Putting on my fan hat for a moment here...
What are you talking about? (your post is v long and reads like an agenda.)
Gatecon 2008 was essentially RDA's first foray back into conventions since the 80's. This is not a 'small' deal. He was also at the 2016 Gatecon - is he not 'big name' enough for you? Was Gatecon supposed to get Kurt Russell and James Spader? (If so, there wouldn't have been any other guests b/c those two would've taken all of the money.)
RDA isn't 'throwing' the party. Gatecon is run by fans. If RDA is asked and he accepts, then he'll attend, but there isn't a guarantee on any of the guests until the convention actually begins and they show up.
The reason Gatecon tends to attract the 'same old guests' over and over is because those folks live in Vancouver. They're already in town, so it's much easier for them to swing by the convention, even if they can't commit to the full weekend. Alex Zahara has done this - he was working one year, but he stopped by anyway just to say 'hi'. A lot of the 'regular' guests love coming to Gatecon to talk with fans they've seen before and meet new ones. Sure, these five or six guests have been every year, but not every fan can attend every year, so there are always new fans in attendance who haven't seen/met/gotten a photo with certain guests who would like to. If Gatecon doesn't invite those guests, those fans might not get that opportunity.
You don't speak for all fans. Whether or not you liked SGU or the tie-in novels, there are fans who did. Skipping those guests is doing a disservice to the people who worked on those properties, and also to the fans who did enjoy them who may want to meet some of these folks. There's no reason to skip them, since many of them did other things that people might have also enjoyed.
Bottom line - Gatecon isn't Creation. Creation paid for the 'official' Stargate convention lic (and it ain't cheap), so Creation gets 'first dibs' on pretty much everything. This is also why Gatecon didn't have some of the principal actors - Tapping, Shanks, etc - during some years, b/c they *couldn't*. Creation has rules about when those lic'd under a property can attend conventions that aren't Creation events, which makes it difficult for other cons, especially smaller, fan-run ones, to invite those guests. Creation Entertainment is a business. Running conventions and other events is the ONLY thing they do. Gatecon is a business, but it's a side-gig for the folks who put it together. It's not their only job, so it's smaller.
With that said: Is there a limit to the number of guests? Technically 'no', aside from how much money is available. However, also, technically 'yes', because Gatecon had 52 guests last year and it was too many. It was great, but it was also a burden. Trying to coordinate that many high-profile people at the same time is a logistical pain in the mikta. (Full disclosure, I'm also a Gatecon volunteer and worked the 2016 con.) While it's awesome to have a huge line-up of guests, it also makes the convention more difficult to coordinate and run, which means far more things have to overlap and the volunteer need starts to multiply. So, a smaller guest list is actually better for the convention overall.
To your suggestion about running multiple panels at the same time: No. As a fan, at Gatecon, I wouldn't want that. I like that the panels are one-at-a-time. I also like it better when panels don't overlap other things like photograph or autograph sessions. Single panels means that, as a fan, you don't have to decide which panel you have to skip when two of your faves are up at the same time on different panels. That's a horrible decision to have to make and I'm glad Gatecon doesn't make the fans do that.
TL;DR: Gatecon is a smaller, fan-run convention that has no intention of matching 'the big guys' and the fans of the con itself like it that way. New guests are always welcome and encouraged, but the Gatecon family also likes to see old friends as well. XD
Okay, don't get your panties in a bunch... I'm simply excited and want to go to a Stargate convention where some of the big stars (plural) will be present. So to answer your question about RDA, no, simply having him present was not enough of a draw for me to fly to Vancouver. I noticed there were many, many guests, but I would hardly say they were high profile. I assumed this was due to the fact that the 2016 reboot took place just weeks after the last Creation Stargate Convention. So I was hoping that given more time and planning we could see more of the stars attend. This isn't meant to criticize anyone's work in trying to revive the Con, just simply state a fact about what fans want to see. I am very invested in seeing this venture succeed in the long run. I want the conventions to continue and the enthusiasm to stay alive so that we will eventually see more Stargate being produced in some form.
I see your point about multiple panels maybe being a bad idea, I have always enjoyed the intimacy of the Stargate Conventions... And I apologize for stepping on any SGA toes. Though I didn't like the show I do like the actors and think their sweethearts. I'm not saying they should left out, I was just expressing preferences to not having a HUGE guest list filled out that omits so many of the main fan favorites.
I am happy to see Amanda Tapping and Shanks are coming, that is a great start (though I've noticed Amanda often cancels last minute -I hope she really does show) From what I see of the line up right now, it looks very tilted to SG-1 -that's not bad, I'm actually impressed by how it looks so far, I'm just expressing myself because I care about the Con being successful and I'm noticing that the guest list is not very inclusive. And word is starting to get around at other Conventions that a lot the fan favorites have not been invited... UM, not even CHRISTOPHER JUDGE?
I know I don't speak for everyone but I will speak up about something I care so passionately about. Here is what I posted on the DragonCon track for Stargate because they were a lot of people who were upset about exclusions and they wanted to know who to talk to about it:
"It was shocking to hear at Dragon Con this year that CHRISTOPHER JUDGE HAS NOT EVEN BEEN INVITED to GateCon 2018!!... And for that matter neither has Flanigan, Luttrell, or Straite. The actors told us that all it would take was an invite for them to be at GateCon 2018. Fans at the Stargate panels were quite upset to learn none have been invited as of yet. (it should be noted that Paul McGillion was also asked at a Star Trek Convention about Gatecon 2108 and said though he had not been invited, he would like to be) WE ALL LOVE STARGATE AND WANT TO SEE THE FRANCHISE KEPT ALIVE
-whoever is in charge of booking guests would do well to imagine trying to have a Star Trek convention by only inviting cast members from the original series. The bigger and more inclusive you make this Con, the better chance it has of being successful, drawing in fans, and making them want to return for another year!! Thank goodness they at least included Rainbow Sun Francks, he is so fun and adorable in person. I hope they also try to include fan favorites HEWLETT, FLANIGAN, LUTTRELL, MCGILLION & STRAITE. And if they could also manage to bring Claudia Black, Ben Browder, Tori Higginson, Robert Picardo that would be even more amazing.
I know everyone can't be invited at the same time; but for instance, instead of inviting the mathematician behind Dr. Rodney McKay's equations, why not invite the amazing actor who played the beloved character...David Hewlett? Or instead of inviting a minor system lord like Camulus, why not invite the best original baddie of them all, APOPHIS aka Peter Williams? I could go on and on, instead of inviting someone who has written a Stargate book, or someone who appeared on 2 episodes of Sg-1, invite.... (fill in the blanks). It looks like the guest list has improved slightly from 2016 (first attempt at rebooting the Con) to include a few main stars -but what happened to Brad Wright -Is he still coming? I hope so, I think we'd all love to meet him.
For anyone wants to see more of their favorites AT LEAST INVITED to the party, you can create a user profile so you can share your thoughts on the GateCon guest list forum. They had 52 guests in 2016 and almost none of them were major players on any the shows. I don't know about you, but I wasn't interested in flying to Vancouver just to see RDA. And I know SGU wasn't as popular as SG-1 and SGA but they are also fans out there who loved it and would want to see actors from that show. Actress Ming-Na Wen has quite a following now with her Agents of Shield success and David Blue is so sweet in real life that even people who didn't watch SGU (like myself) enjoy meeting him. THIS is how a franchise and fanbase is nourished -by including everyone!!! Rally the troops and get the fanbase excited again. Please? We all want Stargate to live on!!"
