/* December 9, 2018 ====== The Unexpected Tale of Axacon ====== //**In Which the People Behind AxaMonitor and Axanar Find Common Ground**// {{page>notebook}} {{TOC}} //This isn't a typical //**AxaMonitor** //article. Instead, it's a personal reflection on my trip to cover [[axacon_schedule|Axacon,]] the Axanar fan convention in Atlanta in November 2018 — or whatever reporting I could manage since I was summarily disinvited after purchasing a ticket. That wasn't going to stop me; in the words of Captain Kirk in //Star Trek III//, "The word is no. I am therefore going anyway." I didn't know how it all would turn out, but I was determined to write about my experience no matter what. This is what happened, and why.// ---- ATLANTA — **2018'S WORD** of the Year is "toxic," according to the folks at the Oxford Dictionary, who choose a word that sums up the zeitgeist of the past 12 months. It certainly describes a lot of what passes for conversation among Star Trek in warring camps over such things as canon, //Star Trek: Discovery// and Axanar. Axacon was planned as a means to rally the troops ahead of the long-awaited //Axanar//, reduced from a feature film to a total 30-minute short film. The face-to-face gathering was to feature the nearly completed bridge set of the U.S.S. Ares, panels with some of the Trek alumni who appeared in the film's predecessor, //[[Prelude to Axanar]]// and social time for the Axanar faithful. {{youtube>VjOFIWO5fPg?medium|U.S.S. Ares Bridge}} **VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE** As of this posting, this low-resolution video of the Ares bridge posted on Axanar's YouTube channel has garnered more than 27,000 views. The actual physical turnout for Axacon appeared to be no more than a couple dozen over the course of the weekend, but that may have not mattered. The optics of the lit-up bridge set, with both fans and professional actors inspecting it, and their gatherings at restaurant tables celebrating Axanar, energized people halfway around the globe. Alpha Waves Interview {{youtube>BKUiEtOALB0?large|Carlos Pedraza Axacon Interview on Alpha Waves Radio podcast}} But that energy has a dark side: If you take a tour of the [[yout>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjOFIWO5fPg|comments section]] below the YouTube video featuring the Ares bridge you'll find that support for Axanar is closely associated with hatred for CBS (which sued Axanar) and its new Star Trek series, //Discovery//, viewed as a betrayal of traditional Trek. Axanar has become a flashpoint for deep-seated rancor among Trek fandom. CBS/Paramount's copyright infringement [[lawsuit]] and its aftermath, including the [[cbs_guidelines|fan film guidelines]], have left a long trail of hurt feelings and sundered friendships. In what some describe as an ongoing war between Axanar supporters and critics, there's even [[http://monitoringthetrekmonitors.wordpress.com|a blog]] that keeps almost-daily track of the volleys between the "Axanards" and the "detractors": > So is it a war? A war to win hearts and minds, or is it just simply two sides to a debate that can get over the top when they decide to get personal instead of just being factual?(([[https://monitoringthetrekmonitors.wordpress.com/2018/11/16/war-or-just-differing-opinion/|"War or just differing opinion?" Monitoring the Trek Monitors]] blog, 11/16/18.)) The anonymous Australian who writes the [[https://monitoringthetrekmonitors.wordpress.com|Monitoring the Trek Monitors]] blog even posted a glossary [[https://monitoringthetrekmonitors.wordpress.com/what-do-they-call-each-other/|describing the epithets]] used by people on various sides of the Axanar controversy. Not to put too fine a point on it, they ain't nice. But I really hoped Axacon might provide an opportunity to do something about it. [{{::crowneplaza.jpg?direct|The Atlanta Crowne Plaza Hotel.}}] DISCLOSURE I didn't pay for the trip to Atlanta myself. The expenses associated with my reporting on Axacon were underwritten by members of the [[https://facebook.com/groups/axamonitor|AxaMonitor Facebook group]]. Their support was offered with no strings attached and with no promises made by me about how I was going to cover the convention. I thank those contributors for their support. Among the Axanar faithful I'm Public Enemy No. 1, and the subject of quite a few personal attacks. While observers often draw equivalence between the warring factions about personal attacks — they're not wrong — I myself have avoided responding in kind, preferring to let my work speak for itself. It was in this context that I had decided to attend Axacon, feeling a duty to report on this important effort to rally the beleaguered fan film's fans. After all, the Axanar short films are project to cost as much as $200,000, a budget fans are going to have to pay for. So I set about buying a ticket to attend, including a weekend pass to [[https://sphinx-con.org|SphinxCon]], the convention hosting Axacon under its aegis. After securing the tickets, I booked a flight and hotel room. A few hours later I was unceremoniously booted from Axacon, informed by Axanar producer Alec Peters it was an event only for supporters of the production. I asked him to reconsider, particularly since I had already spent more than $400 on non-refundable airfare. If I wasn't going to be allowed to attend I thought it only fair to ask for my airfare to be reimbursed. Foolish? Arrogant? Perhaps. At least that's how I was [[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/16/carlos-pedraza-wants-money-from-alec-peters-editorial/|portrayed]]. I nevertheless felt an obligation to try to recover the funds contributors had paid for me to attend. I was told in no uncertain terms I was unwelcome, and that all sorts of security precautions were put in place to prevent any "detractors" (the term preferred by the cooler heads among the Axanar faithful over the often-used "haters") from disrupting the event. Fortunately, in a series of tense but cordial DMs, David Weiner, SphinxCon's organizer, clarified for me that I was not disinvited from SphinxCon itself, merely barred from Axacon sessions. So I was welcome but told I had better behave myself. [{{ ::crowne_plaza_bar.jpg?direct&350|**NEUTRAL ZONE** In the long history of diplomacy, a bar has often offered a casual common ground for opponents to meet.}}] I arrived Friday afternoon while Axacon attendees were visiting the now nearly completed //Axanar// bridge set during an open house at Peters' OWC Studios, about 42 miles away from the con hotel. While the Axanar meeting room was off limits the hotel bar was neutral territory. If I was going to get a chance to talk to Axacon attendees, that and the hotel restaurant were the most likely places for any face-to-face encounters. Friday night was uneventful, I saw only scifi writer and Axanar advocate [[david_gerrold|David Gerrold]] dining with someone; David (whom I've known for more than a decade and with whom I collaborated writing "Blood and Fire" for //Star Trek: New Voyages//) was there as a SphinxCon guest. He was also slated to join a couple of Axanar panel discussions. I don't think he saw me in the restaurant. [{{ ::rosario_dawson.jpg?direct&100|**Rosario Dawson**}}] **Tangent**: Seated at the table next to me, however, was actor [[imdb>name/nm0206257/|Rosario Dawson]] (Marvel's //Daredevil// and //Luke Cage//). I'm not sure why she was there (certainly not to attend the con), but I was pretty excited anyway. Now back to your regularly scheduled post… Saturday morning I stationed myself down the hall from Axacon's meeting room, counting how many people were attending each panel (around a dozen). With that chore discharged I decided to sample SphinxCon's offerings. The con is for fans of [[wp>Honor Harrington]], a military scifi book series of some note. ===== Meeting Alec Peters ===== I had already seen Peters in the distance throughout the morning but I wasn't sure when or if we'd actually speak. As I had assured SphinxCon's organizer, I would keep my distance so as to not disrupt anything. Later Saturday morning, Peters approached me where I was standing down the hall counting attendees entering the latest Axacon panel. We shook hands but it was a decidedly frosty meeting. **David Gerrold** Stuff. Much has been said … but I leave it to others to weigh in on that. "The Oxford word of the year is a word or expression that is judged to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance," Oxford Dictionary said.(([[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018/11/15/Oxford-Dictionary-picks-toxic-as-2018-word-of-year/7461542314917/|"Oxford Dictionary picks 'toxic' as 2018 word of year," UPI]], 11/15/18.)) And in a victory of human nature, we may have created something of a fragile peace. {{page>footer}} */