Mecon
(Did you mean a Northern Irish convention?)
A series of four or five tiny fan gatherings held in Maine, beginning in 1939, also called the Maine Stf Conference and Mainecon.
In con reports by Norm Stanley in Fan-Tods #4 Pages 3, 4 and 16, he describes two events in the summer of 1943, beginning with Art Widner and LRChauvenet (who was visiting Boston) biking up to Norm’s house, Obsequious Manor, Rockland, ME, to visit. The only official action of the con was to vote adoption of "fen" as the plural for "fan".
Three being virtually a mob in Maine fan circles, the festive occasion was fortwith labelled the Maine Stf Conference, ordinality dubious, but posibly the third or fourth such affair since Mecon I (which also had but three atteendees) was held in 1939.
Sadly, Stanley did not detail the events' dates, but he quoted Widner as saying that he and Elarcy would arrive on the “28th or 29th” and stay for up to three days. References to fanzines in the report make it pretty clear that these meant they’d get there in late June.
Then about a week afterward, Claude Degler showed up, under his pseudonym "Don Rogers," and this was dubbed "Mainecon Junior." There are claims that Jim Avery was also present, but he is not mentioned in Stanley's con report (the plural in "our door," "stay with us," etc., appears to be an avoidance; Stanley was living with his mother).
Note that unlike the Fancyclopedia a mere year later, Stanley used the fully-spelled less-punning names “Mainecon” and “Mainecon, Jr.,” although there seems to be some interchangeability.
See Early Conventions, Fan Visits and Fan Gatherings.
| From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944 |
| The Maine Stf convention. In the summer of 1943, Art Widner and LRChauvenet (who was visiting Boston) biked up to Obsequious Manor, Rockland, ME, to visit Norm Stanley. The only official action of the Con was to vote adoption of "fen" as the plural for "fan".
The Mecon II was Cosmic Degler's visit to Rockland. |
| Convention | Date | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecon I | 1939 | 3 | |
| Maine Stf Conference | June 26/28 – July 1 | 3 | “the third or fourth such affair since Mecon I” |
| Mainecon, Jr. | Early July 1943 | 2 | Mecon II? |
| Convention | |
| 1939—1943 |
| This is a convention page. Please extend it by adding information about the convention, including dates, GoHs, convention chairman, locale, sponsoring organization, external links to convention pages, awards given, the program, notable events, anecdotes, pictures, scans of publications, pictures of T-shirts, con reports, etc. |
