On Friday night, a bunch of local Ottawa bloggers got the chance to really get their geek on, thanks to Jen Covert and the National Arts Centre, as the Sci-Fi Spectacular hit the stage. Not only were we treated to a great performance by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, we were part of a select group chosen to attend a backstage meet and greet with none other than George Takei, a.k.a. Mr. Sulu from the orignal Star Trek series.
My brother, Mike Thompson, is just about the biggest Sci-Fi fan you’ll ever meet. Well, until you meet my friend Mark Bell. I have to confess that I am not well versed on the Sci-Fi genre much outside of Star Wars and perhaps Star Trek:TNG, but Mark and Mike really were transported to another world by this performance.
I brought along our new Flip MinoHD camera to capture some of the goings-on of the evening, and my brother edited it together into a great little piece that I think sums up our evening really well. He’s even inserted our tweets from the night throughout the piece.
For anyone who thinks the National Arts Centre is a stuffy old place where only the hoity-toity go, think again. They are doing some really progressive stuff these days, with shows like this and all of their great new media ventures. What I really appreciate is that the NAC is reaching out to us bloggers to help them tell their story. And the consensus is, we’re happy to report that the NAC really is the place to be for arts, culture, and just plain fun in the Nation’s Capital.
So without further ado…ladies and gentlemen….The Sci-Fi Spectacular.
Update – here are some more Sci-Fi Spectacular photos courtesy of my pal @Elkae.
Great video Suze and Mike – nothing like watching Geek Porn first thing in the morning! I think you really captured both the excitement of the evening and what the NAC is trying to do. These are the types of things traditional ‘arts’ venues should be doing to attract the new/next generation of arts supporters.
Oh, I would have loved to have seen this!
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I have to point out that not only is Sue supporting our local arts venue by providing content via blog and video, but she also live-Tweeted the event, adding images using TwitPic. Those of us who were on Twitter on Friday were able to follow her exploits.
She invited insight from tweeps. Some, started discussions about science fiction. Others, traded favourite scenes with George Takei. Many didn’t know about the event and wished they could attend.
Perhaps the NAC may want to consider offering complementary wireless broadband access and renting out Ipod Touches to bloggers and micro-bloggers at their next event…Just a suggestion…
Great video!
I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit of a geek myself, and the Star Wars door sliding sounds to cut between scenes made my morning.
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Loved the video. Great share. Lots of fun. Your husband is The Geek, but so are you. Not enough Trekky stuff though. 🙁
@tojosan
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Great write-up and video! I was really happy my mom gave me her ticket. I may not have met George Takei in person, but a 4th-row seat comes pretty close!
@tojosan Mike’s my brother. But I gotcha. 🙂
Awesome. Simply awesome. Already voted as my “Best Blog Post of the Week” and great to see new and old media come together and show real connectivity.
Cheers Sue – and your brother is a star! 🙂
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Great job, Sue. I am (for once) speechless.
Great post and FANTASTIC video! So glad you could make it and that you enjoyed the show. I know I had a blast.
Don, excellent point about having wireless access and more access points in general. I think that’s a great idea. This was our first big blogger outreach event at the NAC and we hope to do more in the future, so keep the suggestions coming! 😉
Thanks again Sue!
Jennifer