[This is a text-only version of the Minicon 2 program book, created in 2009. It does not attempt to reproduce the formatting of the original (except when doing so is trivial), but rather is meant to be as accessible to people and computer programs as possible. This file does not contain the text of advertisements. Errors may have been made in transcription, other errors are lovingly reproduced from the original. Check the scans if it matters to you which are which.] Minicon 2 Program Book Minicon Two Science Fiction Convention April 4-6, 1969 :: Andrews Hotel :: Minneapolis, Minnesota CHARLES V. DE VET :: GORDON R. DICKSON :: CARL JACOBI :: CLIFFORD D. SIMAK Guests of Honor Jim Young, Chairman :: Marge Lessigner, Treasurer :: Ken Fletcher, Advertising Karen Johnson, Registration :: Frank Stodolka, Art-show and Book Room Lorie Berndt :: Fred Haskell :: Al Bencker :: Rein Konen :: Dan Musick Louis Fallert :: Carol Stodolka :: Nate Bucklin :: Members of the Committee And supported by Minn-stf, the Minnesota Science Fiction Society --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL NOTES ON THE MINICON... Bob Cooper of Cooper's Film Rental (Northedge Shopping Center; Eaton, Ohio, 45320) charged us an incredibly small price for the rental of "Metropolis." He deals in both sales and rental of old 8 mm. silent films, and we might suggest that if you're interested in such things to contact him. (We include this note by way of thanks for help in making the convention turn out well.) Sunday (the 6th) is Easter Sunday, and several members of the convention have decided to have an Easter-egg hunt. Karen Johnson and Carol Stodolka are in charge of the event...and we suggest you talk to them before you wake up Sunday... You might step on an egg or two along the way.... The Art Show will be open during most of the convention. Entrance to it, as well as all other Minicon activities is free once you've paid your membership fee. However, if you want to enter art in the exhibition there's a flat entry fee of 50 cents. A popular vote will be taken during the convention, and the most popular work will receive a prize of $10.00. (For information on entering the art show, contact Frank Stodolka.) Some bookselling space is available in the art show room. If you have any old magazines or books you want to sell you can rent a table for $2.00 during the duration of the convention. If you are going to be selling books during the convention, you must be responsible for the sales and health of the stock -- the convention cannot be, though we will try to make everything as safe as possible. The price at the Midtown Ramp has gone up since we reported last in the Minicon second PROGRESS REPORT. The price is currently $2.50 for an entire day's parking. However, there are many other ramps and parking lots nearby, some of them charging less -- and it's certainly all right if you park at these other areas. We are tentatively scheduling an auction for sometime early in the evening of Saturday, April 5th. Anyone who wishes to donate anything to the auction will be blessed by the Patron Saint of Fandom, Saint Fantony. At the convention itself, the exact time and place of the event will be posted. BOOKSTORES: There are a multitude of bookstores in the Twin Cities area. We print the following map to show you where the best bookstores are located. (There are of course others, but the committee recommends only those listed on the map.) [MAP] Key: A: Oudal's books B: Bus Depot C: Bookfair D: Shinders (2) E: Harlow & Nelson F: McCosh's G: Heddan's MEMBERSHIP IN THE MINICON CHARLES V. DE VET :: GORDON R. DICKSON :: CARL JACOBI :: CLIFORD D. SIMAK Guests of Honor 01 Jim Young, Minneapolis 02 Marge Lessinger, Minneapolis 03 Ken Fletcher, St. Paul 04 Karen Johnson, Minneapolis 05 Frank Stodolka, Minneapolis 1 SP4 John Kusski, Okinawa 2 Joanne Swenski, Iron River, Mich. 3 Pauline F. Jadick, Omaha, Neb. 4 Lorie Borndt, Osseo 5 Rein Konon, Minneapolis 6 Dan Kennisten, Brooklyn Center 7 Doug Kirks, Brooklyn Center 8 Al Bencker, Osseo 9 Leif Anderson, Bloomington, Ind. 10 K. Martin Carlson, Moorhead 11 Louis Fallert, St. Paul 12 Fred Haskell, Edina 13 Glenn T. McDavid, Northfield 14 Jon Dummermuth, West Union, Io. 15 Walt Schwartz, Minneapolis 16 Don Nelson, Minneapolis 17 Dough Kellogg, Minneapolis 18 Chuck Holst, Minneapolis 19 Dick Tatge, Minneapolis 20 Anthony Tollin, Minneapolis 21 Dennis Roberts, Farmington 22 Jim Stokes, Minneapolis 23 Carelton W. Carroll, Madison, Wisc. 24 Paulette Caroll, Madison, Wisc. 25 William F. Orr, Madison, Wisc. 26 Jim Plasman, Northfield 27 Richard West, Madison, Wisc. 28 John Bullis, Madison, Wisc. 29 Anthony Lewis, Belmont, Mass. 30 Jerry W. Misner, Minneapolis 31 Mentor C. Addicks, St. Paul 32 Bev Addicks, St. Paul 33 Steve Popper, St. Louis Park 34 Al Kuhfeld, Minneapolis 35 Ivor A. Rogers, Grenn Bay, Wisc. ABOUT FANDOM... Fandom is basically divided into three parts: Convention fandom, club fandom, and fanzine fandom. Since fanzine fandom is the most complex part, I'll talk about that last. Convention fandom is made up of people who attend science fiction conventions. Some people are active in fandom only by attending the conventions or belonging to clubs. There are perhaps more people who are active exclusively in the conventions than exclusively in the other areas of fandom. It seems that most fans are active in more than one area. At any rate, you're now part of convention fandom...and welcome! Club fandom is, as the name implies, all those people who get together and form a science fiction club. There is a fanclub active here in the Twin Cities, and we'll talk about that in detail later. You may be interested to know that what happens at the meeting of a science fiction group is entirely unpredictable. There are many different types of groups: some of them are excuses for partying, and nothing more; some of them feature only formal discussion; there have even been attempts at paramilitary organization (although, thank ghu, the attempt failed: such groups are to my -- and many other people's -- mind distasteful). The best clubs are intended for fun. Those that are thought most highly of are those which have a lot of fun, and produce good and memorable fans, as well as good and memorable productions. (Such productions can run from amateur movies, amateur magazines to filk-singing (filk-songs of fandom), and medieval-tournaments.) Fanzine fandom is the hardest aspect to explain; and the reason it is, is because it's the most complex portion. Fanzines are amateur magazines. You can't buy them on the newsstands (though some fanzines have achieved sem-professional status by selling a few copies to newsstands), and only a few hundred copies are printed up. They're available, for the most part, through contribution...and no payment is made for printed material. They exist for fun. Some fanzines are published by only one person, some are published by groups of people.... If they stop being enjoyable, they stop being published. Basically, there are two types of fanzines: The general distribution fanzine (or "genzine"), and an "apazine." ("APA" being short for Amateur Press Association -- but more on APAs later.) The genzine is available to anyone who sends in money or a contribution; currently, there are more genzines being published than apazines, though it has shifted back-and-forth in the past. An APA is an organization of fans who publish fanzines,then send a certain number of copies to the Official Editor. The OE then compiles a stack of each members' zines is called a "mailing." With some APAs the terms are different, but this is the basic set-up.) Some APAs have certain entrance requirements: on asks that you be born after 1945, another that you be interested in comics. Most APAs ask nothing more than you pay your membership fee and that you publish you magazines regularly. Most APAs are quarterly, though there are bimonthly, monthly, and -- among some local groups -- even weekly and biweekly APAs. AND ABOUT THE MINN-STF... As we've said before, there is a fanclub active in the Twin Cities. It's called the Minn-Stf, a word which is derived from the original word Hugo Gernsback coined two years before establishing Amazing Stories, the first SF magazine, in 1926. The word was "scientifiction," which was abbreviated "stf" and pronounced "stef." You might be interested to know that fans have been trying to form clubs in the Twin Cities for many years...successfully and unsuccessfully. During the thirties, Wonder Stories, which was founded by Gernsback when he lost control of Amazing in 1929, started to sponsor local fan groups. That was in 1934, and a Minneapolis chapter was listed as "to be formed shortly." In 1937, when Gernsback had lost control of the magazine (and the title had been changed to Thrilling Wonder Stories) the Minneapolis chapter was finally formed. It went under the following year however, and the local fans resumed informal meetings. In November of 1940, nine people gathered together and founded the Minneapolis Fantasy Society. They wrote letter inviting people to attend the meetings; even Astounding (which is now Analog), which was then the real backbone of all science fiction, published on of the invitation letters. By mid-1941 many more people had joined the club. It was one of the most active and most respected clubs in fandom until it broken up in 1943, due to the war and to the fact that many of the area fans had moved away. To quote Harry Warner, one of fandom's best historians: "[The Minneapolis Fantasy Society] must have placed second in the fanclubs of its time only to the Futurian Society of New York." In December of 1947, the club was officially revitalized. Until 1952, the group remained one of the most active in fandom. After the first small convention was held in Minneapolis -- the Invention of April Fools' Day, 1952 -- the club began to dissolve. In 1953, it had completely done so. In 1961, an attempt was made to establish a Twin Cities Fantasy Society, but it too failed. The club that had given the science fiction world such great pro authors and artists such as Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, Carl Jacobi, Oliver Saari, and Clifford D. Simak -- and such great fans as Redd Boggs, Rich Elsberry, Ken Gray, Morris Dollens, and Phil Bronson...had gone. During these later sixties (from our great vantage point in April of 1969) it seems as though fandom and science fiction in general are undergoing a boom. In 1966 -- November 25, to be exact -- the first meeting of the Minn-stf was held. The total attendance was five. We've grown a lot since that time, and we're still growing. Because of our unusually fast growth, we haven't been able to develop our meetings as thoroughly as we like, but then, better meetings are one direction of our growth. At any rate, you're most heartily invited to attend any Minn-Stf meeting you can make. For further information, ask any member of the committee, or the club's president, Frank Stodolka. THE PROGRAM The convention program is hopefully flexible enough so that something will always be going on that will be of interest to everyone -- and yet made up so that no one has to participate in some event that doesn't interest him. Major features of the convention are listed below. But before listing the program, you might like to know about the location of the meeting rooms. There are three major meeting rooms for the convention. The Brunswick room, in the basement of the Andrews, will be the main hall, and used for the large meetings such as the panel discussion, the movie, and the slide-shows. On the mezzanine you'll find the Welcome Room, and outside the Welcome Room, the Registration Desk. (During the major program events, the Registration Desk will be move to the Brunswick Room so that people handling registration won't have to miss the events.) On the eighth floor of the hotel, you'll find the Minn-Stf Suite, a partying center for the whole convention. Also on the Mezzanine, you'll find the Art Show and Bookseller's Room. All room in use by the convention will be posted as such. SCHEDULED EVENTS FRIDAY APRIL 4, 1969 ---------------------- REGISTRATION DESK OPEN 6:00-9:00 P.M. Desk will be moved to Main Hall during movie WELCOME ROOM OPEN 6:00-10:00 P.M. On the Mezzanine Information Introductions of Guests of Honor, talk, etc. ARTSHOW-Booksellers On Mezzanine MAIN HALL OPEN 8:00-11:00 P.M. "Metropolis" will be shown MINN-STF SUITE OPEN 10:00-(?) General Partying SATURDAY APRIL 5, 1969 ---------------------- REGISTRATION DESK OPEN 10:00-5:00 Will move to Main Hall during program WELCOME ROOM OPEN around 10:00 or 11:00 A.M. and closed at 10:00 P.M. MAIN HALL PROGRAM: 1:00 OPENING OF THE CONVENTION Introductions and Announcements of Note 1:45 PANEL DISCUSSION WITH GUESTS OF HONOR: "How did you discover Science Fiction?" DINNER BREAK: 4:00-6:00 P.M. Slide-shows may be given this night SUITE: Partying ARTSHOW and BOOKSELLING open from noon to 9:00 SUNDAY APRILI 6, 1969 ---------------------- REGISTRATION DESK OPEN briefly around noon SUITE: Talk, some food and refreshments WELCOME ROOM: Talk, playings of old radio dramas and readings MAIN HALL: 1:00 Presentation of the Popular Art Award 1:15 A slide show on Star Trek, hosted by Ruth Berman THE CONVENTION WILL BE OFFICIALLY CLOSED AT 3:30 "THE GRAND OLD ART OF CONVENTION GOING..." (reprinted from the second PROGRESS REPORT). Some of you attending this convention are sure to be attending a science fiction meeting for the first time. For those old-timers who've been to many conventions before, we can only say we hope you like the convention; to those of you who are newer to this thing called fandom, we extend a special welcome... and these words: When you come to a convention, be prepared to meeting people. Certainly attend many of the items on the program, but don't expect the programmed events to be the only things that will be happening at the convention. Fans are basically one of the most friendly groups of people in the world. If you've had some correspondence with fans in the are, you may very likely meet them at the Minicon. if you've heard about those amateur magazines called "fanzines," you'll be able to find out exactly what they are, and where to obtain them. (Many different fanzines will be on sale at the convention. In fact, what you're reading now is a fanzine of sorts.) Incidentally, don't be frightened to talk to such distinctive people as Charles De Vet, Carl Jacobi, Grodon Dickson, and Clifford Simak. They've all been active fans, and would be just as pleased to talk with you and sign autographs as you might hope them to be. We hope you will enjoy the convention! JIM YOUNG, con-chairman. --------------------------------------------------- THE MINICON 2 PROGRAM BOOK is published by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society. It is free to all members of the convention. 200 copies have been printed. Cover by Dave Ellwood, written by Jim Young, and stenciled and mimeographed by Fred Haskell. This publication is dated April 4, 1969. FOR INFORMATION on this publication, contact the convention chairman, Jim Young at 1948 Ulysses St. N.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55418. ALL ADVERTISING has been paid for, and reflects the opinion (hahahaha) of the Committee, the Minn-Stf, and whoever else is involved. AS A SORT OF PARTING SHOT, let me thank the Guests of Honor; Charles De Vet, Gordon Dickson, Carl Jacobi, and Clifford Simak, the members of the Committee, the Minn-Stf, the staff and management of the Andrews Hotel, the people at Galaxy Publications who put an ad in the convention column in If, and to every member of the con. Thanks, Jim Young