Ahhh...the *insert type here* -convention/gathering/fest/whatever. My brother took me to my first cons when I was 11, or 12, and they were comic cons. I vaguely remember meeting Arne Starr and thinking it was ironic he was doing Captain America at the time (I think). That was at a little hole in the wall club in my home town.

Then we graduated to the Sci-fi/Trek conventions in the EARLY days, before TNG came on. I remember meeting James Doohan at a car parking lot. Then when TNG started to air the cons got a LITTLE bit bigger, but still quite intimate. I waited in a LONG line to meet Mark Leonard, who portrayed Spock's father in the Trek incarnations. He was a great guest, very nice, great stories, took time to talk with people in line and pose for photos. Then I remember meeting Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) right as she was leaving after the first season of TNG. She and my father talked (my dad was hitting on her, I think) and I remember her telling him she was getting ready to do a movie based on a Stephen King book. Then we started going out of state for the cons as TNG REALLY started to take off. I met Michael Dorn (Worf), Marina Sirtis (Troi), John DeLancie (Q), William Shatner, Chase Masterson (Lyta from DS9...got my pic taken with her!), and a host of others. As the cons got bigger, the sense of intimacy was lost and it became all about getting autographs, which had a tendency to irritate the stars, I think. We haven't been to one for quite some time, and the last one was a travesty to say the least. Stayed about 2 hours then left in disgust, having travelled 90 minutes one way for it.

Whatever the occasion, I think the smaller the better, and they are indeed great times.