Cherry Hill, NJ Convention - July 19 - 22, 2007!!

[CX]

Wished I was coming too. But I have to work.

[y2kelly]

UPDATE!!

I have one more ticket available to the Friday night dinner w/ Conner. Paid $85, but will take best offer. This banquet is sold out!!

JustTrip'n is at the convention and has the ticket in-hand. Currently, she has no internet access to check PM's. Therefore, if you are interested in buying the last ticket, please either PM me or call me at 412-915-7960 and I will arrange with her to hand it over.

Thanks,
Kelly

[boushh]

Of course I totally forgot to give anyone my number... I'll be at the convention tomorrow only... not sure what I'm wearing yet, but at the moment I'm thinking of two t-shirts that one can use to identify me, LOL.

I might wear my X-Files themed "Skyland Mountain" t-shirt. It's yellow/orange colored and very amusing to X-Files fans, so Bether and Elessar will appreciate it.

So if anyone wants to keep an eye out for me that will be what to look for... otherwise I'll have to hop onto the stage and yell, "Are there any Trip and T'Pol fans in the house??"

[justTripn]

Were's HERE! justTrip'n, John, T'Sara, and Bether, and John is on the phone to boush. We're heading down to the first event! WHEE!!!!!

[JadziaKathryn]

Have fun, all! Do give us the highlights later, too.

[y2kelly]

OMG!!! I TALKED TO CONNER TRINNEER ON MY CELL PHONE!!

JustTrip'n and I were talking on the phone when he walked over and she put him on to say hello. He said he was having a great time and asked me if I bought the new Harry Potter book. LOL, that was a strange question out of no where. Maybe he's been reading it to his boy. But I said no, I don't read those books. I sounded real intellegent, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, JustTrip'n's phone had a picture of Conner on the main screen. LOL. He didn't notice, but too funny. He probably was too flattered (or too scared ) to mention it. I said I was a big fan and was sorry that I couldn't make it... it just wasn't in the cards. He said he understood. And I'm sure he will eventually get over it. LOL

Wow, that was so cool. CT sounds even sexier on the phone. My husband was so jealous, but in a good way (secretly, I think he was jealous that he didn't get to talk to Conner himself - j/k). I will keep this phone forever! Too bad I couldn't record the conversation and upload it to share it with you all.

Hopefully, everyone will upload all of their pictures of Conner?? Pretty please!!

I just want to thank JustTrip'n so very much for selling my tickets. She had a brilliant idea to ask the Creations ticket counter people to sell myticket for her. Apparently, the banquet wasn't sold out. I'm surprised, since these affairs are usually so small. But, that was very nice of them, because they still had their own tickets to sell. So, I should thank the people at Creations as well.

I'm going to go post some pictures in the Member Pictures thread of me and JustTrip'n at a recent Star Party with our local Astronomy Association. I look forward to reading more from those of you who had the opportunity to meet Connor and see his presention. Wishing that you're all having a blast of a time at the Convention and look forward to meeting you all tomorrow!

[Bether6074]

Sitting in the hotel room now, back from dinner. Connor was delightful as always. More stories and updates will be coming later. John is uploading pictures and video as I'm typing.

One quick little story. Right after his talk, JT and I unexpectedly ran into Connor as she was trying to sell Y2Kelly's banquet tickets. Connor caught sight of my NOT.DEAD. shirt. Big smiles. Then he politely extends his hand out to me and asks my name. So JT tells him that we "are his biggest fans". Connor then turns to JT, expecting her to tell him her name. The girl has clearly lost it at this point, being so close to Connor and all. Not that I was far behind... "I forgot my name," she says.

More later.

[CoffeeCat]

"I forgot my name," she says.

OMFG

[Jedikatie]

Connor (and the rest of his family) are all big Harry Potter fans, actually. We talked about it on the train trip in Alaska... he always buys the English version of the book rather than the American one, though.

[justTripn]

OK, I'll try to tell my story before I forget. YES, Connor walked right over to our table moments after Y2Kelly called from Pittsburgh and I put her on! Wild!

Marc Alaimo came to our table first. He stood right behind me as he addressed our table and took questions from the crowd. He looks EXACTLY like Dukat and has those mannerisms. I felt like I had a closer-than-front-row view of him acting out a Dukat scene. I told Marc that among writers on our site many list Dukat as as one of the standout Star Trek characters. I said that I found his performance is "riviting" and "you want to hate him [Dukat] but you also kind of like him." He said, Well that's a real compliment! That's what I was going for." (Or something like that) and seemed genuinely pleased. His visit to our table ended on that note.

As for our conversation with Connor, I mainly remember him volunteering that he was 5 ft 11 in, and Elessar said, well that will settle a lot of debates on the Internet. And I was like, 'Wow" and everyone was like "wow." And he was like why is that surprising? And everyone was like, "because you seem tall." So he stood there talking like a private question and answer presentation just for us. He seemed very comfortable and in charge this time, last time I noted a hint of shyness.

[boushh]

^^ The cell phone story is awesome.

It was a lot of fun meeting you guys. I hope you have a great time tomorrow!!

Your posts entertained me while waiting on line for Harry J. Potter. Now I need to get to bed. Will squee more tomorrow.

[Elessar]

As for my summary, I'm going to try and pick up whatever details JT didn't post...

So at the beginning of the morning, I slept in to like 11:30 because I hadn't slept in about 36 hours, hehehe. So when I woke up, T'Sara had just arrived (and brought me a donut!!), I got dressed and went downstairs to meet her and JT at the cafe downstairs. We visited for a short while and discussed how to go pickup Bether, then visited some more, then went and got her and experienced some more of the fine downown, government-subsidized housing of New Jersey . When we got back it was nearly time for the events to start downstairs (about 3:00) so we got in line, got tickets, etc, and me and JT went into the auditorium for Mark Alaimo's talk. We also met Boushh in the line while we waited, as I had called her earlier in the day to setup a meeting. A few minutes later, Boushh joined JT, T'Sara, and I in the auditorium as we heard the rest of Mark Alaimo's talk.

His main talking points were saying how much he enjoyed playing Dukat because it gave him such a huge range of acting to play with, how modern actors don't train classically anymore and of the downfall of interest in theatre in the U.S., and that the dream role he always wanted but never got was to play Hamlet, even though he had played IN productions of Hamlet, just never AS Hamlet. He also retold the story about how Avery was supposed to "fake punch" him in one episode and instead really hit him, giving him two black eyes, and playfully called Avery "unprofessional" for such a mistake, saying he has heard Avery blames him and claims he stepped out of place .

After the talk, a beautiful ( ) young lady approached us and said "Are you from Triaxian Silk?" and we said "yes!" and she said "I'm Emberchyld!" So for the rest of the day, Emberchyld joined our cadre of fun-seeking trekkies .

After that, we milled around outside the auditorium (waiting for Connor's presentation at 4), and I met this lady named Tanya Lelani (sp?) who apparently played a belly dancer in TOS' "Wolf in the Fold" and claimed to have dated William Shatner. She was also selling a book she had just written... and JT's friend Bob bought the first copy... as in, the first copy anyone's ever bought

I also saw Barry Jenner there (Admiral Ross, DS9, very cool!) and we perused the tables of stuff. We saw a few neat Enterprise things worth noting, such as a big, beautiful Enterprise banner on the wall (probably 8x4 feet), plus a neat vinyl poster that was vaguely Trip and T'Pol. They had the same photo available in print for autographs. I considered running up stairs to get my copy of The Good That Men Do that I had on me to have Connor sign it, but thought the better of it since I already have one of his autographs.

We took a few group photos in the dealer room, and this is really the most all-inclusive picture because it includes Boushh and Emberchyld, but T'Sara graciously stepped out to take the photo . That will be up later! So then we went back into the auditorium during the tail-end of the no-minimum bid auction, to wait for Connor's talk, and managed to sneak like 8 of us into seats adjacent to JT's preferred seats, hehe. We were bitched at a few times to keep down from these two bitty old ladies in front of us, apparently dying to hear the price of the Jason Momoa autograph . But eventually, they said that it was time to announce the winner of a contest for the music video collage they would use to introduce Connor... And it was Boushh! And they said on stage that it was a Trip and T'Pol video and Adam Malin the Creation guy said what a great run they had, etc, and they asked Boushh (much to her surprise!) to say a few words about it:

http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/ ... c8ad1d.flv

I also got SOME video of Connor but the lady came and yelled at me for filming:

(I'll get this up later)

I can remark on the questions I asked Connor or someone else asked Connor, as well. There was some interesting stuff in regard to Trip and T'Pol, and in fact he seemed to respond better and more sportingly to the Trip and T'Pol questions and mania that we were producing, pretty well. Basically, I first went up there and thanked him for coming now that he has a family because I can imagine that it is very difficult to do, and then I pointed out our row and I said that the NOT DEAD ladies are here from Vulkon and wanted to say hello! They cheered and he smiled and waved at them. Then I got to my question, which was going to be if he thought Michael was still alive on Atlantis, but someone else had already asked him something which elicited him to say that he was going back up to Vancouver for 3 weeks to film for SGA, so I knew he was still alive and being cast soon. So instead I asked him if he thought Michael would ever become fully human or fully wraith again, to find a place with the humans or with the wriath. His answer was that he doesn't think the wraith would ever take him back because he's a hybrid, but that the humans might and would really benefit from it if they did and that they made him so they bear some responsibility for his entire existence. He then said well and with that sirum he could just take it again and wipe all his memories. He then asked me if I thought he could and I said I think he could but I think he'd have to choose it, not use the sirum, and have to make the choice, and he agreed.

And then, there were so few people that I was able to go up and ask another question about if the show had gone on and Trip hadn't died, "Because he didn't," I said in a turn of my head to the crowd , what did he think Trip would go on to do, stay an engineer, or eventually get his own Command? (By the way, someone had ansked a question previously I cannot recall which in response to, Connor talked about what he thought of the finale, how he thought it flattered his character, but that he thought it was a little bit of "giving the finger" from those who wrote it, and said he'd heard of these new books out that resurrect his character). Connor replied to my question that he definitely thought Trip would get his own command because he thought he was that kind of man, and that those above him would realize that was a smart decision. He also said that he thought he was very attached to Archer and in part because of how much he thought of Archer, would in fact kind of endeavor to "be like him" in the sense of commanding a starship, and that that would be a drive as well, and that he would probably stick by Archer until Archer "was done". I told him I thought he did very well portraying his command abilities in season 4 and that Trip could no doubt do just fine on his own and he said thank you.

Then, JT asked her question of what he thought of the Trip and Archer friendship throughout the show and if he thought it suffered any, especially after Cogenitor. Connor joked "that's when we broke up", and then "But we got back together in season 3." He said that he seriously (this was new info) wished they had had some kind of on screen recognition of the *thing* between Trip and T'Pol in the sense of Archer and Trip discussing it, maybe as buddies, maybe as commanding officer and subordinate, but as something, and never did. He said he'd wished they discussed that at some point among the guys, like guys do. Oh and right after Boushh's video he also said "Wow, that was a lotta shnonking!" (the video ended with the shower scene, ) and said something like "I didn't remember that much!" Then later someone asked the unforgivable yet man-requierd question of:

"Was it Jolene in that robe-dropping scene, and if so what was she wearing?"

We all sort of turned red and went "Oh boy" because this question has been asked 5000 times and Connor's gotten real irked by it before but I guess he was having a good day and realized it was a typical "guy" question, so he humored him. He said it wasn't Jolene, it was a body double and that she was wearing pieces of tape in all the necessary places. And then he went on (which is where it got good, and where I've never heard him say this before) and said something like:

"Yeah, you know, I was like walking into work that day thinkin, 'Man, jolene's gotta drop traw in fronta me today,' haha. We got to the scene and everything and we kissed and then they yell "CUTT! BODY DOUBLE!" and Jolene stood up and I went 'what, what...where, no! where are you going? Come back!' And they brought in this body double, who had a fantastic body, but... you know, it wasn't Jolene so, I was disappointed...

Which was really unusual, he normally doesn't acknowledge any form of attraction for her, but whatever. Showed him more loosened up I guess. He also told us a very cool story later that he had gotten into character really easily for that last scene in Terra Prime because he has just found out the day before that he and his wife were going to be having their little boy Jasper. And he said he had a hard time collecting himself after that scene because how close to home it hit to have lost a baby, with his own on the way and everything, and he was in the corner by himself trying to get himself together when Jolene walked up and gave him a hug and asked him if he was alright and he knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone yet but he told her anyway sne she congratulated him and hugged him again, heh.

After that, we all filed out to go upstairs and watch some Trek until the dinner, but JT and Bether stuck around downstairs for a few minutes so when they came back up to the room with T'Sara, they had that story about having run into Connor and that famous line:

Connor: Hi, what's your name?
JT: Hehehehehe....I don't remember my name...hehehehehe

. She's a doll, she really is. Anyway, we all just sorta shot the breeze for awhile and then changed into our respectable clothes and went downstairs for the dinner with Connor and Marc. We were apparently a little late because we had trouble finding the Mezzanine Level (ironic because the directions say Mezzanine Level and there's an M button in the elevator, but all of the hotel personnel say "Plaza Level" ).

Anyway we got there, we had to kind of scrounge for a table, and in fact, unfortunately were not able to get one table for our entire group, and split 3 and 3 between two very nearby tables...which ended up being neat, actually, because we got two sets of stories from seeing Connor and Marc!

I also forgot to mention that I went up to get someone a beer at the cash bar right when Connor walked in and I didn't realize it at the time but he was walking up to the bar to get a drink as well and he looked at me and nodded and said hello, and I waited to see if he said he remembered me from my questions but he didn't, but he said, "You're 21?!" and I laughed and said "Yeah, I'm twenty....three", I had to think about it . Ok so even guys can be starstruck! I got my beer and walked away as I heard him order a vodka tonic.

So when Connor came around, we got some stories like JT told you, and I asked him that I read he played college football and he said yes he did, Corner (which I wanted to know for fic just in case but I was already right in Telluride!), and that he was All State Defense and All State Wide Reciever or something like that. He got to talking about how he stumbled into acting because he didn't know what else to do and I asked him if he ever wanted to play pro football and he said that's EXACTLY what he'd always wanted to do, play a pro sport, but he came to realize in college that wasn't going to happen. He actually told us this story about how he got into acting... he was talking to a girl at a party and lamenting over how he didn't know where he was going to go or what he was going to do with his life and she recommended he try out for this play they were doing and he asked if she was going to be there (smirking and turning his downward like he does) and she said 'yes', so he went to the audition and got the part, kept having recognition and success until it built up into something job-like and boom here he is.

He also said his brother had actually been the star trek fan in his family... he said... you know how you and siblings give each other stuff... my brother got math and science and science fiction... I got sports and girls. He also said how tall he was, he said Jolene's actually about 5'7... but maybe she had lifts? She looks shorter in everything else doesn't she? Idk.

Anyway, then the dinner was over not long after, but it was really good actually, I thought so anyway. We went up stairs, had to say goodbye to Emberchyld and T'Sara because they could only spend Friday here . Then we had a 2-part Enterprise marathon and watched 'First Flight' and 'Harbinger' !

Ok, GOOD NIGHT!

[Bether6074]

When Connor came over to our table, he knelt right down on the floor between Emberchyld and T'Sara. I was sitting just to the right. They're both very intelligent engineers and were telling Connor all about their important jobs. Connor kind of frowned and sighed saying, "And I'm just an actor." But then he added, "It's fun, though." I was kind of relieved he didn't ask me what I did for a living after all of that top secret stuff. I kept thinking of what I might say. "Well, I wipe the floor in convenient store bathrooms with paper towels." It clearly would have been a Charlie Brown moment.

T'Sara had given Boushh a coin of hers to give to Connor (which Connor still had in his shirt pocket). He said (with that patented Connor smile) that ever since he mentioned once at a convention that he collects coins he never fails to get one now whenever he makes an appearance. And (something like) they are always coins that you wouldn't normally find anywhere. He also wanted to pass along a hello to Jedikatie and added that he loved the coins she had given him. By then the Creation lady was poking him and asking him to move along. I get the impression that Connor likes feeling like just a normal guy, being that he didn't really want to move along. He seemed to like chatting about nothing. It seems as if he never fails to put smiles on everyone's faces.

[justTripn]

Well, I am embarrassed to read Elessar's account, because it is so informative. My account is that I got to the hotel high as a kite, meeting old friends and new friends, we all hit it off, my fun-odometer maxed out as the official events began, Connor appeared out of nowhere beside me as I was trying to sell Kelly's ticket and gave me that devestating smile, soon I was eating dinner and Gul Dukat was hovering over my shoulder charming the table, then Kelly called and Connor walked over and took the phone--great big blur, he said he was 5 foot 11--great big happy blur, all the Triaxian Silk crowd went back up to the room, those leaving hugged goodbye and promised to do it again, those remaining talked and typed (because it isn't real till we tell it all to you), then had a two-episode Enterprise marathon until 2:00 in the morning!

[TSara]

Oh God I had such a great time!!!



Hope I didn't scare any of you off with my wild child ways! WEEEE! LOL

Everyone pretty much covered what we did....I just wanted to add that Conner told me to tell Katie he sends his regards AND SAYS HELLO. He likes the coin you gave him and he keeps it with his other coins that are rare or hard to find in an old miners gold pan.

I gave him a coin from where I work....he seemed to really like it...which made me all bubbly inside....I told him I gave him that one because it's a spacey coin. He said " Is that what you call it....a spacey coin?" He also asked what I do....I told him I'm a network engineer...he asked what that was or "can you not tell me." so I gave him the short short version!

He said he had gotten a coin similar to the one I gave him when he visited NASA.

We asked him about his vacation.....he said he went to Spain with his wife and spoke of how much he enjoyed that.

I had a great time.....I however am a little bummed because they would not let us take pictures with Conner. Creation people!

Next time I will have to just fork over the 40 bucks and get my picture with him!

All in all we so need to do this again! I had a blast!!!