Trek Gate to your star 2012

Sep. 29-30, 2012

The TGTYS was the second convention I joined. It's a fairly new con, the first TGTYS was in 2011. I wished Michael Shanks as star guest for the FedCon and was told by someone he would come to the TGTYS, so I informed me about the con and seeing who else would be there I bought a weekend ticket.

The con took place in the Renaissance Hotel in Düsseldorf/Germany and about 250 people joined it, so it was a smaller but - or therefore? - very nice con.

1. The Hotel

It was a little bit difficult to find, but luckily I met another con guest and together we did it. When we reached it, the first people I met was a group of fellow TTT-members - so I felt like home from the very beginning of the con.

2. The Organisation

The "command crew" - Roger, Alexandra, Alex and Marco - was a very nice and helpful group, approachable, interested and eager to help if there was a problem (like there was with my Michael Shanks autograph: The pen he used, didn't stay on the picture and the next day I get a new autograph for free).

The program was layed out so that none of the panels / photo ops or other activities were overlapping each other.

3. The photo ops

They were organized by the ticket numbers, so there were no big queues. However, standing in lines was not a problem at all, because I had nice conversations with the other guests then. And the photographer was awsome! There was no hurry - like at FedCon - and you were only allowed to go when the picture was perfect, even if it took two or three shots. So the photos (glossy in Din A4) were absolut brillant. The actors also had no reservations and took part in everything. And for an additional charge you could get the group photo with all five actors in Din A3.

4. The autograph sessions

There was one on Saturday and another one on Sunday. Like everything else at the TGTYS it was a cozy affair. I was able to chat a bit with the actors and also got words of appreciation for my autograph pictures. And when I came to Michael for the second time he even remembered my picture and my name :)

5. The star guests

Torri Higginson

Dr. Elizabeth Weir from "Stargate Atlantis"

Master of Ceremonies

Very charming and extremely funny. For example, she always reead fom her smartphone what she had googled about each star guest. So a lot of false internet infomation came to the light, which the audience enjoyed and prvovoked astonishment among the star guests. Torri also hosted the charity auction on late Sunday afternoon and it was really funny and exciting! She even auctioned off a bread roll!

Connor Trinneer

Charles 'Trip' Tucker III from "ST: ENT"

Michael from "Stargate Atlantis"

An interesting and sympathetic guy. He talked about his roles in ENT and SGA and answered all sorts of qustions. Sadly, when he went shoe shopping with his wife her bag was stolen and their passports etc. were gone so he had to spent a lot of time to get replacements. Nevertheless, he let us not see his displeasure, but even made jokes about the affair

Michael Shanks

Dr. Daniel Jackson from "Stargate SG-1"

He seemed a little reserved at the beginnig but soon warmed up. He talked about his time by "SG-1", his new tv show "Saving Hope" and also about some bad movies he made, what was very funny and interesting and became some kind of topic of all the following panels. (I couldn't resist and bought "Megasnake" on DVD sonn after the con). It was also very funny, when he talked about his wifes’ cats and how they reacted to getting a guinea pig for the kids.

Christopher Heyerdahl

Dr. John Druitt and Big Foot from "Sanctuary"

Todd from SGA

Thor 'the Swede' Gundersen from "Hell on Wheels"

The big surprise of the con. He plays so many dark characters in different tv shows yet as a private person he is funny, sympathetic, charming and very close to the fans. His panel was definitely the highlight of the con

Julie Caitlin Brown

Na'Toth from "Babylon 5"

A stong and interesting woman. Strong not only in her personality, but also physically. Also as manager of the stars present she was very tough and insisted that everything went after her rules - which is totally okay, I think. However, she was also very close to the fans - like all the other actors were, too. They mixed up with them in the hotel floor, chatted with the fns, even sat down with them. That was possible because it was a smaller event, I think, and I truly hope it will not change in the future, when the TGTYS will become bigger.

Julie also gave a concert, but sadly I missed it.

Double panels

There were also two double panels, one on Saturday with Michael Shanks and Christopher Heyerdahl, the other on Sunday with Torri Higginson and Connor Trinneer. They were fun, too.

6. My personal conclusion

I had a really fantastic weekend, with very nice people. I've met some people I already knew and learned to know some new. We laughed a lot and all the time there was absolutely no stress. The stars at the con seemed to be more relaxed and closer to the fans than on a big con. The TGTYS will be a fixed date in my year schedule from now on. I can recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a relaxed Con. In fact, because of it's intimate and familiar atmosphere I think I like the TGTYS even more than the FedCon.

thanks to Pilot for the photos (I had some trouble with my camera)