Westercon

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Westercon is a convention that moves around the area of the United States and Canada west of the 104th meridian. It is selected like Worldcon with bidding, mail and at-con site selection, and a two-year lead time.

It is one of the oldest continuing conventions in the world.

Westercon was started in 1948 when LASFS began an annual West Coast convention for fans who couldn't afford to travel to the East Coast where most Worldcons were held.

Just who started Westercon turns out to be confusing. The LASFS minutes of 24 June 48 state:

E. Everett Evans brought up a subject very dear to him -- that of a West Coast Conference; a one-day conventionette for local fans....He motioned that the LASFS should sponsor one on Labor Day, Sept 5th, Dave Fox seconded and the motion was passed. Everett was placed in charge of the arrangements.

Evans was listed as the founder for fifty or so years, but when LASFS historian Fred Patten researched it, he concluded that Walter J. Daugherty was the founder and the westercon.org website now lists him as having proposed the motion. Certainly both Daugherty and Evans were actively involved in the founding along with Ackerman and perhaps the best we can say today is that all three deserve substantial credit.

Regardless, the first Westercon was chaired by Evans and held September 5, 1948, attended by 77 people. Daugherty chaired #2 the following year. Westercon became a weekend-long convention in 1951 when it settled into its 4th of July weekend date and started moving between cities.

It is a Westercon tradition that GoHs are preferred from the region (west of the 104th W. meridian), having either been born or lived in the zone.

Westercon is formally sponsored by LASFS, though in practice it is completely independent. Nonetheless, in the event that Westercon is unable to function, the LASFS Board of Directors is responsible for sorting things out.

See Westercon bids for more on Westercon bidding.

Some Westercons (in bold) were held jointly with Worldcon. In most (but not all) cases they shared leadership and GoHs.

Website.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
An annual conclave for the Western half of the United States -- West of the Rockies, that is -- begun by the LASFS on Labor Day 1948. It has since become an institution for which other clubs bid also, like the Worldcon, and until the past year was always some place in California.
No. Convention Date Location GoHs, Notes
1 Westercon 1 September 5, 1948 Los Angeles none
2 Westercon 2 October 2, 1949 Los Angeles none
3 Westercon 3 June 18, 1950 Los Angeles Robert S. Richardson
4 Westercon 4 June 29-July 1, 1951 San Francisco George Pal
5 Sou-Westercon June 28-29, 1952 San Diego Ray Bradbury, William Nolan
6 Westercon 6 May 30-31, 1953 Los Angeles Gerald Heard
7 SFCon September 3-4, 1954 San Francisco Jack Williamson
8 Westercon 8 June 3-4, 1955 Los Angeles Mel Hunter
9 Westercon 9 June 30-July 1, 1956 Oakland Richard Matheson
10 Westercon 10 July 4-7, 1957 Hollywood Mark Clifton
11 Solacon September 1, 1958 Los Angeles Richard Matheson
12 Westercon 12 June 3-5, 1959 Seattle Alan E. Nourse
13 Boycon July 2-4, 1960 Boise, ID Rog Phillips
14 Baycon July 1-2, 1961 Oakland Fritz Leiber, Jack Speer
15 Westercon 15 June 30-July 1, 1962 Los Angeles Jack Vance, Alva Rogers
16 Westercon 16 July 4-7, 1963 San Francisco Kris Neville, F. M. Busby, Elinor Busby
17 Pacificon II September 4, 1964 Oakland Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, Forrest J Ackerman
18 Westercon 18 July 3-5, 1965 Long Beach, CA Frank Herbert, Anthony Boucher
19 Westercon 19 July 1-4, 1966 San Diego Harlan Ellison, John Trimble, Bjo Trimble
20 Westercon 20 July 1-4, 1967 Los Angeles Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lon Atkins
21 Baycon September 1, 1968 Berkeley Philip José Farmer, Walter J. Daugherty, Takumi Shibano
22 FUNcon II July 3-6, 1969 Santa Monica Randall Garrett, Roy Tackett
23 Westercon 23 July 2-5, 1970 Santa Barbara, CA Jack Williamson, Rick Sneary
24 SFCon '71 July 1-5, 1971 San Francisco Avram Davidson, Don Simpson
25 Westercon 25 June 30-July 4, 1972 Long Beach Lloyd Biggle, Jr., Len Moffatt
26 SFCon '73 June 30-July 4 1973 San Francisco Larry Niven, George Barr, James Coleman Nelson
27 Westercon 27 July 3-7, 1974 Santa Barbara Philip K. Dick, Charles Burbee
28 OakLaCon July 3-6, 1975 Oakland David Gerrold, Dena Brown, Charlie Brown, Ian Ballantine, Betty Ballantine
29 Westercon 29 July 2-5, 1976 Los Angeles Horace L. Gold, Gregg Calkins
30 Westercon 30 July 1-4, 1977 Vancouver, BC Damon Knight, Frank Denton, Kate Wilhelm
31 Westercone June 30-July 4, 1978 Los Angeles Poul Anderson, Don C. Thompson
32 Westercon 32 July 4-8, 1979 San Francisco Richard Lupoff, Bruce Pelz, Sherry Gottlieb
33 Westercon 33 July 3-6, 1980 Los Angeles Roger Zelazny, Bob Vardeman
34 Westercon 34 July 2-5, 1981 Sacramento C. J. Cherryh, Grant Canfield
35 Westercon 35 July 2-5, 1982 Phoenix Gordon R. Dickson, Fran Skene, Robert Asprin
36 Westerchron July 1-4, 1983 San Jose Phil Klass (William Tenn), Alicia Austin, Tom Whitmore
37 Westercon 37 June 29-July 3 1984 Portland, OR Harlan Ellison, F. M. Busby, Elinor Busby, Alex Schomburg
38 Westercon 38 July 3-7, 1985 Sacramento James Hogan, Paula Christ
39 Westercon 39 July 3-6, 1986 San Diego David Brin, Karen Turner
40 Episode XXXX July 2-5, 1987 Oakland, CA Gregory Benford, Aubrey MacDermott, Lela Dowling, Ken Macklin, Leslie Fish
41 Westercon 41 July 1-4, 1988 Phoenix Robert Silverberg, Real Musgrave, Craig Miller
42 Conosaurus June 30-July 4, 1989 Anaheim John Varley, Arthur Hlavaty
43 Westercon 43 July 5-8, 1990 Portland, OR Ursula K. Le Guin, Vonda McIntyre, Kate Wilhelm, Art Widner
44 Westercon 44 July 2-6, 1991 Vancouver, BC William Gibson, C. J. Cherryh, Jerry Kaufman, Suzanne Tompkins, Steve Jackson , Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Warren Oddsson, Verna Trestrail
45 Westercolt July 2-5, 1992 Phoenix Jennifer Roberson, Pat Mueller, Rick Sternbach
46 Westercon 46 July 2-5, 1993 Seattle Greg Bear, F. M. Busby, Elinor Busby, Wally Gonser
47 Conozoic July 1-4, 1994 Los Angeles George R. R. Martin, Bill Rotsler, Real Musgrave
48 Westercon 48 June 30-July 3, 1995 Portland, OR Vernor Vinge, Elayne Pelz, John R. Foster, Ray Villard
49 ConDiablo July 4-7, 1996 El Paso, TX James P. Blaylock, Howard Waldrop, Brad W. Foster, Arnie Katz, Joyce Katz
50 Westercon 50 July 3-6, 1997 Seattle Martin H. Greenberg, J. Michael Straczynski, Amy Thomson, Victoria Lisi, Jack Cohen, Walter J. Daugherty, Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson
51 Concept 1998 July 2-5, 1998 San Diego Katherine Kurtz, Scott MacMillian, Sue Dawe, David W. Clark
52 Empirecon July 2-5, 1999 Spokane C. J. Cherryh, Barbara Hambly, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Alicia Austin, Wendy Pini, Ellen Datlow, Larry Baker
53 Conolulu July 1-4, 2000 Honolulu Dan Simmons, Ctein, John Lorentz
54 Westercon 54 July 5-8, 2001 Portland, OR Tim Powers, Mike Glyer, Frank Lurz
55 Conagerie July 4-7, 2002 Los Angeles Harry Turtledove, Robert Lichtman, Beth Meacham, Ross Chamberlin
56 Westercon 56 July 3-6, 2003 SeaTac, WA Bruce Sterling, Lisa Snellings, Saul Jaffe, Claire Eddy
57 Conkopelli July 2-5, 2004 Litchfield Park, AZ C. J. Cherryh, David Cherry, Heather Alexander, Diana Gabaldon, Virginia Hey, John Hertz
58 Due North July 1-4, 2005 Calgary, AB S. M. Stirling, Dave Duncan, Mark Ferrari, Tom Doherty, David Hartwell, Dr. Phil Currie, Cliff Samuels, Eileen Capes
59 Conzilla July 1-4, 2006 San Diego Walter Jon Williams, Bob Eggleton, Bobbi Armbruster
60 Gnomeward Bound June 30-July 3, 2007 San Mateo, CA Tad Williams, Theresa Mather, Christian McGuire
61 Westercon 61 July 3-6, 2008 Las Vegas Kage Baker, Lubov, Milt Stevens
62 Fiestacon July 2-5, 2009 Tempe, AZ Todd Lockwood, Alan Dean Foster, Stanley Schmidt, Jim Webbert, Doreen Webbert
63 Confirmation July 1-4, 2010 Pasadena, CA Rudy Rucker, Marc Schirmeister, John D. Berry
64 Westercon 64 July 1-4, 2011 San Jose, CA Patricia A. McKillip, Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, Mike Willmoth
65 ConClusion July 5-8, 2012 SeaTac, WA Robin Hobb, Frank Wu, Brianna Spacekat Wu, Chaz Boston Baden, Art Bozlee, Vixy & Tony
66 Westercon 66 July 4-7, 2013 Sacramento, CA Nicola Griffith, Kelley Eskridge, Eric Shanower, Steven Schapansky, Warren Frey, Chris Budgess, David Maxine, John Trimble, Bjo Trimble
67 Westercon 67 July 3-6, 2014 Salt Lake City, UT Cory Doctorow, Chris Garcia, David Maxine, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells
68 Westercon 68 July 2-3, 2015 San Diego, CA Mira Grant,John Picacio, Seanan McGuire, William F. Nolan
69 Westercon 69 July 1-4, 2016 Portland, OR John Scalzi, Theresa Mather, Bobak Ferdowsi, Charles Stross, David D. Levine
70 Conalope July 1-4, 2017 Tempe, AZ Julie Dillon, Tom Deadstuff, Larry Elmore, Connie Willis, Gini Koch, Henry Vanderbilt, Val Ontell, Ron Ontell, Tim Griffin, Bjo Trimble, John Trimble
71 Westercon 71 July 4-8, 2018 Denver, CO Nancy Kress, Rebecca Moesta Jeff Sturgeon, Margaret Davis, Kristoph Klover, Mem Morman, Kent Bloom, Andrew Mayne
72 Spikecon July 4-7, 2019 Layton, UT Jim Butcher, Vincent Villafranca, Tom Smith, Kitty Krell, Kevin Standlee, Lisa Hayes, Kuma Bear
2020
No Westercon held.
73 Westercon 73
/ Loscon 47
July 2-5, 2020
July 1-4, 2021
November 26-28, 2021
Seattle, WA
Los Angeles
David Brin, Rob Carlos, Ethan Siegel, Kevin Roche, Andrew Trembley Westercon 73 semi-canceled: Postponed due to Covid-19 and then nominally combined with Loscon 47. Loscon gohs: Gregory Benford, Jeff Sturgeon, Dennis Cherry, Kristine Cherry
74 Westercon 74 July 1-4, 2021
July 1-4, 2022
Tonopah, NV Kevin Andrew Murphy, Myrna Donato
75 Westercon 75
/ Loscon 49
June 30-July 3, 2023
November 24–26, 2023
Anaheim, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Gail Carriger, Kevin Grazier. Westercon 75 semi-canceled: Nominally combined with Loscon 49. Loscon GoHs: Peter S. Beagle, Echo Chernik, Elayne Pelz.
76 Westercon 76 July 4–7, 2024 Salt Lake City, UT TBD



Convention
1948
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