View Full Version : Polaris 21/Toronto Trek 21 (2007) Reviews


Bryan R
07-09-2007, 04:22 PM
Here is my personal review of P21/TT21 (I may add more later but this gives you an idea).

"I thought I would post my Con wrap-up from Toronto Trek 21/Polaris 21.

I can say this year had some marked improvements over TT20. The photo ops were by far and away much better this year! The photographer was a professional, the back-drop was plain black and there were no name-plates or banners in the picture!! This photographer knew exactly what to do. The cost was $25 CDN for a phot with the guest and you could put up to 3 people in the picture along with the guests, more than 3 you had to pay additional costs.

The autograph lines were well organized and ran very smooth – I was pleasantly surprised!!

The pre-reg was an absolute dream, we got there Friday around 4:45pm and got our badges and ready to go in all of 5 minutes – the volunteers working there were friendly and knowledgeable.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Ron Glass and Katee Sackhoff (Katee was gorgeous!!) and even Marina Sirtis was a joy over the weekend (I had no interest in the other 4 guests so I cannot comment there).

The hotel room was clean, quiet (that was a blessing!) and watching Polaris/TT TV on channel 54 was a joy as well!

The Dealer’s room had some really neat Dr Who toys – yes I splurged in there! 
I was surprised to see SFX’s booth in the dealer’s room – they were also selling lots of autographed pics – actually at a very reasonable price – again pleasantly surprised!

The Constellation Awards were ok, it would have been nice if any of the winners could be there but would be hard to get David Tennant or Michael Shanks there. ;)

The masquerade itself was a good show (37 entries) BUT the one hiccup there was it started more than 1 hour late!! Somebody in their infinite wisdom decided to stick this “CSI Game” before the masquerade and it “totally wasted” about 30-45 minutes. I found this terribly disrespectful to the masqueraders who were in the Green Room 2 hours before the scheduled time and also to the audience (there were quite a few kids/little kids in the audience too!), we were there for the scheduled time and letting some contestant in the “CSI Game” (which was NOT scheduled for the main room!) ramble mindlessly for over 15+ minutes was crazy! Thank God “Chil” The Security guy finally came out and gave him the hook! This also caused the dance to start late and there was no reason this “CSI Game” could not have been done in a panel setting or if they wanted “stage time” – do it on Sunday!

It was great seeing Sid getting a rousing “Happy Birthday” sung to him by the audience!! “Jayne” (Adam Baldwin) would have been proud!!

The volunteers at this years P21/T21 were awesome and especially the ones running the photo op – they did tremendous and also you could pick up your photo op shots about 2 hours after they were done as they rented the printing equipment – brilliant idea this year (you could also have them mailed to you if you could not stay to pick them up at no additional cost)!"

I give a personal rating of 9 batleths out of 10 for P21/TT21

Bryan R
07-24-2007, 10:37 AM
I want to add this compliment to the TT/P21 experience I had.

I received an email from Tcon on Monday regarding getting the .JPG's of the 2 pictures (from the photo ops with ron Glass and Katee Sackhoff) I want.

I paid via Credit Card (you can also pay with Paypal if you choose) and lo and behold today (Tuesday morning) I have the 2 .JPG's in my inbox!

Well Done Tcon - Well done!!

I can now print these in the 4x6 and 5x7 size I want for framing and to go in our album! :)

Miko
07-29-2007, 01:16 AM
Nothing worse than a dumb act before the masquerade, and the masquerade not starting on time, eh? You know what I mean, eh Bryan? hehe

Man, the one thing cons need to do, is at least make sure the masquerade starts on time. Hell, if it's posted to start at 6pm, set a goal time for 530pm. Nothing worse than standing around in a hot costume back stage (wasting a good part of your day), or sitting in the audience, wasting away in some sort of time stalling thing. (This applies to any con)

Bryan R
07-29-2007, 09:17 AM
Nothing worse than a dumb act before the masquerade, and the masquerade not starting on time, eh? You know what I mean, eh Bryan? hehe

Man, the one thing cons need to do, is at least make sure the masquerade starts on time. Hell, if it's posted to start at 6pm, set a goal time for 530pm. Nothing worse than standing around in a hot costume back stage (wasting a good part of your day), or sitting in the audience, wasting away in some sort of time stalling thing. (This applies to any con)

I know EXACTLY what you mean there Miko....referring to the "horrific comedy act" before the masquerade at Ad Astra!!

At TT/P 21 this silly CSI game went on and on and on...it has been beaten to death on the TTMB and I am sure ConCom will notdo that again plus they needed to clear off all the "presenters" from the Constellation awards faster and do photos with them off the main stage!

I even sent in my survey saying I thought it was disrespectful to costumers to have them in the Green Room 90 minutes ahead and then start an hour late - very poor.

SID
07-31-2007, 05:47 PM
I even sent in my survey saying I thought it was disrespectful to costumers to have them in the Green Room 90 minutes ahead and then start an hour late - very poor.

I know of a number of costumers who were backstage who would agree and thank you for that comment.

Bryan R
08-01-2007, 08:40 AM
I know of a number of costumers who were backstage who would agree and thank you for that comment.

Since Jackie and I got together I have to admit I have since had a much greater appreciation for what a costumer does and the time, effort, cost and dedication that is put in is more than I ever would have realized.

And to see costumers not respected for this and in some costumes sitting in a Green Room for 90 minutes (some in make-up of very warm costumes) and for no good reason be made to wait even longer - to me that is just not acceptable and shows the "lack of respect" from people that should know better.

SID
08-02-2007, 08:10 PM
Though I posted a very positive (and I mean it) review on my site (http://neoengel.com/tcon21.html) There are a few things that were left to be desired.

» The previously mentioned crap hindering the start of the masquerade. What a buzzkill and a pain in the ass for those of us waiting to go on. Even the stage ninjas were pissed.

Props to Nik Webb from the AV crew for hooking us up with an enhanced feed in the geren room with louder audio.

» Sal Monaco. Creeping people out again? Check. Being escorted out of a convention space for not wearing shoes, again? Check. Seriously this pathological persistance at just being ... I have no words that can encapsulate my disgust.

» The Conventioneers. Warning tcon about them? Check. Getting advised that I may be stepping on other people's toes with my concern and diligence? Check. Then them showing up and being *******s? Check. headdesk.