- Archon (convention)
Infobox Convention
name = Archon
caption =
status = Active
genre = Multi-genre
venue =
location =Collinsville, Illinois
country = United States
first = 1977
last =
organizer = St. Louis Science Fiction, Ltd
filing =
attendance =
website = http://www.archonstl.org/Archon is a
multigenre convention held annually inCollinsville, Illinois and is hosted by St. Louis Science Fiction, Ltd. It is the largest convention of its type in theSt. Louis, Missouri area, bringing a few thousand fans of science fiction, fantasy and horror each year.Past highlights
Archon 27 expanded from three days to four. [http://www.archonstl.org/index.html#ATA30 Archon 30] attracted nearly 2,800 convention-goers in 2006, a record for the convention.
In
2007 in place of Archon, convention organizers hosted the 9thNorth American Science Fiction Convention [http://www.archonstl.org/index.html#ATA31 (9th NASFiC)] . The convention was held two months earlier than the normal Archon, on August 2-5, 2007. Scheduled guests of honor includedBarbara Hambly ,Darrell K. Sweet , and [http://www.mst3kinfo.com/ MST3K] personalities Kevin Murphy & [http://www.playscripts.com/author.php3?authorid=299 Bill Corbett] (replacingMira Furlan , who had to cancel).Masquerade
Archon hosts one of the best known masquerade competitions in the country. In 2005, over 50 entries were presented in four separate classes, Junior, Novice, Journeyman and Master. These costumers represent a wide range of fandom, presenting recreations of favorite cinema and literary characters along with original creations. Author
Vic Milan has been the emcee of the Archon Masquerade for many years. The masquerade is unique for its team of professional light and sound engineers who volunteer their time working with the presenters for the show. The Archon Masquerade rules are compatible with theInternational Costume Guild guidelines for competition, which means that any major awards won at Archon are included in standings at other ICG convention competitions.Gaming
Archon features extensive gaming. Among some of the many attractions at Archon gaming are the LARP vampire games ran by the St. Louis Underground Gaming Society, Battletech games, Science Fiction RPGs ran yearly, D&D games and CCG tournaments.
The crew of Hexgames frequently appears and runs games based on their QAGS system, like Mforce and Rasslin'.
Under Jon Bancroft, Archon's gaming section has developed a quick and efficient system for registering large numbers of gamers for the games offered, and "The Trench", where gamers register, has become a feature of Archon.
Tax ruling
In 1985, St. Louis Science Fiction Ltd. was subject to an adverse court tax court ruling that denied it non-profit
501(c)(3) status, on the basis that it was not "operated exclusively for exempt purposes", but instead "in part, for the private benefit of artists and dealers", and "in furtherance of substantial nonexempt commercial, and social and entertainment purposes". [cite paper|title=St. Louis Science Fiction Ltd. v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 1985-162)|publisher=United States Tax Court |url=http://smofinfo.com/wsfs/Legal/StLouis.rtf|date=1985-04-02|accessdate=2008-07-10]ee also
*
Science fiction fandom
*List of multigenre conventions References
External links
* [http://www.archonstl.org/index.html Archon's official web site]
* [http://www.archonmasq.org/ Archon's Masquerade web site]
* [http://nasfic.org/ The North American Science Fiction Convention]
* [http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-10-20/feature.html riverfronttimes.com article on Archon 28]###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=8th North American Science Fiction Convention Cascadia Con inSeattle ,USA (2005 )
title=List of NASFiCs
years=9th North American Science Fiction Convention
Archon 31 in St. Louis,USA (2007 )
after=10th North American Science Fiction Convention
not scheduled
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