SomaCon

Convention
Name:	SomaCon
Dates:	1989, September 8-9, 1990 & July 12-14, 1991
Frequency:
Location:	Chicago, IL
Type:	fan-run, no guests
Focus:	Blake's 7
Organization:	Liberation, Ltd. (fan club)
Founder:	Virginia Skroch
Founding Date:
URL:
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SomaCon was a fan-oriented Blake's 7 con with "multi-track programming & video, art show, dealer's room, awards, games, con suite, masquerade."

The fan in charge of programming in 1991 wrote that "It's all-fan, no-guest, very relaxing and should be a lot of fun... Think of it as a letterzine in person!"

SomaCon 1.0

Somacon 1.0 was held in 1989.

SomaCon 2.0

Somacon 2.0 was held in September 1990 at the Howard Johnson Conference Center in Chicago, IL.

Workshops, B7 murder mystery, B7 Jeopardy, panels, art show, and more.

From some meeting minutes for ORBIT in early June 1990: "we found out that Somacon has become a relaxicon to the max."

From an online flyer:

"SOMACON 2.0- September 8-9, Howard Johnson's O'Hare International Airport Hotel, Chicago, IL. In-depth writers and artists workshops, B7 murder mystery, B7 Jeopardy, fan panels, art show, videos, etc. Tickets: $30. (NOTE: This con has been downsized somewhat. If you have tickets, or if you want tickets, you should contact the con immediately)."

SomaCon 3.0

SomaCon 3.0 was held July 12-14, 1991.

Jeanne DeVore was in charge of programming. From an online flyer:

"SOMACON 3.0- July 12-14, Chicago, IL. B7 Relaxicon, with pool party, art show, panels, videos, auction, and B7 Scavenger hunt. Con held at Oakbrook Terrace Comfort Suites outside Chicago. Put on by Liberation, Chicago's B7 club. Tickets: $20. Checks payable to Liberation LTD."

Con Reports: SomaCon 3.0

SomaCon 3.0, a fan-only "relaxicon" sponsored by Liberation Ltd., the Chicago-area Blake's 7 club, was held July 12-14 at the Oakbrook Comfort Suites in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. This hotel is fiendishly difficult to get to except by car or taxi, but the con staff arranged a ride for me from the Lisle Hyatt where the airport shuttle dropped me off. I got the impression that few of the 45 attendees lived outside the greater Chicago area, so this was a minor problem. In other respects the hotel was adequate but not luxurious. The rooms were quiet but the maids careless; the full breakfast provided was ample, but the "complimentary cocktails in the lounge" limited to the simplest mixers. The pool was large and warm, but over-chlorinated; some of the exercise equipment was broken. Such faults are easy to put up with for $75 per night for two people. The con staff did have problems getting enough keys to avoid being locked out of rooms, though: par for the course.

The schedule consisted chiefly of a double slate of panels led by one to three fans. Topics included "Casting the Blake's 7 Movie," "Adult Fanfic How Realistic Is It/Do We Want It to Be?," "Can There Be a PGP Without Avon?," "Blake's 7 vs. Star Trek Federations," "Why Can't a Woman Be The Good Guy?," "Blake's 7 and Dysfunctional-Addictive Behaviors," "Hurt/Comfort and Why We Love It" "Sex Religion and Blake's 7," and many others. Panels were informal a circle of up to ten people conversing enthusiastically, and sometimes straying from the topic. The "Anomalies and Unanswered Questions" panel, led by a single fan and attended by only three others, degenerated (developed?) quickly into a hugely interesting discussion of Avon's character (not the subject of any other panel, more's the pity). The conversations were of such high quality that rarely did anyone leave before the hour was up. Although there was no panel specifically for writers, an omission I hope to see corrected next year, each panel provided many ideas and helpful suggestions for the fan writer. More than once 1 groaned to hear a unanimous denunciation of a cliche I inadvertently used. Quite an education.

Interspersed with the panels were parties: the Friday night pool party, the Blake's Anonymous meeting ("Hello, my name is Mary and I'm a Blakeaholic'), the Chocolate Tasting, and the Afternoon Tea at closing. These parties and the con suite featured home-baked goodies in abundance. Particularly memorable was a huge cake made by Servalan Avon Grushka (yes, that's her legal name), who did most of the cooking for the con (fretting mightily and needlessly the while). If you didn't have time to drive down to McDonald's, you wouldn't starve in the con suite or the video rooms. For those tired of panels, mere wen? continuous Blake's 7 episodes in the con suite and two video rooms showing a wide selection of non-Blake's 7 videos. Some of the more unusual videos scheduled were Peer Gynt (Lorna "Anna" Heilbron), After the Fall (Gareth Thomas), The Sandbaggers (Gynis Barber), and The Professionals (Brian Croucher). Of course, several videos featured Paul Darrow, and I saw Drake's Venture for the first time. His character is beheaded on camera, and the scenes leading up to it impressed me even more than the vaunted special effect. Keep the beard, Paul, it suits you.

Another highlight of the con was Blake's 7 Jeopardy. Bud Hanzel did an extraordinary job writing two rounds of questions and emceeing to boot. Four contestants answered questions in such categories as 'Starts with 13"," "Actors and their Roles," "What's Neu" (as in neutron), 'Start the Line, Finish the Line," and "Rhyme Time" (example: Olag's kitchen equipment. Gan's pans). Bud also ran the Delta Force of gofers, but so kindly that I didn't have a single thing to do. It seemed the whole con staff was so energetic and determined to make the event succeed, extra hands weren't needed.

My favorite event of the weekend was the Gauda Prime Follies, a series of skits written brilliantly by Jeanne DeVore and Merle Micklin. (Yes, I'm a ham, I volunteered.) The show began with a kazoo rendition of the Blake's 7 theme song, which was recognizable, if not exactly on key. Then, following a commercial for Federation Express Travellers' Cheques, there was a sketch in which a miracle worker (me) revives a dead Blake, a couple of fractured Shakespeare monologues, commercials for Soma Lite (tastes great, less filling) and the New Improved System DSV3, interrupted by the Federeady Bunny. Following two brief filks, the show ended with a bang (three bangs, in fact, with the Gauda Prime puppet show. ("Have you betrayed me, Mr. Blake?" "Oh no, Mr. Avon!") The puppets were beautifully made and strikingly realistic (except for Mr. Tarrant, who was a tiny dustmop) and were later sold for $25 at the art auction (a steal). The audience loved the show and roared for more an unqualified success.

The art auction was small appropriately so for the number of attendees. After some serious counter-bidding, I managed to acquire two portraits of Avon and a ceramic TARDIS. (The charity beneficiary of the auction, Wisconsin Public Television, donated a number of Doctor Who-related items to the auction). Others managed to get some serious bargains (first-edition Bizarro for $8), though some items went for well over their "street" value (three Doctor Who buttons went for $15).

There were also pecuniary temptations in the dealers' rooms. Besides the items for sale by Liberation (many a bilious soma-green), there were three dealers, offering zines new and used, photographs, SF books, jewelry, buttons and miscellanies - I thought the selection was gorgeous and there were some bargains among the zines. (A friend picked up a Gambit for $10.) I wanted a button that read "Okay, I'm expendable and stupid. Can I go now?" but couldn't find one. As if this wasn't enough to keep you awake until 3 a.m., there were games and contests. In the con suite was a Macintosh computer game, a lovely piece of work in which you as Avon have to find and shoot Blake. There was a contest to match up pictures of body parts (Roman noses, pierced ears, piano-key teeth) with the characters they came from; an impossible scavenger hunt (on the list a Decima, a stud, a hairy alien, Avon's pet), and a writing assignment involving TV Guide summaries of some new shows: Travis Knows Best (picturing Servalan, Travis, and baby with eyepatch), I Dream of Avon (Himself with Barbara Eden), and others. The most bizarre of the games was 'Tip the Feds," a take-off on 'Tip the Cows," itself a spoof. Two boy seated figures, Travis and Servalan, are thrown like dice into a box. How they land determines your score. If one lands on top of the other ("Fed Fornication") you automatically win (if Servalan is on top) or lose (the other case). Sick and twisted — I like that.

I enjoyed every minute of this con. Though I arrived very early, well before the con staff had finished setting up, they made me feel welcome instantly. That feeling persisted throughout the weekend. The con was not so crowded with people that I felt estranged, nor so crowded with events that I missed anything I really wanted to attend. Kudos to the entire staff, especially to Denise Boghosian, con chair and terrific person. I plan to go to SomaCon next year, and recommend it as a thoroughly enjoyable escape.