Unicon (California convention)

For other uses of the term, see Unicon.

Convention
Name:	Unicon
Dates:	there was one in 1989, and one in 1992, perhaps others?
Frequency:	?
Location:	California
Type:
Focus:	science fiction and fantasy
Organization:
Founder:	Michele Wilson
Founding Date:
URL:
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Unicon was a science fiction and fantasy convention held in California.

From a fan in 1993:

Cons with actors, like Shore Leave, Farpoint, Visions, Unicon, Anglicon, including professional for-profit cons such as those run by Creation. People may sell slash there, usually 'under the table,' but there (probably) won't be panels about it.

From a fan in 1994:

UNICON has been in the Bay Area of California for several years now. They are a "media con" in that they focus on media fandom, but they are very "star" oriented, and therefore there are not as many zines (and almost no slash) sold there.

1989

• June 24 and 25, 1989
• Sheraton Hotel, Concord, CA
• confirmed guests: Paul Darrow (Blake's 7), Janet Lees Price (Klyn: Blake's 7), Marion Zimmer Bradley, Terry Nation, Michael Keating, Richard Arnold (the guests listed in the program book were: Richard Arnold, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Paul Darrow, Richard Hallock, Michael Keating, Brin-Marie Landerman, Dr. Christoper McKay, Linda Siller, Michael Simms, Kevin Standlee, Dr. Carol Stoker, Thomas Talley, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro)
• the con had many Blake's 7 guests of honor, and was held at the height of The Blake's 7 Wars -- this was addressed here
• the 22-page program book had cover art by Melody Rondeau
• Videotape footage from the 1989 and 1992 conventions can be found as part of the "S. Hereld Collection of Blake's 7 Fanzines and Fan Fiction" located at the University of Iowa fanzine archives The footage was shot with an 8mm telephoto lens
  • There are 3 tapes associated with the Sunday June 1989 convention:
  • Opening of the convention with Michael Keating and other Blake's 7 cast members
  • "Heroes and Villains" (panel in 2 parts) with actors Michael Keating, Paul Darrow, producer Terry Nation and Claudia O'Keefe
  • "Liars" (panel in 2 parts) with actors Michael Keating, Paul Darrow and producer Terry Nation
  • Blake's 7 (panel in 2 parts), 20 minutes recorded with wide angle lens, duplication of a duplicate made on an RCA portable VCR which was a duplicate from an original camcorder transferred in June 1990
  • "Gore" (panel in 2 parts) with Paul Darrow, ??, Claudia O'Keefe and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• B7 fans performed the skit "Conventional Warfare"
• there were "science panels" arranged by "The Planetary Society" and featured: Dr. Chris McKay (NASA/Ames Research), Carol Stoker, Michael Simms
• George Sampson of KTEH Channel 54 was to attend
• activities were: open gaming, Japanese animation, dealers room, music videos, charity auction, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, TSR Games, Steve Jackson Games, filk singing, costume contest, art show, art auction, 24-hour video room
• the con charity was the Diablo Chapter of the American Red Cross

• 

  program book cover (artist: Melody Rondeau?)

• 

  from the program book

• 

  from the 1989 con, printed in Aspects #4

• 

  from the 1989 con, printed in Aspects #4

1989: A Statement from a Fan

A fan felt it necessary to publicly comment on one of the guests of honor (Paul Darrow) and the controversies swirling during The Blake's 7 Wars. From a progress report:

I have worked in science fiction conventions for almost fifteen years and in that time I have worked with and come to know many of the stars of the genre. Recently my friend Paul Darrow has come under a very vicious attack in certain fan publications. In my experience, Paul Darrow is one of the best people in the business. Paul has consistently tried to be accessible to his fans and has given a great deal of his time and energy in efforts to meet as many of his fans as possible. He does not do this for financial gain, he does it because he loves his fans. He is one of the least demanding and hardest working performers I have ever seen. Paul and Janet wanted me to thank everyone from the bottom of their hearts for the support they have received. I want to thank them for being the wonderful people that they are. I hope that all of you will get the chance to meet two of the kindest, most decent, and most loving people around. I know that my life has been enriched for having known them. -- Michele Wilson, Supreme Commander

1989: Flyers

• 

  first page of flyer for 1989

• 

  second page of flyer for 1989

• 

  progress report #3 for 1989

1989: Con Reports

I had the good fortune of being able to attend Unicon in Concord, California at the end of June. Despite a number of difficulties in organization, Unicon was a fantastic experience because everyone, fans and guests alike, pitched in to make the con work. I am especially impressed with the B7 guests, Paul, Michael Keating, and Terry Nation. All three worked above and beyond the call of duty, even going so far as to auction off breakfast with each other for Sunday morning, to help raise money to keep the con finances from disaster.

The auction was a scream, well worth it for the entertainment value, even if you had no intention of bidding yourself: Paul and and Michael auctioned off Terry, who went for $80; then Paul and Terry auctioned off Michael, who went for $450 (with Paul occasionally exclaiming during the bidding, 'Do you know what you're doing'); and last but certainly not least, Terry and Michael auctioned off breakfast with Paul, who needn't have worried about the competition: he went for $750.

I made the long drive to Unicon primarily to see the Paul and Michael Show, and was definitely not disappointed! The two of them are obviously friends, and seem to trust each other totally. I watched in awe as Paul kept (quite unconsciously, I'm sure) handling Michael lines to zing him with. And Terry aids and abets, as it turns out. Really, he eggs the other two on, so it is absolutely hysterical.

There were quite a number of panels, including a standard Q&A session with all three of them; a panel on gore in sf with Paul (I missed that!); another panel with Michael I missed; autographs; the masquerade (small but fun, and the San Diego group's presentation of 'Conventional Warfare' is not to be missed); the aforementioned auction of breakfast; a panel called 'Heroes and Villains' which ended up with Paul, Terry, Michael, and a lady writer who was never introduced as far as I know; a Liar's Panel (great fun!); the art and charity auctions (done by Paul, Michael, and Terry); and more autographs. My friend Meg and I left about 3:30 Sunday afternoon, having decided that despite the certainty that the auctions would be wonderful to behold, we needed to be home before 4:00 A.M. -- and as it was, after driving back down the center of California, I got home around midnight and had to be at work at 8:30 the next morning. But I had nothing to complain about -- I came home with a weekend of wonderful memories, because Paul and the other guests worked so hard to make Unicon fun for the fans!

By the way, this was the first time I have seen Paul in person without his hair being Elvis black, and I must say, the lighter natural color (gray and all) is much more attractive. I kept finding myself staring absently and wanting to touch.

It was with great anticipation that we set off in the wee hours of the morning for Concord, planning to meet a small group of other fans who had taken the day off before the con to accompany some of the Unicon guests on a tour of a few local wineries. When we arrived at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel, the first person we saw was Paul, up early to meet some people for breakfast. A bit later we learned that the winery tour had been cancelled, due to the extremely hot weather and the fact that both Paul and Michael were still recovering from their plane trip the day before. Although disappointed, we all could certainly understand how they felt.

It turned out to be a wonderfully enjoyable day after all, as Paul and Michael ended up spending a good portion of the day talking with those fans that had arrived early for the con, doing informal interviews, and of course, playing the inevitable game of Trivial Pursuit. Although Michael elected not to participate, claiming it wasn't good for one's health, Paul engaged enthusiastically in several rounds of his favorite game with a small group of fans. First we played the Silver Screen version, and Paul's team won that round handily, aided in large part by Paul's extensive knowledge. When we switched to the Genus Version, our team bounced back on the rematch, and although it was close, we were proud of our victory! It was interesting to note surprising differences in cultural reference sets...Paul was unfamiliar with our classic 50's TV show "Leave It To Beaver", and had never heard of John Denver! His team seemed to get all the British history questions, though!

In-between rounds of Trivial Pursuit, the picnic lunch we had prepared for the winery trip did not go to waste, and was enjoyed by the group in the beautiful atrium area of the hotel. Michael had put In several appearances between resting and dips in the pool, and joined us for lunch. Some fans had brought a chilled bottle of champagne, which was much appreciated by the guests.

After one last round of Trivial Pursuit (we won again!) Paul had to leave to get ready for the evening's activities. It was a rare treat, being able to spend some time with two of our favorite people in a relaxed, informal setting. Although he must have been tired, Paul had spent nearly the entire day with his fans, charming us all with his stories, his thoughtfulness, and his seemingly endless supply of energy. It was a wonderful, special day, and a beautiful way to begin a fantastic con weekend.

Thank you, Paul and Michael!

Information heard at UNICON panels: Paul will be working on Making News but Alibi for Murder will not be going to the West End; Paul and Terry will both be writing 5th season novels. PDAS provided coffee, tea, and muffins to early risers on Sunday morning at UNICON. During this pleasant two hours con attendees had an opportunity to visit and be amused by a video of Paul, Janet and Michael's trip to New Zealand, and the now infamous Toenails Liar's Panel. Copies of this tape may be available for purchase soon. Info should be in future issues of ASPECTS. We would like to extend special thanks to several UNICON people. Michelle Wilson, the Supreme Commander, who kept us informed of the pre-con happenings; Shawn Bass, the guest liaison escort and advance scout who assisted in getting PDAS some special time in Paul's very busy schedule: Sandy Hutchinson, Chief of Security, who found the patience to answer our many questions; the Security person who helped find Chelsea Quinn Yarbro for autographs: Kathy Hanson, for providing the New Zealand video tape and entertaining brunch attendees with inside jokes and background on the NZ con; David Ventura, for bringing the VCR (Even if old and cranky -Hey, it worked!) and finally to all the PDAS members who took the time to visit with us.

A 6 hour video tape of UNICON is available to PDAS members. This tape includes the opening panel, the Hero and Villains panel, the Liar's Panel, a portion of the masquerade, and a large portion of the art auction. Although a first time effort at con taping, the audio is clear and the video rarely wiggles. The cost is $8.00, checks made payable PDAS, and is available in the VHS or Beta formats (sorry, not available in PAL format).

The Paul, Mike and Terry Show was the premiere feature at UNICON 89, held June 24-25th in Concord, CA. The three men were constantly available throughout the weekend and consistently charming to the roughly 200 B7 fans gathered at the Sheraton.

Events kicked off Friday with a casino night at which Paul quickly accumulated the largest bundle of Federation currency while Michael encouraged poker players to wear their cards on their fore¬ heads. Appropriately enough, the $500 bill featured Avon with the slogan "Wealth is the only reality".

The Blake's 7 panel on Saturday morning lasted a luxurious two hours, allowing plenty of time for questions. Terry and Paul announced they are both writing Fifth Season books, though refused to divulge further details of their respective novels. Afterwards, the three Brits were split into separate panels on different topics. Noted authors Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Marion Zimmer Bradley, announcer George Sampson, and Paramount Executive Richard Arnold were some of the other guests who rounded out events.

The Concord Sheraton also hosted a wedding on Saturday-the presence of black and stud clad folks on the fringes of their reception undoubtedly gave the wedding party an interesting story to tell in the future!

A number of new zines were quickly snapped up in the two Dealers' Rooms - among them Marion McChesney's Powerplays, Tashery Shannon's A Companion For My Death, and Leigh Arnold's Desperado. Several fine artists showed in the art room with (predictably!) almost every piece by Suzan Lovett and Jean Kluge heading off to auction. Perhaps the most excitement was caused by Lovett's Ghostslayer and Son, a portrait of Pari Dro and Myal Lemyal.

Though the masquerade on Saturday night was small, the costumes were lovely and the skits hilarious. Kathy Hanson and Bonnie Vitti wowed the crowd with their rendition of Brush Up Blake's 7, a parody of Brush Up Your Shakespeare from Kiss Me Kate and the Southern California crowd won the Most Authentic and Completely Accurate Award for their presentation of cons in the future. Perhaps the highlight of the con was the impromptu auction after the masquerade. Terry, Paul and Mike auctioned off breakfast with themselves.

Terry started off events by going for a sedate $80.00, followed by Mike at $450.00, and Paul for a stunning $750.00.

The three men were united with author Claudia O'Keefe for a Sunday morning panel on Heroes and Villains. After a short break and Claudia's departure, the scheduled B7 panel was preempted by a hilarious Liar's Panel. Though Paul tended to dominate events with his fast wit, Mike and Terry amply demonstrated their own ability to make snappy come-backs. The Art and Charity auction and the last auto¬graph session ended the pleasant weekend. While nothing went as high as breakfast with Paul, the collection of playbills and other goodies from Paul and Mike's recent plays were crowd-pleasers.

UNICON 89 was truly an enjoyable con thanks to the hard work of the con staff and the enthusiasm and charm of Paul, Mike and Terry.

1990

Unicon 1990 was held August 11-12, 1990 at the Sheraton Hotel in Concord, CA

Kandy Fong was listed as a guest with her "comic music videos."

Charity: American Red Cross.

Confirmed guests: Michael Keating (Vila Restal: Blake's 7), John Levene (Sgt. Benton: Doctor Who), ), Terry Nation (Doctor Who, Blake's 7), Paula Crist (actress and stuntwoman), Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier: Doctor Who), Richard Arnold (Star Trek: publicist), George Sampson (KTEH, Channel 54), Eric Hoffman (Fan Guest of Honor), and The Myth Adventures Fan Club.

All proceeds benefited the Diablo Chapter of the American Red Cross.

From a progress report:

ART SHOW: I have had many compliments on the quality of the art at UNICON '89. With a little luck the Post Office won't lose paperwork and checks next year and you can get your money faster. The prices remain the same as last year, $6.00 for a 4'X4’ half panel or 48"X30" half table. Shawn Blanchette has graciously agreed to run the art show again next year (with the help of Melody Rondeau). Please write for more information.

MYSTERY: You might have noticed the Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe that our baby unicorn is wearing. We have decided to add mystery to our UNICON line-up. We are working on on several ideas for mystery programming including a murder mystery party.

[...]

UNICON'S OFFICIAL MASCOT: Fresh from his triumph of getting dog lover Paul Darrow to rub his ears at UNICON '89, one of the world's cutest kittens, Sasha, will be back as the official mascot of UNICON '90. He is still as sweet-natured, cute, and brainless as ever.

[...]

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: liiHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Nicholas Courtney is not only one of our guests for UNICON1 '90, he is also a dear friend of alot of us on staff. Nick, John Nathan-Turner, Gary Downie, and Sylvester McCoy were invited to be guests at a convention in Columbus, Ohio on September 22nd-24th of this year. They were all set to go to the convention, had cleared their calendars, and made sure that they had no prior commitments for that time period. Unfortunately for them, the person who headed the convention did not act in good faith. They were told that their tickets had been sent when they had been canceled by the airline for lack of payment. They were consistently lied to and were finally told only two days before the convention that they, were not going to be guests. The fans were NOT told however until they showed up at the convention. Subsequently, vicious lies have sprung up as to why Nick, John, and Gary were not at the convention. All four gentlemen will be taking legal action. We at UNICON extend our full support to Nick, John, Gary, and Sylvester and we hope that you will too. We are glad that Nick will be joining for UNICON '90 and we hope that you will come and show him your support in person.

1990 Flyers

• 

  from 1990

• 

  from 1990

• 

  from 1990

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  from 1990

1992

Ray Sharkey (Wiseguy) and Jim Byrnes were guests of honor.

Con Reports: 1992

Regarding Sharkey & Byrnes at Unicon, they were really neat. Regarding Sharkey knowing about slash, I don't think he knew anything at all about it. What Ray Sharkey *did* know was how to please an audience. He was very receptive to questions, personable, and really lively. At one point (the discussion had been about women and how well-or not- they were portrayed, a question was raised, "as well as the show handled women, it didn't seem to do the same for other minorities, particularly homosexuals." The questioner was going on a little, giving examples, and Ray Sharkey jumped in saying, (this part's paraphrased; the latter part's verbatim) "Oh yeah, I know what you guys wanna see. You wanna see Vinnie bein' hit on by all the studs. You wanna see him in leather pants at the bars, doin' the cruising thing." The crowd went wild, and *that's*, in my opinion, what incited Sharkey to keep going. He's a crowd pleaser, and he's willing to be wild to get the audience off. So he continues, "Yeah, you guys wanna see Vinnie hittin' *all* the leather bars, and you want uncle Mike tellin' him where they are. Yeah, I know what you guys want." The crowd's going wild at this point, so Sharkey keeps riding with it. "Yeah, you wanna see Frank askin' the Uncle how *he* knows where they all are. You wanna see Vinnie callin' Frank and sayin', (in a good, seductive Vinnie voice) 'yeah Frank, I'll be right up.'" At that point one of the panelists got her breath back and steered the conversation to safer topics. (I was personally terrified that somebody'd yell "YES! OH YES!!" and hold up Vinnie/Sonny slash art work, or something.)

And that was the main "homosexual and/or slash reference" he made. It was a joke. A *good* joke, but still a joke. He never went into the dealers' room, and he never saw slash as far as I knew (and I was sticking pretty close to him and his handlers). He was there for like, ten hours, and that little schtick he did was the only homosexual reference of any kind that he made, to my knowledge.

Both he and Jim Byrnes were really cool as far as being accessible, friendly, and personable. I have a million stories that I won't inflict the entire list with--but if anybody wants to hear them, just let me know. The guys were great.

This is, by the way, a pet peeve of mine about how rumors get started. Did anybody else who was actually at Unicon here another single word? Did anybody see him looking at slash? I don't think he did. Not once.