Starcon (US convention 2)

For similar cons, see Starcon.

Convention
Name:	Starcon
Dates:	November 13, 1976, with a banquet the following night
Frequency:	probably once
Location:	varies
Type:	fan run, for profit, celebrity guests
Focus:	Star Trek
Organization:	Sacramento Valley S.T.A.R.
Founder:
Founding Date:
URL:
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front cover of the program book

back cover of the program book

flyer

Starcon was a Star Trek convention in Sacramento, CA sponsored by Sacramento Valley S.T.A.R..

While the con may have been successful in terms of entertainment, it was a financial and political mess for the fan club that sponsored it. One rumor was that DeForest Kelley refused to exit his hotel room to go to his speaking engagement until he was paid with cash.

Guests of Honor

• T.N. Tanaka was the Master of Ceremonies
• DeForest Kelley
• George Takei
• Nichelle Nichols
• Mark Lenard
• Arlene Martell
• William Campbell
• Bruce Hyde (his first convention appearance )
• Dr. John Moore ("our representative from NASA," he bought a model of the Space Shuttle)

The Con Com

Diana Morgan (chairman), Jan Howard (co-chair, ticket manager), Caroline Long(co-chair, usher commander), Don Jaramillo (dealers room manager), Norman Knight (trivia contest coordinator), Steve Nathan (aide-de-camp), Sherry Magee (stage manager), Charles Cusick (security specialist), Penny Cusick (costume contest coordinator), and Kathy Knight (equipment coordinator).

Other thanks to Vickie Bailey (chief projectionist), Doug Nelson (public relations for "Horizon"), and Paul M. Newitt (logo design).

The Program Book

It contains 27 pages.

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Con Reports

The fact that the club is still alive may come as a surprise to some of you (hopefully a good one). In the last part of November 1976 our club held Starcon 76 which lost the club thousands of dollars, and nearly wiped it out of existence— the newsletter was mailed out three months late, and many members were given the impression that the club had been disbanded. The following is a "brief" account of what happened: In late August 1976 the Council of STAR voted to hold "Starcon 76". Starcon was to be a large-scale, all-day, convention with many guest stars. The club had never attempted such an undertaking before, and perhaps more importantly, with one exception, none of the Council members had had any first hand experience with putting on conventions. The Treasurer was designated "Chairman" of the convention and the plans were lain. Meanwhile Summation Ass. announced there planned mini-con to be heldinSeptember1976. Star Seekers and Star Clique of San Francisco also announced there convention to be held in early December. The Council felt it would be best to squeeze Starcon in between the other two conventions. When the September convention was held attendance was "poor"and the con lost money. At that time the Council was urged to delay holding Starcon for several months to allow the Star Trek market to recover. The Chairman and other Council members felt that the failure of the September con. was due to lack of advertising, and that Starcon could still be a success if more money were spent on advertising. As a consequence the budget grew and grew.

By the time of the October meeting of the club it had become apparent to most of the former Council members that Starcon was on a collision course with bankruptcy. At that time Andy McLean and I went before the membership and recommended that they postpone the convention. Needless to say we were ignored — Starcon 76 was held on November 13 with approximately 1,500 people in attendance. The result was a loss of about $8,000 and the resignation of the newly elected President, newly elected Secretary, and the re-elected Treasurer. From November 13, 1976 to January 14, 1977 the club was virtually non-existent. At the January 14 meeting a new President, myself, Secretary, Kim Fulton, and new Treasurer, Andy McLean, as well as a new representative, Betsy Ito were elected. In the period following: The outstanding debts of the club have been reduced from $1,800 to under $4000, and the newsletter—thanks to Terry Whittier, one of the people whom did not resign—has begun to function again. It is my belief that the club can continue, however, we need your support and help. At our next meeting, March 11, we will be holding elections for all positions. We need you there to participate— both to run for offices and to vote. I hope that with this explanation you can understand the delays in the answering of mail and the sending of materials. Thank you for your continued support, we can't do it with out you.

[from a much, much longer report in The Clipper Trade Ship #13]: We are ready to pack up and go home. But will stick it out. The convention, for being run by a long established club, S.T.A.R. Sacramento, seems to be poorly run. Stars they've got: William Campbell, Nichelle Nichols, Bruce Hyde, and Mark Lenard. DeForest Kelley is supposed to speak later on. Attendance is maybe 1,000 of the proposed 3500-5000 expected. Or at least it seems to be no more than 1000. There isn't much to do here. In what little wandering around I've been doing (I'm not tied to the table as I normally am. as Shirley, Frankie, & Amy have been helping me out, sticking behind the table with nothing else to do, God bless 'em), there isn't a lot to do here. There is a stage where one star speaks, sings, or whatever at a time, a curtained off area for films, and the dealers' area for the main events. I am amazed at the 4 ST episodes they got: Journey to Babel, A Piece of the Action, Miri, & Mirror, Mirror. An excellent choice; they must be somebody's private copies. And the outlawed blooper reel, of course. I can imagine clubs bucking Paramount and the Actor's Guild, but they ought to have at least a little respect for Nimoy & his court order against showing the bloopers in public. Those are the films. There are a few other activities as well. A sign stuck in a corner reads 'trivia contest.' Not much else besides the sign. A Nasa display case with the model of the shuttlecraft is placed where one finds it by accident. And the Art Show. Hoo boy. There are hand scrawled signs plastered all over telling one where the art show is. I almost missed it. There was one table (or 2?) with things on them that I believe may be loosely defined as 'art.' The art for sale on a few hucksters' tables is much better.