After STLV60, I realized I may love the community much more than I love the Con
So I just got back from STLV and ended up writing a much more personal reflection than I expected. I've gone for several years now, and the 60th finally made something click for me. I kept returning because I love being surrounded by Trek. I love running into friends I only see once a year. It's great seeing the vendors, actors, cosplayers -- there was a guy this year with an "emotional support tribble!" 😭 -- I just really love being "home" with other nerds who love this little thing that I love too.
But, I've been struggling with some feelings since my first STLV a few years back -- and after coming back from the 60th, I really don't think Creation is what I love about STLV.
The production feels stagnant to me. Customer service has, at best, felt unpolished, and, at worst, oddly adversarial. So much of the experience is explicitly transactional. And then hearing George Takei describe himself onstage as "spent" after his autograph session this year really affected me.
At some point I started thinking about the economics of it: maybe Creation's real advantage is the network effect -- we go because our friends go; vendors go because the fans go; actors go because the fans go -- and so on...
Creation provides the container - the community fills it.
Which led me somewhere I honestly didn't expect emotionally - maybe I've been expecting Creation's STLV to be our home and by association -- they are the ultimate stewards of Trek. But maybe that's wrong, I've got it backwards: Paramount can own the IP, Creation can run the convention, but they don't own our relationship with Star Trek. Maybe we are the stewards.
Anyway, I wrote a full piece here: "Creation Finally Convinced Me That I Don’t Need Creation to Love Star Trek"
Curious to hear from people who were at STLV this year - or last year -- or any year -- even if you completely disagree with me. What keeps you coming back? Is it the con itself or the community that gathers there?