Earlier this month, I ventured into Philadelphia for the Galactic Diversity & Inclusion Convention, hosted by Gaaays in Spaaace (GIS)! I was so glad to see Philly get a con like this, especially after Creation Entertainment stopped hosting theirs in New Jersey a few years ago.
Overall, D&I Con felt like a warm hug – a throwback to the 1990s era conventions of my youth. During those years where Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager were the new kids on the block, most Trek conventions were smaller affairs (maybe 500-1,000 attendees). While a few smaller cons still exist, I think most people’s experiences with cons these days are of the Fan Expo, Comic Con, Wizard World, ReedPop, Creation Entertainment variety.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a bigger corporate run con — the experience is just different. D&I Con was the very opposite of a big corporate convention. There was no glossy signage. The guests weren’t sequestered behind tables all weekend, pressured to churn out autographs as quickly as possible. D&I Con was clearly a labor of love by a small but dedicated team of fans.
One of the ways D&I Con really differentiated themselves was in cultivating an intimate experience with the guests. Q&A sessions with the actors started the traditional way, with everyone on a stage led by a moderator. But after introductions, the room was divided into small groups, with each actor coming into the audience for chats and then rotating through the groups. I’ve been attending cons for almost 25 years, and I’ve never seen a con approach a Q&A that way.
To be completely honest, there were some challenges with the format — some actors are more soft spoken and some are more gregarious. It made hearing questions and responses a bit challenging at times. I think in the future, more could be done to spread folks out and maybe utilize room dividers. But I admire the attempt to do something different, and on the whole, I really liked it. For me, being in a group of around 50 people seated around the guest sure as hell beats being at the back of a 5,000+ seat ballroom looking at a view screen of the stage.
Another unique hallmark of D&I Con were the actors’ away missions. These required an additional ticket, but afforded a limited number of attendees some really special experiences. Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) used his away mission to teach people to play Craps. JG Hertzler (Martok) and Robert O’Reilly (Gowron) taught Bat’leth stage combat (and attendees got to take their foam weapon home). Bob Picardo (The Doctor) gave singing lessons. And there were half a dozen others to choose from.
We popped in to observe a few of these missions and everyone seemed to be having a great time. So many conventions are focused on just Q&A, photos, and autographs — it was refreshing to see a con work so hard to create memorable opportunities to engage with the guests outside of the typical offerings.
(Although my schedule didn’t allow me to attend the various night time festivities, you could tell each morning that the previous night had been a lot of fun! The GIS folks clearly know how to throw a party!)
A personal highlight for me was finally getting to see Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir). I’ve been trying to meet him since the late 90s. He makes limited convention appearances, so it was awesome to see D&I Con have him on the guest list. On Sunday, Sid City (his official fan club) hosted an in person meeting of the Sid City Social Club, which started as a series of Zoom calls during the height of the pandemic.
It was wonderful to see these folks come together in person, many for the first time ever. If you have not yet experienced the Sid City Social Club, an archive of highlights is available on YouTube.
Gowron and Martok have arrived at #DNICon for the Bat'leth training away mission! Qapla'! pic.twitter.com/QC8jDUzVMQ
— TrekCore.com 🖖 (@TrekCore) May 6, 2023
For a freshman effort, I think GIS delivered a really fun convention. Were there some logistical challenges and growing pains? Yes. But at the end of the day, I made wonderful memories with the guests and my friends. (And I made new friends, which is always a bonus!)
Word on the street is that D&I Con is going to be an annual event here in Philly, and I have faith that the folks over at GIS are going to learn from this inaugural event and improve upon it for next time. Their hearts are clearly in the right place here. And even though the convention is over, you can still enter their sweepstakes to win a trip into space through August! (Keep an eye on GIS’ social media for future events.)
A final footnote: I was reading a post about D&I Con in the Star Trek Wholesomeposting group on Facebook, and someone in the comments mentioned that she’d “tried [a convention] once in the 90’s as a young woman and was sexually harassed [sic] out of the building. Things have very much changed.” As I was reading this comment, I was instantly transported back to being age 15 at a convention, dressed like Dax, and several creepy old men asking me if my spots went “all the way down.” As much as I have fond memories of 90s Trek conventions, not everything about them was great.
Thankfully, D&I Con has created a wholesome and wonderful community and their mission of inclusivity and respect was thoroughly embedded in the convention – something we did not always have at the 90s cons. I’m grateful for this change, and clearly so are others. Thanks, D&I Con!
Check back to TrekCore for more Star Trek convention coverage later this summer!