This is my report on FedCon XVII Sunday in 2008! (Yeah, I know it’s late)

For part 2 of my Saturday report (incl. the joint panel of Bruce and Peter) please click here.

Getting up – again

It’s taken me quite some time to finally write this report and I regret that I did not do it earlier. Many details of that day are lost to me now and try as I might, things just keep blurring. The age, I know. But since FedCon 2009 is drawing nearer, I thought it would be nice to finish off the revue of last year’s events.

What I do remember is that I was incredibly tired. I had stayed up really late (or early, depending on your perspective) to participate in the (in)famous con party – which was an absolute riot as mentioned before. Hanging out next to Bruce Boxleitner and Peter Jurasik is something that seemed like a dream, but at the same time is something I can still bring up easily from my memory. After two nights of little sleep and two really long days it took quite some energy to get out of the bed on Sunday morning, but the Apple friend and I managed that difficult task eventually and headed back to the Maritim hotel.

Autograph Session

My biggest ambition for the day was to get my self-made poster signed by Bruce Boxleitner and Peter Jurasik. Pretty much the first thing I did when I entered the con area was to get in line for that – and the line was really long. The signers were sitting in a separate large room and only within the room the fans could split up to stand in separate lines for each actor. Until you reached the room, everyone had to stand in the same line. Despite the fact that it took about an hour or so to finally reach the entrance, I have to compliment the con organizers for the way they handled the enormous number of fans.

Having finally reached the special room with the stars in it, I could quickly proceed to the lines for the B5 actors. Most fans wanted to see Michael Shanks and Mary McDonnell, so those were the longest lines. I was pleased though that there were quite a number of fans waiting for Bruce and Peter as well. They each took their time with fans, exchanged some kind words while signing the pictures, fan art or whatever the fans had brought. It was good to see they actually interacted with the people – even though that made me incredibly nervous. Talk about being star-struck.

Usually I am not shy at all, but I just didn’t dare to get my camera out and take some pics of them. I felt like a paparazzi and decided that my fingers were shaking too much anyway to hold the camera steady.

I reached Peter’s table first. The helper sitting next to Londo Mollari took my autograph coupon and then wanted to know what I wanted to have signed. I handed her my poster, which – and here goes me being incredibly proud – she took with amazement and very carefully put it in front of Peter, who looked up and said ‘Hi’ before looking for a spot for him to sign. Only then he realized what the poster was about and asked were I got it. I told him I had made it myself and he actually flattened it against the table (I had been transporting it in a tube so it was curling up at the ends) to get a better look. He liked it so much that he actually told Bruce Boxleitner, who was sitting on the table next to him, to get a look.

Well, I guess you can imagine that I was the happiest person in the whole wide world. And when Bruce Boxleitner had put his signature on the poster as well – don’t ask me what happened immediately afterwards, I don’t have a clue. 

Panels

Kevin Sorbo and Steve Bacic

I know I attended several panels that day, but like I mentioned, the details are completely lost (except for the Peter Jurasik panel, which will be featured in the last report from last year’s con). I do remember though that Steve Bacic and Kevin Sorbo were a riot together. I did not have the opportunity to see the complete panel, but what I saw was enough to send me into hysteria. Somewhen during the panel the microphones placed throughout the Main Bridge broke down, essentially leaving the fans without  means to ask questions. Instead of cutting the panel short, Bacic and Sorbo made a competition out of it to race through the room to the fans queuing at the dead mics and letting them use their own microphones to ask their questions.

Needless to say, it was probably the most action packed panel of the complete weekend and many fans got to get close to the two stars who probably broke speed records, racing through the aisles and even up to the balcony. Kevin Sorbo actually gave the technicians up there a shock: the camera operators had lost him as he once more ran through the Main Bridge and because the room was still dimmed, it was not clear were the Andromeda star was. All of the sudden, he was standing right behind the technicians, who put the camera feeds, announcements, and fan art on the main screen. The poor guy nearly jumped out of his seat when he realized Sorbo was behind him, demanding to speak to him about a particular hilarious piece of fan art that had been shown on the screen only seconds earlier. Even though I don’t follow the shows of either actor, it was a blast seeing them together.

Julie Caitlin Brown

I was there. I think. But I really can”t recall any details anymore. I think she sang (and quite well, actually) and she talked some more about her beliefs and her work as a motivational speaker. I have to admit, even though the details escape me, that I was really moved and liked her second panel just as much as the first.

Marina Sirtis

Again, sorry, details escape me completely. But I do remember that she was a very energetic woman, with a dry sense of humor. Not as ‘bad’ as her colleague, Brent Spiner, but witty, open and funny nonetheless. 

Cut +++ Since the report on Peter Jurasik’s panel will be quite long, I am gonna end this report here and I will hopefully see you for the last con report soon.

For images from the convention, please click here.

Related Posts

• No Related Post