Connexions

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Convention
Name: ConneXions (now DC-Slash)
Dates: 1998-2005, 2015-2019
Frequency: bi-annual (odd-numbered years)
Location: Northern Virginia (physically); now primarily virtual
Type: fan con
Focus: slash, multimedia
Organization: ConneXions
Founder: April Valentine & Marion McChesney
Founding Date: unknown
URL: ConneXions at LJ
ConneXions-South at LJ
ConneXions-South at DW
ConneXions-South at Facebook
http://inpersonpress.home.mindspring.com/connexions.html
http://connexionscon.home.mindspring.com/connexions.html
http://connexions-south.com/
ConneXions-South at Tumblr
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
undated convention badge

ConneXions was a bi-annual (odd-numbered years) slash multimedia convention held in the summer in Northern Virginia.

It was for fans 18 and over. In its first incarnation, it was run annually in April in Baltimore, MD.

As a fan run convention, it did not have professional guests (writers/actors) and all programming was created by fans for fans. It operated as a non-profit and on an all volunteer basis.

The convention ran for three days (Fri-Sun) and offered fan run panels, a fanzine dealer's room, an art show and art auction, a print show where fans could buy copies of the displayed art, a vid show were fans could show their songvids before a live fan audience and a formal dress Saturday banquet. In later years the formal dress was expanded to allow fans to wear costumes. In some years a fan written comedy play would also be performed.

Convention panels ran from Friday through Sunday, with one track of panels.

It ran from 1998 through 2005 and was revived in 2015, and ran in 2017 and 2019. For 2020 onwards, see DC-Slash.

Relationship with DC-Slash

At the 2019 convention, the organizers announced that there was not enough interest to financially sustain a physical convention, stating "At this time, we don't have plans for a 2021 Con, but we hope to grow in size and be large enough for this to be possible again in the future."[1].

Instead the convention shifted to being a primarily online/virtual presence. As part of this move, ConneXions renamed itself DC-Slash, creating new social media accounts.

Overview/History

ConneXions began in 1998 when April Valentine and her friend Marion McChesney decided to put on a East Coast slash convention. At that time, the main slash conventions where held in Chicago (Zebracon) and California (Escapade and Friscon). While the East Coast had several other fan run multimedia conventions (Shore Leave and Eclecticon) none were slash specific.

The convention had to weather several rounds of tragedies: in 2001 Marion passed away suddenly. The following year April Valentine's husband died after a long illness. As a result there were difficulties and delays running the convention. In 2005, the remaining convention organizers decided to take a break and a new East Coast slash convention Con.txt sprang up in its place.

Upon the convention's revival in 2015, Con.Txt ran/continues to run in parallel, with some overlap between attendees. The current primary convention organizers are Kerguelen Avon and Aaronantium.

Songvid Show

A songvid show was put on with fans submitting their songvids to be shown before a live audience. Non-attending vidders could mail their vids and, if they gave permission, the vids would be collected onto a single videotape which was then sold to convention attendees. Like many fan run video shows of the time, vids were initially played on a VCR and large screen TV, with the convention switching to DVDs and projection screens in later years.

Very little information was tracked or kept by the convention on the details of their video shows. However, in 2002 one fan compiled a list. Another fan took limited notes in 2003. Vidders in 2004 offered links to their vids at the Connexions Livejournal [http://community.livejournal.com/connexions/10587.html ConneXions they are sooo doin' it!]; archive link </ref>

Starting with its revival in 2015, the songvid show remains as part of the Convention. Vid submissions are solicited and, after receiving permission from the creater vidders, gathered into a single vid digital show. It possible to contact the DC Slash organizers to receive a detailed list of the vids shown. More information, including about content warnings given, can be seen at the con's vid show page.

Programming: Plays

In some years, fans would write and stage a play, often poking fun (gently) at their favorite TV shows and one another. The 1998 play "It's All In Our Heads" was written by Judy Toth and Kim Smith. In 1999, Judy and Kim returned to write the play "Strangers In A Strange Land." In 2000, the comedy play, A Hard Drive's Knight was written especially for Connexions by Paula Smith and was directed by Kath Sanders. 2001 saw the return of Judy and Kim wrote "Jill and Trace." In 2002, Genetic Fen Productions wrote and produced "Beat Da Geeks" a hilarious parody of the Comedy Central game show, styled for slash fans, by slash fans.

Some of the plays were videotaped (1998-2001) and were put on the convention vid show videotape con tape and distributed to the members.

Charity

In its original incarnation the convention raised funds to support a variety of charities:

  • 1999 - half to the Baltimore County Health Council (which provided support to people living with HIV and AIDS), and the other half to buy bonds for a deceased fan's children.
  • 2000 - Baltimore County Health Council
  • 2001 - half to the Howard County Fire and Rescue which responded to the 911 call made by Marion McChesney the night she passed and the second charity was the Michael J. Fox Parkinson Foundation.
  • 2005 - Reading Is Fundamental

Awards

After the passing of Marion McChesney, the convention decided to honor her memory by creating a series of awards that would recognize fanzine writers, editors and artists. The Sizzler Awards or ('Slash In Zine Literary ERotica')[1] were first held in 2001. The awards were held annually and only members and supporting members of the con were eligible to vote. The awards were divided into fandom specific categories, but there was also a special category recognizing new zine editors, The Marion McChesney Award for Best New Zine Editor.

The awards were last given out in 2005. More info can be found at Sizzler.

Slasher Hanky Code

The Slasher Hanky Code was first developed at a 2004 Connexions panel led by zvi. More here at Slasher Hanky Code.

Sample Programs, Vid Shows, and Con Reports from prior years

1998

the cover of the 1998 program book, artist is Suzan Lovett, a rendition of this art was used for the con t-shirt
April 3–5, 1998
Embassy Suites Hotel
Hunt Valley (Baltimore), Maryland
con committee: Marion McChesney (registration, PRP), April Valentine (panels/programming), Shoshanna (art show), K.C. Klienman (dealers' room), NJ Kippax (con suite, hospitality helpers), Jan Daves (orphan zine table)
Stacy Doyle (song vid show), Kim Smith and Judi Toth (production of the play "It's All in Their Heads")
"Smoking: Connexions is a smoke-free convention. You can, of course, smoke in your room, the hallways, and the bar, but not in any convention room. This includes the hospitality suite."
124 attendees listed by name in the program book, 11 supporting members

From a flyer:

You are invited to a party for the slash fan...
Spring—the time when a young (or older) man's fancy turns to thoughts of love... with his partner!
Come and celebrate the season and your favorite pairing.
CONNEXIONS is being organized by Marion McChesney, April Valentine, Nancy Kippax, Jane T., KC and Shoshanna.
All have been active in fandom for a combined total of more than 50 years, chairing cons, publishing and writing slash, working art shows, etc.
Memberships are $40 until January 31, 1998
$45 thereafter
Attendance is limited to 125 people
Dealer's tables $35 full/$18 half
Orphan zine table available
Programming will include panels, discussions, episodes, and films, song vids, art show and auction, dealers' room and parties.
All fandoms are welcome.
There will be a charity auction to benefit local AIDS patients.
All rooms at the Embassy Suites Hotel are suites containing either one king or two double beds, plus a queen sofa bed, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, wet bar and two televisions. Free cooked to order breakfast for all registered guests. More specific information will be made available in the coming months, but plan ahead to ‘98 and meet us for an east coast slash bash!
It's called CONNEXIONS!"[2]

1998: Con Skit

"It’s All In Our Heads" by Kim Smith and Judi Toth. Connexions is proud to present the Exclusive World Premiere of "It's All In Our Heads", the tragic (not!) tale of five fen who are institutionalized because of their "lifestyle choice". Come cheer on Taya, Bingo, Snoo, Geek, and Newbie as they face off with Ernestine Klinghoffer, the deprogrammer from hell. Starring [Shoshanna], Jessica Ross, Jody Sharp, Kim Smith, Amanda Thomas, and Judi Toth. Saturday Night after the Songvid Show — Stay late, laugh lots.[3]

1998: Programming/Panels

T-shirt for ConneXions attendees in 1998. Art is by Suzan Lovett.

The art show:

Welcome to the Connexions art show. We have plenty of yummy art for your delectation and admiration, and we hope you'll all take home a souvenir or two (or three, or...). Please, no food or drink in the art show, and don't fondle the art until after you've bought it. All bids must be in whole dollar amounts, and two bids will send a piece to auction. Make sure your bid is more than the previous one, or if you're the first bidder that it is at least as much as the minimum bid. Your bid is a commitment to buy the piece at that price if no one outbids you; you may not cross it out once you've written it. Please keep track of how much you've committed yourself to spending; it would be a shame if you had to hock your ticket home and live in the hotel's atrium for the rest of the year (lovely as the atrium is). Enjoy!

General fannish panels:

  • What's My Kink? — admitting the stuff that really turns you on in fanfic
  • What Inspires a Slash Fandom — some shows have it, some don't
  • Introduction to On-Line Fandom —for those new to the internet
  • Beta Reading vs. Editing — pros and cons of both
  • Publishing in Zines vs. Publishing on the Net — advantages and disadvantages of both, also,
pros and cons of selling zines that include previously net-published material
  • Fandom for Life — why are we still here after all these years?
  • ATG or Just the Buddies on the Show —some slash fans will read "any two guys," others prefer just the characters linked on the show
  • To Follow Canon or Not? — fanfic can take many turns these days, likes and dislikes, advantages and disadvantage
  • Why the Pros Still Write Fanfic — three professional writers explain what it is about fan fiction that keeps them involved
  • Give Me Slash or Give Me Death! — or, yes, I *am* reading this for the sex
  • Introduction to Vidding types of vids, how to watch, interpreting the vidder's message, historical perspective
  • Never Watched the Show, Just Love the Fanfic — discussion of this phenomenon
  • AIDS 101 for Fanfic Writers — does it exist in your universe? If it does, here's what you need to know
  • Greatest Sex Scenes You've Ever Read — why are they so memorable?
  • Female Slash —from Uhura/Christine to Xena/Gabrielle, what's the appeal? Why do the
powers that be put [slashy]] bits in shows with female characters, but steer clear when the characters are male?
  • Vidding Workshop —join some vidders and try out the techniques they use
  • Writing — how to Plot — Sharon Brondos gives tips and techniques

Fandom-specific panels:

1998: Vid Show Playlist

The song vid show was run by Stacy Doyle on a "seven-foot projection screen."

1998: Con Reports

The art auction that year did very well, selling over $4000 worth of art. The big hit of the artshow was Suzan Lovett's Homicide picture which sold for over $400. Print sales were more sluggish - partially because fewer artists participated and some of the less popular fandoms did not sell well. If I recall most of the Professionals and Sentinel prints sold out. Hindman's "Blair's World" (a composite with Blair as the focal point) is one that sold really well. [4]

Obligations pretty much kept me out of the vidding panels, which made me sad since I would've really wanted to be in on the vid aesthetics panel. And I only got to sit in on the "how to vid" demonstration for about a half an hour, but I learned something critical in that time, that is, how to check that your clip was cut in cleanly. As my first vid has 2 bad transitions that drive me nuts, this was very valuable to me. Just wish I could've been there for more.

I want to complement Stacy for not only her incredibly hard work organizing the vid showing and getting it functioning, but to send kudos to her and Bingo for working out the nightmare of the sound problems they had to deal with. That they managed to get them worked out at all was amazing. The crowd was patient -- I mean, we all knew what we were there for -- and I think the vid showing was a big success, in spite of the technical glitches. For some reason, there seemed to be certain clips that either the projecting equipment or the vcrs or something didn't like and those clips would be all distorted, which was disturbing to Stacy, the vid maker, and the audience. I know Stacy seemed pretty frustrated by it and the only compensation about it was the fact that it happened at least once on everybody's vid. We got to see some great vids on a huge screen with, eventually, pretty decent sound, and if the vids didn't show perfectly, well, hell, only Allah is perfect! It was a lot of work for Stacy and for Bingo, too.

As a first time vid-maker showing my only vid to a large roomful of viewers, all I can say is -- it's an experience. I'm not sure I'm ready to repeat it. It felt...strange. Not necessarily unpleasant, but no necessarily pleasant, either. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm a writer, and while I've given many talks in public, I've never had to read a story to a crowd. I'm wondering if the feeling is the same. Your vid gets shown and people react -- often with laughter -- and there's no way you can find out exactly what that meant. Were they surprised? Delighted? Was it inappropriate humor? Or did they see something there you never meant to put there, or maybe meant to put there? It was strange. I'm not sure how I felt about it, but it was an experience. Just when I decided that the vid simply wasn't very good, some people in the row in front of me (I was in the last row) turned around and said, "That was yours, right?" (I'm easy to spot at cons since I'm usually wearing something with a Flamingo on it.) I nodded, and then a few other people got involved as they asked, with a big grin, "Are you gonna do another one?" That took me by surprise and I kind of laughed and said, "I don't know. That one took me two weeks..." Then people started chiding me about having to do another one, which was nice and very warm and welcoming. Like I said, it was an experience. An interesting experience.

It was fun, too, to get a chance to show the vid to a room of S&H fans at a party we had. Of course, that was an audience pre-disposed to like it, so it was a totally different thing.

Yes, vidding sure is different from writing. I don't have all that much confidence in my writing, but I usually know when I've hit the mark there. Vidding -- it's a whole other thing.[5]

1999

flyer for the 1999 convention
t-shirt (and likely the art on the front of the program book) for the 1999 convention. The artists is TACS.

1999: Programming/Panels

Non-fandom specific panels

  • 1. Slash in Comedy
  • 2. Slash and Religion—Guilty Pleasure or Just Guilt?
  • 3. How do Multiple Hero Shows Develop Shash Fandoms?
  • 4. Minor Character Slash
  • 5. Angst vs. Mush
  • 6. Can They Really Do That? (Minotaur)
  • 7. How Do You Keep the Fandom Alive After Your Show Has Left the Airwaves?
  • 8. His One True Love—is it possible to pair a hero with another character
  • from the show?
  • 9. He Hit Me—And It Felt Like a Slash Scene—why enemies attract
  • alternately Ally vs. Antagonist)
  • 10. S&M and B&D
  • 11. How I Got Into Slash
  • 12. History of Fandom
  • 13. Website Workshop
  • 14. Vidding Workshop
  • 15. Writer's Workshop
  • 16. Pro writing
  • 17. Switch-Hitting—can some characters be tops, bottoms or both?
  • 18. Fanon vs Canon
  • 19. Canon—Perception vs Fact
  • 20. Editing panel
  • 21. What the Heck Does FIAWOL Mean? -- fannish vocabulary explained
  • 22. Hottest Sex Scenes—why are they so hot?
  • 23. Getting Your Historical Time Frame Correct
  • 24. Men as Slash Fans?
  • 25. Why is Slash So Addictive?
  • 26. Salt & Pepper combos—why isn't there more slash?

Fandom Specific Panels

  • 1. X-Files -- "The Schmoop is Out There"—increasingly romantic eps in
  • this very dark universe
  • 2. Sentinel -- "Jim Ellison -- Top or Bottom and Why?"
  • 3. UNCLE -- "New Directions in UNCLE Fanfic"
  • 4. UNCLE -- "Why is Illya Always Written Submissive?"
  • 5. Sentinel—Now That We Have it Back
  • 6. Sports Night (needs topic)
  • 7. Miami Vice -- "Castillo or Tubbs – Who's a Better Fit for Crockett?"
  • 8. Due South -- "How did Paul Gross knowing about slash and putting it into
  • the show in season 3 affect fans and the show's dynamic?"
  • 9. Homicide—Introduction to Homicide (clip tape and discussion)
  • 10. Starsky & Hutch -- "What We Want in Fanfiction"
  • 11. Starsky & Hutch—Charades
  • 12. Professionals -- "I Was A Runaway Teenage Impoverished Rent-Boy Working-
  • Class Aristo With A Happy Homelife Who Was Regularly Beaten"—or why the
  • lack of canonical backgrounds for Pros characters helps makes Pros fiction so
  • diverse.
  • 13. Highlander (needs topic)
  • 14. Wiseguy – "Beyond Sonny Steelgrave"

1999: Vid Show Playlist

[Reviews on the vid show welcomed]

1999 Vid Show Playlist page 2, click for larger version
1999 Vid Show Playlist page 1, click for larger version

2000

CONNEXIONS 2000
A slash con
March 31, April 1,2, 2000
SHERATON COLUMBIA HOTEL
COLUMBIA, MD 21044

From the 2000 flyer:

"A CONNEXIONS REMINDER

Only 10 weeks left to the party! Come and join us. Membership is pre-reg only and is limited to 150 fans.

Once again Spring is the time when a young (or older) man's fancy turns to thoughts of love...with his partner! Now as the world comes into a new millenium join us for another celebration of the the season and your favorite pairing.

Programming will include: panels/group discussions, episodes and films, art show and auction, dealers' room, songvid show (on projection big screen TV) and, a new play by Genetic Fen Productions. All slash fandoms are welcome. Memberships are $45.00 (checks payable to Marion McChesney) til JANUARY 31, 2000, AND $50.00 THEREAFTER. Registrations can be sent to: Marion McChesney, PMB 276, 6400 Baltimore National Pike, Baltimore, Maryland 21228-3915.

Check out our web page at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/9312/Connex.html to print out the flyer, or send a SASE to the above address.

We also have a Connexions listserve. If you aren't on it and would like to be, e-mail me privately at [email omitted]

2000: Con Skit

This play was also performed at ZebraCon.

Saw the con play, "A Hard Drive's Knight", and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. : D The staring roll of Qui-Gon was played by Kath Moonshine, and don't let her kid you, she makes one hell of a sexy Jedi! LOL! It was a wonderfully funny play, and everyone did a great job! Good thing I hadn't tried to eat or drink anything! I would have choked myself to death!

[...]

I had a wonderful time watching certain con members play our favorite guys, the bad guy, and the well-developed rescuer. <g> It was a blast![6]

2000: Programming/Panels

The following panels were suggested in the second progress report

Non-fandom specific panels

  • 1. Slash in Comedy
  • 2. Slash and Religion—Guilty Pleasure or Just Guilt?
  • 3. How do Multiple Hero Shows Develop Shash Fandoms?
  • 4. Minor Character Slash
  • 5. Angst vs. Mush
  • 6. Can They Really Do That? (Minotaur)
  • 7. How Do You Keep the Fandom Alive After Your Show Has Left the Airwaves?
  • 8. His One True Love—is it possible to pair a hero with another character from the show?
  • 9. He Hit Me—And It Felt Like a Slash Scene—why enemies attract
  • alternately Ally vs. Antagonist)
  • 10. S&M and B&D
  • 11. How I Got Into Slash
  • 12. History of Fandom
  • 13. Website Workshop
  • 14. Vidding Workshop
  • 15. Writer's Workshop
  • 16. Pro writing
  • 17. Switch-Hitting—can some characters be tops, bottoms or both?
  • 18. Fanon vs Canon
  • 19. Canon—Perception vs Fact
  • 20. Editing panel
  • 21. What the Heck Does FIAWOL Mean? -- fannish vocabulary explained
  • 22. Hottest Sex Scenes—why are they so hot?
  • 23. Getting Your Historical Time Frame Correct
  • 24. Men as Slash Fans?
  • 25. Why is Slash So Addictive?
  • 26. Salt & Pepper combos—why isn't there more slash?

Fandom Specific Panels

  • 1. X-Files -- "The Schmoop is Out There"—increasingly romantic eps in this very dark universe
  • 2. Sentinel -- "Jim Ellison -- Top or Bottom and Why?"
  • 3. UNCLE -- "New Directions in UNCLE Fanfic"
  • 4. UNCLE -- "Why is Illya Always Written Submissive?"
  • 5. Sentinel—Now That We Have it Back
  • 6. Sports Night (needs topic)
  • 7. Miami Vice -- "Castillo or Tubbs - Who's a Better Fit for Crockett?"
  • 8. Due South -- "How did Paul Gross knowing about slash and putting it into
  • the show in season 3 affect fans and the show's dynamic?"
  • 9. Homicide—Introduction to Homicide (clip tape and discussion)
  • 10. Starsky & Hutch -- "What We Want in Fanfiction"
  • 11. Starsky & Hutch—Charades
  • 12. Professionals -- "I Was A Runaway Teenage Impoverished Rent-Boy Working-
  • Class Aristo With A Happy Homelife Who Was Regularly Beaten"—or why the lack of canonical backgrounds for Pros characters helps makes Pros fiction so diverse.
  • 13. Highlander (needs topic)
  • 14. Wiseguy - "Beyond Sonny Steelgrave"

2000: Vid Show Playlist

2000 Vid Show Playlist page 1, click for larger version
2000 Vid Show Playlist page 1, click for larger version

On the convention tape:

Fandom Song Title Singer Videoist
SH Living La Vida Loca* Ricky Martin Flamingo
SH The Bad Touch (Discovery Channel) Blood Hound Gang Flamingo
Multi Do Me! Bel Biv Devoe Ishyko
Sharpe’s Leave You Far Behind The Matrix Ishyko’s husband
H:TLJ Now You’re A Man DVDA Dementia, Ink
Vger So Good Al Jerreau Central Consortium
Labyrinth instrumental From the movie Orlando Lynn C.
HL We Could Leave Right Now Oyster Band Lynn C.
HL Don’t You (Forget About Me) Simple Minds Lynn C.
HL The World That We’re Living In Violent Femmes Lynn C.
DS From Where I Stand* Ricky Martin Kathy M.
SH Don’t You Want* Melissa Ethridge Morgan Dawn
WG As Long As You Love Me* The Backstreet Boys Stacy Doyle
Oz Frozen* Madonna Stacy Doyle

Not on the convention tape but shown:

Fandom Song Title Singer Videoist
Multi Hair Original Broadway Cast Media Cannibals
Buffy The Odd Couple TV Series recording Media Cannibals
Buffy-Spike California Media Cannibals
SH After All This Time Beth Cambre
SH Total Eclipse Of The Heart Bonnie Tyler Beth Cambre
SH Let’s Dance Beth Cambre
SH That Was A River Beth Cambre
SH Hero Beth Cambre
H C Logo
Vger Comfort Zone Vanessa Williams Central Consortium
Sent Blue Monday Orgy Central Consortium
AN The Hardest Thing 98* Central Consortium
UN Never There Cake Central Consortium
B5 You Sexy Thing Senxy Chadate-Full Monty Central Consortium
UN After All
UN I’ll Be (the greatest fan of your life) Edwin McCain Dementia, Ink

2000: Con Reports

In 2000 Shoshanna posted her comments on the vid show to the Vidder mailing list. It is reposted here with permission:

There were two vid shows at Connexions: "Best Vids of the Past" on Friday night, and new vids on Saturday. (I don't know how, or even whether, the "best vids of the past" were selected; actually I suspect that, as with the other show, they just took whatever people submitted.) I went to both, but only the Saturday one has stuck with me. I do remember that Pam Rose's excellent H:LotS vid were shown on Friday, and I stuck around and watched them a second time with Suzan Lovett, who hadn't made it there in time to see them the first time round. I barely know the show, and still love them. Lynn C.'s elegiac Labyrinth vid was also shown; the only thing I remember about the movie is that I didn't like it, but that vid always makes me think I should give it another try.

I was distressed by the Saturday night vid show. Audience behavior was, if anything, worse than at Escapade; although I wasn't aware of people getting up and walking around during vids, there was *constant* talking during them, and yelling and cheering that at times made it impossible to hear the music. (I'm not against cheering and laughing in principle, but I don't think it's appropriate to, for instance, scream every time a favorite character appears on the screen, simply because he has appeared.) I yearned for Gwyn to firmly remind people of appropriate behavior, as she did at Escapade; lacking her, I wished the concom had done so at the beginning. Also, it took constant requests to get the names of the vidders announced, and I still missed some; in the absence of a written playlist, as at Escapade, I'd like every set of vids to be preceded by a clear announcement (preferably miked): "The next vids are from the Media Cannibals" or "This one is by Kronette" or whatever. Only one vidder had put titles on her vids, and they barely appeared long enough to be read.

The vids themselves ranged from mediocre to stunning; I don't remember any bad ones, which is cool. Kronette's are reliable crowd-pleasers, though her endings tend to be awkward, and Flamingo's S&H vid to the mammal song (don't ask me the title; it's the one with the chorus "You and me, baby, ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel") did an excellent job of pairing DC footage with S&H footage. I cracked up at the clip of the circling cars followed by the circling turtles, and the plumage-displaying bird paired with the butt-wiggling Hutch; the vid, which ended the show, got a standing ovation. Beth Cambre, a vidder I haven't previously heard of, had a number of quite good S&H vids; a bit rough, perhaps, and lord knows it's hard not to overuse that leather-jacketed hug, but she's definitely someone to watch for. The Media Cannibals' "Hair" was yet another example of their ability to do insanely fast clips and their brilliant control of pacing; the fast clips wouldn't be nearly so effective without the contrast with the long circling pans of dreadlocked Duncan, for instance. They also showed an intense, gripping, multilayered Highlander vid that the generally rowdy audience didn't seem to know quite what to do with; I loved it, but the silence that followed it seemed almost as confused as appreciative. There was also a Skinner vid to "Only Human on the Inside," which I think was by the Cannibals as well (Gwyn, perhaps?); my memory of it is blurred, but I'd like to see it again.

A Man from UNCLE-centric review by Jane Terry, from Z.I.N.E.S. v.2 n.2:

Review of Connexions Songvids by Jane Terry: Many Z.I.N.E.S. readers, especially those who don't attend conventions, are probably not familiar with songvids. A songvid is a video creation. The songvid artist lays the music from a song on the audio track of a videotape. Then she "illustrates" the song with clips from a show (or shows if multi-media).

This is a time-consuming process. A three minute song can take anywhere from three hours and up to produce. In addition, the songvid artist has to know her shows very well.

Until the last couple of years, songvids, especially U.N.C.L.E. songvids, have been a rare commodity, but in the last few years we have been fortunate that a few excellent songvid artists have turned their attention to U.N.C.L.E.

At the Connexions con, songvids have become a major part of the programming. The convention rents a large screen projection tv for the showings. Watching songvids in a darkened room on a large screen with other fans is an experience that should be ... experienced. :-).

The Saturday night songvid show is a chance for songvid artists to display their new works. In addition, Connexions had a Friday night showing of older songvids.

Rather than do an U.N.C.L.E. panel this year, I asked the programming head if we could have an hour of time on the big screen to exclusively watch U.N.C.L.E. songvids.

Dementia, a songvidding group, contributed 45 minutes worth of U.N.C.L.E. songvids, most new. These artists are excellent. At other cons, I have seen some of their work from other fandoms, and was impressed by the skill and artistry. Dementia's Highlander sonvids which I had seen two years ago at Connexions were stunning in their intensity. At the time I wondered if a songvid artist could capture a bit of that intensity in an U.N.C.L.E. songvid. Probably not, I concluded. U.N.C.L.E. just doesn't have the footage to work with.

Surprisingly, some of that intensity is evident in "When Worlds Collide." The hard driving rhythm of the song, and the quick cuts from an angsty fourth season give this songvid an intensity that rivals the Highlander songvids.

Dementia consists of at least two artist[s], one obviously a Napoleon fan [Ang], one and Illya fan [Kronette]. The Napoleon fan tweaked her friend with the Illya songvid, "I'm Too Sexy," where Illya gets to shake his "little tush on the catwalk." The Illya fan came back with a version of "You're So Vain," lavishly illustrated with clips of Napoleon grooming himself. Gee, I never realized how often that man looks at himself in a mirror!

In "You're Never There for Me," poor Illya suffers in scenes while Napoleon presumably is not there for him. I don't think that message is really accurate, Dementia, Napoleon really does come through, but the video is a good opportunity to capture Illya hurt and that should please a lot of fans.

"Every Now and Then" is one of my favorite songvids of all time. This video shows an older Illya - using footage from McCallum's 1970's and 1980's appearances in movies where he is a family man - where he is remembering about his life with Napoleon. The vid really brought a lump to my throat. Dementia utilized closeups of facial expressions that created a mood beautifully. An older McCallum's slightly rueful smile when he's remembering ... Napoleon's sweetest smiles.

In "When Will I Hold You Again" presumably the RV half of Dementia constructs a reality with footage from the Dove Affair, of a secret love affair between Napoleon and Santine. Amazing! Why couldn't we have that kind of footage between Napoleon and Illya!

Dementia highlights Robert Vaughn with two songvids utilizing clips from Vaughn's many roles. The first, "I Should Have Been A Cowboy," artistically works together the varied visions of Vaughn in his cowboy roles. I particularly like the scenes from "The Magnificent Seven." The other, "Standing Outside The Fire," is an intense song illustrated with clips of Vaughn in his more intense roles. I don't know that this is as generally appealing as the others, but RV fans should appreciate the opportunity to see such a variety of clips.

"I'll Stand By You," used footage from Robert Vaughn's movie "The Young Philadelphians," to present an intense relationship between the character he played in the movie and the one played by Paul Newman. Vaughn was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the movie, and I would certainly give him one here. Newman appeared flat in comparison. I just wish I could see this same song done with Illya instead of the character played by Newman.

"Nobody's Real" is another intense one. This songvid utilizes clips from David McCallum's movie, "Hauser's Memory." A very surreal experience. I liked seeing a brunette David for a change.

There are several others that we didn't have time to see. [Kronette] is making Dementia's UNCLE collection available on tape. For more information, contact [kronette at sbcglobal.net].

From a fan on The Pits Mailing List:

Early con report, since I just got home a few hours ago.

Well, the action started Friday, or maybe even Thursday night with the set up, but I wasn't able to go until Saturday morning. Got packed Friday night, and was so nervous I don't think I slept at all that night! Saturday morning, got everything in the car drove up there in an hour, when the trip should have taken an hour and a half! SWEAR I didn't speed! : ) Guess Everyone was still asleep at home in those early hours, and I only got lost *twice*!

Really nice hotel! I felt a little strange, as if this *had* to be the wrong place, 'cause I'm not used to walking into hotels like that. Have to say that once I got my badge, it was kind of a power trip to see the mundanes make their wary way around me. : ) With a wedding and a bar mitzvah (sp?) going on at the hotel, we sort of stood out a bit. Apparently, we made a man in a kilt particularly happy, as someone overheard him saying he'd never had so many compliments before! I'm certain he couldn't have picked a more appreciative crowd to walk through on his way to some other function. Wish I had seen him!

I wasn't sure when everything would start, but I had a standing order to call Kath Moonshine and met up with her and a few other's for breakfast. Hate to list everyone, 'cause I'm going to forget someone's name! But it was great to meet them all yesterday!!!! Breakfast buffet was good, and enjoyed the conversation.

Kath help to get me registered, taking me through the maze of rooms to the con center. Boy, would I have been lost without her. <G> I got registered, got my name tag done and found out what I was supposed to do with my posters. There was a poster contest, and I brought two "Starsky & Hutch" posters. One I wasn't really thrilled with, but Hubby talked me into bringing it anyway. The other poster was a lot of printed out screen grabs from the show. There was another S&H poster there, by Kath Moonshine (and Flamingo? Sorry hon, I'm losing those brain cells again. : ) and I have to say we had the best of the bunch. Haven't heard yet who, if anyone won best poster, I forgot to see about voting myself.

I hit the dealer's room, and hit the dealer's room, etc. etc. For a few hours. : ) Walking into that place reminded me of the thrills I used to get when I walked into a book store when I was young enough not to realize that most of the books wouldn't appeal to me. Since discovering fanfic, I've hardly browsed a bookstore with the same excitement that I had just walking *into* the dealer's room. HEAVEN!!

The room about 10 dealers, and boxes of zines were everywhere! Along with pictures, tapes and other fannish goodies. I browsed for S&H, only found one S&H Zine that I didn't think I had, (I know, I brought a list, but kept forgetting to check it!) but I did pick up quite a few multi-media zines with S/H in them. Later, when I'd devoured all the S&H zines I could find, I picked up a lot of Sentinel zines. I also picked up pictures, and there were a ton of DS ones out there, a lot of them where he looks 12 years old! Sooooooo cute! And there was one that was a close up with him trying to grow a bit of beard and mustache and I have to say the poor boy didn't look like he had much of a chance for either. : ) He did much better with his mustache when he was older. I didn't get any of those, since I went for the pictures with both guys in them, but I enjoyed looking at the DS ones for prolonged periods of time.

Took some time to visit the reading library, and read a short S/H piece in a multi-media zine that I don't have. Got a really nice boxed lunch provided by the con and watched some songvids on the con TV while I ate. Bought some video tapes from the UK that I'm supposed to be able to run on my machine. Those were all "The Professionals" episodes. There was one S&H tape from the UK, and almost took that home with me, but decided to leave that for others, since I had both of those episodes in good condition. It sold right after I left.

I saved the Con schedule for yesterday and today, and as usual, can't find it now. But I actually made it to the S/H discussion panel on time, and it was lots of fun, and very interesting. I actually spoke out loud! : ) Learned a lot, came away with lots of new ideas, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Lots of laughing in that room!

Went to the S&H party in Flamingo's room, and was soon fed cake and given soda, so I was a very happy camper. : ) (Yes! More sugar, please! Yum!) Flamingo had her wonderful picture collection that was great to go through, and we got to see some songvids she had. Got to see her new "Discovery Channel" songvid. (Which probably isn't the real name of it, but believe me, we aren't going to forget which one that was!)

Talk about laughing myself silly! It was brilliant! We talked her into running it again, then every time someone would walk in, we'd all make Flamingo run it again so that the new people could see it, with dire warnings not to put anything in your mouth during the vid, or you'd end up choking to death when the good parts hit! I saw that vid at least six times, and it was damn funny every single time!

Some of us had Chinese ordered in, and that was a nice change from having to worry about going elsewhere or standing in the restaurant line. Had some great conversations.

Then we all interrupted the party at about 7 p.m. to go to the songvid showing, and it looked like just about everyone was there. Beth C. had sent in some songvids of hers, and I really enjoyed them. And by the reaction of the crowd, so did everyone else! It was really nice that they'd play only one or two vids of a fandom before going on to the next one, and the moods of the songs changed, so we really had a nice spectrum of vids. Beth's vids were in two or three sets, spaced out, and seemed to have been greatly enjoyed, with "Ooohs" and "Awwws" in just the right places. They seemed to spark a lot of interest in the show, from people I overheard asking friends "Did they really do that in the show? Were they really that close?"

There were three or four funny songvids, and enjoyed them all, but Flamingo's vid practically brought the house down! Standing ovation! They replayed it once more, along with another request for a vid at the end of the vid show.

Needless to say, there isn't anyone there that'll be able to watch the Discovery Channel and *not* think S/H. : D If that didn't draw new fans in, I don't know what else would. LOL!

The art show was fun to watch, although I had spent enough not to be able to bid on anything seriously. I had wondered through the art show during the afternoon, and there were a lot of *gorgeous* pieces there! Wow, there is a lot of great talent out there. The auctioneers were wonderful fun, and we had plenty of laughs in between some serious bidding. The art auction was over about midnight, and talked to Martha Sayer a bit afterwards. Busy lady, she was doing a great job.

Then went to my room about 12:30 am., intending to make it back to the S&H party when I made the fatal mistake of stretching out on my bed, and pretty much fell asleep in my clothes! What can I say? I have no party stamina! ) And there Kath Moonshine had taught me everything she new about SHarades in the hallway earlier in the day, and I never even made it back to play!

The room by myself was a special gift from my hubby, who knew that I'd never had a hotel room to myself in my life! COOL! Next year I'll probably plan to share, but it was something special to have all that private space, since I'm so used to having hubby and kids all over me during the days.

Woke up at 8-too-damn-early am. and got the room emptied of my stuff so I could check out early. Took my ton of zines to the car, then all I had left to do was remember to get my posters later. Had a bit of breakfast by myself until Flamingo found me and herded me to the larger gathering table. : ) Hadn't seen them come in, and had been too starved to wait for anyone else. Had some great conversation and checked on my posters, hit the dealers room one last time because I fully intended to go home *broke*, and bought a great drawing at the print shop.

Saw the con play, "A Hard Drive's Knight", and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. : D The staring roll of Qui-Gon was played by Kath Moonshine, and don't let her kid you, she makes one hell of a sexy Jedi! LOL! It was a wonderfully funny play, and everyone did a great job! Good thing I hadn't tried to eat or drink anything! I would have choked myself to death!

Left about noontime, long time home, and now have a ton of new zines to fondle and some great people I can add to my 'friends' list! [7]

Just a note to let you all know I survived my second con! <g>

I couldn't go on Friday, so missed out on a whole day, but was glad to get there about 8am on Saturday. The weather was cloudy, and a bit misty, but really not too bad for driving up and around D.C. and I didn't even get lost once.

Didn't really have any arranged meetings, so walked up to some people who were outside the hotel, talking, one with a S&H t-shirt on. I figured they were safe to approach. <g> We talked and got aquainted. I got a bit of the continental breakfast and then one of the ladies took me up to her room to introduce me to her room mates and we watched the "Bitter Wine" tape that I had brought. Always nice to see Paul, he suffers so well!

Later I went down to check in, found my room ready, and brought my bags and my Connexions poster inside. Really nice room. I had two beds in case someone needed a place to crash, but ended up by myself, which was kind of nice too. Gave me a whole bed to spread my stuff out on. Then made my way down to the con room. Got signed in and got my con packet.

Very nice packet! It contained a bright red folder, a "Starsky & Hutch Lives" red and white pen, and Episode Gude & Checklist, the story listings and the programing schedule, my choice of keychain and some Hershey's kisses. Last, and not least, was the Con Zine, which has a really snazzy cover and looks wonderful inside and out! Can't wait to dive into it!

The con room was really nice. It was two rooms, the kind divided down the middle by those folding type of walls. One side was the check in, two tables for the panels with S&H scrap books on them, and on the other side of the divider a tv, vcr, chairs and a box of tapes. Around the walls were the check-in table, the table for the Brass Bed drawing, posters and artwork, then tables for the dealers around the walls. Flamingo was over in one of the corners, doing all the things pink bird have to do to keep a con going. And she wasn't the only one working hard! There were a lot of wonderful people that really worked hard to keep things going and running well.

In a corner table was A Jacket and The Sweater, along with the S&H outfits given to Paul and Elizabeth. I couldn't believe they were actually there! I kept wondering back by once in awhile to marvel that I was actually that close to them. <g> The jacket wasn't the one with the bullet holes, but had been worn in the series. There was a nice booklet there that had the history of that leather jacket and what episodes Paul wore it in. (I don't remember right off which ones they were.) The jacket was inside a plastic case, hanging inside so that you could see the front and back. The others were in plastic clothing bags where you could lean over and see them up close. Wow! I really enjoyed seeing them, and sure appreciate the effort it must have taken to get them there for us. It was like having famous people there. <g> I kept going back by to say 'hello' to them through out the day.

I enjoyed browsing, and picked out a few things here and there. I enjoyed seeing all the S&H zines laid out, and almost wished I didn't have them so I could buy them again! <g> Some of those covers are just evil, they way they talk to you as you pass by, trying to get you to buy another copy. Don't you just love evil zines? LOL!

There were all kinds of things there, from t-shirts and totes, zines, mugs, pictures and collectibles. I picked up a mug, and enjoyed watching the creation process when some others were made with the buyer's choice of S&H pictures.

Now, my timeline will be off here, 'cause I'm not sure what order I did everything. But after browsing and talking and watching some interviews there was a panel on eBay that was interesting. Enjoyed that. Watched the tail end of a game of Pictionary and enjoyed that. Talked with Flamingo and Anne for awhile about a computer problem.

Later, I found that there was a lady selling 'other fandom' zines from her room, so I hit that room and came home with quite a few used zines that weren't S&H, then dumped them on my second room and went downstairs.

A group of us went to dinner at the Olive Garden, where the company was wonderful, but the salad arrived with a bit of strange material in it. (Bubble wrap, or something like it.) I wasn't quite brave enough to try the second salad they brough to replace it. But the company was great, so the food didn't much matter to me. My chicken was fine and I enjoyed the walk back and forth.

Later there were the awards ceremonies, in which I think everyone got something. I brought hubby home a "SPERM" award for being supportive, in an invisible sort of way, and I was awarded a "Golden Boy" award for reuniting lost and lonely S&H dolls. <vBg> The certificates were great looking, and the "Golden Boy" award has to been seen to be believed! There's nothing quite like spending the evening with small, but well formed, golden-colored male genitals in your hands. I never have gotten brave enough to actually wear the pin yet. But Hubby liked his certificate, even if he did decide I could keep it for him. LOL!

Then we had the vid show, which I *really* enjoyed. Flamingo threw in a bit of vid history as she went along, so we could see how technology had changed vidding over the years. The Tech may be changing, but it's wonderful to see how even the first vids could really pull your heart strings. There was a nice mix of the fun and serious vids chosen, so there was a really nice representation. We got to see two vid debutes, which was exciting too.

The evening seemed to go too quickly before we had to have the Brass Bed drawing, which I didn't win but can't remember who did win it, and the room had to be emptied and cleaned up for something else the next day. I had given my Connexions poster to another fan, so didn't have to remember to pack it. When it comes to packing up a room, you can tell that a lot of these people have it down to an *art*. I just tried to stay out of the way.

Later, I went back to my room, called and talked to my hubby for awhile, and pretty much fell asleep. I guess I'm still a con weenie, when it comes to staying up all night, so I guess I need to attend more cons and build up my endurance. Doesn't that sound awful? ; )

Slept until 8am. Got my act together, (which isn't pretty, I'm not a morning person) and met fans downstairs for breakfast. Had some really nice visits, but about 10am I was still tired and felt that I wanted to head on home before traffic got too bad. Missed saying goodby to Flamingo, and missed some people I wanted to catch up to, but headed on home anyway. Took me a bit longer to get home then it did on the way up, but it does that when you hit rain on the highways around here. Made it home in one piece.

For a second con, it was actually nice that it was smaller than the first one. Connexions was great and exciting, but I did like the cozy feeling this one had, and the chance to have a lot of spontaneous conversations. It was really nice to have two different kind of con experiences.

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard all weekend. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed myself no end! [8]}}

In 2000, Shoshanna posted her convention report to the Connexions mailing list. It is reposted here with permission:

I actually managed to see some of the con this year, unlike the two previous Connexionses, at which I was pretty much stuck in the art show most of the time. (My young apprentice KC has successfully passed her trials, and even surpassed her Master in that she did *not* seem to be stuck in the art show most of the time. I'm just hoping she doesn't rise up and slay me now.) The weekend started with a nine-hour drive to Columbia, with Margie G. keeping me company by reading me Sentinel fan poetry that made the Vogons look like Yeats; at one point she had to pull my hand away from my face, where I was attempting to gouge out my own eyes in an effort to distract myself from what she was reading. And I was driving! (I threatened all weekend to get back at her, but couldn't find anything sufficiently bad that I was actually willing to buy, and in the end I drove the whole way back and couldn't have read to her, anyway. I contented myself with regaling her with excerpts of particular, um, treasures I found in the dealer's room.) I went to only a few panels at the con, as seems to be fairly standard for me these days; I'm usually having a great fannish conversation already, so I don't really have an urge to interrupt it for another that might not be as good. I did make it to the History of Fandom panel, which was fascinating, and ably led by Sandy Herrold and April Valentine. The audience had mostly been in fandom for under four years, as I recall, with a sprinkling of longer-term folk and a good handful of well over a decade's standing; there was a lot of interest and a lot of knowledge.

For the first time, I went to Minotaur's everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-gay-male-sex panel. He's a lot of fun and willing to talk about anything, but I was frankly dumbfounded by the apparent desire of a number of fans to get *an answer* to things that simply don't have single or simple answers, or whose answers are the responsibility of the person writing the story. How long does it take a man to get used to being fucked? Well, it depends on the man. And in a story, the important question is not how long it takes "a man," but how long the writer *wants* it to take the specific character in question, and why. The abdication of authority and common sense (many things really aren't that different for men and women) to Minotaur, simply because he is a gay man, made me uncomfortable; it's one thing to want to check that a given sex scene isn't wildly implausible, but another to want to be told, say, what kind of underwear is most comfortable. (And I devoutly hope that writers have the courage to write wildly implausible sex scenes, if they consider them important to the story and put thought and effort into making them plausible in context -- and if they then have the courage to take criticism for writing an implausible scene.) However, not all the questions had this overtone of deference, and I certainly learned some things.

Sandy Herrold and Rachael Sabotini moderated a panel on relationships in Buffy that I enjoyed tremendously. The group generally felt that, unlike almost any other show you can name, there is no "one true pairing" in Buffy, and moreover there doesn't seem to be a big distinction between slash and straight; many people want both rather than hewing strictly to one side or the other of the division. Many people, including me, have no particular desire to read or write fanfic, since the show is so rich; but many others find its richness to be fertile ground for their own explorations, and there was plenty of discussion of stories read, written, and in progress. (And I found myself buying a gen Buffy novel Sunday afternoon, because it looked good. As I write this, I'm thirty-eight pages into it.)

The art show was a good size and included lots of good stuff, including a Suzan Lovett Sentinel work in progress; it was interesting to get a view into the process of constructing a drawing with that amount of detail. Like seeing the scaffolding. Thirty-five pieces went to auction, which is a lot; the auction ran long, but it was low-energy and prices did not generally go high. I had forgotten my auction clothes, and borrowed a leather miniskirt from Briony to auction in. (And I had thought that the dress I wore last year was the shortest thing I'd ever wear; yikes.) Minotaur co-auctioned with me; it was his first time, and he announced to the room that he was a virgin. We were gentle with him, and it didn't take him long at all to get used to it :-).

The play was *fantastic*: script, costumes, delivery, and timing. I've swiped a line from it for my new .sig. It was scheduled for 11:00 Sunday morning, and Margie and I woke up at 10:57 and still made it there; I'm glad, because I'd have purely hated to have missed it. It was among the best I've seen, and I only wish it had been longer!

[See the vid show section for review of the 2000 vid show].

The con was generally well organized, although I wished that the program had included the names of panelists, and the restaurant guide would have been more useful if it had included a map or directions, rather than just street addresses. Out-of-towners are not likely to know where those streets are. The hospitality suite was well stocked with snacks and drinks whenever I stopped by (bless them for the muffins; that was all I ate on Sunday until three p.m.), but I couldn't stay there for more than a few minutes, since although con space was supposedly non-smoking, the hospitality suite was always filled with cigarette smoke. The huge Wincopin Room, a combination con suite/lounge, reading room, and impromptu panel room, with the art show and dealers' room just off it, was great (and had couches!). The hotel's setting was beautiful, by a lake with trees and greenery and walkable restaurants (and as Margie and I approached the front door of the Bennigan's on Sunday afternoon, their PA system began playing "David Duchovny, Why Won't You Love Me"; we stood on the steps having fannish hysterical laughing fits until it ended, while mundanes watched us through the window with bemused and slightly worried expressions).

Overall, I saw a fair amount of the con, talked with lots of people (though none of them enough, of course), and had a great time. Then on the way home I missed my exit on the New Jersey Turnpike and almost arrived really early to EclectiCon, but decided that one con was enough for one weekend!

2001

2001: Progress Report

"Panels so far suggested include an artists discussion to be led by J. Hindman, "Realism, Commercialism, and Fun in Fan Art: A discussion on style, selling, technique, and having fun," "Estate Planning for Slashers," "Fandom Road Show," "Writer's Workshop" "Why Can't the Old Guys Get Lucky?" "Writing Crossover Slash -- how to stay true to both or all the fandoms while creating a slashed universe," panels on Anime fandom and some suggestions for fandom specific panels, including Due South, Pros, Queer as Folk, Sentinel and fem slash."

2001: Vid Show Playlist

A playlist for the 2001 vid show is below. Click twice to see the larger version. The convention vid show tape (contape) has a beautifully designed box. The contape included both the Friday and Saturday vid shows, along with a skit performed by Genetic Fen Productions.

2001: Con Reports

In 2001 Shoshanna posted her comments on the vid show to the Vidder mailing list. It is reposted here with permission:

After the Saturday night vid show at Connexions, a friend remarked to me that for the first time, she understood the difference between "con vids" and "living-room vids." 'Cause, see, for the most part, those were con vids.

This year, April Valentine gave a little introduction before the Saturday show began, reminding people that it can be important to hear the words, and asking them not to let their enjoyment get so loud that people couldn't do so. Nonetheless, there was a considerable amount of whooping and hollering at favorite shots (Starsky waggling his butt, the electronic removal of girlfriend-of-the-week from a S/H shot, the appearance of certain BSOs in fast-paced multifandom vids, etc.). And I started thinking . . . there are vids for which that kind of response is really the point, I think. Are people supposed to keep quiet during a vid like "You Can Keep Your Hat On"? (I can't remember who did it, but it was a fast-paced, well-timed set of shots of yummy BSOs in various forms of dress and undress, with emphasis -- following the lyrics - on hats.) I don't think so.

But there are other vids for which that kind of response is no more appropriate than, oh, whistling lustfully at Romeo's bod as he reluctantly bids Juliet goodbye at dawn; vids that are more multilayered, that demand more thoughtful attention and a different kind of emotional response. I was a bit nervous at the Saturday show, because although I didn't mind the rowdy enjoyment, I knew that a Faith (of BtVS) vid was coming that I expected to be of the latter type, and hoped that people's cheering wouldn't disrupt my experience of it. Fortunately, the vid (Carol S.'s "A Girl Needs a Knife," to a Flash Girls song) signaled its genre right away, in its music and establishment of mood, and people quieted down.

I used the word "genre" above, and I've been wondering . . . perhaps vids like "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and last year's "Discovery Channel" (was that the name of the song? another multifandom vid) are no more the same genre as ones like Morgan Dawn and G.F.'s "Windmills of Your Mind" (Nikita) or Jill and Kay's "Clean" (for Methos), any more than "The Evil Dead" is in the same genre as "The Philadelphia Story" just because they're both movies.

I don't have a list of the vids shown on either Friday or Saturday; I remember that Saturday's show seemed mostly "con vids" ("In the Navy" for Hornblower; a bunch of let's-cheer-and-drool vids for S/H -- and I saw a *whole* lot of S/H clips I hadn't seen before; kudos to the vidders who found under-utilized footage! -- and quite a number that seemed to have no connection between the music and the visuals. I remember sitting there thinking, "No, *change* the visual now; match the pace of the music; that was a break and you missed it." Without a list, though, I can't be sure I'm remembering vidder names correctly, so I won't try to name them. The Backstreet Boys Oz vid from Escapade was shown again, and it did not improve on second viewing. There were several boy-band songs used in vids, in fact; they were balanced by the harsh sounds of the Hard Core Logo vids. I think the VR5 vid had been shown at Escapade too, and it did improve on second viewing; I still have no idea what in the heck is going on in it, but since I knew in advance that I wouldn't, I was able to admire it on a visual/auditory level; it's put together beautifully. There was a vidder with a computer set-up who was doing the kind of annoying tricks that I saw in the first year or two that computers were in use, but that I thought vidders had gotten past; making the image peel back like a page being turned, break up into multiple little squares and fly away in all directions, etc. The effects detracted from the vid rather than adding to it; they conveyed "Look what my system can do!" rather than anything about the show or characters.

If anyone has a list of what was shown, it will help me remember what I thought of them, and I could then post better comments . . . !

Flamingo also posted her own vid show review to the Venice Place mailing list, focusing exlusively on the Starsky & Hutch vids. It is reposted here with permission and has been edited for brevity:

Flamingo addressing Morgan Dawn on her vid, Testify: "I was lucky enough to see your new SH vid (??title??) during the "favorites" vid show on Friday night. I wasn't sure why it was shown that night when it was new since the last Connexions. ...I was disappointed it wasn't shown at the main vid show on Saturday since, in my view anyway, it was new.... After seeing your vid on Friday,I got nervous, ...ANYWAY...that SH vid was *incredible* Morgan! What an interesting concept! What an interesting song.....In this stunning vid Morgan used actual news footage of ...the Watts riots, at the beginning of an SH vids, showing us the kind of violence and problems SH had to deal with as cops in what was, at the time, the grittiest cop show on TV with the most violence. The clips underscored a personal crisis of Hutch's who, if I remember correctly, was trying to remember just why he did this job in the first place. Morgan if this is a gross misinterpretation of your vid, please forgive me, but I got to see it only once at a time when I wasn't expecting to see it, at a moment when I was just about to do something else. I know I wanted to see that vid multiple times. It was complex and multi-layered and heart-breaking. I really loved it."

Flamingo talking about Morgan Dawn's other vid, One Step Up: "I also remember seeing the vid you sent me to show at SHareCon, "One Step Up" by Bruce Springsteen....I believe this was shown on Saturday night. This one I've been fortunate enough to see many times and it improves on every viewing. This vid, another Hutch POV piece, shows the constant push-and-pull between the guys in their relationship with each other. I love these edgier vids as much as I love edgier stories and since our fandom is blessed with quite a few true-love-forever vids, it's wonderful to have a few strong ones of the other kind to spice things up. Another thing about Morgan's vids is the way she can arrange them to make it seem like things that never happened in the show happened, and her excellent use of obscure clips. I hope Morgan will continue vidding SH for a long time!"

Flamingo on Kronette's vid: "Kronette sent an SH vid that was based on...the episode Bloodbath. I am always in awe of vidders who can create a vid simply from *one* episode! (I think I need the entire series and a few other shows just to get through mine!) I remember being incredibly touched by this vid and wishing like crazy I had it in my possession. I hope this won't be your last SH vid."

Flamongo: "Cindy Carbook brought *5* vids to the con. To my knowledge...these are the very first SH vids done on a computer! They were also Cindy's very first vids, so it was very courageous of her to show them at the con. I know she was as nervous as hell about it, but they were well received as well they should be. We got to premiere them at the SH party ahead of time and at both the party and the vid show there was an incredible uproar as Cindy and her computer managed to do something we've been wanting to do for 25 years -- remove Gail from Starsky's lap during his hug with Hutch in Bloodbath!!! The vid show went nuts when this happened and I know the party rocked during this vid! Cindy's vids were interesting, diverse, and had great clip selection. My first ever vid was a single effort shown at the first Connexions and I very nearly never made another one, it was that traumatic. I admire the hell out of Cindy for doing such terrific vids as her first attempt, being so creative, and gutsy, too! More, Cindy, more!"

Flamingo on the history of SH vidding: "To go back to the Friday night show, after the "favorites" were shown, I showed a slightly altered version of the historical vid show I did at SHareCon. We believe SH fans were the first to create song vids (there were no vcrs when Trek was first syndicated, but they became available during the run of SH), so it's easy to trace the "evolution" of vids through SH. I had a good turnout for the show, which was accompanied by

some narrative to explain the significance of each vid, its technology, and its significance to the fandom. Some of the vids shown were Dargelos one scene vids of "Somebody's Knockin'", and Kendra Hunter's one-scene vid, "The Rose," Pam Perry's multi-scene vid, "I'm so excited," the first altered-reality vid, from the Brandt Tape, "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You", several classic Air Supply vids from the Brandt tape and our own April Valentine, a show tune vid from April, several from Megan Kent and Lori G., the altered reality vid from Tolbran, "I Remember LA" and was finished with two of Stacy's -- "Little Red Corvette" and "I'm the Only One" which was the first multi-scene SH vid I ever saw that was constructed from a single episode. The show ran around 45 minutes. I'm hoping to add some more vids to this...and make it available (as soon as I get permission from the various vidders)."

Flamingo on her own vids: "I had three vids of my own to show at Connexions. You never know how these things are going to go over to an audience, especially a mixed audience, some of whom will have never seen the show or know anything about it. I know when I watch non-SH vids, unless they're in X-Files which I actually watch and have familiarity with, it's like watch something in Urdu. Because the people are strangers, their issues unknown, and you have no involvement with anything, watching a vid in an unfamiliar fandom is less comprehensible than watching a foreign film without subtitles. Some vids, often called "recruitment" vids, can transcend this depending on the story line of the song. I'm too close to the subject to figure out if my vids transcend and depend on the audience to let me know. The first vid they showed of mine was "[[Oh, Yeah]]," an early 80's pre-techno number by a group called Yello. Kath Moonshine brought me this music and a suggested list of scenes so she was a major contributor to the vid. It is, essentially, your basic "scenery" vid and the guys make great scenery. There's no story, just

interesting music and this deep baritone voice intoning, "Oh, yeah," around the time Starsky's butt is prominent. On the vidder list they referred to this as the "Starksy's butt" vid. ;-) And that is basically it. Eye-candy vid. The next vid was trickier and I know some people not in the fandom didn't exactly "get it". The song is called "Who's Got the Hooch," by Everything and it was a stretch to use. I began the vid in a very traditional manner -- by showing a clip of the show to set it up. It's from Body Worth Guarding where the ballerina calls Hutch "Hooch" and Starsky wryly repeats it on his way out. It set up the song and I was tickled when the audience recognized the song and was surprised by it, too. Basically, I used the words of the song, which aren't really about a person at all -- in fact, no one's really sure what the song is about, whether it's about a thing, or a drug, or alcohol, or just an attitude -- and used it to illustrate Hutch and his relationship with Starsky, that no matter how many women came along, in the end, he'd end up with Starsky -- so Starsky definitely had "The Hooch" even if he had to share him at times. I had a ton of help on this difficult number from Rosemary whose timing and hearing are a thousand times better than mine and whose memory for obscure clips is phenomenal! The last number I had was Ricki Martin's "Cup of Life" a song I've adored since the first time I heard it. It's extremely fast-paced and may be the first multi-language vid in SH. There's a lot of Spanish in and I think one line of French and the rest English. Alpispa and Negrina were kind enough to translate the Spanish (and I definitely will be sending them both a copy of the fruits of their labor!) so I could match, as well as possible the actual meaning of the Spanish words with the clips. Most of the musical phrases in this song were 2 seconds or 4 seconds long, so it was a challenge and the music itself is fast-paced and action oriented (the song, after all, is the World Cup Soccer song). I was too intimidated by the song to vid it, but Rosemary convinced me with her perpetual insistance of "We can do this." Rosemary was invaluable during this piece since I've found I just can't hear words that begin with vowel sounds well enough to make a clip land on them, and she could. Plus, her knowledge of the show is encyclopedic and she managed to pull out some incredible suggestions to make the vid work well, I think. The audience seemed to like it, that's for sure."

Flamingo's final thoughts on the vid show: "The most amazing thing to me about the vid show was that Starsky & Hutch was the best represented fandom there! We had at least 10 vids there... and it was heaven for me and a delightful surprise. I'm used to sitting through one Highlander vid after another, a bunch of Sentinel, a bunch of X-Files (at least I understand those! ;-) ) and maybe *one* SH vid. At least that's the way it's been in the past. In fact, one year I didn't even go to the vid show at Connexions because I couldn't see spending two hours in abject confusion. (At some shows I've been lucky enough to have someone "translate" for me, but it's distracting to the other people around us, and even "translated" the vid loses a lot if you aren't familiar with show or characters.) There were a lot of other wonderful vids shown that night in other fandoms and in mixed-media. The crowd favorite, and well-deserved, was Diana Williams wonderful mixed-media song to the tune from Full Monty, "You can keep your hat on." She did a great job with this and, I was tickled to see, used SH among her many fandom choices. The boys looked good, too! Re: recruiter vids, there was a terrific vid done about a

Jackie Chan western that was so much fun and so interesting, I'm looking for the movie now! I know there are a number of SH fans who've come into the fandom through Beth Cambre's excellent vids and a dear friend of mine who has always liked the fandom but never got that into it, is inspired to do a story thanks to Tolbran's "I Remember LA." It's wonderful to know that there still are interesting things to say in this fandom in vids. I'm already planning out my next one. Maybe for Zcon. I dunno... (And yes, I'm hoping to compile an all SH-vid tape of modern SH vids as soon as I discuss it with the many vidders involved and get their blessing. Watch this space.)"

  • viedma lets everyone know that If you don't like long journal entries, skip this one cuz it goes all over the map (Day 2) dated April 2001[9]
  • a fan writes:
    "I got to keep some great company this weekend, complete with lots of entertaining idea-bouncing and gutter-dwelling (have I mentioned how loving and lovely the close-ups of CKR in My Life as a Dog are? well, they are; it's enough to make one want to be a cinematographer). Hands down, one of the funniest and most fun moments in my life the past few months has got to be sitting with about 20-25 other women and having half of them burst into song along with Paul Gross on "Barrett's Privateers." I didn't really go to any of the panels except the one on dS, but then, I didn't go to the con for the panels. By my lights, Escapade is more about the panels and meta-discussions. ConneXions is more about, well, connecting. Hanging. Chilling. It's actually an interesting complement to Escapade...While I didn't experience the panels, I did get to go to the con play, which was a hilarious send-up of cons and fannish activity, and featured a scene-stealingly appealing turn from M.S. as a con play director hell-bent on getting as much rehearsal time in as possible, the art auction be damned. And I have to admit, I kind of like the idea of those who don't get slash, or think it's freaky, as being the "mundanes" of the society. That ... kinda makes me smile."[10]

Lyrebird's con report: Connexions 2001: a slash convention report

2002

  • April 5–7
2002 Logo
  • "VB attends Connexions, where she meets many fellow fans and LJ friends... VB speaks with a fake British accent. The less said about Connexions, the better, probably." [11]

2002: Vid Show Playlist

Flamingo

  • "Get This Party Started" (S&H)

Anonymous, Song? (Oz)

Diana Williams

  • "Please Remember" (X-Files)
  • "Material Girl" (multimedia)
  • "This Kiss" (Sentinel)
  • "It's a Kind of Magic" (Highlander)

GloRug (all Sentinel)

  • "By Your Side"
  • "Dela"
  • "Bitch"
  • "I Wanna Be Sedated"
  • "The Way You Look Tonight"
  • "To Make You Feel My Love"

Pam Smith (all SG-1)

  • "Get Off"
  • "Dead"

sockii (all Brimstone)

  • "Satan is my Motor"
  • "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing"
  • "Tricky Brains"
  • "Proud"
  • "Shaolin Soccer"

Selkie

  • "Strangers in Paradise" (Fandom ?)

Vidder??

  • "You Gave Me the Answer" (Star Trek (Kirk/Spock)

Victoria Bitter (8 LOTR videos)

  • "Brothers in Arms" (Lord of the Rings)

Source: Morgan Dawn, personal notes (2002).

2002: Con Reports

Friday The big day is here! We get up, sling some stuff in a bag, load up our fanzines for sale (including a sampling of ITP's Starsky & Hutch zines) and head off to pick up our co-list mom, Cindy (or Sin Cindy, as I call her). Before collecting Cin, we stopped off to pick up the supplies for the S&H party, including a huge red and white cake that announced "STARSKY & HUTCH FOREVER." The bakery women were all atwitter when we arrived, telling us they loved watching S&H. They were pleased to hear we were having an S&H party. Just goes to show that fandom, even if it's not our brand of fandom, is everywhere. :^)

We arrived at the hotel and found the mezzanine area housing the convention functions. What a great space to hold a con! All of the panel rooms, the art show room, dealers' room, fanzine reading room, hospitality suite, and main stage area are set apart from the rest of the hotel. The con area even had its own private elevator. We registered for the con, put our "Two by Two in 2002" badges around our necks, and proceeded to hit the dealers' room!

Ah, what a lovely sight: magnets, photos, fanzines, mugs, mouse pads, T-shirts and every single thing covered or coverable with pictures of our guys! I was able to find my favorite photo of S&H on a magnet and several other lovely tidbits of fannish fun. The dealers room is also a great place to hookup with VP buds, as everyone comes to the DR sooner of later.

Once finished with my first mad dash in the DR, I went to check in my art at the art show--and what a lovely show it was! So many talented folks and all in one place. You should have seen the number of fandoms so loving rendered in nearly every medium imaginable. There was quite of bit of quality computer generated illustrations, pencil and painted work, some 3-D items (like the lovely jewelry box surmounted by a panther made by my buddy Ann W.), and--of course--a selection of magnificent work by none other than the inestimable Suzan L. Also exciting was the wide range of Suzan's S&H art, all of which was immediately and affordably available on Flamingo's dealer's table. (My favorite is the B&W pic where the boys are dancing.)

The rest of the day passed in a blur, meeting and greeting old friends, peering at the badges of folks you don't know to see if you recognize their screen name, hoping to find some VP buddies and make new friends. (Hi, Donna B! Hi, Elaine! Hi, Lois! Hi Suz!) The peering got pretty funny, as the name type was very small, and all our badges fell right at tit level. I remember apologizing, insisting to fans that I'm not a breast fetishist but just an innocent nearsighted, graying fan trying to read their badge. LOL

Evening fell, and some of us had a birthday to celebrate--Glorug's! A bunch of us went to a steak house called Michael's. We were seated immediately, gifts were given, cards were read. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and asked my crew to bring my dinner back to the hotel for later. Why? I needed to get back the hotel for play practice.

Each year fans volunteer their time and talents to put on a play for the entertainment of the con. Laura T. and Kim S. are the brains behind Genetic Fen Productions and the authors of the fannish game show "Beat the Geeks." Yours truly alternated between stages of abject terror and despair over the massive amounts of dialogue I had to deliver in my role as Bobbie Lee, the game show's host. Eventually, I made myself hand held cue cards, figuring that if they're good enough for Alex Tribeck (sp.?) they're certainly good enough for me. Practice went well, I got to eat my crab cakes, and get back to the bawdy business of yakking my head off with fan friends new and old 'til the wee hours.

Saturday Big day! S&H panel and S&H party. The panel was wonderfully well attended (How many were there, goils? 30? More?) and, for the most part, we stayed on topic: When do you see Starsky & Hutch starting their slash relationship? (Phrasing approximate.) There were quite a few folks that felt the ol' in-out-in-out started post Sweet Revenge, but there was a vocal, not-so-small minority of folks (like myself) who see it starting at various points earlier than SW. I advocated the idea that S&H initiated their intimate relationship after the end of third season, but had some sort of major breakdown that lead to their estrangements and personal difficulties demonstrated by the much changed tone of fourth season. Everyone was such a delight at the panel--and it was so nice to put so many names and faces together. :^)

Afterwards, we moved up to our hotel room. Linda and I taped up tons of S&H photos supplied by our own dear Flamingo. (Flamingo had already saved my bacon once--I forgot the VCR, but she brought one for the party. Thanks, Boid! You're the best!) Drinks, cake, along with the fantastic brownies and iced cookies baked by Donna, made for a super sugar-fest. We also played S&H song vids. We paneled for an hour and partied for two. By five things had died down and it was time for one last spin through the dealer's room before getting ready for the con banquet.

The banquet: Wow! The food was great (I especially liked the veggie lasagna and the roasted red potatoes) and I and my crew were lucky enough to be in the first table called to eat! Yeaaaaa! I felt like I'd won the lottery. :^) Ate like a pig and laughed and carried on like a school girl. A good time was had by all.

Time rolled 'round, and the time for the play arrived. If you've never seen an almost six foot tall, 300 pound woman doing backstage tai-chi to relax and focus, you ain't seen nothin'. Martial arts aside, I found my center and came charging out to ham it up for the benefit of getting laughs. If you're in the play, you have no idea how it's perceived by the audience--all you remember are the lines you stumbled. Perhaps someone in the audience could share their impressions? After the play a little girl came up with her mother to see that I was all right. My character breaks down and cries on stage at one point and it was evidently a little too convincing for this little five-year-old girl. I assured her I was pretending and things seemed well.

Next came the songvid show. How lovely! A HUGE ten-foot screen filled with lovingly crafted fan videos. The scene stealer of the whole show was Flamingo's new Starsky & Hutch vid done to the dance hit "Get the Party Started" by Pink. WOW! What a wonderful video! The room just sparked with electricity! Da Boid used all these hilariously funny shots of the guys in some of their weirdest costumes and personas. So damned funny! My favorite scene was the line about a calling "the party line" where Flamingo used the clip of Hutch as Mr. Marlene from Dandruff. Snerk! 8^) I know nothing about the technical details, but perhaps your vid could be made available via the web, for those VPers who couldn't be at the con? Flamingo, what do you say?

More laughter. More talk. Crash late. Fade to black . . . .

Sunday Ooooooh. I'm feeling that loss of that hour because of daylight savings time. No matter. I must get to the art auction with my buds. The auction went well, despite the fact I didn't walk away with any of the pieces I wanted. A little lunch, one last turn through the dealers' room, and then it was time to help various buds pack up . . . and start saying goodbyes. Sniff. Last, but not least, there was a "dead dog panel" where conventioneers met with the con committee to discuss what went well and what could be improved. Our own April Valentine, head of the Connexions con committee, did a wonderful job of explaining why certain decisions are made in a certain way and what hotels can and cannot provide, while carefully noting everything down that could be addressed before the next convention. Thanks to Martha and all of her talented and committed committee members for throwing a fabulous con!

Loaded the car. Dropped off Linda at the airport. Dropped off Cin at home. Took Ann home with me. Eyes swimming with tiredness, but still managed to stay awake until nearly midnight talking S&H.

Monday

Get up at five a.m. Drop off Ann at airport by six a.m. Drive to work. Exhausted. Drink coffee. Feel better. Write con report. Can't wait to go to Connexions 2003! [12]

2003

2003: Panels/Programming

Panel schedule: 2003

2003: Vid Show Playlist (partial)

Friday Vid Show (partial)

sockii

  • (vid about a cop and robber with an eagle?) - (fandom might have been "Once Upon a Time in China"?)
  • One Step Closer" (Brimstone)

Sorka

  • "On the Sea" (Horatio Hornblower - Hornblower/Pellew)
  • (title not mentioned in notes) (Batman Beyond (animated))

(vidder name not mentioned in notes)

  • "I'm a Believer" (Starsky & Hutch)

Diana Williams

  • "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (Highlander)
  • "Don't Let Me Get Me" (The Sentinel)
  • "Immortality" (Highlander)

Becky Moon

  • "My Best Friend" by Harry Nilson (Askewniverse)

Flamingo and Crow

  • "I can be your Hero" (Starsky & Hutch)

Flamingo

  • (Discovery Channel vid) (Starsky & Hutch)

Source: Elke Tanzer, personal notes (2003).

Saturday Vid Show Playlist (partial)

The Central Consortium

  • (title not mentioned in notes) (Farscape - John Crichton/Scorpius)

(vidder name not mentioned in notes)

  • (an Aretha Franklin and George Michael song) (Stargate SG-1 - Jack/Teal'c)

Sorka

  • Where Are You Going (Lord of the Rings - Sam/Frodo)

Kyle McLogin vids QaF

It's A Beautiful Life Acacia

Diana Williams

  • Respect by Pink

slashcity (???)

(Queer as Folk vids)

(Smallville vids)

(Babylon 5 vid)

Killa (three vids; at least one was in Horatio Hornblower)

Source: Elke Tanzer, personal notes (2003).

2003: Con Reports

2003 Logo

2004

2004 Logo

2004: Con Reports

2005

2005

2015

2015: Vid Show Playlist

connexions The Vid Show Run List, Archived version

2015: Con Reports

2017

2017: Con Reports

ConneXions 2017 Vid Show Report, Archived version and Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGRX0tUPMxEGJgsdsOajW-C4a9uOSPDY8

2019

2019: Con Reports

ConneXions 2019 Vid Show Report, Archived version and Youtube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbI8SLoxNxpYEvlQvrYGluD8ZAi6PV5rU

References

  1. ^ connexions_so's Journal accessed 14 April 2020.
  2. ^ flyer posted to various mailing lists in 1998.
  3. ^ from CI5 Mailing List, quoted anonymously (29 Mar 1998)
  4. ^ Morgan Dawn's personal notes, accessed Oct 18, 2015.
  5. ^ comments by Flamingo on Vidder Mailing List, quoted with permission (April 17, 1998)
  6. ^ quoted anonymously from The Pits Mailing List (Apr 2, 2000)
  7. ^ quoted anonymously from The Pits Mailing List (Apr 2, 2000)
  8. ^ quoted anonymously from VenicePlace Mailing List (Sep 25, 2000)
  9. ^ reference link.
  10. ^ Connexions con report dated April 2, 2001.
  11. ^ "Andy Blake Timeline. Part II". Archived from the original on 2015-03-16.
  12. ^ quoted anonymously from VenicePlace Mailing List (Apr 8, 2002)