The Making of the Trek Conventions: Or, How to Throw a Party for 12,000 of Your Most Intimate Friends

by Joan Winston

The Making of the Trek Conventions is a reference book written by Joan Winston and published by Doubleday in 1977. The book offers a look at the work involved in the creation of the Star Trek conventions, as well as 32 pages of photos, underground cartoons, and trivia contests

Genres: Star Trek, Nonfiction

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Ben Stiller cameo.

I enjoyed reading this. I do have to warn you this book contains references to filk. Usually, filk is the line I draw for how far I’m willing to read about fandom. But I enjoyed this book. Star Trek before the movies!

It kind of read like getting letters from a friend. It was very conversational, sometimes so much so that it felt like some of the pages were padded with fluff.

But I liked hanging out with Joan and zipping around these early Star Trek conventions. I found the logistics, such as learning why the programs were on yellow paper with red ink, fascinating.

This would make good material for a movie. I want to see a reenactment of crowds going nuts for Mark Lenard. “Will they remember me,” he says, “I was only in a couple episodes.”

I’d be interested in a journalist writing about the same material. Winston is clearly friends with everyone she writes about, except for the fire marshals and a few others, but there had to have been some rude moments with these tv stars. Or maybe not, there seems to be a lot of love here.

[Anika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book over twenty years ago when I was 11 or 12. I got it out of the library over and over. It was hilarious and sentimental and I loved it. I wasn't born when the events described in the book took place. I loved Star Trek but from the late night reruns and The Next Generation. I didn't have a crush on William Shatner -- he was OLD -- and I'd never been in a Star Trek or Sci-fi club. I didn't remember the seventies, I was a baby. I had little in common with the author or the people she told stories about. But I related to the madcap geekery found in the pages. I got it. And today I'm back in that same library tapping this review into my iPad -- don't you love the future? -- and I still get it. I need to find this book and read it again.