10 Greatest Star Trek Convention Moments

10. Live, Star Trek! Live!

Gene Roddenberry debuted Star Trek with a showing of both The Original Series pilots at the World Science Fiction Convention in 1966. Three years later, and about three months before Turnabout Intruder first aired, around 300 people gathered in a New Jersey Library for 'Star Trek Con'. There were no celeb guests, and the event only lasted an afternoon, but these were the humble beginnings of the Star Trek convention as we know it today.

Things really got going in January 1972 at the first Star Trek Lives! Convention in New York. Organisers had expected 500, but about 3,000 turned up to see Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, Isaac Asimov, and D.C. Fontana, as well as a few moon rocks, the dealers' room, and that notorious blooper reel.

The following year, Star Trek lived again under the title 'The International Star Trek Convention,' with James Doohan, George Takei, a surprise visit from Leonard Nimoy, and over 6,000 attendees. In 1974, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, and Walter Koenig joined the roster, as did (upper estimates of) 15,000 fans. William Shatner made it in 1975, but by 1976, a split had formed amongst organisers 'The Committee,' meaning that year would be the last for Star Trek Lives! By then, conventions were happening across the US and internationally.

The first 'official' British Star Trek Convention, with guests Doohan and Takei, took place in Leicester in 1974. However, much like in the States, there had been a previous, more low-key convention in a local church hall that same year.