Con Comparisons

[borgmama1of5]

Sunday was a very interesting day for me. I attended my first ever non-Supernatural convention--Stargate.

I have been to 8 Supernatural cons and find them incredible experiences. So how did I end up at a Stargate con? I've been a hard-core Trek fan since the original series, but I never watched Stargate while it was on TV. Ten years ago I bought the DVDs as a present for my husband, and we enjoyed watching both the original series and the Atlantis spinoff as fun entertainment after a long day at work. When we finished those shows we started Farscape, but I didn't get many episodes into it when I discovered Supernatural and immediately formed a monogamous attachment. My husband watches Supernatural with me, but he has never felt the same intensity toward it as I have.

This spring he rewatched Stargate and I saw that Creation had a Stargate con happening in Chicago on our wedding anniversary, so I bought tickets as our present.

I had a fascinating time comparing the two cons and thought I'd share my experience and observation.

First thing to remember is that Stargate has been off the air for 9 years. Creation now only holds one Stargate con yearly. So naturally the crowd was a lot smaller. However in the theater I overheard a fan from England and a fan from Australia comparing their love of the show, which made me wonder what fandom will be like at Supernatural cons when it has been off the air that long. (Don't tell me there won't still be cons happening!) Not nearly as many fans were in costume, but those that were had the military regalia done so well that I was constantly thinking they were real military personnel!

Alex Zahara, who I am not familiar with, and Dan Payne, who I know as Gadreel's angel friend that Gadreel killed on Metatron's orders, were the emcees who introduced the other guests. Unfortunately anyone would pale in comparison to Rich and Rob, but they did their best.

The panels we saw were: Peter Kelamis, Rachel Luttrell and Paul McGillion, Cliff Simon and Corin Nemic, and the big name for the day was Michael Shanks.

Everyone displayed a sense of humor, and the 2-person panels bounced one-liners and funny stories off each other and answered the fan questions patiently. What I missed, though, was the engagement of the panelists with the entire audience, not just the questioner. Again, I've been spoiled by how the SPN guests play with all of us as they give their answers, and spin questions off onto tangents that usually end up cracking everyone up.

Corin Nemec was there with Cliff Simon as last minute replacements for Ben Browder. Someone asked Corin about his SPN experience and he talked about Jared and Jensen being so down-to-earth and funny, and said that the funniest thing to see was those 'two giant dudes' on their itty-bitty motorcycles which they would ride 20 feet from their trailers to the set just because they could, and drawing out the ride by doing donuts and extra circuits.

Michael Shanks had the funniest comeback to a question he was asked about what his favorite love scene was. Without missing a beat he said 'fan fiction.' He then went on to tell about a fan giving him pix to sign that were multiple artworks of Jack and Daniel in 'ahem, friendly positions' and she was clearly so into it. He wasn't exactly 'comfortable...but you could sure tell who was catcher and who was pitcher...'

One point the Stargate cast wins is remembering the episode titles. When asked questions like what was their favorite scene they could all name the episode title, and they had almost as many as SPN does now!

But where Stargate won hands down was in the non-actor panel--an entire hour was devoted to authors of the Stargate tie-in novels! Five of them--and they were all women!!

AND THEY ALL STARTED AS FANFIC WRITERS!!!

Long story short: Fandemonium is UK company owned by Tom and Sally Malcolm. They were fans of Stargate. She had written/read fanfic and become internet friends with other SG fanfic writers.

When Stargate Atlantis was cancelled, Fandemonium approached MGM about writing some novels and to their utter amazement got a UK contract to write 6 novels. Sally immediately recruited fanfic writer/friends, published a series which was well received and as of now have produced over 50 novels in the Stargate universe!

The other writers in attendance were: Jo Graham, Melissa Scott, Laura Harper, and Diane Dru Botsford. The panel was fascinating, but the conversation I had later at their merchandise table was my highlight of the day.

I talked with Tom Malcolm about the amazing break they got when they initially floated the proposal to MGM. He said they were literally in the perfect place at the perfect time, MGM was in a weak spot financially, didn't have any further plans for the franchise, and they likely gave it approval because no one was really seeing much coming from it.

He also said they they had recently discovered Supernatural, were up to season 4, and were loving it! I joked that they had a wild ride ahead of them, and said they needed to get the fanfic writers to do tie in novels for SPN as well. Sally Malcolm said that she had deliberately reached out to fanfic writers for the Stargate novels because fans had the passion to create characters and scenarios that were true to the universe and to explore things that were only hinted at in show canon because they were so intimately familiar with the canon. She added that she turned down 'professional' writers if they weren't passionate fans because they couldn't give the same richness to the stories, they just didn't know the nuances.

When I said I was glad they'd done the panel, she said it was totally Creation inviting them! So how do we get Creation to invite Supernatural writers and crew to conventions?!?

One other difference between the SPN cons and this Stargate con was the autograph and picture setup. While the 'big names' (Luttrell, McGillion, Nemic, Simon, and Shanks) had formal times and lines for them, the rest of the actors, including ones from Friday and Saturday panels, simply had tables in the lobby and you gave them cash and could take a picture of them or with them on your own phone/camera or get something autographed.

I think if this were tried at an SPN con the tables would be swarmed, but here it was very laid back and the actors were fine with just chatting as well.

I stopped by Dan Payne's table and said that he must have enjoyed being one of the few guest stars who was as tall as Jared and could hold his own against him. Dan immediately corrected me that he was taller than Jared and then pulled out his phone and scrolled to a picture from the set that showed he was indeed taller.

I have to say, that was probably my favorite moment of the day, just the unexpected gleefulness he had showing that he was the bigger man!

He added that Jared was great to work with, a lot of fun.

Later Dan did a pitch on stage to raise money for Covenant House, a charity in Canada, and he ended up taking his shirt off for donations. He did have a nicely tanned and chiseled chest...

I will also give Stargate con points for much better vendor room, big multi-fandom tables including some SPN art and items.

All in all, a very enjoyable day!

Comments

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I think I'd like to try a Stargate/SGA con after meeting Richard Dean Anderson at the London Film & Comic Con a few weeks ago - he was such a funny sweet guy. I'd have to do a rewatch before attending though, I can't remember episodes and details so would feel lost amongst the hard-line fans! LOL

One thing Rogue does well over here is the merchandise room (though that has got smaller over the years) - my friend Kate makes the most wonderful mosaics. You should check out her FB site, she takes commissions and mails to anywhere. https://www.facebook.com/LupinemagicArt.KatePerchard?fref=ts

JIB this year had Bob Singer on stage (not for long enough) and that was brilliant, and Rogue have had Jim Michaels a couple of times - it's so interesting to get the producer/director view of things and I'd LOVE to have a couple of the writers on stage to answer questions about process, planning etc.

I don't remember Dan Payne but googling him there seem to be a few pics of him topless - nice!

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

It's been so long since I watched Stargate that I was pretty lost over the references, so I've started a rewatch with the impossible goal of finishing 15 seasons of both shows before Supernatural returns in October...

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ha ha excellent! Good luck with that... :D

[freya922.livejournal.com]

Wonderful report - sounds like a great day. I was recently at a fan run con (Shore Leave) and they have some really great aspects: amazing costumes from multiple fandoms, a terrific variety of vendors, and the main guest - John Barrowman - was fantastic. A few panels were dreadful, especially the Supernatural one, but that just made my BFF and I think about doing our own next year, maybe a sing-a-long with songs from the show, the parody, etc. Meanwhile I'm saving for Vegas Con!

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I have also attended a couple of fan-run cons for Supernatural--Midwest Winchest--which were a lot of fun. While we didn't have any celebrity guests, the ideas other fans presented at their panels showed just how much deep thinking this show inspires!

[zara-zee.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing that. Really interesting.

Maybe when SPN's been off the air for a few years a bunch of us should form a collective and send them a proposal to write tie-in novels! :D

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

It would be so perfect if some of the great fan writers could get published!

[growyourwings.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this. I found it very interesting to read about the comparisons. When you said Dan and Alex were MCs, I found myself wondering if the success of Richard triggered Creation to have guests at other cons MC. As far as I know before Richard, Adam (and sometimes Gary) always did it.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I wondered that myself. Also, though I didn't go, this con also had a Friday night karaoke party hosted by Dan and Alex and a Saturday night 'Celebrity Caberat' and I wonder how those compare to what we get at SPN cons!

[jennygeee.livejournal.com]

Very interesting, I loved the comparison between the two conventions. I can imagine SPN conventions being like that 9 years after it finishes (washes mouth out with soap!!!)

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Like in 2035? I wonder if the fandom will have thinned out to allow a more casual attitude or if we'll all still be crazy?

[jennygeee.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I don't want to even think of how old I'll be in 2035!! If I'm even still on this earth!

I think fandom will have thinned down, if you think about it, it has already thinned down to what it used to be, I miss all the really good authors that used to write fanfic and so many of them no longer seem to do so, which is sad.

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

This was really interesting! (I've never been to another show's con either.)

I do wish we could get more behind-the-scenes panels at the SPN cons. I totally understand that it might be hard to get the writers or folks involved in creating current canon--that could get a little dicey and might be tough to avoid spoilers or influence--but maybe the FX crew or set designers? I'm SO fascinated by the making of the show!

Re. the tie-ins, I've talked to someone who has done official Quantum Leap tie-in novels, and apparently it's not all it's cracked up to be. Low pay, lots of hoops to jump through. We get spoiled in fandom, because we can write whatever we like! But who knows? Every company is different. Neat idea, though!

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I love the behind-the-scenes stuff, how effects are achieved--I would love to hear from the crew how they do things!

Fandemonium actually presented MGM with an outline of the series Sally Malcolm had in mind, which was to write the 6th season of the cancelled Stargate Atlantis, and MGM went with it, so it sounded like they had a lot more control over what they did than is sometimes the case.

[twisted-slinky.livejournal.com]

I think there could be a con just for actors who have been on both shows, heehee, between Shanks, Tappings, Corin Nemec, Christopher Heyerdahl (Alastair/Todd the Wraith--a personal Atlantis favorite of mine), and the many others...Now that would make for some fun crossover Q&A. Wonderful write up you did here. I've never actually been to a con, but I hope to save up and head to one over the next few years--they seem to be rather addictive. And I would so love to write a tie-in novel one day...

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Yes, there's got to be a ton of actors who've done both!

I think the fans could write so much better novels than the ones I've read that were officially commissioned.

Glad you enjoyed my observations!

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

This is a neat idea.

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

Great write-up, as well as contrast and compare. Actors taking cash at the tables has always struck me as sad, ever since I read about an autograph event which featured older movie stars, some of whom sat ignored (like Mickey Rooney).

Your being a veteran con-goer, do some actors have very small or small lines waiting for autographs? I've always wondered.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I have only gotten autographs at one SPN con (they came with the ticket) and the lines were enormous. I don't know what the lines were like for Michael Shanks, et al., but for the actors in the lobby there weren't any lines when I was there.

It will be interesting to see how much draw the SPN cast has in 10 years!

[sandymg.livejournal.com]

Excellent write up. It's interesting to hear of a smaller, lower key con. I can definitely see the appeal. It's a matter of oneself sustaining interest that long. I find it hard to feel the passion for long-finished shows that I had at the time. It will be interesting to see how I respond to the limited run X-files reboot because while not involved in fandom in a big way -- I was absolutely crazy about that show at the time it aired.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I suspect going to cons 10 years after SPN ends will still be a lot of fun--different, but still worth it because our cast is just so awesome :)

[irismay42.livejournal.com]

I think you've just given every fanfic writer out there hope that there might be money in it someday!! ;)

Now if they'd just let actual fans write the SPN novels...

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I know!!!

There are so many talented writers in this fandom!

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

Very interesting comparison. Thank you. I never watched the Stargate TV series so not familiar with the show, but I do recognize the names of actors that have been on SPN....Alex, Corin, Dan & Michael.

I also wish Creation would do more panels with the writers or production team. When they do have them it is more just Vancouver, but yet, this past year we didn't have one. I really missed not having a production panel. I hope we get that back this next year. Those panels are always very popular.

I love the idea of MGM going to fanfic writers to pen a novel. I can think of a couple writers in the SPN fandom that would be perfect for a SPN novel tie-in. Too bad MGM doesn't have ownership rights, that belongs to WB.

Two years ago when Dan came to the SPN convention he and one other actor had a table in the vendor room for autographs. Alex Zahara had the same setup the year before. Since these actors weren't as well known in the SPN fandom, and they were one-shot actors in the show, their tables weren't mobbed for autos, but they were busy with fans. You would pay them individually for their autos, and they would snap selfies with anyone who asked, despite the rules saying they shouldn't because they had professional photos taken for Creation.

I would be curious to know about the TVD Cons and how they compare to SPN.

Thanks for the observations.