Time Gate 2011: interview with PR manager Kris Harter

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Time Gate 2011: interview with PR manager Kris Harter
May 21, 2011
Rhetta Akamatsu
SciFi Factor

Time Gate 2011 is coming to Atlanta May 27-29 at the Holiday Inn Select Perimeter, and my husband and I will be attending for the first time, and reporting about the convention. I had the opportunity to conduct an email interview with Kris Harter, head of PR for the convention, and get some answers about the convention and why it is going to be an amazing experience for all who attend!

1)Hi, Kris. Tell me how TimeGate got started.

TimeGate began as a way for the Stargate Atlanta and the Atlanta Gallifreyans groups to get together and celebrate their respective fan genres for a day. It started out really small; playing games, local fans who had built Daleks or were really big fans and had insider knowledge to share and a trivia contest. As more of them began to happen, programming began to be built around the people who were coming that was fan driven and driven by the people who could come that were local artists or authors. They also added a band and provided food. Eventually, they outgrew the space, and needed to move not only to a hotel, but also felt it was time to move to a full weekend convention, which is where we are now.

2) How did you get involved with TimeGate?

I know both of the people who started up the convention and after they moved to the weekend format, they asked me to come in and help out. They had seen me work with another local group, the Atlanta Outworlders in various PR capacities and felt that I was the right person to grow along with TimeGate.

3) How many TimeGates have there been so far?

This year will be the sixth TimeGate. We are very much looking forward to our tenth anniversary in 2015!

4) What guests are you particularly excited about this year?

We have had fan reaction to nearly every single guest this year! It’s really been amazing. I think some of the highlights are going to be Sophie Aldred and hearing about her days as Ace, that this will be Mike Dopud’s first convention!, and hearing about Diana Botsford’s fact finding trip to Antarctica for a new Stargate novel that she is working on. But seriously, we have a book launch party scheduled, skype sessions, our t-shirt artwork is done by Kelly Yates, the list goes on and on.

5) What’s the most fun thing you recall from previous TimeGates?

Last year our hotel was being renovated and had an ugly wall for everyone to look at. The hotel let us decorate the wall for the convention and it was wonderful to see how it turned out by the end of the weekend and the things that everyone had written to each other, about the con, and about just, whatever was on their mind.

6) What events do you want participants to be aware of?

Apart from the Q &A’s and video commentaries by our special guests, this year we are doing something quite different in that we are having special guests skype in to our panels and so we are able to have guests that we normally wouldn’t. Two of them are Martin Wood, producer for SG-1, and Joseph Lidster, a writer for the Sarah Jane Adventures. Another event that we have had good reaction to is the writer’s workshop hosted by Diana Botsford who herself is a screenwriter and who teaches screenwriting at Missouri State University. One more I would highlight is the K-9, a series from Australia, marathon that we have Saturday night.

7) How about children? Is the con child-safe?

The con is definitely child safe. In fact, children under 12 are free with a parent or guardian.

8) Is there a ConSuite? (That’s always an important question to me!)

There most definitely is a ConSuite! Our ConSuite goddess as we call her will be doing her best to keep every one healthy and happy throughout the convention. We will also have a map of close restaurants that people can get to for food as well as places to go in case they need any necessities.

9) Why in particular should people come to TimeGate?

TimeGate is a very intimate convention. Most people who come costume at some point, and so you feel surrounded by the two genres that the convention is about, Stargate and Doctor Who. The programming is excellent, with the staff working on it year round. Quite often the guests eat in the restaurant, and stay to talk to fans after panels, and people feel comfortable striking up a conversation with the person next to them. When you come, plan on meeting a friend.

10) What else would you like people to know about this convention?

TimeGate has not only tracks, or portals, as we call them about Doctor Who and Stargate, but also one called Otherworlds which will has a guest, Heidi Arnhold to talk about the remaking of The Dark Crystal, and they will be talking about the 30th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark. This year we also new portal, a literary portal, that will feature our many authors, including Jana Oliver (Demon Trappers) Debbie Viguie (Wicked), Melissa Scott (Stargate), Bobby Nash (too many to mention one), James Palmer, Berta Platas and Michelle Roper (who write together as Gillian Summers) and so many more!

The weekend rate is $50 at the door and day rates are Friday ($20), Saturday ($30), and Sunday ($25.) Registration will open at 4:30 pm Friday afternoon and 9 am Saturday morning.

Thank you, Kris, for taking the time to answer my questions! We look forward to an entertaining convention and hope all area sci-fi fans will come out and join us!