I want to apologize for not posting the last couple days. Along with all the loot I picked up at the convention, I seem to have gotten a small cold free of charge. I’ve been forced to go to bed early, especially for me. That, and I had very little of interest to report. I’m much better now though, and I look forward to working on breaking down the convention for you!
At last, I’m home again. It took six days to get back instead of five. Mom wanted to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder historical sites in De Smet, South Dakota. She read all of The Little House on the Prairie books to me when I was growing up, and I learned to appreciate them. It was really interesting to stand in one of Laura’s childhood homes, and then to visit “the house that Pa built” after Laura married. However, stopping for so long in De Smet forced us to split the miles of the final leg (from Albert Lea Iowa to home) over two days, and stay in Mitchell, South Dakota, and then last night in De Moines Iowa. I was overjoyed to see the first sign that said “Chicago” on Friday night.
Despite the time it took, having to live off of fast food, and being stuck in the car with my parents for hours on end, I wouldn’t have changed this trip for anything. We’ve never traveled quite like this, and while it was not always fun, I will always remember it with a big smile. I saw more of my own country than ever before, and now I finally feel like I have a full understanding of why we say, “America the Beautiful”.
The Convention, the whole reason we went on this crazy journey, fulfilled so many hopes and dreams for me. Without it I would never have been able to see Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, and N. John Smith in person, and I would never have been able to find filming locations from the show, visit the sets at Bridge Studios, walk the ramp to the Stargate and have my picture taken within its circumference. That alone made the whole trip worth it. (I’d post the picture, but the waver I signed made it clear that all pictures taken on the tour are for personal use only, and I want to show my respect for MGM.)
Vancouver is also an international mecca for Stargate fans, I’ve learned. On the locations tour, I sat with a woman from France! Sadly, the fact that English was not her first language and she could not speak it very well made conversation very difficult. I met several fans from Great Britain, Australia, and Germany too. I heard languages being spoken that I could not recognize, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they knew enough English to be able to follow the guest stars’ Q&A sessions. This is something I’d never encountered at the Chicago convention. I’d met people who came all the way from Great Britain, but I’d never been able to recognize people of other nationalities. It was a wonderful feeling. I knew there are fans across the world, but it was another thing to meet them. It makes me wonder why there is so much tension in the world when people can gather together so easily to celebrate what they have in common, even if it is just the best television show ever.
However, I have to comment that Vancouver was not all that I had thought. I was disappointed by the venue. Compared to the Chicago Stargate Creation Convention, I found the auditorium to be smaller and the vendor’s tables to be much more limited. There was not enough room outside of the auditorium (the hotel’s ballroom) to have more than 2 vendor’s tables, one full of the Stargate necklaces, pictures of the convention guests and a few more besides, and one table full of all the shirts, sweatshirts, and coats. They put more vending in a separate room downstairs, but their fare was limited to Atlantis action figures, mugs, hats, and a selection of autographed photos from Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, ands a few other shows like StarTrek and Battlestar Galactica. They had a table offering board games as well, but either they sold out before I saw it or they never even had any of the Stargate SG-1 board game.
The last two years at Chicago we’ve had vendors with all the memorabilia – that previously mentioned plus the key chains, the trading cards, original artwork, beautiful posters, the Fandemonium novels, the BigFinish audio books, all the jewelry available, and the whole line action figures, including the rare unpainted prototypes! Last year they even had a dealer selling plastic replicas of the military weapons that SG-1 carries in the show! Before that I didn’t know such a thing existed!
I think that the Chicago Creation Convention can be everything at Vancouver is, minus the tours. It has the potential to have the same international pull on fans, and be able to seat more of those fans. The guest list could make all the difference. So far for Chicago this year, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Joe Flanigan, Connor Trinneer, and Paul McGillian are listed to come. This list always grows in the last few months before the event, and Chicago isn’t until August 21-23. To my memory, we havenever had more than seven guest stars attend Chicago in a year, but there were no less than eleven at Vancouver, NOT counting Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, and N. John Smith! I think that if Creation could offer the same variation and number of big names from both shows at Chicago as they do in Vancouver, I think Chicago could ultimately become BIGGER and sell out just as fast as Vancouver has. While I realize this isn’t easy and no doubt Creation has done their best, I am positive that Chicago has this potential.
In the weeks to come I will be working to translate my scribbled notes from each guest’s Q&A session. It will take a while, but I promise you it will be worth it. In between, we will be covering any breaking news regarding the Stargate franchise, so sit tight! The ride has only just begun!
