:10:02
[Laughter]
:10:06
Now...Now then, every time
I see someone,
:10:12
they say, you know, "You look
so much younger in person."
:10:16
[Laughter]
:10:19
The first one that I did, um...
:10:23
I think was around '72.
:10:26
Um, I got a call
to come to New Y ork.
:10:30
They had done
one convention first,
:10:33
and I think it wasn't
really a convention.
:10:36
They got together
with about 35 or 40 or 50--
:10:40
the way I heard the story--
of fans of Star Trek
:10:44
that just wanted to get together and
talk about the show, which they did.
:10:48
And they said, "You know,
why don't we put our money together
:10:53
and rent a hotel ballroom?"
:10:56
"And talk about
our mutual interest
:10:58
and show each other
what we have collected so far
:11:00
in the way of tapes
or paraphernalia or photographs."
:11:04
If we could get 300 people
to attend,
:11:07
we could...we could pay for it."
:11:10
And I thought,
"They're inviting me to New Y ork?
:11:15
They said they're
willing to pay expenses
:11:18
and, you know, fly me there
and put me up in a hotel."
:11:20
I thought,
"These people are foolish."
:11:23
And, uh...
:11:24
there was something like,
:11:25
I think there were around
3,000 or 4,000 people showed up,
:11:30
and it was absolutely wild then.
:11:32
They had to call the fire
department into the hotel
to let them in in increments.
:11:37
Everything came to a dead stop.
It was jam-packed with humanity.
:11:41
The revolving doors
couldn't revolve.
:11:42
The escalators refused
to operate anymore.
:11:45
The elevators stopped working.
:11:47
And the din out there indicated
it was more than 30 people.
:11:52
The woman went onstage
and introduced me,
:11:55
and I stepped out, and the place
exploded in applause.