Our MC shares his Fan Dreams & Realities!

I’ve been receiving some great fan entries and will feature them as guest bloggers next week. Join in the fun by sending your story and photo to Amy Ulen. You will also hear from some of the conference organizers, and today’s blog kicks it off by highlighting the conference Master of Ceremonies, Marc B. Lee!

Blog #13 by Marc B. Lee,
Master of Ceremonies, ST40

“Fannish Dreams, Fannish Realities”

Ever experience quiet time. That time that causes you to fend off all distraction, all levels of interruption that may take you away from the dream you are experiencing at the moment. You may have projected your psyche into another realm, a world of wonderment and adventure, of heroism and protection. You may be experiencing your life as a Starfleet doctor, a pointy eared alien guy or a swashbuckling Japanese madman. Ever experience that?

My first introduction into STAR TREK fandom was with a group formerly known as OCTOBERTREK and currently named FARPOINT. I had never attended a convention before and was a fan of watching Trek on the tube. My curiosity took me to the Hunt Valley Marriot outside of Baltimore, Maryland, for a weekend of fun only to gain more than I was expecting. From that point on, my friendship with that group had flourished but my addiction to Trek was just beginning.

Attending the 20th Anniversary Star Trek Convention in Boston and hosted by the Boston Star Trek Association gained me another set of marvelous friends and was the first time I had actually became a “helper” at a ST convention. My assignment was to be a personal escort for George Takei. When I was told that would be my job for the weekend, I innocently asked “Who the hell is George Takei?” You see, I loved the series but knew squat about the actors, not to mention their real names. If they had told me I would be working with Sulu, then that would have stirred my brain cells a bit more and I would have reacted accordingly. “So his name is George Takei, eh? OK.”

I’ve held numerous hosting jobs since then, mainly in the form of an MC or Auctioneer, and have been regularly associated with the conventions like FEDCON and RINGCON in Germany (two of the best), FARPOINT, as mentioned before, and a West Coast charity event hosted by Lightspeed Fine Arts just to name a few. Spending quality time with The Great Bird himself and almost ever Trek actor you could name, has left me with a bit of humility I try to spread on a daily basis. Practicing my “hobby” has always made me feel that people are due every bit of enjoyment their money has paid for and I felt obligated to enrich that a bit with my onstage antics. Thus my association with Sky Conway and his last event “BEAM ME UP SCOTTY”, which has brought me to host this upcoming event. An interesting road down that 20 year Trek through fandom.

There is no other genre in modern day society that brings forward a crusading group of adamant appreciators like the fans of a 3 season long series called Star Trek. Not only are they a voice to be reckoned with, but an economical entity originally recognized by the studio that has profited tremendously over that 40 year long span. Trek fans are iconic, recognizable in all forms of media around the world. We’ve spawned new words and phrases (klingon, beam me up) and have solidified those impressions in the minds of generations from now till then. Trek Fans come in all shapes, sizes, educational levels, economical ladders and IDIC ideology. We’ve been scrutinized, teased at, pointed at, laughed at, confused with and misunderstood all in the same way we have been praised for, celebrated, congratulated, respected and invited to show the world things that could have only been realized with the help of the Star Trek Universe.

The Show That Changed The World will be honored on September 8th at an event that will prove to you we rock! All those finger-pointers out there, the ones that now know of the Bill Gates and the Paul Allens and the Neil Armstrongs, had dismissed all that had been said about us, because we gave you something that has definitely defined you, in today’s society, in today’s world.

Thank you for your time and see you in Seattle.