Star Trek Day 2022 made treasured memories for VIP attendee

Star Trek fan David Cheng attended Star Trek Day 2022 in person.

A few days after Star Trek Day 2022, I saw a photo on Facebook from Star Trek fan David Cheng. David had attended the day’s festivities in person and posted a picture of the “swag bag” he and his fellow attendees received. It included a copy of the 4K Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Pretty cool! But what I spotted that made me laugh out loud with delight were boxes of “Boimler” brand raisins—straight from the Boimler family farm we saw in the season 3 premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Brilliant!

I sent David a message asking if he’d be willing to share his impressions of attending Star Trek Day 2022 live and in person, as opposed to live but virtual like so many of the rest of us. He graciously wrote about his experiences and also sent several fantastic photographs, some of which you’re seeing in this post.

In a follow-up email, David told me he’s been a fan since he was “a very young boy” watching Star Trek during its first run on NBC. The original series remains his favorite of all Star Trek’s iterations. Today, David is busy working as a lawyer and spending time with family, but he still makes time for fandom.

David and his friends produce videos for their YouTube channel, Star Trek Fan Productions International. One of those friends, Mark Lum, was one of the featured cosplayers during Star Trek Day 2022. He was cosplaying Garth of Izar from “Whom Gods Destroy.”

Watching from home, I’d assumed the cosplay catwalk, one of my favorite segments, had been more or less spontaneous. Not so!

“When Mark was chosen to be a featured cosplayer,” David wrote me, “he was given VIP status. Since I was his ride and was accompanying him that day, Paramount+ graciously conferred VIP status [on] me as well.”

David Cheng had a VIP p.o.v. on Star Trek Day 2022 events and celebrities.

As a VIP attendee, David got to enjoy some exclusive, behind-the-scenes peeks at Star Trek Day 2022.

Following rehearsal, for example, he and Mark joined the stage crew for a catered lunch, during which Fred Tatasciore—the event’s announcer and the voice of Lieutenant Shaxs on Lower Decks—sat down at their table. “[Fred] regaled us with his voice impressions of Patrick Stewart, Ronald Reagan, Sylvester Stallone, and others, leaving us nearing laughing in stitches,” David wrote. “Our impromptu lunch show turned out to be nearly as entertaining as the official program.”

David enjoyed the official program itself from a third-row seat, “very close to the stage.” Seeing Mark and the other cosplayers strut their stuff was a highlight. He also enjoyed the trailers and preview footage from upcoming seasons of the various Star Trek series. “My personal favorite,” wrote Davd, “was the Picard [trailer],” since it shows Jean-Luc reuniting with most of his crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

David did feel the panel discussions with actors “went by too quickly, with not enough time devoted to interviewing the cast members in depth.” (I agree with you, David!) And while he enjoyed seeing Star Trek II and VI director Nicholas Meyer, David wrote he “was disappointed to hear him announce that his Ceti Alpha V series would be a podcast, not a television miniseries as originally planned.” (I agree with you again.)

David and Mark got to attend a VIP-only reception after the program. “It was a Trek fan’s dream to mingle with the stars up close,” he wrote. He’s right! What Star Trek fan wouldn’t want to chat and take photos with the likes of Nicole de Boer (Ezri Dax from Deep Space Nine); Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd (from Picard); and Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Melissa Nava, Celia Rose Gooding, and Babs Olusanmokun (all from Strange New Worlds)?

David also saw Tawny Newsome, co-host of Star Trek Day 2022 and voice of Mariner Beckett on Lower Decks. Tawny remembered David and Mark from meeting them at the recent 56-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas. “It is certainly a good feeling to be recognized by those you admire and respect in the Star Trek universe,” David wrote.

Overall, David considers Star Trek Day 2022 one of the best Star Trek events he’s attended. He wrote, “I will certainly treasure the memories in years to come.”

Thanks for sharing your fantastic memories with us, David. I have no doubt you will treasure them—certainly long after you’ve eaten the last of those brilliant Boimler brand raisins!