SATURDAY GUIDE: Official Star Trek Con rolls into Vegas!

Click here for a guide to Thursday events.

Click here for a guide to Friday events.

Click here for a guide to Sunday events.

The Star Trek universe will focus this weekend on Las Vegas and the Rio All Suites where Creation Entertainment will set up shop for a four-day convention. Expect big names (William Shatner, Kate Mulgrew) and rare names (Colm Meaney, Scott Bakula). Tickets will be on sale at the event, but arrive early for the best deals in the vendors room. Thousands of fans will flock to Sin City, so expect some wait times and possible sell outs.

BASICS

The action at the Official Star Trek Convention is split among several different areas at the Rio All Suites.

In addition to the main theater, the convention spills over into a secondary theater, vendors room, photo op area and other banquet halls. Expect lines, but nothing too bad. The Rio is enormous, and last year’s event ran smoothly. Many ticket options, autographs and photo ops are still available. Some special dinners and meet-and-greets are sold out, but fans will still have plenty of options to choose from.

Everything starts early and goes late. Pace yourself. You need to take breaks during the day and get away from the convention for an hour or two. If you continue from 9 a.m. to midnight every night, you’ll be burned out by Saturday and may be forced to sleep through the Captains Summit on Sunday.

SATURDAY, AUG. 11

Note: Celebrity names are followed by autograph prices and photo op prices. Some guests sign in the vendors room and prices are TBA; this will be noted. Guests will appear in either the main theater or secondary theater. All information is subject to change.

Guests: Anthony Montgomery ($30, $40), Ron Moore (free), J.G. Hertzler ($30, $35), Robert O’Reilly ($20, $35), Jonathan Frakes (autographs in vendors room, $40), Brent Spiner (autographs in vendors room, ), Michael Dorn (autographs in vendors room, $40), Colm Meaney ($45, $60), LeVar Burton (autographs in vendors room, $40), Marina Sirtis (autographs in vendors room, $40), Gates McFadden (autographs in vendors room, $40), Brannon Braga (free), Armin Shimerman (autographs in vendors room, $40), Max Grodenchik (autographs in vendors room), Aron Eisenberg (autographs in vendors room, $40), Brian Thompson ($25, $40), Kate Mulgrew ($50, $65), Robert Beltran ($50, $50), Tim Russ ($25, $40), Roxann Dawson ($35, $40), Robert Duncan McNeill ($35, $40), Garrett Wang ($25 in vendors room, ), Jonathan Del Arco ($20, $40)

Special photo ops: Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik and Aron Eisenberg together ($80), Roxann Dawson and Robert Duncan McNeill ($80), Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner ($75), J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly ($60), Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran ($99), Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis ($75), Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis ($80), LeVar Burton and Colm Meaney ($80)

Special events: Lecture from Dr. David Williams on NASA’s Dawn Mission; Anthony J. Rotolo on “Star Trek and the Information Age”; costume parade; special meet-and-greets (extra charge); StarTrek.com panels; presentation by John Tenuto; world record attempt for most Star Trek costumes in one place; no-minimum-bid auction; discussion of J.J. Abrams’s upcoming Star Trek sequel

Evening events: Gala concert with Avery Brooks ($30); Saturday night dessert party (Gold and Captain’s Chair patrons only)

Tickets: Gold and Captain’s Chair tickets are sold out. Preferred weekend packages ($319), general admission weekend ($149), Saturday reserved seating ($90) and Friday general admission ($40) are available.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

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