SeKWesterCon - Fanlore

By 1976, Star Trek cons were getting bigger and more expensive; more guests, more stars... In reaction, Paula Smith and Sharon Ferraro planned SeKWesterCon (pronounced "sequester con") as the first media con by fans and for fans, with no celebrity guests -- designed for fans who complain that at the big cons, they never get the time to see the other fans. The first convention had a cap of 200 attendees. SeKWesterCon is the direct ancestor of MediaWestCon today.

From a convention report, "Sunday morning began with a buffet brunch...then 'Feminism in Treklit' with Sharon and Jean Lorrah; Paula and Joan Verba debating the viability of the Vulcan-human hybrid; and Novels in Treklit." Jacqueline Lichtenberg spent so much time greeting friends she lost her voice the first night.

SeKWesterCon, Too

The next year, Paula and Sharon ran the sequel, called SeKWesterCon, Too. As a reaction to the failed effort to get Trek fan writers and editors on the Hugo ballot (the World Science Fiction Convention's awards of merit), Paula and Sharon sponsored the first Fan Q awards.

The con looked much like today's relaxacons. But there were two major and a few minor fanwritten productions performed live during the banquets. Also, many people were interested in how to make their own fanzines, so Jeff, the editor of the zine Spectrum volunteered to create the zine, The Cage at the con so that those attending the convention could see a mimeographed fanzine being put together before their very eyes. It took all four days of the con. ("The result was 41 pages, printed on Jeff's machine. There were a variety of contributions—stories, articles, satires written under pseudonyms (one of which was "Su Do Nims"), plus an honest-to-goodness Mary Sue story.")^[1]

Reviews of the con appeared in more than one zine, but most of them appeared in Menagerie #12, which deadlined soon after the convention. Most of them were highly favorable. Dixie G. Owen wrote a con report all in verse.^[2] But some...

The pornography controversy!, aka "Rise of the Age Statements"

The major difference between SeKWesterCon and SeKWesterCon, Too, was the new inclusion of explicit art (nudes) in the art show, discussion of explicit stories in the panels, and nomination of explicit stories for Fan Q Awards. (R&R, the first zine series to label itself adult brought out its first three issues between SeKWesterCon and SeKWesterCon, Too.) This was the first time fans had seen this sort of material in fandom, and some fans had very strong reactions.

The strongest reaction came from Mary Louise Dodge.

"Since I came back from SeKWesterCon, I can't seem to get myself back to work.... All the joyous memories of meeting old and new friends, or of the delight in the charming Saturday night sketches—everything is being smothered by a flood of resentment.... I do not enjoy being invited to a Star Trek convention, only to find instead it is a pornography con; I do not relish having pornography shoved down my throat! ...For the first time, last weekend, I was ashamed of being in fandom.... I don't know how this sea of sludge can be stemmed...better to outlaw the zines completely than to see them destroy Star Trek, for I couldn't even watch it this week, I find it depressing, after seeing what fandom has brought it to. That's it—I'm mad, and I'm getting madder every day...and I'm not the only one. There were a lot of tight-lipped people at the Con. Somebody owes somebody a big apology to real Star Trek fans."^[3]

Paula Smith, one of the con organizers, responded:

"I agree that ST pornography is a lousy thing—it is so badly written.... But when a reader takes up a story on an adult theme, she expects an adult treatment, or ought to. A simpering, or brutal treatment of sex is evil in the most fundamental sense, because such trivializes and degrades our greatest humanity—love. But sex, and sexuality, per se, are not dirty and disgusting."^[4]

A few month later, Spectrum # 35 covered the controversy over sexually explicit material:

"Last summer a feud broke out in STrekdom.... The feud was over the issue of pornography and indecency in fanfic. To some people the whole controversy seemed absurd since most people in fandom feel that fans tend to be more open-minded and liberal than the rest of the mundane world.... The height of the debates occurred last summer and early in the fall of 1977. The reason that the pressure died down is due in part... to pressure from STW The Star Trek Welcommittee to keep everyone away from everyone else's throats."^[5]

This led to decisions throughout Trek fandom to label any fanzine with explicit sexual material as such, and not to knowingly sell such material to minors by requiring an age statement for purchase. By a decade later, when the Surak awards debuted, zines nominated were divided into two categories: "general" (which became gen) and "age statement required".

Connection to MediaWestCon

After two years, Sharon Ferraro dropped out, and Lori Chapek-Carleton and Paula Smith changed the name to T'Con, to take place on Memorial Day weekend of the next year, 1978. That convention gave out the second Fan Q Awards. The next year, they held 2'Con, and again, gave out Fan Q Awards.

In 1981, Lori Chapek-Carleton, Gordon Carleton and Paula Smith put on MediaWestCon I, held on May 22-25 in Lansing, Michigan. It turned out to be the fanzine convention of the year, and has been held every year since. They still give out Fan Q Awards each year, though the categories have changed many times over the years.

References

1. ↑ Verba, Joan. Boldly Writing. F T L Pubns, March 26, 2003, pg 37
2. ↑ Dixie's SeKWesterCon, Too report
3. ↑ Verba, Joan. Boldly Writing. F T L Pubns, March 26, 2003, pg 38,39
4. ↑ Verba, Joan. Boldly Writing. F T L Pubns, March 26, 2003, pg 39
5. ↑ Verba, Joan. Boldly Writing. F T L Pubns, March 26, 2003, pg 40