SentiCon
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SentiCon |
| Dates: | 1998-2006 |
| Frequency: | annual |
| Location: | Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA |
| Type: | fan con |
| Focus: | The Sentinel |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | PJ and Tam & TM Alexander |
| Founding Date: | 1998 |
| URL: | WayBack Archive link to 2000 convention; WayBack Archive link to 2003 convention; LJ community for Senticon 2003, Archived version; LJ community for Senticon 2006 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
SentiCon was a fan-run slash convention first held in 1998 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1] It began as a convention "solely devoted to The Sentinel but -- like ZebraCon, which began as a Starsky & Hutch con and later shifted to embrace all fandoms -- after 2002 SentiCon evolved into a multi-fandom slash con." [2] It also began as a gen and slash convention, but formally declared itself as a slash convention in 2001 due to a lack of gen attendees. [3]
Every year, the convention would have a different theme. SentiCon 5 was known as "The Sleep-Over" and attendees were encouraged to come to the Saturday Night Festivities dressed in wacky pajamas and slippers. In 2006, the final year that the convention was held, the theme was "Pirates," in honor of the upcoming release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.[4]
The convention had a fanzine dealer's room, fan-run panels[5], an art show for fannish art[6] and a writing contest[7]. It also announced the winners of the Cascade Awards - awards given to fan writers and artists every year in recognition of their contributions.
This was an "adults only" slash con, and no one under the age of 18 was admitted.
Comments from One of the Organizers
In 2012, TM Alexander said:
I just think people need to keep fandom alive as much as possible, and I don't care if you're doing it online, or you're doing it in fanzines. But I think that people need to, that conventions need to, it's got to be more than Comic-Con, or Dragoncon, these big conventions. There's more out there, like MediaWest*Con. And there's no stars here, no celebrities, and it's a nice – but this is, if you want to be around fans, you come here. You come here. You get around other fans. I did conventions. I did a, it started out as a Sentinel convention, and then it blossomed into a media convention. We did it for six years. And there's nothing like the community of fans. When we get together, it's just, you know, we are all on the same vibration. We talk, and even you know, even if you are not into the same thing, you can actually communicate with another person because at least you understand their obsession. [8]
Awards
See Cascade Awards.
Writing Contest
The convention hosted a writing contest. Rules from the 2004 contest are available at this archive of the Contests and Games page.
- 1998 Winners are listed on this archive of the original webpage.
- 1999 - Accidents by Virginia. Jim and Blair go on vacation and Jim will never be the same. (Winner of the 1999 SentiCon challenge writing contest)
- 2000 - I Knew I Shoulda Moved To Florida by wolfpup. Her entry in the SentiCon Story Contest. The rules were to write a short story 1-3pgs using as many of the TS episode titles as possible in the story.
- Spelunking by stormheller. Jim meets Blair. (A slashy retelling of “The Switchman”). Tied with CJ Andre for Best Drama Story, 2003 SentiCon Writing Contest.
T-Shirts
From the 2006 Senticon page:
Every year, cartoonist Peej renders a logo that is used for the SentiCon badges and T-shirts. This tradition started in 2000 with SentiCon 2 and featured Jim and Blair of The Sentinel surrounded by provisions in preparation for the whole "Y2K" chaos that never happened.The following year, SentiCon 3-D, she paid tribute to those old B-movies and drew a giant alligator (which appeared in an episode of The Sentinel) attacking the city of Cascade a la Godzilla, with Jim and Blair on the run.
SentiCon 4 saw a change in the art as we opened the con to welcome more fandoms: Jim and Blair (who will always appear in the logo to honor the fandom that started this con) were joined by characters from Due South, SG-1, and The Invisible Man in a kind of "summer camp" theme.
In 2003, Peej took on a greater challenge by incorporating several of the current most popular fandoms. SentiCon 5: The Sleepover featured the guys from Due South, SG-1, and I-Man, Clark and Lex from Smallville, Starsky and Hutch, Illya and Napoleon from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the four hobbits from The Lord of the Rings trilogy in addition to Jim and Blair. All characters were drawn dressed in pajamas and ready for a big slumber party.
For SentiCon 6, Peej promises to depict all the characters dressed up as a pirate crew. Who she'll include in the piece is a mystery at this point, but we're sure it'll be as fun as the logos from SentiCons past, and make for a great T-shirt that our members will be pleased to wear![9]
1998
Senticon 1 - A Weekend in Cascade was held Sept. 25-27, 1998 in Grand Rapids, MI.
The first tape's content: Opening with Johnny Disco, Q&A with stunts and technical, Q&A withstand-ins, Enter Bilson and Demeo
The second tape's content: Enter Richard and Garrett, Q&Q cast, auction, blooper reel
front of the first con tape
back of the first the con tape
2000
SentiCon 2 was held at the Lexington Hotel Suites in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The con committee [10]:
Temple Acolytes (Con-Com):
- Chair & Co-Chair: PJ & TM Alexander
- Programming: TM Alexander
- Dealers' Rooms: PJ Alexander
- Art Show: Karen River
- Video Room Host: Martha Peplinski
- Panther Squad (Security): Keith Grunenwald
- Wolf Pack (Gofers): Laura Townsend
- Mistress of Ceremonies: Karen B
Flyer from SentiCon 2 (2000):
A non-guest fancon for The Sentinel. A weekend of fun, friends, art, and fanzines held in Cascade Michigan. Membership limited to 120 attending members. Our first year was a total blast! Come have fun with us once again as we share our fandom for Jim Ellison and his partner Blair Sandburg. Programming, games, prizes, art show, Video room, Blooper s, and more. Everyone is welcomed! Dealers selling every thing from fanzines to aroma therapy! Home of THE CASCADE AWARDS for fannish excellence in this genre.
2001
SentiCon 3 was held March 2-4, 2001.
Info was here.
OUR DEALERS INCLUDE:
SENTICON: Con goodies!
ART BY KOZ & PeeJ: Art prints, greeting cards, tee-shirts. Primarily The Sentinel and Due South.
WINGED CAT PRODUCTIONS: art prints, tee-shirts and more.
AGENT WITH STYLE: Fanzines from many editors, in many fandoms, The Sentinel included.
KAREN RIVER: Art prints from many fandoms, including The Sentinel.
CAROLE SWOBODA (TACS): Fanzines & art prints focused on The Sentinel.
LAURA PECK: Photos, photo pins, photo magnets focused on The Sentinel.
BLACK FLY PRESS: Nightowl and company bring you zines and goodies focused on The Sentinel
LAWRENCE TETEWSKY: screen captures from your faves.
ANN VALENTINE: Mugs, Mouse Pads.
MARIANN HOWARTH: Book Bags, Art prints and more
TERRI & SUE CASTLES: (Room Dealers) Magnests, bumper stickers, and much more [11]
2002
Flyer from SentiCon 4 (2002):
This year SentiCon embraces three other fandoms in addition to our ongoing host fandom THE SENTINEL. Come by the site and see the fun we have in store for attendees in 2002.Past years have been very successful in sending people home feeling like they had a great time. This year will be no exception. In addition to entertaining Sentinel slash fans, we also welcome Due South, Stargate SG-1, and The Invisible Man. Three other shows with wonderful potential.
We're at a new hotel this year, The Radisson East, which has been renovated from a Holiday Inn Holodome. A magnificent pool and patio area awaits our members.
This year offers two meeting rooms, an art show, a huge dealer's room and two banks of hall dealers (smoking and non). This year also offers a Sunday Breakfast buffet to send our fun-wearied travelers off in style.
A much bigger and nicer hotel than the last, the Radisson offers room service, a restaurant and bar. All activities are on the main floor. It backs Woodland Mall and sits amidst a plethora of eateries and shopping.
Come by the site and take a look! We'd love to have you attend! This hotel can accommodate our convention for years to come. And membership cutoff has raised to 200.
2003
SentiCon 5 was held in 2003.
SentiCon 5 was known as "The Sleep-Over" and attendees were encouraged to come to the Saturday Night Festivities dressed in wacky pajamas and slippers.
FRIDAY
- 12:00 Bridging Realities: AUs and Crossovers. An ancient warrior and his beautiful captive…an intergalactic traveler who falls in love with the alien being who saved his life...the reunion of an anthropologist from Cascade and his old friend who works for some top-secret government project in Colorado…. NightOwl explores the infinte realms of fantasy and oddly crossed paths.
- 1:00 Fanon VS. Canon. How many times have you said it, yourself? "That didn't happen on the show!"The Rentgirls discuss the fannish penchant for adding to -- or completely altering -- a show's mythos.
- 2:00 Woobies and Pookies: Tough Guys and the Guys They'll Do Anything For. Does Jimmy-whimmy love his Blairsey-waresy? Enough to hunt down and kill the bastards who did this to him! The Chicas expose the soft pink underbelly of our favorite heroes.
- 3:00 Due South. Do you love the Mountie and his two little Rays of sunshine? Stormy offers a Canadian perspective on the series that spanned three Diefenbakers, two partnerships, and a national border.
- 4:00 Smallville: Changing the Universe. This ain't your daddy's Superman. Most teens are worried about pimples. Clark's biggest worry is Kryptonite. CJ and Barb have the scoop. Warning: Anyone arriving in Spider-Man jammies will be turned away.
SATURDAY
- 9:00 Holy Mother Grammatica. Remember watching Grammar Rock during your Saturday morning cartoons? Tell Conjunction Junction to stop the train, because the Holy Mother is holding another session of her popular discussion about fan writing.
- 10:00 Zine Publishing. Want to produce your own fanzine? Members of Blackfly and Duet Presses offer a How-to guide that's better than anything you could get from Canadian Tire.
- 11:00 OZ: Shankings and Death Row and Tits, Oh My! Discuss the gritty HBO series "OZ," now in its final season, with Star and the Chicas.
- 12:00 Lord of the Rings Trivia Game! Susan and Vickie host a trivia game full of questions for fans of both book and film versions of Tolkien's work. This game will lead into the discussion panel. For folks not versed in the ways of Middle Earth, this is a super way to get acquainted with one of the greatest classics of our time.
- 1:00 Lord of the Rings: Still the Prettiest Pervy Hobbit Fanciers with Pointy Hats Who are Still Not King. The second film is out. The Hobbitses are filthy, Gimli got tossed, and Legolas still doesn't have a hair out of place. Karen, Vickie,Susan and Rayden will use this hour to convince you to follow them to the nearest theater.
- 2:00 Sentinel Family Feud: The Final Feud. Veteran players go out with a bang, not a whimper! This round of SentiCon's signature game should not be missed!
- 3:00 Sentinel Jeopardy! Casey and Alix host a new "game show" for Sentinel fans!
- 4:00 So You Want to Make a Songvid. Victoria and Melodie walk you through the process of creating your own fannish music videos. Songvids to follow this panel will include the premiere of some of Mel's work, as well as some classics by some well-known fannish music video producers.
SUNDAY
- 3:00 I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together… The last panel, where PJ and Tam welcome those who haven't left to offer suggestions, lodge complaints, and otherwise make comments about this year's con and about SentiCon 6.
- The Last Supper. For folks staying on an extra night (leaving Monday), a relaxing, post-con dinner at a nearby restaurant (ie, Fridays) with PJ and Tam. This is a great tradition of winding down that we enjoy sharing with anyone who cares to tag along![12]
2003: Con Reports
Overall, Senticon gets a fairly high rating from me, but it's not something I'd go to without knowing at least a couple of people in advance. The panels and shopping were good, there was no feeling of "I'm missing something" because the panels don't overlap, the vid room had a good selection, yadda yadda... but it was the company that *really* made the weekend a blast for me. [13]
2004
SentiCon 6 was held in 2004.
We have indeed decided on the Pirate theme for SentiCon 6. The con's official title is SentiCon 6: Slash Con of the Caribbean.
What does this mean? Well, it means you get to dress up and talk like a pirate for the course of the weekend! It means a hunt for pirate treasure, a pirate-themed writing contest, and lots of other fun stuff to help you swash and buckle (or swish and unbuckle).
If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, PLEASE feel free to throw 'em out here. If you'd like more information about SentiCon, please write to:
SentiCon is a multi-media SLASH convention taking place annually the first weekend of March in Grand Rapids, Michigan. All fandoms are welcomed! [14]
Sample activities from the 2004 convention can be found on this schedule page [senticonmichigan.com/page6.html here], Archived version.
2005
SentiCon 7 was held in 2005.
2006
SentiCon 8 was held September 29th - October 1st, 2006.
In 2006, the final year that the convention was held, the theme was "Pirates," in honor of the upcoming release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.
2006: Con Reports
The theme of the con this year was Slash Con of the Caribbean and we all had a blast with it. Folks were dressed in pirate gear - everything from a simple bandana on their head to hats and eye patches to full out Jack Sparrow and Will Turner costumes....There were pirate-themed games that were played as well, as each "ship" tried to win as much booty as they could before the end of the con....Another contest/game that was played was "create a flag". Each ship was given a piece of white posterboard and told to make a flag...There was also a dealer's room and a charity auction, plus a video room. And panels, of course. Me and Charity moderated a Supernatural panel that went over really well, and then we showed two episodes in the video room that was well attended, too. [15]
References
- ^ Frequently Asked Questions for Alt.tv.sentinel, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ SentiCon 6, Archived version
- ^ 2001 SentiCon webpage {This page does not contain any info about this con becoming a slash con. Was that in an image perhaps?}
- ^ senticononline.com via wayback machine, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ 2003 Panels via wayback, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ 2004 Art Show via wayback, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ 2004 Writing Contest via wayback, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ from Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview with TM Alexander
- ^ 2004 T-Shirt Page via wayback, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ SentiCon 3
- ^ SentiCon3
- ^ 2003 schedule page via wayback, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ ksazar's 2003 Senticon report, accessed May 11, 2011
- ^ [1], November 24, 2003
- ^ agt_spooky'Home again, home again', dated October 6, 2006, accessed May 9, 2011