If you're new to fandom, you may have only heard of "science fiction conventions" that are run by large corporate bodies, such as the Star Wars Celebrations put on by Lucasfilm. These events generally feature a door charge plus various other charges once you're inside. The focus is seeing celebrities; people spend a lot of time standing in line for autographs.

This has its place, but Minicon and other fan-run conventions are a whole different animal. Our focus is bringing fans together. You're not just attending a show, you're a member of a convention. Of course, we do have guests of honor and they will (typically) sign your book, but they won't charge you for it and anyway we prefer them for their company, insights and humor.

Once you are a Minicon member, you don't need to pay us anything extra to attend any part of the con. Ok, it's true, we will charge you if you want a t-shirt and of course the dealers and artists want money for their stuff, but the food, drink and events are free.

Minicon has a wide variety of scheduled activities, but many people come primarily to see their friends — and meet new ones. That's why a major feature of Minicon, and other fan run conventions, is the consuite. It's the social center of the convention and some people spend more time there than in any official activity.

Everyone who works on Minicon is a volunteer. None of us are paid for our time and all of us buy registrations just like any other member. This goes for everyone, including the chairs, concom, panelists, presenters, musicians, artists, and gamemasters. (The one exception is guests of honor.) If you've been to professional conferences that run in the hundreds of dollars, you'll appreciate how this policy helps us keep our cost down so that all fans can attend.

(The other major way we keep costs down is by promising the hotel that we will bring them business. The cost of our function space is determined by how many rooms Minicon members get. If we rent out enough, it's free! So we'd love if you reserved yours today.)

Minicon is run by mn-stf, a non-profit organization. Proceeds from Minicon go towards funding other club activities around the year, including bi-monthly "meetings" (parties), a picnic, a pool party, and our relaxacon (currently known as Convivial), as well as publishing the Einblatt, a science fiction newsletter.

We often hear this question from people who haven't been to a con yet. Perhaps you're thinking of going to one, but you're worrying about how you don't have a Klingon outfit and might stand out line a sore thumb for being only human. Never fear! Most of our members do not come in costume. (Those who do come in a wide variety of outfits, including, but hardly limited to, Star Trek related ones.) Now, plenty of the non-costumed members do wear odd things, but usually this means only t-shirts with geeky jokes. Come as you are. If you want to come in costume, you'll be in good company. If you don't, you'll be in good company.