Category: Presenters

Annie Pasqua is a music educator, music director, composer, and performer whose credits include performances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space. A student of noted concert pianist Morton Estrin, her choral compositions are featured in the Judith Clurman concert series, published by Hal Leonard. With her sister, Jenna, Annie is the composer/lyricist/librettist of TESS: A New Rock Opera, based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. She has been an avid Star Trek fan since childhood, and she and her husband, Deniz Cordell, were married by Walter Koenig.

Mike Rizzo is a lifetime Star Trek and SciFi Fan. He grew up watching classic SciFi TV like Star Trek the original series, Lost in Space, and Space 1999. Of course, in 1977 his world changed when Star Wars hit the theaters. Throughout the years he has collected and created props and memorabilia from the many movies and TV shows he loved. Mike worked in the TV broadcasting industry for 23 years with specialty in studio lighting and engineering. Mike has been a volunteer at the Set Tour since 2015. He currently hosts his own SciFi webcast called SciFi Distilled airing weekly on Facebook and YouTube!

Kent Schmidt was born in South Carolina, but was relocated to Upstate NY when he was a teenager. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science. He began working in retail environments until he started a 22-year career selling and leasing automobiles. A lifelong computer and electronic enthusiast, he transitioned into an IT management position with the Della Auto Group and now supports 250+ users with their technology issues. He is one year and one day younger than the original Star Trek, but was propped up in his crib to watch some of the original run. After Trek went into syndication, he rarely missed an episode after school and never during the summer months. He worked as a Production Assistant, then Grip, Key Grip, and finally, Gaffer for the long-running fan series Star Trek New Voyages/ Phase II. His study of Jerry Finnerman’s lighting techniques and practices and his application of those methods resulted in the high point of his lighting career when David Gerrold said “You are channeling Jerry Finnerman with your lighting. Kent, he would be proud of you.” His perspective on the Borg stems from an extensive Science Fiction library and decades of reading, watching, and studying Sci-Fi in all its forms.

Dr. Matthew Szydagis grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation and after watching Lt. Cmdr. Data he realized that science officer was the position for him. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2005, 2006, and 2011 respectively, then continued his work in physics as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Davis (2010-14).

Since 2014, Dr. Szydagis has been a member of the physics faculty at the University at Albany SUNY, pursuing experimental particle astrophysics, in particular direct laboratory detection of dark matter particles, underground. He works on the liquid-Xenon-based LZ experiment and with supercooled water (the “snowball chamber”), and is the developer of the NEST (Noble Element Simulation Technique) computer software.

Since 2019 Matthew has also been a member of UAPx, helping to seek answers regarding the true nature of UAP from a scientific perspective. Most recently, you can find him as a regular on the History Channel TV show “The Proof is Out There” and in the documentary film “A Tear in the Sky.”

I am a native of New Jersey and have been a fan of Science Fiction since first being introduced to Star Trek in the early 1970’s. My earliest recollections are seeing it advertised in the local TV Guide for its syndicated appearance on Channel 11, WPIX, New York.

My love of the series opened the door to other science fiction classics of the 1960’s: Lost In Space, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, The Invaders, UFO, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone, to mention just a few. These fantastic television shows of the 1960’s carried over my interest into other science fiction television of the 1970’s: The Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Space:1999, Ark 2, The Bionic Woman, Logan’s Run, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, to also name a few.

The shows closest to my heart have always been Classic Star Trek, and Space:1999. These shows have allowed me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and establish lifelong friendships worldwide, due to our common bond and love of our beloved shows.

It has been truly a rewarding experience being a presenter at previous Trekonderoga Events over the years. These presentations helped to inspire me to start my weekly LIVE Internet show broadcast over Facebook (Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner celebrating its 4th year this April) during the pandemic to help bring friends and fans of science fiction together from all over the world to share in the love of the genre.

I very much look forward to presenting this year at Trekonderoga, as it is not only enjoyable time to discuss the love of science fiction with fellow fans but to see my extended family of friends, I have met over the last nine years at this special annual event!! LLAP!!

I have been a Star Trek fan for life and a collector for almost as long. James was good enough to invite me to Trekonderoga to talk about all the stuff I’ve collected over the decades and to share some of the stories behind those collectibles. I have two Star Trek Web sites: CollectingTrek.ca tells the stories behind my best collectibles and TorontoStarTrek76.ca is the definitive history of Canada’s first and best Star Trek convention. Let’s talk about Star Trek collecting.