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When I was 8 years old, a bunch of kids I was hanging out with decided it would be fun to start throwing stones at a neighbor's window. Me, being scared to death of the consequences of throwing the stones, sat in the grass and didn't participate.

Suffice it to say, a window broke and we were all caught. I explained to my dad later on that I didn't even throw a stone. "It doesn't matter, Mikey," he said. "The fact that you were with them was bad enough."

At 8, I thought this whole guilty by association thing was pretty crappy. I mean, I wasn't an angel as a kid, but I was not a troublemaker. To me, it wasn't fair to be branded a troublemaker just because I hung out with them. But what can you do? "Why not find someone better to hang out with," my dad would answer.

The Federation Convention, more affectionately known as FedCon, is Europe's biggest convention by far. Started in 1992, the German Trek and science-fiction convention attracts thousands of people from 30 different countries. Nothing else in Europe even rivals it, so it's no surprise that when Americans think of foreign conventions, the first name they come up with is FedCon.

Not too long ago, the creative minds behind FedCon decided it was time to add a second convention outside of Europe. Did they head to Asia? No. South America? No. Canada? No. They chose Dallas -- yes, the one in Texas -- for what they are billing as FedCon USA. The logos and such look great, and even though the guest list is sparse right now, the convention won't even start until next June, so they have plenty of time to add more Trek and sci-fi faces to it.

Normally, I wouldn't give a rat's ass about a convention, especially one that is too far for me to travel. FedCon USA has my attention, however, not because it is really no different than any other convention that already exists in the United States, but because for some strange reason, FedCon officials didn't think they could put on a convention without the fine folks at TrekUnited.

Yes, TrekUnited. Formerly known as "Save Enterprise." The people who thought it would be a bright idea to ask fans for their hard-earned money in an attempt to buy a fifth season of "Star Trek: Enterprise"? from Paramount. Along the way, they forgot to mention to the fans writing checks that Paramount had already told them that not under any circumstance would they accept money directly from fans.

When that little tidbit got out, instead of announcing refunds and an end to the campaign, TrekUnited took a different route: It invented a Canadian television producer named Al Vinci who I believe was actually FutureGuy, since we seem to know the same amount of information about both mysterious figures. Vinci -- whose claims of being a producer were never independently verified despite all of media's best efforts -- said that it would be cheaper to produce "Enterprise" in Canada, so he was in negotiations to Paramount to move it there. What someone from the campaign did was call Paramount president David Stapf after hours, and expecting a call from someone else, answered his own phone. Stapf, as was first reported on Airlock Alpha two years ago, politely listened to the pitch to move "Enterprise"? and declined. He then hung up the phone, and suddenly someone answering their phone after hours translated to "negotiations"? with the TrekUnited folk.

Never mind the fact that "Enterprise" would've never met the minimum requirements of most Canadian television markets to receive the monetary incentives offered to studios to make it cheaper, what TrekUnited did was give a lot of hot air about a show that had no chance of being saved, and who had a leader trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame.

Now TrekUnited and its various incarnations, are nothing more than almost forgotten pieces of history. That is until FedCon came a-knocking.

It's great that FedCon, which has been accused of straying from its Star Trek roots over the years (although it does make good business sense, since interest in Star Trek has waned), decided to go with something they could identify as extremely passionate about Trek. Forget about TrekUnited's very questionable past and the baggage they bring to the table … the real question is what exactly does FedCon gain by partnering with a group that is just a shell of what it was?

I am just at a loss for words. First of all, FedCon is large enough that they don't need to have a representing group in this country to market it. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe FedCon thought if they didn't have an American face, then American Star Trek fans might shy away.

Fair enough. But of all the people you could partner with, what kind of logic would lead to TrekUnited? And I'm just talking about from a pure marketing perspective here.

Look at TrekUnited's numbers (and I'm not including their other incarnations because their Web traffic barely registers on the major traffic aggregators). According to Quantcast, TrekUnited gets about 125 unique visitors a day on average. That's about the same number of people who live on my street, and the last time I checked, that's not quite enough to make a large convention successful.

If FedCon needed a Web partner in the United States, then why not go with a site like TrekWeb? They are very focused on Star Trek, still popular with Trek fans, and are based right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. Quantcast has TrekWeb's daily unique visitor average at just under 430 -- four times TrekUnited.

But then again, would a Web partner be the best way to go? TrekUnited at its height catered to a GLOBAL audience, just like most other Web sites that are not geographically based. Airlock Alpha -- despite the fact we receive several thousand unique visitors per day on average -- wouldn't even be good as a partner, because our reach is global. Sure, thousands of people would be great to reach, but they are scattered around the world, and probably a very small percentage live anywhere near Dallas, or would be willing to travel to Dallas at the height of summer. If that's the case with thousands, then what does that translate into for a site that gets dozens?

A pretty crappy partner, in my opinion.

If FedCon had come to me and said, "Hey! Let's make Airlock Alpha the main partner, and you can help us bring more people in!" I would tell them the same thing I tell about a half-dozen other convention organizers each year. The best marketing plan for your convention is one that focuses on hyper-regionalism. Find the biggest Star Trek fan club in Dallas. They may only get 125 unique visitors a day, too, but unlike TrekUnited which might have just one or two of these people in Dallas, there is a good chance that at least 100 of the fan club's people are from Dallas, and may even be interested in going.

I did a quick Google search earlier, and found what is claimed to be Dallas' largest fan club, the USS Joshua. If it was me marketing a convention in Dallas focused on Star Trek, I would start with USS Joshua and go from there. They would know other fan groups, and how to reach fans on a more regional basis, and suddenly, you will see things swell. Then if you want to reach out to sites like TrekUnited, TrekWeb or hell, even Airlock Alpha, then more power to you.

But to associate yourselves with not only the Lindsay Lohan of the Star Trek world, but the site that has the traffic the size of a small classroom at the University of Texas, makes one wonder if FedCon really has all of its ducks in a straight row. I hope so, because God knows we need another science-fiction convention in this country.

Hear more of Michael Hinman's comments on SyPod, the exclusive voice of Airlock Alpha. Click here to listen now!

SyBits

It's good to be back after a couple weeks of vacation, and Alan Stanley Blair really makes me have to work hard to follow up his great stuff every time I let him substitute in for me.

So I did one up him by launching SyPod with this column. We're going to be providing so much more through our new podcasting effort, but right now, you can hear some extended commentary from SciFriday from little old me. Yeah, as if reading what I have to say isn't bad enough.

Check out the link above, or simply click here.

Peeking inside the mailbag ...

In a previous e-mail, I expressed my contempt for "Painkiller Jane." With the show's demise, SciFi Friday just got a whole lot better. For me, an empty one-hour time slot with static is a better viewing experience than an episode of "Jane."

I am so glad that this creative black hole of a sci-fi series is coming to a much-deserved ending. I know I am being rather harsh here, but not without good cause. In addition to the abysmal writing and non-existent acting, there was not one likeable or even remotely sympathetic character in the whole show. A series this bad deserves cancellation.

-- Steve Poisson

Steve, I'm with you. SciFi Channel dumped a couple of shows that should have been gone after the first episode. "Flash Gordon" also remains on my crap list, but I did watch tonight's second episode already, and while there were some areas that just made me pound my head on the table, I have to say that it did improve. So maybe this will be worth watching after all.

If you want to send me a letter, just drop me an e-mail at mhinman@airlockalpha.com and you might find your words right in this very spot

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, a 22-time winner of the British lottery and heir to three Nigerian fortunes, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com

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