Conniption

Science Fiction Convention
Name:	Conniption
Dates:	1990, 1992
Frequency:
Location:	Texas
Type:	fan run, celebrity guests
Focus:
Organization:
Founder:	ORAC and "the Loose Federation of Fandom"
Founding Date:
URL:
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Conniption was a science fiction con. It was hosted by ORAC.

1990

Conniption 1 was held August 11, 1990 at the Holiday Inn in Central and Campbell in Richardson, Texas.

1990 schedule

The guests of honor were L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine de Camp, Ardath Mayhar, Real Musgrave and his wife, Mel White. P.N. Elrod and her husband Mark.

Programming included fan panels, an art show, and a British media video room. The "Larry Herndon Memorial Awards" were presented.

1990: Con Reports

On Saturday, August 11, Peggy Howard, Denise Loague, Jackie Black and I attended Conniption, a one-day convention, in Richardson, Texas. Although I was a little disappointed there wasn't more Blake's 7 stuff (but what would be enough?), it was a terrific day and I enjoyed it immensely.

Everyone I talked to was very friendly. The dealer's room had a wide variety of items in all price ranges. Although much of it was way out of my price range, there turned out to be quite a lot that was reasonably priced.

The art show was very small, although it had some interesting pieces.

The video room had all British offerings and I enjoyed what I saw. I saw just enough of Knight's of God to make me want to see more. (At one point a couple of characters are looking at a picture of Gareth Thomas, and one said, "He's a leader of the rebels." Well, gosh, we knew that!) There was a spoof of Doctor Who that was cute. I saw one Red Dwarf episode — extremely weird but some funny moments, I really enjoyed The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation As We Know It, a very unique Sherlock Holmes. I missed the Black Adder episodes, but Peggy said they were good.

In programming, I attended the session entitled "Books Aspiring Writers Should Read." Ardath Mayhar, John Steakly, Pat and Mark Elrod, and Louann Qualls were the members of the panel. They all had inspiring, informative and amusing comments to make. (Did you know some editors have criticized authors for 'spending too much time on characterization"?)

Ardath Mayhar, described in the con flyer as a "card-carrying Mean Little Old Lady," was a fascinating persona. She is also armed and dangerous. Those hair pins surely qualify as lethal weapons.

I enjoyed meeting Pat Elrod, author of The Vampire Files series, who graciously autographed my copies of her books. She and Mark, her husband, were both very friendly and easy to talk to. (Mark was dressed as Kerr Avon, wearing a name tag which had a caricature of him with a huge smile and the words. 'If s 4th season, I can't help myself.")

All around it was a very enjoyable and exhausting day. My feet were killing me before it was even halfway over, but it was worth every ache."

Four bold, brave members of Serendipity braved the wilds of Texas to attend Conniption '90 in Richardson. Kathy Cremona, Peggy Howard, Denise Loague, and I went to this one day mini-con on August 11 and had a wonderful time.

The guests were L. Sprague de Camp and his wife Catherine, and a wildly funny lady, Ardath Mayhar. I didn't get to hear the de Camps speak, but Kathy and I sat in on a panel — What Aspiring Writers Should Read. It was a real blast as Ardath told about some of the real-life experiences she had—and used—in some of her writing. (What should we read? Everything from mythology to sociology to anything that interests you.)

I was able to add a few goodies to my collection from the dealer's room, most notably a hardback copy of Tanith Lee's Sometimes, After Sunset, which includes her story, Kill the Dead. (I finally got one!) Plus, Kathy, Denise and I got our copies of PN Elrod's The Vampire Files signed.

It was four tired Okies that returned to Tishomingo Saturday evening, and I don't know about the others, but I had fun!

My report begins in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 11. We were all excited, nervous, and eager to get on the road — afraid we might miss something important! So, I propped my eyes open, we made a quick stop so I could tank up on caffeine, and Kathy Cremona, Peggy Howard, Jackie Black and I were on our way to Richardson, Texas to attend Conniption '90!

We were among the first congoers to arrive and, as far as I know, the only group from the state of Oklahoma. I was the first to arrive in costume, which prompted one of the registration table personnel to exclaim, "That makes us (the con) 'Official'!" Being a vampire, I dressed for the occasion in basic black. I got several compliments on the blood-red button that adorned my black frock coat It read, "Vampires Do It In Vein"! It was fun to see how people reacted. What would you do if you got into an elevator with someone who was wearing that costume and that button? One fellow who stepped into the elevator with me backed into the far comer, then got out as fast as he could when the doors opened!

In the dealers' room, I talked to representatives from an area Doctor Who fan club, ORAC (Blake's 7), and USS. Joshua, who were showing a hilarious video of a Star Trek spoof they had performed!

When I wasn't browsing through boxes of books and magazines in the dealers' room, I was making the trek back to the video room, which was an air-conditioned respite from the Texas heat! They presented an all-British TV lineup, which included such classics as The Goodies, Danger Mouse and Black Adder. I also saw the first part of Knights of God (with Gareth Thomas and Patrick Troughton), two episodes of Red Dwarf (a space comedy about a man, his cat and a hologram!), and an episode from a comedy series called Hot Metal, which is set at a tabloid newspaper. Robert Hardy (Siegfried Famon from All Creatures Great and Small) had dual roles as millionaire Twiggy Rathbone, owner of the newspaper, and Russell Spam, the editor.

In the art room, three artists had their work displayed. Although it was a small art show, there were some very nice pieces of artwork depicting "magical creatures" and characters from Beauty and the Beast and Robin of Sherwood. I did sit in on one panel — Books Aspiring Writers Should Read — with Ardath Mayhar, Louann Quails, John Steakley, and Pat and Mark Elrod. Some statements the panel members agreed on were: Write what you want and what you would like to read. You don't want to be your own critic. What you like, other people will like. Make your stories accurate and keep your characters "in character." And, if you're writing fiction, don't just read fiction — read technical historical or biographical books.

Pat Elrod had some amusing anecdotes to share about writing her books, The Vampire Files. She and Mark would "act out" the scenes from the books to see if those scenes would actually work and be believable to the readers. Pat got involved in one of the fight scenes and hit Mark over the head with a crate!

Mark Elrod had been watching Clint Eastwood and related some thoughts he had wherein Dracula would saunter up to Van Helsing and drawl "Make my night!" Dracula could whip out a 357 Magnum and shoot the cross out of Van Helsing's hand!

The highlight of the day for this vampire was when Pat Elrod autographed my copies of Bloodlist and Lifeblood, the first two books in The Vampire Files series. Wearing a bright red shirt and a tie emblazoned with The Shadow, she chatted with the Serendipity constituency (and even took a picture of us!) Then, alas, we had to take our leave and start the trip back to Oklahoma. But, August 11 will be a day we will all remember!

1992

February 29-March 1, 1992, LaQuinta Inn, Arlington, Texas.

Most of the guests were science fiction writers, including B7 fanzine writers P.N. and Mark Elrod.

1992: Con Reports

From a February 1992 article in Tarriel Cell v. 5 n.3:

Over two years ago, some fens decided that the Dallas/Fort Worth convention scene needed some new faces. Conniption was started to fill an apparent void in the literary aspect of Dallas/Fort Worth literary fandom. Three area clubs, ORAC, TANSTAAFL, and The Loose Confederation of Fandom have worked together to make this convention possible. Since these different clubs have slightly different orientations in fandom. Conniption isn't just a one-subject convention.

From a merging of talents and resources from ORAC as well as the Loose Confederation of Fandom and TANSTAAFL, Conniption was born. Conniption was intended to be a home grown SF/F convention that would provide a place for fans to see just how much literary talent we have in the area. We also wanted to give many writers and artists in the area the exposure and praise that they deserve, but have not always received in the past. Most of all, Conniption was to be a reasonably priced convention that wasn't out to make a profit at the fans' expense.

Now, in 1992, Conniption is again creating a great convention for the fans' enjoyment. We were a one-day literary convention in l990,but everyone said they wanted more.

This year we have gone farther afield to find guests that don't normally frequent the DFW area. We have bullied our guests for submissions to make our program book into more of a fanzine that can be saved and collected. We doubled our size and looked for more guests and more and different dealers.

This year's guests include writer Guest of Honor Frederik Pohl, Artist Guest of Honor Brad W. Foster, and Toastmaster Wilson "Bob" Tucker, We also have such notables as Ardath Mayhar, Mark and Pat Elrod, L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp, Roxanne Longstreet, Cat Conrad, David Lee Anderson, C. Dean Andersson, Nina Romberg, George Proctor, Pat Anthony, Bill Jahnel, Mel White, John Morrison and Vic Martine.

Our video rooms boast of 16mm films as well as the best lineup of British shows in the area. This year we have added a larger art show, and a hall costume contest One of Conniption's main attractions is the "Larry Hemdon Memorial Awards" banquet on Saturday night The banquet has been organized to present Pohl, Foster and Tucker with the Larry Hemdon Memorial Awards for their contributions to fandom and the fans that make it great. The awards were introduced in 1990 to honor the memory of Larry Hemdon. Larry and his wife Sharon opened the Remember When Shop in Dallas to bring a convention dealer's room to the public every day.

But with bringing in a guest from Chicago, creating a worthwhile convention book and doubling the size of the con, Conniption's costs more than tripled. Now, Conniption is at a crisis position economically. There are many up-front costs to cover, and Conniption has not received enough pre-registration funds to ensure that we break even.

There are several ways to bridge this gap. One is for those of you who will be attending Conniption to register early. For those who cannot make the convention but wish to support it. Conniption will mail the program book lo you for $7. Another way to support the convention is to stay at the hotel. Conniption's hotel bill goes down when more rooms are rented in the name of the convention.

Weekend passes are $12, the banquet costs $23, and a banquet/weekend package is $28. At the door prices will be $14, $25 and $30 respectively. Pre-registered weekend memberships and banquet/weekend membership packages will automatically receive a con program book. Weekend memberships (with or without the banquet) will receive the book while supplies last.

Those who purchase single day memberships at the door can purchase the program books for $2 while they last. Single day memberships will be $8 for Saturday and $6 for Conniption is still a small convention, but we prefer to be friendly and small rather than large and run-of-the-mill. We were originally scheduled for September of 1991 (you know, the pattern of a convention a year), but our date conflicted with another local literary event. To keep things friendly and not lose all our guests, Conniption moved to its present leap year date. This does not mean, however, that we will only have a convention every four years.