Escapade/Escapade 1993

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Escapade 1993

cover of the 1993 program book, the artist is uncredited, fans could buy a t-shirt with this image in the con suite for $20

sample 1993 convention badge

Escapade 3 was held on February 5-7, 1993.

Some 2010 Recollections: "Escapade 1993: A Blast From the Past"

In 2010, Henry Jenkins posted a transcripts from this con.

See the transcript of a panel discussion between Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, Meg G, Shoshanna, and others":

• Escapade 1993: A Blast From the Past (part one)
• Escapade 1993: A Blast From the Past (part two)

Programming

Friday:

12:00 -- Opening Luncheon, "Come along, help us plan the party, hang out with the cool crowd"

1:00 -- "Hysterical Historicals," led by Pamela and Barbara, "So we're romantics... so we bitch an complain about 'only the names remain the same' -- so why do we love them?!"

2:00 -- "Prejudice in Fandom," led by Pat and Barbara, "This topic covers both the sense of prejudice from with and without our social group, and the issues of prejudice that may arise in fanfic and the characters we love."

3:00 -- "Anti-Feminism in Slash Fandom," led by (Charlotte Hill) and Pamela, "Or, how 'it was never this good with a woman' syndrome... where are the women, and why do we care?"

4:00 -- "Mary Sue and Why We Love to Hate Her!," led by Marion and Marian

5:00 -- "Dark Starsky & Hutch," led by Shoshanna and Kathy, "Where is it? Why isn't it? Isn't it about time?"

5:00 -- gather at Ming Wathne's house (1.5 miles away) for an introduction to the Fanzine Library, "This continuation of the Zine Library started in 1977, has been reopened in Santa Barbara... Orig SW, it has been expanded to include all fandoms. Ming Wathne, the librarian, will have refreshments and share with you what the library is, how it works, how editors can submit their out-of-print zines and how you can borrow them!"

7:00 -- Con Suite, M. Fae Glasgow reading, led by Nancy. "Reading of a work in progress by the shy and retiring Glaswegian's editor."

8:00 -- Professionals, led by Sammie and Kathy, "So, who are these guys anyway? (Please write and bring a list -- 5 most definate physical attributes of Bodie & Doyle & 5 personality traits, in order of importance.)"

midnight: bowling, "All our heroes do it! Let's make fools of ourselves at the local alley. Meet in the Con Suite to car pool. Be there or be square!"

Saturday:

10:00 -- Mini Panels: Patalliro, Tris/Alex, Forever Knight, led by B., P., S. "Intro to some very cool fringe fandoms! Check the schedule for video connections."

11:00 -- Minipanels, led by Nola, Jane, and (Megan Kent): Miami Vice, Northern Exposure, and Insiders and Quantum Leap, led by Meg and Shoshanna

12:00 -- "Plagiarism," led by Leslie and Barbara, "Don't Touch My Universe!" Given that this entire genre is generated from copyrighted materials, do we have grounds to be protective of our writing? If so, what are they?"

1:00 -- "Wiseguy: Variety is the Spice..." led by Melody, Darlene, and Pamela. "There are so many possible pairings, who merits the most attention and why?"

2:00 -- "Academia and Our Culture (see transcript)," panel discussion with Meg R, Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley and Shoshanna, "Academia discusses us, and we discuss our response to being discussed." (There was a follow-up panel the next year by Penley and Jenkins called "Academia: What are they saying? What do we want them to say?" -- "Fandom has definitely been outed, at least in academic circles. What can we do about it?")

3:30 -- Deep Space 9: Q & A, led by Henry Jenkins, short discussion of the new show and what we think about it

4:00 -- "Writing Sex Scenes," led by Marion and (Charlotte Hill), "An interactive panel where we'll pick apart the elements of writing a sex scene and practice rewriting the same scene, emphasizing different elements and different points of view."

4:00 -- "Reality Slash," led by Meg and Shosahanna, "Why is it okay (or not) to fantasize about real people (actors, musicians, athletes) and write about them the way we do about fictional characters? Who says?"

5:00 -- "Intro to S&M," led by Colleen, "Everything you wanted to know and didn't know who -- or how -- to ask."

7:30 -- "Best of Comedy/New Songtapes"

10:00 -- "Sexy Boys on Parade" (vids?), "Before the Boys, Bawdy Filks by Leslie Fish"

12:00, midnight, "Vampire Erotica," led by Henry Jenkins, "It's hot. It's powerful. It's dark. There's blood...", "After the Boys, FILKING with Leslie Fish and Jane Mailander"

Sunday:

9:30 -- free breakfast!

11:00 -- art auction, presided by Marion and Shoshanna

11:00 -- "Blake's 7: Whip Me, Beat Me, Make me even more depressed...," led by Sandy and Jane, "So why do we punish ourselves with a fandom this dark, anyway?"

12:00 -- "Wiseguy: It was Meant to Be...," led by (Charlotte Hill) and Ann, "So everybody else in this series was just to prepare Frank and Vinnie for their own private "happily ever after", right?!

12:00 -- "Going Pro," led by Jane and Leslie, "Both are fan authors who have made the transition to professionally selling their work. Come learn what it takes to make it in the for-profit world."

1:00 -- "Supply and Demand in Fandom," led by (Megan Kent) and Ann, "Can we have too much of a good thing? How many cons or zine is too many? Are we glutting the market?"

2:00 -- "The Appeal of Hurt/Comfort," led by (Megan Kent), "How sick is it to get off on hurting your heroes? Why is it such a turn on?"

4:00 -- Dead Dog Party, "C'mon up to the Con Suite and continue the fun. Bring along any leftovers from the weekend to share. Party on, dudes!"

Notable Events

This Escapade was notable for, among other things, a panel discussion among Henry Jenkins, Constance Penley, Meg G, Shoshanna, and others entitled "Academia and our Culture," subtitled: "Academia discusses us, and we discuss our response to being discussed."

Transcript of Academia and Our Culture, ^{Archived version}, 6 February 1993.

Convention Reports

Focusing on the Growth of Slash

Below is an exchange illustrates that the growth of slash fandom beyond Star Trek, which had begun in the mid-1980s, was still a sore point for many K/S fans. And that these complaints did not even reach the radar of other fans, like Sandy, who herself started off as a K/S fan. In the years that followed, more mono-K/S fans would choose to gather at Sharecon in spite of its uneasy tolerance of slash fandom.

Report by Sandy Herrold:

First: the Academia in Fandom panel! I met Constance Penley, and was very impressed. Both Camille and Henry, in their books are writing about media fandom, and seem to feel that slash is just one part of media fandom, barely worth mentioning except for completeness sake. In fact, Camille comes right out and says that h/c is more "important' than slash (like what does that mean?)

Constance, on the other hand, agrees with me, that slash is interesting all on its own, separate from its existence as a part of larger media fandom. She described herself as a "slash fan, and fan of slash fandom." I wish I had an exact transcript; at one point she says (approx) 'Except for some radical sex workers, slash fandom is the only place I know where women of all ages and sizes can come together and be validated for their lust.' (Don't get me wrong, she also talked about the importance of other slash concepts, she wasn't all slash = sex.)

Henry was also very interesting. He said that he has never attended a slash con before because he was afraid he would be out-of-place (not a direct quote). It was pointed out by many that every slash con has one or two men. I never felt he was intimidating, or changed the normal flow of conversation in a panel (though most of the panels that we were both in, were big panels with more than one person talking at one time; you know, panels with the sort of energy that wouldn't notice a Klingon invasion if it happened in the middle). He wore a couple of buttons, one said, "yes I am a slash fan, and yes I am a man." and "No, my wife didn't tell me everything I know about slash". He went on to say that many years ago when he first started reading them, he read them as an observer, and only gradually let himself enjoy them, and now (despite a 10+year monogamous relationship with his wife) is out as a bisexual; something he credits slash with making him realize.

Men at slash cons make me nervous. I usually feel they are determined/desperate for attention. Henry didn't come across that way either as a man or an academic, which was nice. There were a couple of male media, non-slash fan there, and one of them was a bit of a pain; figuring the 1 to 40 boy-to-girl ratio meant that he should be a little god.

Hey Lezlie and Sharon (and everyone else) -- I finally got to meet Pam Rose. She is my all time fav Pros writer (though you, of course, Lezlie, are the writer of the funniest Pros story of all time) and I gushed like a fountain over her. This was one of the first slash cons she'd been to away from home, and I don't think she realized just how much gushing she was going to get. By the end of the con, she was starting to rate gushes on originality, sincerity and humor.

Lauren just wrote: So what was available that was new? What zines did you buy?

First, Manacles Press' Nudge Nudge, Wink, Wink 2. It has a story in it by our own Alexfandra, and I did the proofing, so I'm not sure I can be totally impartial, but I liked it.

I 'of course' bought Oblaque Sextus. I read it on the plane, and don't think I would have noticed if I had crashed. If anyone out there remembers M. Fae saying that there were two subjects about which she wouldn't write, be warned, she gets very close to one here...

I bought two New Zealand Pros zines (Down Under Express) but haven't read them yet.

I forgot to buy Unprofessional B&D, so I have to bug Megan Kent for it...(hint, hint)

I passed up the chance to buy the new Chalk and Cheese; it just didn't seem all that promising.

Liaisons II (Multimedia) looked good--Mostly Pros, B7 and Muncle (as a zine should be after all...)

I looked at the last couple of Dyads, and saw no names I recognized. Since they won't edit, I only buy them when they have writers I can trust to edit themselves.

Heard the news on Harlequin Airs. The writing is done (263 pages-50 more than planned.) It should be out fairly soon; if not Media West, certainly Zebra con. Suzie Lovett had more pictures from it in the art show, and they, like the others shown at Virgule, were exquisite.

I also bought pounds and pounds of used B7.

I also bought my first fannish art at the con. (12+ years a fan, and never bought art.) I got two Suzie Lovett prints--One in color that many of you may have seen. It has a naked Blake with a leash, and a cat-like Avon, and the title is "Here, Kitty Kitty..." The other is also a naked Blake (this time in pencil) with a naked Avon curling around him. You'd never guess Doyle was my fav slash character...

In contrast, here is the convention report that was printed in The LOC Connection. This fan is a K/S fan who was attending her first slash convention and struggled with its multi-fandom focus:

I want to relate my impressions and experiences of my first slash con. Actually, as I had been forewarned, it was mostly multi-media, with some K/S, which formed the basis of my experience. It was about 125 people, almost all, I believe, from the surrounding Southern California area, so it may not be realistically representative of fans. I hope not.

Here's why. There was a pervasive feeling that they were tired of K/S and turned to other fandoms to participate in. And we're talking some pretty unusual interests, fandoms that one really has to stretch one's imagination to extrapolate any slash material. But, the surprising thing was that most of the dealer's tables were K/S publishers and zines. I understand that a lot of people have been into K/S for many years, so perhaps that explains their needs for a change. I haven't been into it for that long, and it's been an even shorter time that I've been writing and now doing art work.

But, I feel VERY strongly that K/S has UNLIMITED POTENTIAL. It is so deep and so multi-faceted, that the possibilities are endless. After all, it started all this slash, so it stands to reason that it would be the most complete. Also, there is not one other show that has such a strong basis from which to extend into slash....I could never be a part of any other fandom: that's certainly not to say that others can't enjoy theirs or that there is no room for anything besides K/S. But, for me, it's only an addition to K/S, not a replacement.

I was called a "Slash-con virgin" but I still feel like one! Also, I must add that everyone was really nice, I met lots of great people, saw the faces that matched the names I had read about, and enjoyed a well-organized event. And I bought LOTS of zines that I'm looking forward to consuming. But, K/S LIVES!

In a later issue of The LOC Connection, another mono-fan echoed their discomfort at attending a multi-fandom convention:

I find it most uncomfortable that I have to agree with you regarding the rather hostile attitude of some people toward K/S lately. This is very disturbing and puzzling to me.

In the past few years my friends and I have also attended slash cons where, if you are a K/S fan, you are made to feel like an old-fashioned dinosaur or someone completely out of touch with the latest fandom sweeping the country. A friend told me that, last year while attending a panel discussion at a con in Southern California, she was actually afraid to admit being a K/S fan because of the critical comments of others. In fact, this attitude upset her to the extent that it was one of the reasons we decided not to attend this year's convention.

What's going on? Is it just a few mean-spirited people with, shall we say, 'strong' opinions. Is the concept of IDIC outdated? Why can't we all co-exist peacefully?

General

How to talk about Escapade? Well, from the position of the ConCom, it went pretty well. Getting sick for a week before helped to put it on our usual breakneck procrastinator's pace. (We'd been doing really well before that, honest!) So it meant that when guests started arriving at our house on midnight Monday before the con, we were still editing the zine, the program book was in it's barest outline stages, and we were still confirming panelists, etc. However, by Wednesday midnight, the program book was home from the printer, and by Thursday 7:30 am N2W2 was on the press. This is on a par with last year's schedule, but this year the printer's machines were in good shape, so we had everything done by Thursday afternoon.

From Thursday night on, the con proceeded pretty much according to plan. People started checking in that night, Reg started Friday at 9 am, and programming started at noon on Friday. Because I was handling con details, I didn't get to most of the Friday panels but they were things like "The Appeal of Hysterical Historicals", "Prejudice in Fandom", "Mary Sue and Why Women Hate Her", "Anti-Feminism in Slash Fiction", "Dark Starsky & Hutch", and the Pro's panel "Who Are These Guys, Anyway?". There was also a reading of M. Fae Glasgow, which I didn't get to attend, and would love to hear about from someone who did. At midnight we went fandom bowling, and Sandy and I were on the Pro's team. We lost. At one point, our entire team was trailing the legally blind guy playing on the Trek team. Oh well...

Saturday morning meant the feeding frenzy, more panels, more details, etc. Due to a scheduling mishap (actually a schedule-reading mishap), Pamela Rose missed most of the Tris/Alex mini-panel, and I was forced to fill in for her (it's a tough life). I also talked about the Insiders, and listened to [Bonnie V] talk about Patalliro. I'm sure that there was a lot more going on here, but I can't remember it right now. Saturday night heralded the songtape shows (Best of Comedy, and then about 20 new vids that were submitted to our show), and then the night's entertainment. What to say? Well, it was exciting! Or, as [ Megan Kent ] would say, "No shit! There I was! Thought I was gonna die!" The mafia invaded our con, to the amusement and/or terror of many fans. Guido and Lucci Franco, two scumbags employed by the Mexican branch of La Cosa Nostra, headed by Don Boyardee, stepped out of a stretch limo with two rent-a-bimbos in tow, and tried to crash the party. They were intercepted by your valiant concom, with the help of Leslie Fish and the Santa Barbara sheriff's office, and diverted from the premises.

Following this little adventure, the two boys we'd hired, Billy & Scott showed up, did quite a titillating show, including some water, some baby oil, and lots of very nice touching. (Leslie, tell Pam we have her on videotape! Sandy, your voice is very prominent!)

Also of interest were breakfast out by the pool (of course, the weather took that opportunity to turn cloudy on us, and the rain set in by the end of the day). The art auction went well, our computerized system makes sales and payout really quick, and then I went on to my two other panels (Supply & Demand in Fandom and The Appeal of Hurt/Comfort). I really had a lot of fun in both of them. The con was over long before I was ready for it to be. There were a zillion friends that I feel I hardly saw. Boo hoo!

The biggest correction needed is to find someone to be the scheduled video person for the weekend. There were several showings that didn't happen either because I was busy or because the tape was missing. Oh well....I'm sure that there was a lot more of interest that may come to light as I recover access to my brain cells. When we get the post-con ready, I'll post any pertinent info. I hope that everyone makes it to the con next year. We had a great time.

Thursday: arrival.

Sandy actually said on Thursday night, "I could leave now and have had a good time." And have spent a lot less than by the end of the con, huh. Trying to find each other on Thursday night was an adventure: Sue managed to spot Sandy and Nicole and Tina on her shuttle from the airport, since they mentioned Melody, which was a dead giveaway... Lynn got picked up by some nice S/H fans (described her as "an orphaned waif") when the hotel failed to find her reservation and no one answered in Sandy's hotel room. But it all worked out in the end.

Friday: dealer's room feeding frenzy and the one Pros panel.

Alex was too busy feeding in the print shop to attend the panel, amazingly enough. Sue was buying food for us. Where was everyone else?? At the panel everyone agreed that they hate seeing Doyle feminized, hate elves, and hate teddy bear stories... so WHY are there so many of the damned things??? People started to relent on the bears thing and admit to liking *some* of them. Yucky poo. The discussion all sounded familiar to me, and when I realized why I said to Sandy, "It's just like the list," and she said "Yeah, except slower, and you can't hit the delete key." That about summed it up.

Sandy's "I'm Gonna Be" vid got watched compulsively many times after the vid contest, to a chorus of groans for all those luscious Doyle struts. (Forgot to tell you, Sandy, you left it in our room and Tina and I took advantage of the fact, right after we found all those people we didn't know having a party in our room after the art auction.)

For the list party, we played the drinking game and took many photos for the fen who weren't there. The drinking game was a big success, but since we picked the one intellectual episode (Mixed Doubles),

We had to make some additions to the list of drinking points, like "drink when you see a gun." Sue had most of a bottle of white Almaden plonk and was drunk enough to enjoy the crotch action, if not sober enough to appreciate the intellectual quality of the show. The Bullshitters followed, and we still drank, and then we did Hunter, Hunted, and drank some more... and it's all a big blur from then until the fire alarm at 6.45am the next day. The intermittent air raid sirens all Sat morning made for good moods all around. We should do a tally of the number of painkillers that were consumed Saturday.

Saturday: Party and awards

Party: Jane Mailander's cross-dressing routine was amazing. The play was incomprehensible from our table. I laughed to be polite. Alex won the writing contest, for a revised version of her "But it's July" story posted here earlier (during the thread on "excuses to get into bed together." Lynn was jealous and can't believe a story with the verb "wriggle" in it won anything.) [Note: Sue, who was sleeping on our floor on Thursday night, says she was afraid to say "it's really cold in here" lest it be taken the wrong way. We all know what comments like THAT can lead to.]

Jenn and Christine almost managed to throw their trousers into the con party and shout "Cover me!", but Karen B. nixed the idea, since it might embarrass the wait staff (mostly male). Oddly enough, at the art auction, where the pieces were being run around by hunky guys in tight jeans and leather jackets, it was not considered embarrassing to ignore the artwork and yell "How much for the runner?!" [Where did Karen find those guys, anyhow?]

Tina walked off with a spinning head and two Harlequin Airs Lovetts from the art auction. She had to be guided back to the room. Alex went crazed and bid and won the tote bag with B and D painted on it in regency drag. No, they were NOT on their way to a costume ball, they were in a 4th wave AU. Impure!!

Sunday: charity auction.

Alex won the "Future Fantasy, a drawing by Suzann Lovett" that she gets to specify. We all promised to inundate her with suggestions for the drawing. And some of us promised to move to Seattle to look at it a lot.

Best suggestion so far seems to be an illustration for a "future fantasy, a story by Alex MacKenzie" based on the strippers atEscapade last year. Doyle taking it off for Bodie, big sigh... (NB!!!: the story will not feature B and D at the con, stripping for a load of randy women. It will be a pure CI5 story. Alex has her limits.)

Ruth bid against Carol for the NTSC mystery Pros video tape in the charity auction... tsk, tsk. List strife.

Overall:

Lynn represented several characters at the con, Cassandra for largest chunk of time (due to trying to avoid a guy she didn't want to meet), and Tris-the-bitch for a brief wine-soaked moment, as prop during Jenn's rendition of Alex (!! not ATM, she was there too, but she was busy doing self-slash, not rock-star slash). Lynn also thought she was Erszebet at one point, when she had an erotic dream about Sandy and MFae (writer slash?).

Lezlie's inner child was appreciated by all. The wave theory was well represented by us, since Jenn and Christine made up buttons for us to wear with our waves on them. Alex got sick of explaining what the "first wabe" [sic] was. The buttons led to some segregation at meal-times, with first wavers sticking to their own at table, and the rest sloshing into a separate booth. Prejudice dies hard.

I had a terrific time, it was so good to meet people at last...

Vid Show

Sandy Hereld wrote a separate review for the vidding newsletter Rainbow Noise. It is reposted here in its entirety with permission:

The video situation at this con was interesting, due to Kandy Fong and her horde of helpers. She showed a "Best of Comedy" compilation; lots of good stuff, and then the new stuff for this con. Tashery's and Gayle's vids went over well: at one point in the con, Shoshanna…said, "If I come back to Blake’s 7, it will be because of the video work being done in that fandom.” "Precious Pain" was my favorite, but I liked them all….

After Precious Pain, M Fae leaned over my shoulder and said, "Avon does suffer beautifully, doesn't he?" A new person showed her first songtapes (under the psued. JAM); and I was blown away. She had 2 Pros and a S.H. The Pros was excellent, "Ragged Edge" especially so. The Starsky and Hutch one made me want to go back and watch that show. Look out for this one.

Kandy also had a huge duping room set up; she was doing l-to-4 Wiseguy all weekend (a fandom that has been really held back by a lack of good tapes; strangely, considering how recent the show is), and allowing two other 1-to-l duping stations to be filled on a sign-up basis all weekend. She had MVD’s vids in varying quality, con compilations, and a lot of eps, including new PAL professionally released Pros, that look pretty darn good. The clip quality of Pros songtapes should start to climb soon.

Escapade was a good con on a lot of levels, and very good on video."

The vidshow lasted one hour and five minutes and the playlist was:

• Quantum Leap - S/A, Little Red Riding Hood, Kandy Fong
• Starsky & Hutch, Secret, Cybel Harper
• The Professionals, Come to Me, Cybel Harper
• Miami Vice - Crockett/Castillo, Cuts Both Ways, Cybel Harper
• Blake's 7, Bad Company, Cybel Harper
• RS, When the Tough Get Going, Stacy Doyle
• K/S, Against All Odds, Stacy
• S/H, Don't Give Up on Us Baby, Liz K
• QL, Sharp Dressed Man, Stacy & Joyce H
• Muncle, Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me, Pam Rose
• B7, Precious Pain, Gayle
• B7, Regret, Gayle
• Sherlock Holmes, One Man Magical Show, Gayle
• B7, Lay My Love, Tashery Shannon
• B7, Don't You Need, Tashery Shannon
• B7, This is Not Love, Tashery Shannon

Gallery

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  flyer printed in What If...

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