Beam me up Scotty!
Beam me up Scotty!
This year’s science and sci-fi convention comes to the beach at Mauna Lani, Sept. 15-18.
“HawaiiCon brings together great people who create these great shows — whether it be writers, producers, directors or actors,” said GB Hajaim, COO of HawaiiCon. We’re bringing in people from all different kind of shows — cartoons, science fiction, anime and cosplayers. People from all around the world are coming in for HawaiiCon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.”
HawaiiCon features celebrity cosplayers, space scientists, gamers, writers and more. The convention offers a wide choice of workshops and science panels for participants to choose from.
“We have about 15 scientists coming to do panels,” said Hajaim. “We have 30 celebrities coming, everyone from Jonathan Frakes, who most people know as Riker from Star Trek the Next Generation, to Original Star Trek crew member, Walter Koenig, who played Chekov.”
In addition to the panels and workshops, HawaiiCon offers science fiction fans a unique way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek. There will be a luau with sci-fi stars on the beach, a hula lesson with Star Trek crew members and opportunities to hang out with the crew of the Enterprise. Guests can choose to go snorkeling with Leeta (Chase Masterson) from DeepSpace 9, or go on a manta snorkel Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry. There’s also a gourmet dinner at Daylight Mind in Waikoloa to celebrate Walter Koenig’s 80th birthday.
On Saturday, costume aficionados can vie for prizes at the the keiki and adult cosplay contests. A special Star Trek category is added for this year with prized for best original Star Trek character costumes.
“Cosplay is a celebration of costuming,” said Hajaim. “People usually choose something they’re interested in, such as an anime series, a video game or TV series, then recreate a costume from one of those. Some of them are better than the actual costumes on the shows. Television costumers only have to make it look good on camera, we have to make it look good in person.”
HawaiiCon will offer cosplay workshops so attendees can learn how professionals create their costumes.
“Some of the costumes people put together cost hundreds of dollars and take thousands of hours to create,” said Hajaim. “More recently, people get really innovative and do mash-ups of different costumes from different things. I recently saw a person put together a mash-up of a gladiator and a ballet dancer. The other thing that is really popular now is gender switching, where you’ll have a female Batman or a male Catwoman.”
In addition to bringing together lead cast members fro the various Star Trek Series and other celebrities, guests can also attend a two day writing workshop with New York Times Best Selling Author, John Scalzi.
“We have so many things that you can’t get at a regular convention because the regular conventions are too big to offer this kind of intimate experience with celebrities. That’s what super special about Hawaii Con. All of the fans and celebrities say we’re the best convention on the planet. With over 100 volunteers who come and spread aloha throughout the event, it really creates a special experience for everyone.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.hawaiicon.com.