[This is a text-only version of the Minicon 3 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. Check the scans if it matters to you which are which. Note: the place where it says "(? ? )" is verbatim from the original, not an indication of illegibility or anything like that.] Minicon III PROGRAM BOOK Minicon 3 The Minneapolis in '73 Convention! Invitation To The Con... We're at it again. The third Minicon (short for Minneapolis Science Fiction Convention) will be held April 3-5, 1970, at the hotel Dyckman in downtown Minneapolis. So? Well, seeing that you've asked what a science fiction convention is like, we'll try to tell you. It's always been our opinion that a science fiction convention should be a fun-filled thing. The past two we've run have been just the sort of bubbling, wonderful events that make a good science fiction con. It's time to meet new people, to talk to the professional authors and get their autographs, a time to go to parties and do more of the same. There's the programming too, however: there will be panels with many famous science fiction and fantasy writers on them, plus movies, auctions, the art show, and the book-seller's room (where you might run into some very good bargains on old and rare SF magazines and books). In short, there's so much of interest going on at one of these things, you have to be in at least three places at once to see everything that's happening. We've tried to plan a fun con -- we hope you'll enjoy it!!! Fannishly, Jim Young Program Schedule FRIDAY, April 3 Noon: Coronation Room (Art and Huckster's Room) Open Regency Room (main hall): Registration open; Movies until 6:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M.: Opening Session Introduction of Notables 6:30 P.M.: The Origin of the Hoakas -- Gordon Dickson and Possible Special Guest 7:30 P.M. - 1:00 A.M.: Movies and Partying (different rooms) SATURDAY, April 4 11:00 A.M.: Registration; Art and Huckster's Room Open Noon: Announcements 12:15 P.M.: Dialogue - "Where is SF Going?" -- Gordon Dickson and Clifford Simak 1:30 P.M.: "What Makes A Good Fantasy?" -- Lin Carter, Donald Wandrei, and hopefully August Derleth 3:00 - 4:00 P.M.: Auction 4:00 - 6:00 P.M.: Break 6:30 P.M.: Banquet -- (Only members who have paid for banquet tickets will be admitted to the banquet area at this time) 8:00 P.M.: Awards Presentation -- (Everyone allowed into the banquet area) 8:30 P.M.: Minneapolis Fantasy Society Panel, with as many of the members of our club's predecessor as can fit on stage 9:30 P.M.: Movies and Partying SUNDAY, April 5 11:00 A.M.: Morris Dollens Astronomical Slide Show Noon: Auction 1:00 P.M.: "What to do Until the Worldcon Comes": reports on various regional conventions 2:00 P.M.: "What's What With the Minicon": final reports of various regional 2:00 P.M.: "What's What With the Minicon": final reports on the convention, plus audience response -- suggestions on how to better the convention Membership In The Minicon 01 Jim Young, Minneapolis 02 Karen Haskell, Minneapolis 03 Fred Haskell, Minneapolis 04 Marge Lessinger, Minneapolis 05 Joel Lessinger, Minneapolis 06 Walt Schwartz, Minneapolis 07 Jim Odbert, Minneapolis 08 Steve Popper, St. Louis Park 09 Ken Fletcher, St. Paul 010 Mark Riley, Minneapolis 011 Linda Lounsbury, St. Paul 1 Gary Mattingly, Overland Park, Kans. 2 John F. Moon, Minneapolis 3 Larry Propp, Urbana, Ill. 4 Anthony Tollin, Brooklyn Center 5 Blue Petal, St. Paul 6 Chuck Holst, Minneapolis 7 Marilyn Holst, Minneapolis 8 Frank Stodolka, Minneapolis 9 Carol Stodolka, Minneapolis 10 Don Nelson, Minneapolis 11 Glenee Salmon, Minneapolis 12 Rob MacLeay, Tenafly, N.J. 13 Caryl Bucklin, St. Paul 14 Ivor Rogers, Green Bay, Wis. 15 Deborah Rogers, Green Bay, Wis. 16 Astrid Anderson, Orinda, Calif. 17 John Loud, Minneapolis 18 Nate Bucklin, St. Paul 19 Saralee Seal, Bloomington 20 Dave Ellwood, Minneapolis 21 Ruth Berman, Minneapolis 22 Robin Root, Minneapolis 23 James Hansen, Urbana, Ill. 24 Penny Hansen, Urbana, Ill. 25 Maureen Gillespie, Urbana, Ill. 26 Ollie Saari, Niles, Ill. 27 E.M. Brackney, Minneapolis 28 Jane Brackney, Minneapolis 29 Jim Schumeister, St. Paul 30 Carl Carroll, Madison, Wis. 31 Paulette Carroll, Madison, Wis. 32 William F. Orr, Madison, Wis. 33 Wesley Streubing, Urbana, Ill. 34 Anne Wickerham, Urbana, Ill. 35 Alan Babcock, Urbana, Ill. 36 Loretta Lotman, Urbana, Ill. 37 Bob Vardeman, Albuquerque, N.M. 38 Curtis Taitel, Elk Grove Village, Ill. 39 Craig Taitel, Elk Grover Village, Ill. 40 Robert Halfhill, Minneapolis 41 Judith Fisher, Minneapolis 42 Pauline Jadick, Omaha, Nebraska 43 Bill Mallardi, Akron, Ohio 44 Sharon V. Denison, Oak Lawn, Ill. 45 Bruce L. Hanson, Hackensack 46 Kyle L. Weaver, Seattle, Wash. 47 Barry Jansen, Urbana, Ill. 48 Rein Konen, San Diego, Calif. 49 K. Martin Carlson, Moorhead 50 Al Kuhfeld, Minneapolis 51 Floyd Henderson, St. Paul 52 Kathy Spies, St. Paul 53 Holly Johnson, Minneapolis [A Map Of The City] A Short History Of Minicons The first Minicon was a one-day affair held at the University of Minnesota in January, 1968. Cliff Simak, Charles de Vet, and Gordon Dickson were the speakers. Minicon 2 was held April 4-6, 1969, at the Andrews Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. It was one of the best conventions ever held, according to Gordon Dickson. That seemed to be everyone's general consensus on the thing. From the last finger-wearying chords played on a rickety piano for the silent movie Metropolis, to the panel with the Guests of Honor (again, as in the first Minicon, there were de Vet, Dickson, and Simak) and the final, fantastically humorous auction, it was an eminent success. And this year will be even better. Minicon 3 will be the third annual Minnesota Science Fiction Convention; it will be held April 3-5, 1970, at the Dyckman Hotel in Minneapolis. THE COMMITTEE Jim Young, Chairman Steve Popper, Secretary Marge Lessinger, Treasurer Joel Lessinger, Auctioneer Fred Haskell, Publications Director Karen Haskell, Asst. Publications Dr. Linda Lounsbury, Registration Ken Fletcher, Art Coordinator Jim Odbert, Art Show Director Walt Schwartz, Bookseller's Room Frank Stodolka, Party Committee Chairman John Kusske, Observer -- And Supported by Minn-Stf, The Minnesota Science Fiction Society -- The Banquet The Banquet will be at 6:30 on Saturday night (April 4); tickets for the event cost $6.00. Those buying banquet tickets at the con will receive Filet de Boeuf Stroganoff, with Chilled Frait Supreme, Mixed Green Salad (with your choice of dressing), Green Beans with Slivered Almonds, Potatoes Snowflake, and Lemon Sherbet -- plus your choice of beverage. Tickets will be on sale Friday at the Registration Desk. Following the banquet we'll have what may well turn out to be the funniest awards session in fan-history; and following the awards comes the MFS panel. The members of the Minneapolis Fantasy Society are still jumping around, and we hope to have several of them, including Gordy Dickson, Clifford Simak, Ollie Saari, Manse Brackney, and Ken Gray -- plus a few Mystery Guests -- telling the Silly Stories and other fantastic miscellany. Don't miss the banquet, whatever you do! FROM 1966 IT CAME -- a partial history of the early Minn-Stf by Nate Bucklin This literary fragment is directed toward those people who know that conventions do not spring to life full-blown out of nowhere. Conventions, I wish to tell them, do _not_ spring out of nowhere; there are the product of much hard work behind the scenes by clubs and other organizations. They should also be told that clubs and other organizations _do_ spring out of nowhere. Minn-Stf is an example of a club that did, and you may find the next page or so of interest if you plan to make a career out of spontaneous generation. One milestone in Minn-Stf's existence can be pinpointed without difficulty: its first meeting. It occurred on a Saturday, midway through September, 1966; and it was not intended in any way as a club meeting. I was then a newcomer to the Twin Cities, having come from near Seattle to attend college; I had met by mail several Minnesota fans and heard of others, and Frank Stodolka, one of them, had intended a mildly social gathering of such fans as cold be contacted on a few day's notice. Held in the office of the _Technolog_ at the University of Minnesota, the meeting consisted of Frank, Al Kuhfeld, Ken Fletcher, and myself, and lasted most of an afternoon. Discussion centered around amateur magazines (fanzines) brought in by Frank and myself, though science fiction was mentioned occasionally. This set a trend for the club, which remained largely social and "fannish", though hopefully not to the extreme of alienating and confusing outsiders. The first official business meeting was held on November 25, 1966. Frank Stodolka presided and was elected president, and the most experienced and interested fan present. Jim Young was elected Vice-president. I became secretary, but did not hold the post for very long. Ken Fletcher became treasurer, and after a few months, secretary; Marge Lessinger became treasurer eventually, but that's jumping the gun. Marge wasn't yet in the group, and in fact neither was anyone else (except the previously mentioned officers and Fred Haskell, who was elected Official Happy Deadwood). Despite the low permanent membership, however, there were already many people making occasional appearances, and many others remaining in constant telephone contact. The club moved its meeting place to a back room in Golob's Bookstore, and the membership grew. It is noteworthy that the club existed for at least four months with no specific purpose. The idea of a convention grew gradually; Jim Young and I had mentioned the idea in jest. Many ideas, in fact, were presented as club projects -- all the surplus psychic energy (? ? ) had to go somewhere. Miniapa (a Minnesota Amateur Press Association) was suggested, talked about, and forgotten; too many active club members were already involved in amateur science fictional publishing of some form or another, and no point could be seen in another press group. A club genzine (general circulation amateur magazine) was also in the works for a while; but nothing ever came of the idea. However, the convention idea was different from the others. The one activity enjoyed by most club members was the recruiting of other club members; a convention could be justified on those grounds if on no others, and an afternoon-long convention was planned for January of 1968. The convention included a writer's panel, moderated by Frank Stodolka (with one twenty-minute discussion led by me, while Frank and Jim went out to bring back some coffee), and containing Clifford D. Simak, Gordon Dickson, and Charles V. de Vet. Jim Young is going to tell you about the conventions, I've been told, so I'll sign off. There is more about the early club; if you care, corner anybody whose name I've mentioned and ask. We do care about Science Fiction -- honest. The Art Show The Art Show started at Minicon I as a display of amateur and professional art accumulated locally and nationally from other conventions. It was a small collection marked by the presence of a few Jack Gaughn illustrations and some original comic art by Carmen Infantino. Since then the Art Show has grown in many ways: size, quality of materials, and the range of media and content. You can find the Art Show this year in the Coronation Room, on the fifth floor. The improvement of the show has been due to the growth of Minn-Stf, and the hard work of individuals such as Jim Odbert, this year's Art Show Director. Jim is a commercial artist who won last year's Popular Award (the only award we could offer them) with his fantasy piece "Falling Flower." This year Jim's portfolio of science fiction heroines will probably be one of the high points of the show. In addition, Jim has arranged a showing of Malcolm Malm's computer art, courtesy of Univac. Neither of these, however, will be competing for any of the awards offered this year, since Jim will be one of the judges. And according to the latest rumor, the other judge will be Lin Carter, the well-known author-editor. There will be four awards presented at the banquet: Best of Show in the opinion of both judges -- to be awarded a certificate and ten dollars Judges Choice -- two awards for what each judge thinks is outstanding in its own off-beat way. A certificate will be awarded to each. Most Popular of the Show -- to be given on the basis of a simple majority of votes cast by registered attendees. Ballots will be distributed with registration materials. Don't forget to cast your vote early!!! Our thanks to those entering the show, and also to the Association of Professional Artists for the use of their display boards. For those of you who brought art but haven't yet entered it, the following rules apply: An entry fee of 50 cents per piece will be charged. Any types of art -- painting, drawing, prints, or sculpture -- showing some relationship to science fiction of fantasy may be submitted. All work will be juried by the judges, and any work not accepted will be returned with the entry fee, after the show. The Huckster's Room Like last year, the Huckster's Room will be sharing space with the Art Show. But unlike last year, this room will be receiving more of the attention it deserves. Walt Schwartz, a well-known local collector and frequent host for Minn-Stf meetings, is making his first attempt at organizing the Huckster's Room. And he has all kinds of dealers with old pulp magazines, and other goodies lined up. Besides that, we are trying to structure our table rates for the Huckster's Room so that the needs of more people may be met. For example, a table for all three days of the convention is five dollars. But dealers who arrive for only Saturday and Sunday pay only four dollars. And efforts will be made to make table space available at a lower rate for fans who are only distributing one or two items -- such as fanzines. So if you have something to sell or something to buy, come to the Huckster's room.