The Wrap Party

Science Fiction Convention
Name:	The Wrap Party
Dates:	14 September to 16 September 1998
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Location:
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Focus:	Babylon 5
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The Wrap Party was a 1998 Babylon 5 convention and held in the Radisson Edwardian Hotel near London's Heathrow airport.

Guests included J Michael Straczynski, Harlan Ellison, James White (SF author), Jack Cohen (biologist, and consultant to many SF authors), Peter David, and more.

Flyers

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  from an August 1996(!) flyer

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  from an August 1996(!) flyer

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  from an August 1996(!) flyer

Con Reports

By all accounts, the convention was a success, and brought a welcome infusion of new blood and new ideas into the UK conrunning community. However, the pre-registered membership was not enough to cover the projected costs, and the committee were facing a potential shortfall of around £8,000 (which had already been covered by committee members) if insufficient walk-in memberships were received. These walk-ins did not turn up, but several of the guests (over the protests of some of the committee) held an auction of trips to visit such places as Harlan Ellison's house and the sets of the new Babylon 5 spin-off, Crusade, raising enough money to cover the full deficit.

“Wrap Party” was originally conceived to be a sort of capper for Babylon 5, a convention that was to be held at the wrap-up of the entire series. Several things happened to undercut somewhat the intention of the con. First, the transmission of the concluding episodes was held up, so the series hasn’t actually ended yet for viewers. And second, rather than being an aspect of the past, B5 remains an ongoing concern since the creation of the series Crusade, which is to continue set in the B5 universe.

[...]

Although the British fans knew of my work, they weren’t sure what to expect in terms of my convention appearance. Harlan volunteered to do my intro, and spent fifteen minutes extolling my virtues with (appropriately) a number of digressions into stuff that had nothing to do with me at all. Which was fine, because as long as the audience was entertained, that was good enough for me. As part of my presentation I did a dramatic reading of “Skippy the Jedi Droid,” the column that ran in these very pages some months ago. The hotel was right by Heathrow Airport, which served me in good stead, because at one point in the reading I got to the following passage:

“For one day the ground rumbled beneath his treads, and he saw coming towards him the giant rolling truck of the Jawas…”

Just as I read that sentence, absolutely on cue, a large jet passed overhead and caused the entire room to rumble. I was suddenly performing in Sensurround.

[...]

The convention found itself running significantly in the red, to the tune of almost eight thousand pounds. Harlan and Joe decided to attend to this situation by holding an impromptu auction Saturday night during the convention’s big dance. They offered two groups of four—the two highest bidders—guided tours of the facilities at Babylonian Productions as well as Harlan’s house. Even though the bidders have to provide their own means of getting across the pond, that didn’t prevent spirited bidding which raised over eleven thousand pounds. Basically, Joe and Harlan put the convention into the black in under half an hour. Not bad.

Overall, I like British conventions. The audiences tend to be fairly literate and enthusiastic, the panels are well-attended, and the fans (with the occasional exception) polite and friendly. I know I’d consider going to another.