Tweetup: Geordi beams in for a pint with a few fans

[Fred Derf Veteran]

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Geordi beams in for a pint with a few fans
The curious appeal of Twitter on display once again as LeVar Burton makes a date with followers he's never met
IVOR TOSSELL
From Friday's Globe and Mail
March 5, 2009 at 10:00 PM EST

It's not unusual to spot a celebrity in Yorkville. It is, however, unusual for a celebrity to casually tell his fans that he'll be at Hemmingway's on Cumberland in exactly 45 minutes, just in case anybody wants to join him for a pint.

On Monday, that's exactly what LeVar Burton ? best-known for his role in Star Trek: The Next Generation ? did via the Internet. It seemed to have the makings of a satisfyingly oddball adventure, but for the first few minutes, I have to tell you, the whole thing was pretty awkward.

?If anyone asked where I thought I was going to be today, this wouldn't have been it,? said Marsha Mason, a Toronto actor who was hanging around the front door waiting for Burton to arrive. Mason had seen the open invitation, issued on the website Twitter, and since she was only a couple of subway stops away, she'd popped over on a lark.

Burton's not a Hollywood A-lister, exactly, but he did star in three iconic series of yesteryear ? as Kunta Kinte in Roots, as Geordi La Forge, chief engineer of the starship Enterprise in Next Generation, and as host of the beloved, long-running kids show Reading Rainbow.

The Twitterers who showed up weren't grade-A fans, either, or even the kind of Trekkies who arrive at conventions having memorized the Klingon translation of Hamlet. But Mason and so many like her have fond memories of watching Star Trek in their younger years. And now here's one of the stars of that show arriving in town and offering to go for drinks with strangers.

Burton is a perfect example of that curious batch of celebrity Twitter users ? a strange assortment of figures ranging from TV personality Stephen Fry to hoopster Shaquille O'Neal to rapper MC Hammer ? who use the micro-blogging site to maintain a personal rapport with fans in ways that weren't possible before. The most successful Twittering celebs aren't the most famous, but rather the ones, like Burton, who really seem to enjoy it.

Earlier that day, Burton had told the 78,000-odd people who follow him on Twitter that he'd be in Toronto to do an interview on CBC's The Hour, and asked if anybody could suggest a good pub in Yorkville. Some hours later, after hundreds of suggestions rolled in, Burton named the time and place, only 45 minutes off.

Exactly 45 minutes later on the first floor of Hemmingway's, about a dozen early arrivals found ourselves standing around nervously, like dorks on a communal first date, trying to decide where to sit. And then Burton walked in. He stood there for a second, looking at the semicircle of strangers there to greet him. The semicircle of strangers blinked back at him. It was as if he'd just crawled out of a television, and we'd just crawled out of the Internet, and here we were standing around a bar, not quite sure what to do.

He dove right in.

?Hi, I'm LeVar,? he said cheerfully, sticking out a hand and introduced himself to everyone in turn.

?We have tables upstairs on the patio,? someone volunteered. ?It's heated.?

?Well then, what are we doing hanging around here?? said Burton.

Upstairs, 20-odd people had seated themselves at long tables, clearing their throats and staring expectantly at the star as he walked in. Burton stood at the front of the room and gamely tried to make conversation.

?Do any of you guys know each other?? he said.

Everybody looked at each other, shook their heads, and looked at Burton again.

?So this is an opportunity to meet fellow Twitterers!? he said.

?This is insane! This is so bizarre,? whispered Mason, sitting next to me.

And then the oddest thing happened. The beer arrived, the cameras came out, and as fans queued up to have their photos taken with their childhood hero, the other Twitterers in the room did exactly what he suggested, and turned to each other and started talking. Awkwardness gave way to banter. The party moved over to the bar. People talked, not so much about Star Trek but about work, and life, the recession and Twitter, and how we'd come to arrive at this curious gathering.

Twitter is all about the power of loose ties. People who use the site never claim to be ?friends? with one another; they merely follow people they find interesting. When Twitterers meet in the real world, even with celebrities, it's not the forces of celebrity and enthrallment that draw them, but looser ties of interest, affection and curiosity. And, it must be said, of fun.

?This is the most spontaneous thing I've ever done,? said Cameron Forbes, a 21-year-old pharmacy student who'd been kicking around in his friend's dorm room when the invite came up on Twitter. ?This kind of thing never happens where I come from,? he added. (He's from Almonte, Ont., near Ottawa.) ?The closest thing we had was Tori Spelling filming at my English teacher's house. And nobody wants to meet Tori Spelling.?

The evening rolled along. Mason got her photo taken with Burton. So did I. After more than an hour of drinks and amiable chit-chat, Burton put on his coat and cap and, before slipping out the door and off to his hotel, he shook hands and gave hugs, leaving behind a small knot of new acquaintances, talking among ourselves.

Does the Internet make us antisocial? I've never thought so. But you don't have to take my word for it.

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[Sandor]

nice.

TNG was epic. all the characters were top notch.