Farpoint
February 21-23rd
Hunt Valley Inn
Farpoint is a general/Star Trek sci-fi convention that has been held in the Baltimore area since the 90s. Considering I have been in the area for most of that time, it is a surprise that this was the first time I attended. Mostly it was a combination of distance (about an hour) and that the convention in general is not a good match for me. I tend to attend conventions for panels and workshops, for discovering new and interesting shows and to pick up and play new games. Farpoint is named after a Star Trek: Next Generation episode and when I had looked at it previously the focus seemed to be sci-fi media guests. Which is fine but not what draws me to a convention.
That meant I had more time to hang out with people and learn the ways of this con. Like at KatsuCon I went up a day early in order to volunteer for setup. Most of the time that strategy is so your volunteer hours are outside of the actual con hours to have free time during the con itself. But I figured I would spend most of the time at the con volunteering for there were only a handful of panels that looked interesting and I would need the time to introduce myself to the staff and figure out how things were arranged. I was familiar with the venue because while Hunt Valley Inn has had several different owners and names over the years, I first attended BaltiCon there and it has been the home of several other cons. It has free parking (you will be amazed just how much parking can add up) and cheap restaurants nearby so which is better than being trapped with convention center food (shudder) or overpriced restaurants outside the convention center (I'm looking at you Baltimore Inner Harbor.)
I ended up working with the tech crew even though I do not have a lot of experience, so I was mostly an extra body to move stuff. They were generous enough to let me crash in their hotel room rather than let me drive back home after we were finished setting up around midnight the first night. That meant I had time in the morning to be lazy at a coffee shop before heading back to work. I helped where I could, with my free time filled by watching anime that was run by the DC Anime Club. I helped set up the panel rooms along with sitting in (watching, not paneling) on a writing panel. The day ended with opening ceremonies and a charity auction. I usually do not bother attending con ceremonies because I have little interaction with the staff so when they talk about who put together the convention it means little to me. Farpoint is a smaller convention most of whom when I asked had been attending for years. For them, the attendees had known the staff for years, so the status updates and other news at opening ceremonies was meaningful to them.
After that, I drove home since there was no need to work late as it had been for setup, but I worried about the early morning return. The ten am start time for most convention events was enough time for me to wake up at a reasonable hour and return with time to spare.
Saturday was more of the same, checking out the panel rooms that were using their projectors, making sure they had all the tech equipment they needed while the various media guests had talks on the main stage where the tech folks were headquartered. The headline media guests this year were all associated with Star Trek and since attendees received two free autographs with their convention membership, I decided to use them. I found it amusing that since the Farpoint handbook did not have an autograph page and I still had my KatsuCon one in my car which did, I ended getting my free autographs on that instead. One of the media guests, Penny Johnson Jerald (who was on Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Orville) turned out to have grown up in the Baltimore area and had her family surprise her at the con. I always wonder about that, how the family of actors perceive how actors are treated as media guests at cons as they knew said guests before they even started acting. I ended up not getting an autograph from her simply because I had seen at KatsuCon that Station Unity, a new local con late in the summer had her as a guest. I figured that if I wanted one, I could get it there. Of course, Station Unity ended up being cancelled for the year though it is supposed to still happen in 2021 with the same guests.
On Saturday night I assisted the performers during the Masquerade which despite being fan-oriented I do not usually attend because the performances can be so hit and miss. I would think practicing your skit/performance would be given before going in front of that many people! I do remember a fantastic muppet style skit that was done at the Baltimore Convention Center (I want to say at a Otakon but I can't be sure) but most of the time they don't make much of an impression. I was glad to help and was impressed by two skit/performances, one with a bunch of dancing blankets with the punchline of 'happiness is a warm blanket' while the other was Muppet style creature costume that reminded me of Dark Crystal characters. It needed some more detail work but still was evocative of the style.
Afterwards I helped set up the room for the post Masquerade dance then ducked out for the night. The next morning I was relieved that it would the last time I would commuting because it had lost its charm. Sunday was more of the same, I had plenty of time to check out different departments at the con and talk to folks, and most panelists were glad to see someone check in regularly to make sure that things were going well but otherwise it was relatively straightforward. After the con ended there were hours spent tearing down the tech equipment though by then I had gotten familiar with the equipment, so I like to think that I improved from when I had begun but suspect it was not as much as I hoped. I could carry things without difficulty but there was a lot of it so I have to admit towards the end I was lagging but I hope I contributed. Not carried my own weight, because trust me, if you could see me, you would know that would be difficult, but I compensated by sticking around to the end, being one of the last to leave, which was late.