Philcon

Infobox Convention
name = Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference


caption =
status =
genre = Science fiction
venue =
location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
country = United States
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last =
organizer = Philadelphia Science Fiction Society
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attendance =
website = http://www.philcon.org/

Philcon, also known as the "Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference", is an annual science fiction convention, held in or near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, every year starting in 1936 (except during World War II). It is usually held in November. It is run by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS). The convention features a mixture of literary, science, gaming, film, anime, and costuming programming. There is usually an open Meet the Authors/Artists Party on Friday and a Masquerade on Saturday, as well as the usual programming mixture of literature, art, costuming, and gaming panels, an art show, a dealers' room, and movies.

The 2008 Philcon will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (2349 W. Marlton Pike (Route 70)Cherry Hill NJ 08002); on November 21–23, 2008. Principal Speaker will be Tim Powers, multiple-award-winning novelist. The Artist Guest of Honor will be John Picacio, winner of the World Fantasy, Chesley (annual awards of Association of Science Siction Artists), and IHG Awards, and recipient of numerous Hugo Award nominations. Special Guest of Honor will be Scott Christian Sava, the creator of the web comic The Dreamland Chronicles.

History

In 1936, a half dozen fans came down from New York by train for the first intercity meeting of fans ever held. A picture taken of the group at Independence Hall has appeared in a number of the histories of science fiction fandom. They held a business meeting at the house of Philadelphia fan Milton A. Rothman, electing Rothman as chair and New Yorker Frederik Pohl as Secretary. [Sam Moskowitz, "The Immortal Storm, A History of Science Fiction Fandom", 1st ed.,1954, The Atlanta Science Fiction Organization Press, Atlanta, GA, page 82.] Since Philadelphia had been the site of the 1936 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, they declared themselves the Philadelphia Science Fiction Convention. Part of the group went to John Baltadonis' home to examine his art collection and the printing press used to publish the PSFS newsletter. At Rothman's house, the group talked about science fiction and played craps. On the way back to the train station, some of the attendees sang early filk songs. One of the attendees, John B. Michel published an account of the day, the first convention report, in a New York fanzine.

Many fan historians, as well as the PSFS, claim that the first Philcon was the first science fiction convention ever held. Others make this claim for a 1937 event in Leeds, England. Attendees at the British event bought tickets to sit in a hall and listen to several speakers and to hear a few congratulatory telegrams. They also voted to create the British SF Society.

Trivia: Philcon has a "principal speaker" instead of a "guest of honor".

Sources

Information regarding this year's convention is taken from the convention webpage, www.philcon.org.

Sam Moskowitz, "The Immortal Storm", Hyperion Press, 1974, available from NESFA Press, http://www.nesfa.org/press/. The history of science fiction fandom up to World War II by one of the key players.

John Bristol (Jack Speer), "Fancyclopedia", Fantasy Foundation, 1944, is available online at fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/Fancyclopedia/Fancyclopedia_I/. One of the first serious attempts to study science fiction fandom.

Dick Eney, "Fancyclopedia II", Operation Crifanac 1959, is available online at www.fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/Fancyclopedia/Fancyclopedia_II/. This is an attempt to update Jack Speer's earlier encyclopedia. The site, www.fanac.org, is the site of The Fan History Project, an organization dedicated to the serious study of the history of science fiction.

Lew Wolkoff, "The First Philcon, An Oral History", Phanadelphia Corporation, 1985, is available from The Millennium Philcon, the 2001 World Science Fiction Convention, which may be contacted from www.2001.worldcon.org. This was an oral history, a series of interviews with the persons who had attended the 1936 Philcon along with supplemental material, which includes: a map of Philadelphia; listings of the contents of the October 1936 issues of various science fiction magazines; a summary of current events, current science fiction movies, and the current plotline of several science fiction/fantasy newspaper comic strips; photographs taken at the event and supplied by the photographer; and copies of the text of several science fiction fan magazine reports of the event.

Worldcons

The World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, has been held in Philadelphia three times:
* The 5th World Science Fiction Convention, called Philcon I, was held in 1947.
* The 11th World Science Fiction Convention, called Philcon II, was held in 1953.
* The 59th World Science Fiction Convention, called the Millennium Philcon, was held in 2001.

References

External links

* [http://www.philcon.org/ Philcon website]
* [http://www.psfs.org/ Philadelphia Science Fiction Society website]
* [http://www.theworksoftimpowers.com/ Tim Powers, Principal Speaker's website]
* [http://www.johnpicacio.com/index2.html/ John Picacio, Artist GoH website]
* [http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/ Scott Christian Sava, Special GoH website]