AUGUST 19, 2022 - The official Star Trek convention has come and gone for this year, but there is another opportunity coming up next week to gather with your fellow fans and a plethora of Star Trek celebrities. The familiar, if no longer licensed, convention, still known as STLV (officially 56-Year-Mission Las Vegas), will be happening in Las Vegas, and TrekMovie sat down with Creation Entertainment co-founder Gary Berman to talk about what’s happening this year.

One thing you’ll want to remember this year is not to show up at the Rio. The convention has moved temporarily to Bally’s while the Rio is being renovated. Berman said they plan to be back at the Rio next year. Bally’s is on the Strip and has a smaller main auditorium, but otherwise the show should look familiar.

Some of the highlights for this year include a tribute to Nichelle Nichols, a show with Robert Picardo, Tig Notaro’s standup, and another tribute, to Ricardo Montalban. Montalban’s son-in-law will be involved in the latter, and regarding the tribute to Nichols, Berman said, “We decided to make it a little bit personal to us because we had a 30-year relationship with Nichelle. So we’re going to put up some of our staff members and people who had friendships with Nichelle that have been close to Creation all these years. And we have nice video presentations of some of her appearances at various conventions of ours over the years.”

Another guest will be  Andreea Kindryd, who worked with Gene Coon on Star Trek: The Original Series. “We wanted her on stage talking about it because that’s a rare link back to those early times. It’s one of the last links there is,” said Berman.

Creation Entertainment has also announced the COVID-19 protocols for this year, which include a vaccination or testing requirement and mandatory mask-wearing.

For lots more from Gary Berman on the 56-Year-Mission Las Vegas convention, the full interview is at TrekMovie.