Zencon

Convention
Name:	Zencon (also called ConFederation)
Dates:	?-1988
Frequency:	annual
Location:	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, then New Zealand
Type:	fan con, fan-run, with featured guests
Focus:	science fiction and media
Organization:
Founder:
Founding Date:
URL:
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Zencon (ConFederation) was a fan-run science fiction and media conventions held in Australia and New Zealand.

Zencon II

Zencon II ("The Con at the Edge of the World.") was held in three places (two in Australia, one in New Zealand). It was also called "ConFederation."

• October 9–11, 1988 - September at Clunies Ross House, 191 Royal Pde, Parkville) at the Carlton Social Club (day)
• Clunies Ross House (night) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• October 14–16, 1988, New Zealand

Blake's 7 guests were Paul Darrow, Michael Keating and Janet Lees Price.

It was the National Media Science Fiction Convention.

The costume parade was held at Clunies Ross.

One co-convenor was Geoffro.

There was a con tape recorded and sold. It was called Videos of Confederation They were two 3-hour tapes of Paul Darrow, Janet Lees Price, and Michael. There many be other content. These tapes were still being sold in 1993 as per an ad in Avon Club Newsletter #50.

It was at this 1988 con that fans were are told primarily by Kathy Hanson that Ann Wortham, Leah Rosenthal, and Linda Terrell had written slash fiction under pseudonyms. This was a major element that began The Blake's 7 Wars.

Con Reports by Janet Darrow

Re-united with Michael and Carol (who’d gone the other way round the world) we all had a memorable day a Melbourne Zoo, one of the best I’ve ever visited. ’’Avon” and ’’Vila” were recognised by four Aborigine girls down from the remote Alice Springs on a visit - much excitement, giggling and photo taking. Carol spent ages in the magnificent Butterfly House and managed to photograph the Ulysses Butterfly, the most vibrant blue, among a rainbow of swirling colours, winging above our heads. Because of a last minute hitch, there were three venues for the Convention, consequently a fair bit of dashing about expertly guided by our "minders”. The welcome from the fans was, as ever, warm and friendly. They kept thanking us for coming so far; we felt the thanks were all on our side for making the trip possible.

[...]

Once the Convention was over, our friend Dr. Mary Webber (whom we first met in America) whisked us away up to the Snowy Mountains; an eight hour drive, climbing all the time, through ever-changing countryside, and where, to ray delight, I saw a mother and baby Wombat standing by the side of the road. Love at first sight!

Mary later bought me a toy one, instantly christened ’’Michael" - well, they are small, plump and cuddly! The mountains were still snow capped and everywhere was carpeted with small purple flowers - a feast for the eyes indeed.

Soon it was goodbye to Australia, with our thanks to all those who'd made our trip so memorable.

[...]

Christchurch, New Zealand, midnight. Our cases are searched by a Customs Officer bearing a strong resemblance to "Travis". "Avon’s" dirty washing is exposed to all to see and even "Michael Wombat" went through the indignity of being prodded.

Kathy Hanson was there to meet us presenting me with an exquisite bouquet of pearl-white orchids. The suite in our hotel was full of welcoming flowers and fruit and everyone laughed a lot. This was going to be fun, we thought, and it was!

Kathy and her Committee (a lovely lot!) ensured that we saw as much as possible prior to the Convention. We explored Christchurch, visited the Botanical Gardens and a Safari Park and had dinner at a wonderful "Rock ’n Roll" Restaurant, where Paul ate "Love Me Tender Steak" and we danced like teenagers. Then a truly memorable trip to the Alps, to a place called Hamner Springs, when I watched the rest sit in thermal pools, ride horses, jet boat and even go up in a helicopter. Lest you think I'm idle - I climbed a mountain! With Mr. Keating and two stalwart committee members, I climbed what I found out was "Conical Hill" but it felt like a mountain to me as I puffed my way to the top. Well worth the effort too - the panoramic view was spectacular.

[...]

The infamous ’’Liars Panel” has to go down in history as the most insane yet. Don't even ask how the subject of "Toenails” came up, but it did. The whole thing got totally out of hand, with attendees sitting in the audience with tears streaming down their faces. I tried unsuccessfully to control the two idiots sitting beside me and to add a modicum of sophistication to the proceedings - to no avail, the "double-act” was beyond redemption.

Paul and I visited "Dag Watch". Volunteers rescue condemned dogs from the pound and faster them until new homes are found. There were four the day we went and within hours of our photo being in the paper, "Mitch" and "Abby" had found super new homes, and we have high hopes that two adorable cross Irish Setter puppies will be as lucky, once they are nursed back to health. We christened them "Jenna" and "Cally" and I wanted to bring them home.

We flew home via Hawaii. Sun, sand, sea and splendid food, a chance to relax. We retrieved the day we had lost by crossing the date line - every day is precious when one is ancient - and we parted at Los Angeles Airport. Paul to stay on in the States for four more Conventions, while I flew home about to be re-united with Becky and Holly.

A thought occurred to me last night as I started to answer the 173 letters which awaited my return - (one, incidentally, addressed Paul Darrow, Actor, England from Bulgaria of all places) what a truly amazing profession this is. Had anyone told us ten years ago when B7 was born, that we would one day be doing Conventions in Australia, America and New Zealand, we’d have thought them mad. How lucky we have been.

To all our friends in Australia and New Zealand, an inadequate "Thank You" for your hospitality and for sharing your countries with us. Our visit was surely the stuff memories are made of.

Con Reports: Fans

Friday the 14th October, dawned cool and clear, like many other spring days in Victoria Australia. This was no ordinary Friday, however, for as the day wore on, a strange collection of 'beings' assembled at the Royal Parade Motor Inn in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. These beings arrived from many places on the planet (and off it too!) with the sole aim of attending ZENCON II, Australia's National Media Science Fiction Convention for 1988.

And the guests they had to meet? None other than Paul Darrow, Janet Lees price and Michael Keating, all of Blake’s 7 fame, and Dr. Michael Archer of the University of New South Wales. Janet, Paul and Michael had flown in two days earlier - to the collective relief of the committee and perhaps the guests themselves too, as only Michael had ever visited Australia before, many years earlier Following an evening radio show, Paul and Michael were delighted to be recognised by fans as they enjoyed shopping with the ladies in the city, and during a visit to the zoo by Aboriginal school children from Alice Springs.

Our fourth guest, Dr. Archer, was met by a silver lizard when he arrived at Tullaraarine airport late Friday evening - we couldn’t let an opportunity like that slip by!

The convention programme got into full swing on Saturday and offered attending members an art show and weapons display, a hucksters' room full of goodies, discussion panels where Janet, Michael and Paul talked about their work and science fiction themes, auctions, quizzes, and autograph and photo sessions. Saturday evening’s masquerade gave fans a chance to show off their talents as entertainers and costume makers, to the enjoyment of the four guests who acted as judges and the rest of the audience too.

The highlight of Sunday's programme was a very entertaining and informative talk by Dr. Archer. At the end of one of the shortest hours in the whole convention, Paul was presented with a magnificent painting by Peter Murray of Baru darrowi, Paul’s fossil crocodile from Riversleigh, and a naming certificate. Dr. Archer also announced the naming of one of our ancestral koalas for Michael Keating. On a lighter note, Dr. Archer was asked to identify a fan's pet - a cute little dinosaur, live of course!

All too quickly it seemed, the closing ceremony was the only item left on the programme and it was time to pass on the gavel and Domesday Book to Conspire, the successful bid from Canberra for the 1989 Australian National Media Science Fiction Convention. On behalf of the Zencon committee, our thanks to Janet, Paul and Michael for travelling so far to be with us and we hope to see you 'Down Under’ again in the not-too-distant future.

I went to ConFederation, the Blake’s 7 convention down in Christchurch last month and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am now hooked on cons. Janet, Paul and Michael were marvellous guests. Come to that, the Committee were a wonderful committee. They and the guests worked hard all weekend. To keep things running smoothly and, except for what seems to be the? inevitable lateness at all cons, everything did go very well. From the viewpoint of the attendees anyway. You could get a letter from a committee member listing all the disasters but if so they weren’t visible.

Paul and Janet visited Dogwatch, whose volunteers rescue condemned dogs from the pound and foster them till they find good homes. There were four dogs there that day, and Paul and Janet were photographed with Mitch and Abby, who found good homes after the picture appeared in the paper. The other two, Irish Setter cross puppies, were named Jenna and Cally, and I'm sure they too found a home.

Paul, Janet, and Michael visited Australia on their way here. 'Avon and Vila' were recognised at the Melbourne Zoo by two very excited Aboriginal girls on holiday from Alice Springs, with much giggling and photo-taking.

Janet, who had fallen for wombats, was given plush one which she immediately named Michael because, to quote her, "Well, they are rather small, plump, and cuddly".

Michael displayed his 'koala bear scar' to impressed con-goers. How very... Vilaesque to be scratched by a cuddly bear, though to be fair, koalas are nervous little guys and get very stressed too much interaction.

On the weekend of 29-30 October I attended my first convention. ConFederation, as it was known, was at the Vacation Inn in Christchurch. The Convention was based on Blake's 7 and the guests were Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila) and Paul's wife Janet Lees Price (Klyn from the final Blake's 7 episode Blake).

I arrived on Friday night, registered and met the other convention-goers. Both Andrew Pouslen and Scott Walker attended, but were both busy at the time so I didn't get the chance until later to say 'hi'.

The Convention started on Saturday at 9-30 am when the guests arrived. They held a panel where the audience asked them questions about the series and their careers in general. Interesting stories and anecdotes were told - too many to repeat here. It was very funny.

There was a raffle available with lunch with the guests going as the prize (Scott won a lunch with Michael). During the lunch-break I went back to my hotel room to rest - I didn't get to sleep until 2 am the previous night, as I was playing Trivial Pursuit!

After the break, Paul and Michael (yes, we're on a first-name basis here) had a joint panel, where they both confessed a desire to do Westerns. Again, there were too many moments to recall. It was very humorous, with both guests relaxed.

There was an autograph session with all three guests following this. Michael then had his own panel. He talked about his role in Blake's 7, as well as the theatre. I asked whether it was true or not that he was a top candidate for the part of the seventh Doctor. He said it wasn't true but he would love the part if he was offered it. His Doctor would wear a monocle and speak with a posh James Mason accent - an interesting idea.

After Michael's session, there was a game of PowerPlay. This is based on Theatresports (and run by Andrew). Teams had to act out scenes from Blake's 7 in various forms (mime, soundtrack, death in a minute, alien interpreter) within a set time period (one minute, two minutes). The idea was there, but unfortunately the contestants didn't quite understand the rules and many performances fell flat.

We broke for dinner from 5-30 to 7-00. The restaurant was full and I missed the Maori cultural presentation due to ordering late. After the display was the filk-singing. This involves songs with lyrics changed to SF themes. There was a fun version of Alien sung to the tune of John Denver's 'Calypso'.

This was followed by the Disco/Masquerade which went on to the small hours of the morning e.g. 3 am after an adjustment for Daylight Saving.

Sunday morning eventually came and I staggered out of bed. A late breakfast and the first item of the day was another autograph session.

Paul then held his own panel. We had to bring along a piece of paper provided with the registration package - or face death! During his panel Paul asked three questions. The first three names with the correct answers were treated to lunch by the guests. His panel was mainly Blake's 7 and Elvis orientated (He had recently been on tour with 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?'). He was asked whether he had any funny moments from his two Doctor Who appearances (Captain Hawkins in The Silurians and Tekker in Timelash). He was once told off for overacting on Timelash - but when you are having a conversation with a talking cobra, he said, it is difficult to act straight.

And then during The Silurians, while awaiting their cues, he and Jon Pertwee were talking when Pertwee asked him whether he knew how to kiss a duck's behind without getting a mouthful of feathers. The answer is to blow and kiss - but very quickly. The next thing Paul knew, the director yelled 'Action'!

After the lunch-break (in which Scott showed me around the town center - and trying to spot TARDISes - the blue telephone boxes painted by Telecom that had not been attacked by the Wizard) Janet had her panel in which she discussed her theatre career and what it was like living with a galactic fugitive for 20-odd years.

The next item was an auction with the guests as auctioneers. 194 items were sold over 3 hours. One painting of Avon went for $390!! I picked up a Pertwee annual that Andrew wanted; the script for Blake, the last episode of the series; and Terry Nation's autograph.

The convention was running over schedule at this stage. The last scheduled item at this stage was the liars panel. Here the audience asked the guests serious questions that the guests had to then answer with a silly response. It needs to be experienced to be believed! Somewhere along the way, the subject of toenails was brought into the conversation and soon every question and answer was toenail related - much to Janet's horror.

A very enjoyable weekend and well worth it.

Fan Comments Regarding the Second Zencon and "The Blake's 7 Wars"

It was this second convention that played a role in The Blake's 7 Wars. NOTE: please keep in mind that this was a very complicated issue, and that there are many versions of what happened; the comments below illustrate some of the differing telling of events.

As to your comments re Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow - there is a very long story behind all of that, and I don't have all the details, but I can tell you a little bit of it. When Paul came to Australia, someone gave him a slash zine to autograph (there are some totally brain dead morons in fandom!). [...] For a long time, Paul did not attend conventions (I don't know if he does now, think he does), and it's taken a long time for him to regain his faith in fandom. I think the zine was given to him at Zencon, in about 1988, I won't mention the zine publisher's names.

I understood that the convention where Paul was given (or saw, it depends on whom you talk to) a slash story was in America, though I may have misunderstood.

Darrow was quite convinced that his story, Avon: A Terrible Aspect was "canonical." In fact, Mrs. Darrow was fond of telling folks in letters that once Paul's book was published there would no longer be any "need" for fans to write stories about Avon's background, etc. because Paul's version would be the one true version. She was utterly convinced that everyone would accept Paul's version as the absolute truth and no one would be compelled to ever write a fan story again.

In 1988 I nearly went to ZenCon II in Melbourne, Australia, unfortunately I missed it. However, during that convention (not necessarily because of the convention, but I think I have some documentation somewhere if anyone's interested) a great upset occurred between the Darrows and some fan writers who wrote slash fiction. Most unfortunately I think this included Annie. I wonder if there's a link? Maybe Avon: A Terrible Aspect was about Darrow re-affirming his heterosexual manhood in no uncertain terms. What do you reackon? As I've written before, I didn't like what he showed me.

The information I had came from when he attended a convention here in Australia. Zencon. Some bright fan handed him a slash zine, which had Darrow/Thomas slash in it and asked both he and his wife to autograph it. This is the one that led to the court case that I know of, I wasn't actually referring to the one I think you were which went no where, but the one where he tried to copyright his face and lost on that basis. I was actually at this con, and was aware of all the shouting and screaming that was going on, so I am accurate in my news there.

As far as I know, this was also an Australian zine, but I've done research and it wasn't Blake's 7 The Other Side, which is one of the one's he mentioned in his case. Oh, he lost on every count, as the makers of B7 wouldn't support him. Neither would Thomas, who was making money out of the cons and the fans and really couldn't have cared less about the whole business.

[...]

Anyway, I got my stuff autographed, being about 6 people ahead in the line before the daft fan with the slash zine, so I'm happy.

ConFederation II

From an ad in Aspects v.2 n.2 (Winter 1990):

Christchurch, New Zealand November 16-18, 1990 Located at the Christchurch Town Hall in New Zealand. Guests will be Paul and Janet. $40 full weekend and $25 for a single day til 8/1/90, $45 thereafter.

From an ad in Aspects v.2 v.4 ():

Located at the Christchurch Town Hall in New Zealand. Guest will be Jackie Pearce. $45 full weekend and $25 for a single day.