Southern Con
You may be looking for Southern Media Con, a series of cons that began in 1993.
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Southern Con |
| Dates: | July 4-6, 1980 |
| Frequency: | once |
| Location: | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Type: | media fancon, celebrity guests |
| Focus: | Media Fandom |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | Janice Sidwell |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Southern Con was a media con, fan-run with celebrity guests of honor.
Guests of Honor and Programming
The guests of honor were Dave Prowse (Star Wars), Anthony Daniels (Star Wars), and Peter Mayhew (Star Wars). Frank Thomas (Space Cadet) was advertised, but it is unknown if he was present.
Starlog presented a slideshow called "Reaching for the Stars."
Reactions and Reviews
It was unfortunate that my first con took place just when the "Empire Strikes Back" craze was reaching its peak. Consequently there was very little to offer Star Trek fans. I attended with nine other members of the Memphis-based club ALLIES FOR STAR TREK, and we were rather, well, pissed off at the woman running the con. I will tell you her name --Janice Sidwell -- so that none of you, will make the mistake of dealing with her. She continued to advertise Mark Lenard and George Takei even after she knew that neither would be there (due to certain disagreements). One of our members had done a beautiful Sarek painting which she had intended to present to Mark, so she was understandably upset. The Radisson Plaza Hotel is outrageously expensive, and the six of us females were crammed into a tiny room rather than the suite we paid for.The dealers' room was not much; only half the tables were in use. There weren't many films running, and I did see a version of the blooper reel I'd not seen before, plus a "Quark" episode and a hilarious spoof "Hardware Wars" The art show was unimpressive. What disgusted me about the con was its lack of organization. No program or schedule. We had to run downstairs every hour to see what they'd written on the chalkboard. Now the brighter side: the Star Wars guests were very friendly, willing to talk or sign autographs for hours. They were Dave Prowse, the British muscleman who plays Darth Vader; Peter Mayhew, who is Chewbacca, and at 7'3" looks the part; and Tony Daniels, "C-3PO", who was the highlight of the con for me. Underneath that gold suit is one of the handsomest men I've ever seen. He has real stage presence, and the audience loved him.
Saturday night made our trip worthwhile, because the costume contest was enormous fun. Only a couple of ST-related characters were present, but there were such personalities as Miss Piggy, an infant Wookie (who jumped into Peter Mayhew's lap screaming "Daddy!) and a very authentic Yoda played by a 4-year-old. I entered as a Starfleet lieutenant (new uniform), and told the crowd "I'm one of the very few people who supports "STAR TREK: TMP. My loyal crew is sitting out there," I indicated the rest of my group, who also wore uniforms. We made every effort to publicize ST. After the contest,we threw a big party, squeezing 52 people into that hotel room. It lasted till 3 am. A lot of folks told us it was the best thing about the con. We enjoyed ourselves because we created our own fun, but we could have stayed home. Take my advice: steer clear of Southern Con. [1]