CONNECT WITH US

FedCon XX – Autograph Session Thoughts & Photos

During the course of FedCon in Dusseldorf, Germany this last week, two large autograph sessions occured where all of the celebrities got together in the main hall and signed autographs for thousands of waiting fans.

It was an amazing thing to see – not sure much being starstruck, in fact I do not particularly get starstruck at all which incidentally, is something that several fellow guests at FedCon asked me about.  It was more about just watching how each celebrity interacted with his or her fans.   I sat and watched each celebrity for at least 10 minutes, just silently watching how they acted.

In particular, I spent time sitting with Marina Sirtis, Nicole de Boer and Garrett Wang – I chatted with each of them a little bit but I mostly just watched how they took time to have a discussion with each and every fan, regardless of their native language and regardless of the fact that there were huge queues – they took the time to speak with each and every fan.  They connected with their fans, even if just for a moment and in some cases the connections were much stronger.  I oberserved one instance betwen Wil Weaton and one of his fans where Wil was almost brought to tears by the signiture of a former co-star no longer with us, on a poster.  Wil was the last person to sign, something he talked about on his own blog.

My point is, celebrities are often portrayed by the media as snobs or as people who care little about their fans.  They are portayed as unapproachable monsters that will spray you in the face with pepper spray or worse if you get too close.  I’ve never believed this and this is always why I am so un-phazed when I speak to celebrities.  I recognise that most of them are just like us, friendly and approachable, they just have bigger houses and faster cars.

There is a genuine desire here to meet the fans, to chat with the fans, to connect with the fans and to share at least one emotion with the fans, even in the highest pressure moments when the queues are the largest.

I took over 500 photos during these autograph sessions and I have picked out some of the best ones to share with you here – I hope you will view them, enjoy them, and remember some of what I’ve said here.

[nggallery id=12]

[nggallery id=17]

by Trek Radio Staff