Sci-Fi on the Rock
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| Sci-Fi on the Rock | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Science fiction/Fantasy/Horror |
| Location | St. John's, Newfoundland |
| Country |  Canada |
| First held | 2007 |
| Official website | |
Contents |
[edit] History
Sci-Fi on the Rock is an annual science fiction, fantasy and horror convention held in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. It was founded by Darren Hann and Melanie Collins in mid-to-late 2006, and held it's first convention in 2007.
It began in 2007 at the Hotel Mount Pearl, moving on to be housed in the Holiday Inn in St. John's as of April 2008. The convention has had a number a notable guests both from Newfoundland and beyond, including science-fiction author Kenneth Tam (Defense Command, His Majesty's New World), comic-book artist Paul Tucker (The Underworld Railroad, Google John Smith), actor Brian Downey (Lexx, Millenium), actor Jeremy Bulloch (The Empire Strikes Back, Octopussy), author William Meikle (The Midnight Eye series), horror author Matthew LeDrew (Black Womb, Transformations in Pain) and author Shannon Patrick Sullivan (The Dying Days).
[edit] First Convention
Sci-Fi on the Rock's first convention was held on April 1st, 2007 at the Hotel Mount Pearl (formerly Chateau Park) in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. It featured special guest authors Kenneth Tam and Shannon Patrick Sullivan, and local business/fangroup, Vader Party. As well as featuring special guests, the convention featured workshops throughout the day including the popular "Lightsaber Techniques", "Basic Horror Make-Up for Film and Television" and "Costume Designing". In addition, there were a number of sales-and-display tables, and a number of competitions such as Video Games, Model Building, Costume Contest, and others. Sci-Fi on the Rock also featured a canteen with Sci-Fi related food (ie: "The Kirk Burger").
Having been planned and put off within only a few months, and with little publicity, Sci-Fi on the Rock's first convention was surprise success with almost 500 people attending, and was covered in many local media pages, as well as internet sites.
[edit] Sci-Fi on the Rock II
As a result of the success of the first convention, Sci-Fi on the Rock organizers Darren Hann and Melanie Collins, as well as the now-larger organizing committee decided that the convention should be held again the following year and should be bigger. Around the summer of 2007, planning for Sci-Fi on the Rock II would commence.
The first change was time and place. It was increased from a one-day to a full weekend event, and was held in a larger venue. Sci-Fi on the Rock II was held at the Holiday Inn hotel in St. John's, on Saturday, April 19th and Sunday, April 20th, 2008. As a kick-off to the convention, author Kenneth Tam was invited back as a special guest, and launched the first book in his new series (His Majesty's New World: The Grasslands) on the evening before the convention. Other changes included the amount of publicity the convention received, and the structure of different competitions (the video game workshop was hosted by locally owned business Hooked-Up.)
The list of special guests grew from three to seven, with Kenneth Tam and Vader Party returning for their second year, and the addition of authors Matthew LeDrew and Willie Meikle, comic-book artist Paul Tucker of Viper Comics, as well as the appearance of Celebrity Special Guests, actors Jeremy Bulloch, who notably played the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett from the Star Wars Franchise, and Brian Downey, who is perhaps best known for his role of Stanley Tweedle from Lexx: The Series.
Like the year before, Sci-Fi on the Rock II was met with positive reviews and overall success. In addition to more media coverage, both before and after the convention, the attendance increased to over 700--with a number of patrons coming from other parts of Canada, the United States and even the United Kingdom. The guests as well had an enjoyable time. Jeremy Bulloch commented on his website that "The people of Newfoundland are extremely friendly. It was only the second time that Darren had put the 'Sc-Fi on the Rock' show on, and it was very well attended. Lots of costumes and games for the children and it seemed that everyone was having a good time".[1]
Sci-Fi on the Rock II featured a Charity Auction, which benefited the School Lunch Association. Items that had been placed for bid included a Limited Edition Star Wars T-Shirt-and-Box Set which is not available in North America (donated by Jeremy Bulloch), a Lexx Prize pack, including many behind-the-scenes cuts and scripts (donated by Brian Downey), a Limited Edition Boba Fett action figure, personally autographed by Jeremy Bulloch, and a P.A.D.D. that was used on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation (which was donated by an agent of one of the actors of the show).
[edit] Convention #3 and Current Planning
Sci-Fi on the Rock is already in the planning stages for its next convention, which is being held on April 25 and 26, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in St. John's once again. As it is very early in the planning stages, little information about the upcoming convention is available, however it is planned to supplement the convention with a number of lower-key events throughout the year.
On June 2nd, 2009, Sci-Fi on the Rock announced that Star Trek actor Vaughn Armstrong would be appearing as a Celebrity Special Guest.[2] Armstrong currently holds the "record" for the number of character portrayed on Star Trek, as he has played 12 characters over all the Star Trek series excluding The Original Series. He is perhaps best known for the role of Admiral Forrest on Enterprise.
[edit] Geek Survivor
Additional to the contests discussed in the main articles, there is a larger competition held during the convention called "Geek Survivor", where contestants compete to be crowned the title of "Newfoundland's Ultra Geek".
Although it is called "Geek Survivor", it more closely resembles Jeopardy! and Beat the Geeks in structure and style. It is a trivia-based game, where contestants answer questions of varying difficulty about different Sci-Fi topics. At the end of the game, the contestant with the highest score is crowned "Ultra Geek". The current reigning Ultra Geek is Dr. Glyn George, a MUN professor and Doctor Who and Star Trek enthusiast.
[edit] Things to do
Apart from the media guest Q&A’s, autographs and photo sessions, there are many other programming options and things to do during the convention...
- Comic-Book drawing
- Acting
- Getting Published
- Getting Self-Published
- Costume Contests
- Lego Robotics
- Lightsaber Workshop
- Movie Make-up
- Writer's Circle
