he would be interested in doing a movie, if they ever get the chance.

My friend wanted to ask Perlman a question, so she put me up to it. I made her come with me. I asked (since we hadn't heard yet) if Ron Koslow (temporary memory lapse it was David Schwartz) had given him the Vincent costume that sold at the Pediatric Aids charity auction for over $3,000 at the convention in the summer? First Perlman told me that they'd had a big party for David because he was being deported, and he got the costume then. It went right over my head as I didn't know Schwartz moved to Las Vegas. Seeing this Perlman bailed me out, and explained that they had a party and Schwartz presented him the costume. They had photos taken and a press release was suppose to have been sent to all the fan clubs. He said they talked about how much money was raised at the auction and the good it was going to do.

Thoroughly humbled I thanked him, and fled back to my seat. I had intended to get my Vincent glossy and hop in the autograph line outside. I was stopped at the door by Phil Watson, one of the executive board members of the convention, and told that Perlman wasn't signing. Watson said Perlman was tired and begged off. Well, I was disappointed, but Perlman did look jet jagged. My husband even asked if he was always so monotone.

Perhaps it was better that he didn't sign autographs. I mean I was only in the front row, and I couldn’t keep my camera still. Could you imagine standing across a little table from him? I've seen and shaken hands with William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Roy Dotrice, all the other Star Trek crew members [at other cons], I have a wall full of signed pictures. It's not like I'm not a seasoned conventioneer. I've been to thirteen conventions. So what could the matter be? Methinks it be Vincent.

Star Con (Spring 2000)

In 2000, John Travolta was a guest of honor and brought clips and insight from his upcoming movie Battlefield Earth.

Star Fest 2007

Leonard Nimoy was a guest.

Star Fest 2008

Zachary Quinto was a guest. Then starring as 'Sylar' on Heroes, he would later be the new 'Mr. Spock' in the Star Trek movie that was released a year later. Also appearing was Nichelle Nichols.

Star Fest 2009

Brent Spiner and Katee Sackhoff were guests of honor, and William Katt from The Greatest American Hero was a surprise guest.

Comicfest was also part of this con.

Star Fest 2010

"Starfest paid tribute to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by hosting one of the original stars Gary Lockwood. Actress Summer Glau made a rare convention appearance as did Stargate SG1 star Christopher Judge. Star Trek's Marina Sirtis, Garrett Wang and Star Wars Admiral Ackbar (Tim Rose) were also on hand. Attendees also enjoyed a live performance by the Castle Rock Orchestra."

Star Fest 2011

"Starfest welcomed actress Morena Baccarin, who plays the Supreme Commander of the TV series "V" and Firefly. Actor Mark Sheppard appeared as well playing recurring characters in Doctor Who, Supernatural, Leverage, and Dollhouse. LeVar Burton Geordi LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation made a first time appearance at the convention, replacing Jonathan Frakes. Other guests included Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca from Star Wars, and Jeffrey Combs from Re-Animator. This year Robotfest celebrated their 5th Anniversary at the convention and brought robots from LOST IN SPACE, STAR WARS and more. Comicfest was back and celebrated its 3rd year with guests including Steve Niles, JT Krul and Amy Reader."

Star Fest 2012

"Starfest hosted Actor and Director Jonathan Frakes who plays Commander Will Riker. Jewel Staite from Firefly and well as David Prowse, Darth Vader from Star Wars were also guests. Probably one of the most unusual guests attending Starfest had to be John Noble, Walter from Fringe and Lord of the Rings. Mr Noble shared many stories from his long and distinguished acting career. Robert O'Reilly and J. G. Hertzler well known Klingons were also in attendance wearing their Klingon uniforms and attitudes for all to enjoy. Having an opportunity to get your picture with a Klingon was definitely a highlight for many attending. Actress Dee Wallace Mother from E.T. rounded out another exciting and fun weekend."

Star Fest 2013

"Starfest 2013 Welcomed actor Avery Brooks, best known for his role as Captain Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as well as Actor Ben Browder from Farscape and most recently Stargate. Walking Dead's Melissa McBride became the first Walking Dead guest at StarFest. Deep Roy, whose credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Flash Gordon was on hand to share stories from his career. Seth Gabel from Fringe was there as was Cirroc Lofton (Captain Sisko's son) from the series. Writer Jeffrey Riddick and artist Mark Grove were also guests. This year Petries Family Games made available lots of Science Fiction board games that were enjoyed by everyone. StarFest keeps growing each year and accommodating Denver Science Fiction fans with a wide variety of guests, activities, panels, dealers, and much more."

StarFest 2014

May 2–4.

Amanda Tapping, Tim Russ, Sam Witwer, Billy Dee Williams, Nichelle Nichols, and Giancarlo Esposito. Also at this con: Dr. WhoFest and GameFest.

Further Reading

• The mother of all Colorado cons: StarFest unites diverse cultures by John Wenzel for "The Denver Post" (April 30, 2014)
• StarFest Denver
• Starfest