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More specifically, I went to Realmscon in Corpus Christi, TX. The "big" star draws that I saw there were:

Verne Troyer. I thought he'd be shorter.

Luke Williams (1/2 of the Bushwackers). He came across as a very nice man, even though he smelled a bit.

The Honky Tonk Man. It seems he deserves his reputation as a royal jerk. He was sitting at a table by himself. No one was speaking to him, so I decided to go and say something. He wouldn't make eye contact with me and was at least borderline outright rude. It's a good thing I never really cared for him anyway.

This is a fairly small con, so not a lot was going on, and nerds in their element can be just as elitist and snobby as the worst stereotypical "upper class" twit, so I didn't really talk to many people. The most in-depth conversation I had was with the employee at the Dippin' Dots booth before things really got started. I was able to encourage her to pursue her dream of becoming an R.N. rather than remain a part-time medical aide. She seemed nice.

I did get to see Voltaire in concert. If you are not familiar with him, he is, as someone described him, a goth folk singer. Here's a couple of his songs:

(These are probably not really safe for work)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUcwo_R_8vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUxeRouCx9c

That concert was fun, though it occurred too late in the evening for an old man like me.

There were some good costumes (including chain-saw-arm Ash), some really stupid costumes, and a bunch of people standing around, usually in my way.  :lookingup:

This is my third time at this con, and I'm really kind of struggling with whether to go again next year. I guess it will depend on who is headlining.

Oooh!  A concert by Voltaire?  That does sound like fun!   :cheers:

Sorry to hear the people were less than friendly.   :bluesad:  Maybe they were all shy.  We go to a smaller con here in the spring and everyone always seems so open and approachable.  Makes a big difference, for sure.

The best one to go to (although it's getting severely crowded and hard to walk around in these days) is the Chiller Theatre show that takes place every year.

www.chillertheatre.com

Some of the guests I have met past and present are

David Hedison  (Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea)
Jonathan Harris (Dr. Zachary Smith from Lost In Space)
Linda Lovelace ( Hard to believe I was staring at that famous mouth of hers)
Billy Mumy (Will Robinson from Lost In Space)
Butch Patrick (The original Eddie Munster!)

I could go on but the list would be waa-y too long. It's a good 'con, but needs more room. Luckily I went back in the day when prices were low and there was more room to walk around.

Newt, it wasn't that people were unfriendly as much as cliquish and self absorbed. There were nice people there, and I knew several of the volunteer helpers, so I wasn't completely alone; it just felt that way sometimes, especially since my friend who was supposed to come with me had to cancel. I am not exactly Mr. Outgoing myself... The snobbishness I will chalk up to a general lack of social skills and a desire to be the "expert authority" on a given subject. I am sure I am guilty of that or similar. One guy who spoke to me began lecturing me on the wonders of video game music, showing me his playlist on his phone. I let him talk, but he was obviously less interested in holding a conversation than on pontificating.

That con looks good, Umaril, but I am limited to events in my area. I plan to go to ikkicon in Austin in December, though I have no idea who the celebrity draws will be.

I always say to myself that I'll go to some Con, as there's usually several in the Philly/NJ/MD areas dealing with various themes: horror cons, comic-cons, etc., etc.

Then I opt out.  There was one a few months back, some Sci-Fi con, but I found out about it too late and the main draws were Biff from Back to The Future and The Nostalgia Critic.  I'd have gone except it wasn't a payweek.

The con we go to is a literary con. Last year the GOH was Jim Butcher. There are all sorts of activities represented (costuming, model-building, LARPers, DandD, TV, horror, cooking and so on) but the fans we met seemed far more keen to discuss common interests than their own achievements so it comes across not so much as 'ego' as enthusiasm bursting its bounds.  Not to say it does not get a bit...elitist(?)  There is definitely a hierarchy evident in the 'upper' levels: whose TARDIS or Dalek model was the more technically accurate, for example.   There is the odd one who stands out as a bit self absorbed: like the gentleman who went on about how he speical-ordered the precisely correct material from the overseas manufacturer (after he had tracked them down) in order to have a tailor (in another country) make the dress shirt for his Tenth Doctor costume...so maybe a better word is 'obsessed'.   :wink:  But then, that may be what ultimate fandom is about.   :lookingup:

I'd say you should come here, Derf, but I know that's not at all practical.  Does the thought count?

eta: we are planning to attend a Dr Who con in Toronto in November.  Really looking forward to it!

Agreed with you on this one, Newt. Fandom is a strange thing, and the way it manifests itself is both amusing and entertaining, and sometimes a bit scary with some...I've been to enough 'cons to see this for myself.

Not to mention some of the stars themselves can be real asses too..I met David Carradine once and he couldn't have made it clearer that he wasn't interested in what the fans had to say.  Of course he was 3\4 of the way into a bottle of JD which didn't help.

However, Carradine really went way off base when he replied to a fan about winning the role of Kain for the Kung-Fu TV series over Bruce Lee's bid for the part. 

He said that he was only there to sign pictures, not to hear about his taking the part off of "some dead guy named Bruce Lee." I think many of us would agree that Lee deserves a lot more respect than that.  Anyway, point being that be it fans or stars alike, 'cons can get very interesting...