Star Trek conventions were my entry point into geek fandom. Specifically, Creation Star Trek conventions during the late 80s and early 90s in Valley Forge, PA (the closest they came to Philadelphia at the time).

Huge comic-cons didn’t really exist back then. Sure, San Diego was around, but it wasn’t the pop culture behemoth it’s become today. Wizard World didn’t really start growing until the early 2000s, New York Comic Con didn’t start until 2006, and it wasn’t until then that the huge shows we know today started popping up all over the country.

But during the 80s and 90s, Creation seemed to have had cornered the market on geek gatherings with their Star Trek conventions. Indeed, these were the shows that inspired William Shatner’s legendary SNL “Get a life!” skit and, it could be argued, every pop culture and geek-inspired convention we’ve become accustomed to in 2019.

And it was where I came into my own as a geek.

Back then, I was a diehard Star Wars fan (during that franchise’s Dark Ages) humoring my mother, the Trekkie. The annual Creation Star Trek conventions were a standard event for us and a rite of passage for me. I eventually saw every core member of the Original Series and The Next Generation (some multiple times) and spent a small fortune of my lawn mowing income in the dealers rooms on whatever Star Wars stuff I could find.

(It’s also where I bought my bootleg VHS copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Don’t judge me. This was pre-YouTube.)

Those shows are some of the happiest and most comforting memories of my childhood.

And though the days of the small, regional Star Trek conventions are pretty much behind us, Creation is still going strong – most notably with their annual Official Star Trek Convention held every summer in Las Vegas.

And this year, from July 31 through August 4, I’ll be on hand in Sin City to report on all the nerdy happenings and relive a bit of my youth. Be sure to follow along here, over on SYFY Wire, and on the @theroarbots Twitter feed.

The Las Vegas show is the biggest Star Trek convention in the country, and it regularly brings in more than 100 guests from every corner of the Trek franchise. And this year is no different. I mean, just look at this guest list.

If you’re interested in doing a bit of fun “homework,” please do check out my conversations with several of this year’s guests over on The Great Big Beautiful Podcast. We’ve featured Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Frakes, Mike & Denise Okuda, John Jackson Miller, and Bobak Ferdowsi.

Other Trek-related guests who’ve swung by the show over the years include LeVar Burton, Greg Grunberg, Bruce Greenwood, Doug Jones, Wil Wheaton, Nicholas Meyer, Jay Chattaway, Dennis McCarthy, Ron Jones, and Jeff Russo.

This year’s con, as always, will be at the Rio hotel and casino (which is a block or so off the Strip but allows for more of an “island of nerdiness” vibe). The detailed schedule won’t be available for another couple weeks, but both single-day tickets and five-day tickets are still available here.

On top of the many panels and impressive cosplay contest, there’ll be…

• news about Star Trek: Picard, most likely
• a Saturday night gala event with Brent Spiner (Data on TNG) singing with a live band
• a late night dance party emceed by Tim Russ (Tuvok on Voyager)
• a presentation with makeup effects legend Michael Westmore turning Robert O’Reilly into the Klingon Kruge from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• a 40th anniversary retrospective of Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois (Kira and Odo from DS9) on stage performing the play “Cross Our Hearts: Poems and Prose Read by Nana and Rene”
• the 10th anniversary performance of the “Rat Pack” show featuring Max Grodenchik (Rom), Casey Biggs (Damar), Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun and Brunt), Vaughn Armstrong, and Nana Visitor
• oodles of science and “science of Trek” panels
• Quark’s Bar, re-created sets for photo ops, karaoke, and SO MUCH MORE!