Australian Science Fiction Convention

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Convention
Name: Australian Science Fiction Convention
Dates: 1952-1956, 1958, 1966, 1969-1971
Frequency: annually
Location: Australia
Type: Fan convention
Focus: Science Fiction
Organization: Futurian Society of Sydney, Melbourne Science Fiction Society
Founder: Sydney Science Fiction Conference
Founding Date: 1951
URL: Wikipedia
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The Australian Science Fiction Convention was the first science fiction convention held in Australia[1] and likely the first Australian fan convention, with the first event held in 1952. Much of the initial organisation was done by the Futurian Society of Sydney, but other groups - and individual fans - also contributed.[2]

Ten conventions were held in total, with the first four held in Sydney and the latter six held in Melbourne. The 1956 convention was called Olympicon as it was held the same year (and city) as the Summer Olympics of that year. Between the 6th and 7th conventions there was a six year gap (with the Melbourne Science Fiction Convention held in 1968) and between the 7th and 8th there was a three year gap.

Following the 10th Convention, it became the Australian National Science Fiction Convention, modelled after WorldCon with its rotating committees.

First Australian Science Fiction Convention[2] - 1952

The first convention was held in the G.U.O.O.F. (Grand United Order of Oddfellows) Hall in Sydney on March 22nd, 1952. William D. Veney was the Chairman, and 58 people attended.

The committee/organisers of the convention were Graham Stone, Nick Solntseff, Arthur Haddon, Lex Banning, Vol Molesworth; David Cohen, Ian Driscoll, Ken Martin, Bruce Purdy and Roy Williams. There was no Guest of Honour.

Activities

  • Auction
  • "What is Science Fiction?" - an address given by Vol Molesworth, director of the Futurian Society of Sydney.
  • "What is Fandom?" - an address by Graham Stone, secretary of the Futurian Society of Sydney.
  • Display Stands and Exhibitions

Con Reports

Vol Molesworth - Fantasy Times, Issue 152 Vol. 7, No. 8[3], and reproduced in issue 20 of Mumblings from Munchkinland.[4]

Second Australian Science Fiction Convention[5] - 1953

Also known as SydCon II, the convention was held in the G.U.O.O.F. (Grand United Order of Oddfellows) Hall in Sydney on May 2 and the Sydney Bridge Club on May 3, 1953. Vol Molesworth was the Chairman, and over 80 people attended. There was no Guest of Honour.

Reproduction of a photograph and caption from Science Fiction News, Issue 6, page 3 (1953)

Activities

May 1st

  • Pre-Convention Cocktail Party (May 1st)

May 2nd

  • Preliminary rally - informal conversations, display stands and exhibitions
  • Formal Opening speech by Vol Molesworth and distribution of welcome packets
  • "Science Fiction as a Development In Modern Literature” - an address by Vol Molesworth, Committee Director
  • ”Historical Development of Science-Fiction” - an address and art slideshow by Doug Nicholson
  • ”The Place of Science In Science Fiction” - a debate by "Bluey" Glik and Rex Mayer
  • ”The Development of Science-Fiction Fandom” - an address by Graham Stone
  • Film Program
May 3rd

Con Reports[6]

Third Australian Science Fiction Convention[8][9] - 1954

The third Australian Natcon was held April 17-18, 1954 (Easter weekend) at Federation Hall in Sydney. Walter Judd was the Organiser, Rex Meyer was Chairman and it was organised by the Futurian Society of Sydney. 135-plus fans attended. There was no Guest of Honour.

Activities/Program

April 16

  • Welcome to the out-of-towners at various homes.

April 17

  • Preliminary rally - informal conversations, display stands and exhibitions.
    • Australian Fantasy Foundation display of sci-fi magazines, fan zines and book covers.
    • Blue Centaur Book Co. display of Dave Cohen's collection of sci-fi content, including the original, covers of the Malian Press series
  • Formal Opening speech by Rex Meyer.
  • "Cavalcade of Science Fiction" - an address written by Graham Stone and presented by Neville Cohen on the history of science fiction.
  • "Science Fiction and the Film" - an address by Don Larson
  • Symposium "The World of Tomorrow"
  • Film Night

April 18

Con Reports[8]

Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention[10] [11]- 1955

The fourth Convention was organised by the North Shore Futurian Society, with Pat Burke as Chairman. The con was held March 18-20, 1955 at Dunbar House, Watson's Bay. Arthur C. Clarke was the first Guest of Honour. The convention committee were: W. Hubble (Organizer), A. Haddon (Secretary), P. Burke (Chairman), M. Bos (Local publicity), and D. Cohen (Treasurer).

Activities/Program

March 18

  • Fancy Dress Ball

March 19

  • Preliminary rally - informal conversations, display stands and exhibitions.
  • Formal Opening speech by Pat Burke and introduction of speaker John Blatt.
  • "Science in Science Fiction" - an address by John Blatt.
  • "Transportation in the Future" - an address by John Spence
  • "Dianetics" - an address by Ian Scott
  • Guest of Honour Q&A session, with Arthur C . Clarke and John Blatt.
  • Film Night

March 20

Con Reports

Fifth Australian Science Fiction Convention/Olympicon - 1956

The fifth Convention was was held December 8-9, 1956 and was the first convention held in Melbourne and organised by the Melbourne Science Fiction Society. It was named Olympicon in honour of the Summer Olympics which were held at Richmond Town Hall in Melbourne; the con was held the weekend after the Olympics finished, a plan which had first been discussed in 1954. The Guest of Honour was Frank Bryning, an Australian science fiction writer[12]. 147 people registered to attend.

Activities/Program

Norma Hemming's play "The Balance of Power" onstage at Olympicon.

December 8

December 9

  • Auction Part 1.
  • Formal opening speech by Committee Organiser R. J. McCubbin and introduction of Guest of Honour Frank Byrning.
  • "Some Things We Should Expect from Science Fiction" - address by Frank Byrning.
  • "Science Fiction" - address by Wynne Whiteford.
  • "Science Fiction" - address by Harvey Blanks
  • Auction Part 2
  • Film Night

Con Reports

Sixth Australian Science Fiction Convention - 1958

The Sixth Convention was held the weekend of April 5-6, 1958 in Melbourne at the Richmond Town Hall. As the fifth convention was held in December 1956, it was felt there wasn't enough time to organise the next con to be held in 1957. There was no guest of honour and Bob McCubbin was once again chair.

Activities/Program

Unknown.

Con Reports

Unknown.

Seventh Australian Science Fiction Convention - 1966

The Seventh Convention was held April 8-11, 1966 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. There was no guest of honour, and the committee was Merv Binns (chairman), Lee Harding, John Foyster, and Bob Smith. Approximately 60 people attended at least one of the two days.

The Convention, held over Easter weekend, certainly seems to have been successful from the point of view of publicity gained. There can be no doubt that the articles appearing in the SUN, AGE, and BULLETIN in the weeks after the Convention were the most accurate (with the possible exception of that in the SUN) ever to appear in Australia, if not in the world. And the remarkable thing is that they were favourable.

This relative success is undoubtedly due to the interest and intelligence of those writing the articles: besides having a basic interest in the subject they were able to apply reasonably critical minds to an occasion which could so easily have been guyed.

It is regrettable that the publicity in the fan world was not as good. It is understood that there has been some criticism from the Australian Science Fiction Society. There was also some criticism, at the time of the Convention, by Convention members. Some wanted the auction at a

different time; some thought the local author panel a waste of time; some thought the overseas tapes a waste of time; some disliked a particular film - I suppose we can be grateful that no-one (as far as I know’) complained about the displays or the free food and coffee.

 [13]

Activities/Program

  • Four feature films plus about two hours of short features.
  • Auction.
  • Talks and lectures.
  • Author's panel.
  • Overseas tapes.

Con Reports

Eighth Australian Science Fiction Convention - 1969[14]

The Eighth Convention was held April 4-6, 1969 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. Guests of Honour were: Lee Harding (professional) and John Foyster (fan). Bill Wright was the "Honourable Secretary". Diane Bangsund was "convention coordinator." Between 60-80 people attended, with over 100 coming on Sunday for the movie day.

Activities/Program

The first two days (Friday and Saturday) were held at the Melbourne Science Fiction Club headquarters.

April 4

April 5

April 6

The Australian Science Fiction Achievement Awards (the Ditmar Awards) were first presented at this convention.

Sunday afternoon and evening were held at the Capri Cinema, Murrumbeena.

  • Film Showings
  • Film Panel: "New Directions in S F Cinema".

Con Reports

SF Commentary, Issue #8

Ninth Australian Science Fiction Convention - 1970

The Ninth Australian Natcon was held at the Capri Theatre, Murrumbeena, and the Melbourne Science Fiction Club in Melbourne in 1970. The was no GoH.

The Ditmar Award for Best Australian Fanzine went to The Journal of Omphalistic Epistemology by John Foyster

Activities/Program

Unknown.

Con Reports

None

Tenth Australian Science Fiction Convention - 1971[15]

The Tenth Australian Natcon was held 1-2 January 1971 at a portable lecture room assigned to the Meteorology Department of the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne. It was also known, informally, as Gelaticon, on account of an incident where scheduled programming was abandoned in favour of queueing for ice cream from a gelati van that had arrived outside.

Fan GoH: Robin Johnson.

Chairs: John Foyster, Lee Harding & Leigh Edmonds.

Activities/Program[16]

January 1

  • discussion groups - attendees could choose one of four groups on different topics.
  • speech by Dick Jensen on "Why I No Longer Read Science Fiction".
  • interviews:
    • Alf van de Poorton interviewed by John Foyster on the "average fan's view of science fiction today".
    • Leigh Edmonds interviewed by Lee Harding on fanzine production.
    • Bruce Gillespie interviewed by John Foyster on attitudes to critics.
  • auction (proceeds to the Aussiecon 75 campaign).
  • masquerade

January 2

  • panels
  • business session, including the successful Sydcon bid for the 11th ASFC and the the progress report for Aussiecon.
  • interviews
  • panels
The most remarkable event of the Convention took place just as Merv Binns, Paul Stevens, and Peter House were about to discuss films. Here's David Grigg, who tells these things better than I do: "People began settling down to a fairly boring discussion, when suddenly Lee Harding came to the door of the hall. He spoke the fateful words that shall ring down through convention history in the nightmares of organisers: "Excuse me for interrupting, but there's a little man with a gelati van outside..." Before he could even blink, there was a literal stampede for the door. Lee fell out, away from the mad rush, and the gelati man blanched as he saw the mob surging out of the hall. Within ten seconds the hall was empty, but for the panel members..." (from The Fanarchist, page 8)

 [17]

January 3

Con Reports

References

  1. ^ Convention timeline - Fancylopedia3
  2. ^ a b Garry Dalrymple's latter-day, revised version of; The Official Report of the First Australian Science Fiction Convention, Sydcon, 1952
  3. ^ Fantasy Times, Issue 152, Vol 7, No 8 - Fanac
  4. ^ First Australian Science Fiction Convention, Fancylopedia3
  5. ^ a b Fantasy Times Issue 179 Vol 8 number 11
  6. ^ Second Australian Science Fiction Convention - Fancyclopedia3
  7. ^ Etherline, Issue 5 (1953) - via Fanac
  8. ^ a b Third Australian Science Fiction Convention - Fancyclopedia
  9. ^ Science Fiction News, Issue 9 (1954) - Fanac
  10. ^ Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention - Fancyclopedia3
  11. ^ Etherline, Issue 47 (1954) - via Fanac
  12. ^ Fantastic Times Issue 253, p5
  13. ^ "THE SEVENTH AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION: A Brief Report, With Digressions" by John Forsyth, Australian Science Fiction Review Issue #1 (1966)
  14. ^ Eight Australian Science Fiction Convention - Fancyclopedia 3
  15. ^ Tenth Australian Science Fiction Convention - Fancyclopedia 3
  16. ^ SF Commentary #20 - pages 5-7
  17. ^ SF Commentary, Issue #20, page 6
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