Stay-at-home orders have put a stop to fan conventions for the time being, but have also spawned the growth of new virtual events where fans can see and even interact with their favorite stars. A new one was just announced for May which will include a Star Trek: Discovery panel along with more virtual con experiences.
Go InHouse with Doug Jones and more Star Trek: Discovery actors
Coolwaters Productions has announced ‘InHouse-Con,’ a virtual fan event that will run throughout May. Every Saturday in May will have a theme featuring celebrities from a different franchise. On Saturday May 9th, InHouse-Con will have a virtual panel on Star Trek: Discovery featuring Doug Jones (Saru), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Rhys), Raven Dauda (Dr. Pollard), and Hannah Cheesman (Airiam). Coldwaters president Derek Maki tells TrekMovie “We plan on having some exclusive content during our live panels and I am asking clients who are participating to come up with things that they never talk about or show at conventions.”
The “virtual door charge” to attend the panel online is $4.99. You can also buy a $20 monthly membership for all the all InHouse panels in May, which include five virtual panels with celebrities from Superman, Star Wars, and Ghostbusters. The panels and individual chats will be conducted using Zoom.
InHouse-Con is also creating more virtual con experiences. You can purchase autographs and 5-minute one-on-one chats with any of the panel celebrities, with pricing varying for each one. There are also various package deals including the “Ultimate” package which includes autographs with all four Discovery stars and a 20-minute VIP group chat, priced at $425.
For more information and to purchase tickets, autographs, and individual chats, visit inhouse-con.com.
Doug Jones at Star Trek Las Vegas 2018, now headed to InHouse-Con 2020
Virtual shape of cons to come?
The pandemic lockdown has essentially put an end to cons and events, at least in the short turn. Last week, Star Trek stars Gates McFadden and Robert Picardo lamented their 2020 appearance schedules being been wiped out, and talked about how this time may be an opportunity to rethink how cons are conducted.
InHouse-Con is being put together by Coolwaters Productions, a celebrity management company focusing on events and conventions; going virtual is a way for them to give their celebrity clients a way to continue to reach out to their fans.
Speaking to TrekMovie, Coldwaters president Derek Maki talked about the genesis of InHouse-Con:
We represent numerous actors for appearances at fan conventions and with four months of conventions being pulled out from under us due to COVID-19 I wanted to try to figure out a way to bring events to fan’s homes…I contacted a bunch of my clients and most agreed to participate in the on-line event. They were all very supportive and thought is would also be fun.
According to Maki if the May events go well, they plan to do another round in June.
More virtual events coming
There are others who are also pivoting to virtual conventions, including Wizard World, who began conducting “virtual experiences” last month. May will also see the launch of the new Virtual Pop Expo from XLE Entertainment. And Lambda Quadrant is hosting Holocon on April 25th and May 2nd, which includes some Star Trek celebrities and will even include a virtual cosplay contest.
Time to dust off your best outfit for the #Holocon Virtual Cosplay contest. All you need to do to enter is take a current pic and submit it via DM to us to be entered to win. Winners will be chosen on May 2nd. Deadline to enter is Wednesday April 29th at 10 pm PDT pic.twitter.com/GZvkxO7TSc
— Lambda Quadrant (@LambdaQuadrant) April 21, 2020
We await news on Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek Las Vegas convention, which is still scheduled for the first week of August. While Creation have that and a number of other in-person cons still on their schedule for summer 2020, they have also recently launched their own “virtual fan experiences.”
And as a reminder, Paramount is holding a “virtual screening” of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan this weekend, hosted by the team from the Inglorious Treksperts podcast. Tickets for the screening cost $1.99 and can be purchased at CYA.LIVE.
Frakes’ Zoom panel with Cameo
To give you a sense of what a Zoom panel is like, you can see one held during a charity event last weekend by Cameo and featuring Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Jonathan Frakes.
Keep up with all the convention and event news and reports here at TrekMovie.com.
Virtual events are the future. COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. Maybe STLV should go virtual too.
I’ve never really been to a fan convention before so the experience is alien to me. This is so cool. Can’t wait to see Discovery season 3.
Many fans have probably never been to a convention due to costs (entrance fees plus any extras like autographs, plus travel if it’s not in your hometown) or because it just was convenient. These virtual events may give more fans a chance to attend. Of course it’s not exactly the same as being there in person but – if done right – it may at least give you a taste of what it’s like.
Virtual cons should also make it easier for the featured celebrities to attend although they would probably make more money if they are actually went.
I really miss the smaller regional CreationCons of the 90s.
I find that panel sessions are in such large venues now that the in person experience is very diminished and the interaction with the audience is less vibrant. Even Trek panels at regional Comiccons are a pretty distant experience.
I wonder if virtual cons might be able to recapture that.
I stopped watching when I saw Frakes chewing gum.