AirLockAlpha.com

FedConUSA started in Dallas this weekend, but it's probably safe to say it could be the last.

Cancellations, budget problems, minimal attendance at opening ceremonies, and a very public denunciation from one of its scheduled (and later canceled) headliners have put FedConUSA in such a tailspin, the German company that owns the rights to the FedCon name has already washed their hands of it.

Fans who bought tickets in advance this past week for the convention were told that headliners would include Aaron Douglas and James Callis, the SyFy Genre Award-nominated actors who play Chief Tyrol and Gaius Baltar respectively on the SciFi Channel hit show "Battlestar Galactica." However, neither actor showed up, and Douglas himself visited the FedConUSA boards to make sure fans knew it was not his fault at all.

"We are both still very hopeful that we are able to make it, but at this point, with less than 24 hours before my flight, I still do not have a flight or many of my contractual obligations met by the promoters," Douglas wrote on the boards Thursday. "My name is still on the Web page as confirmed, but I am not confirmed. I have agreed to come, as I want to, but no one is returning my calls or e-mails to my agent."

Convention organizer Tim Brazeal, who three years ago collected money from "Star Trek: Enterprise" fans through his TrekUnited campaign that claimed to be purchasing a fifth season of the UPN show, said the decision to ax Douglas and Callis from the schedule came down to one thing: money. And that was something, apparently, FedConUSA organizers were lacking just hours before the start of the event. Despite Douglas' request that he fly on the more economical Alaska Airlines, Brazeal insisted that guests take American Airlines or United Airlines, which had a difference of $6,000 he said. Douglas, however, said he was able to find a ticket on Alaska Airlines for just $1,600.

Douglas and Callis weren't the only guests taken off the guest list in the final days leading up to the convention. Jaimie Alexander, who plays Jessi XX on ABC Family's "Kyle XY," told fans on her MySpace page that she had been scheduled as a guest at FedConUSA, but as of Wednesday, her name had been removed from the guest list. She apologized to fans who had purchased tickets to see her at the convention, and said she didn't know she had been canceled until she saw that her name was removed.

Brazeal, however, said Alexander was an unknown and shouldn't have been booked in the first place.

"I did not book her," Brazeal said on the message boards. "Someone else on my staff that is no longer with us did. He said that she was well known and insisted on her being a headliner. Nothing against her personally, but she cost a lot, and to be honest, was not selling any tickets, photo ops, etc. Once I seen [sic] what she was being paid, it just did not make sense financially to keep her."

Other guests who were invited and then were canceled later on included James Cawley from the fan series "Star Trek: New Voyages," both Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Adam Baldwin from "Firefly" and Dirk Benedict from the original "Battlestar Galactica."

Just 200 people showed up for the opening ceremonies Friday night that also marked the absence of both Anthony Montgomery from "Star Trek: Enterprise" and Richard Hatch, according to a poster named "Jodi." John Billingsley, who played Dr. Phlox in "Enterprise," said Montgomery was bumped at the last minute after not receiving a plane ticket and being told by convention organizers that they didn't have the money to bring him in. Organizers, however, were officially stating that Montgomery had "missed his flight."

Organizers also apparently told convention-goers that Hatch was having "flight problems" as to why he missed a scheduled 6 p.m. appearance.

"The opening ceremony sucked about as bad as it could," Jodi said. "No entertainment value and no organization until Billingsley got up on stage and took over kicking [the emcee] off stage and going with his own idea of what should happen making it fun."

Brazeal, who also was a no-show to his own convention because of what he described as health issues, said the hotel hosting the convention unexpectedly asked the convention for $20,000 up front instead of at the close of convention. That sudden cost, he said, tightened the purse strings of the convention even more.

Both Montgomery and Hatch were still listed as guests for FedConUSA on the convention's Web site as of early Saturday morning. At the same time, the American business manager of FedCon Gmbh, Marc B. Lee, posted on the FedConUSA message boards to make sure guests and attendees were aware that the German company had stepped away from the convention soon after it was announced.

"FedConUSA was an experiment that was early abandoned by its corporate offices in Germany for various reasons," Lee said of his company. "Tim Brazeal and his group were given permission for a one-time usage of its name for this event only. We had no reason to deny his request for we found Tim to be an honored friend of ours."

Lee said the German company wasn't distancing itself from the Texas convention, but wanted to make it clear that European conventions with the FedCon banner do not act the same way Brazeal's team has, and asked guests not to allow what's happening to them in the United States affect future appearances with FedCon in Germany.

Some fans planning to attend the convention are unhappy, and are even encouraging others to call state authorities in Texas to investigate the convention. Douglas himself said he would be consulting his attorney over the weekend to see how fans expecting to see him and Callis could get a full refund for their ticket.

"My wife said some of you are thinking about contacting the attorney general or whatever," Brazeal said. "If that is what you want to do, please feel free. We have done nothing wrong, illegal or immoral. What turned out from me trying to make sure you guys had a great guest lineup and a great show has turned to bite me in the butt."

Brazeal said he would be unavailable to talk to the media until Saturday. A late-night e-mail to "security director" Thomas Moore has yet to be returned. Moore also co-owns Galactica.com with Brazeal.

Questions were first raised about Brazeal's involvement with FedCon when the convention was first announced back in August by Airlock Alpha. To read that commentary, which also talks about some of the questions raised in money collection efforts by Brazeal's team through TrekUnited, read the Aug. 17, 2007 SciFriday column by clicking here.

Who will get the gold? Find out the nominees of the 2008 SyFy Genre Awards ... get started by clicking right here.

Feeling a little horrific? Get your daily dose of horror news straight from The Doll, Rabid Doll that is at www.RabidDoll.com.

Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.