Tropicon

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(Did you mean an Orlando convention?)

Tropicon, the South Florida Science Fiction Convention, ran 20 years from 1982 through 2001. Initially created to take advantage of the writers and artists imported for the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, it was run by a small but dedicated group of science fiction fans headed by Joe Siclari and Edie Stern. In addition to Joe and Edie, the starting group included Judy Bemis, Diane Goldman, Tony Parker, Becky Peters, David Singer, Sue Trautman, and Craig Newmark.

Subsequent Tropicons were put on as independent entities with many of the same people performing the multitude of tasks that make such undertakings a success. In 1985 this same group of people formed the South Florida Science Fiction Society and SFSFS formally took over the sponsorship of Tropicon. SFSFS was the sponsor for all Tropicons from 1985 to 2001.

In addition to convention sponsored guests, Tropicon often had special filk guests. Expenses for these guests were raised by the local filk community, rather than the convention, and involved donations by the usual suspects, calls for donations during the convention, and a limited but sincere amount of arm twisting.

A frequent Tropicon and in fact SFSFS symbol was a flamingo with a propeller beanie. That image appeared woven into many program book covers and other artifacts.

Photos

Convention Date GoHs Chairman Location
Tropicon I March 12-14, 1982 Lee Hoffman Joe Siclari Boca Raton, FL
Tropicon II December 2-4, 1983 Marion Zimmer Bradley Joe Siclari Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon III December 7-9, 1984 Forrest J Ackerman & Vincent Di Fate Joe Siclari Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon 4 December 6-8, 1985 Robert Bloch Joe Siclari Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon 5 December 5-7, 1986 Gardner Dozois Nancy Atherton Deerfield Beach, FL
Tropicon 6 December 4-6, 1987 George R. R. Martin & Kelly Freas Joe Siclari & Gail Bennett Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon 7 December 2-4, 1988 Poul Anderson & Walter A. Willis Edie Stern Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon 8 December 1-3, 1989 Lynn Abbey & Leslie Turek Judy Bemis & Tony Parker Dania, FL
Tropicon IX November 30 - December 2, 1990 Hal Clement & Bruce Pelz Judy Bemis & Tony Parker Dania, FL
Tropicon X December 6-8, 1991 Andre Norton Joe Siclari & Gerry Adair Dania, FL
Tropicon XI January 8-10, 1993 Ramsey Campbell Gerry Adair West Palm Beach
Tropicon XII January 7-9, 1994 Judith Tarr & Gail Bennett Fran Mullen West Palm Beach, FL
Tropicon XIII January 6-8, 1995 Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Jael Steve Gold West Palm Beach, FL
Tropicon XIV January 12-14, 1996 James P. Hogan Joe Siclari & Fran Mullen Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon XV November 15-17, 1996 David Gerrold George Peterson Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon XVI November 7-9, 1997 Esther Friesner Judi Goodman Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon XVII November 13-15, 1998 Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess Shirlene Ananayo-Rawlik & Pete Rawlik Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tropicon XVIII November 19-21, 1999 Mike Resnick & Ron Walotsky George Peterson Hollywood, FL
Tropicon XIX November 10-12, 2000 Vernor Vinge, David Cherry & David Langford Joe Siclari Hollywood, FL
Tropicon XX November 9-11, 2001 Lois McMaster Bujold & Jean Pierre Targete Joe Siclari & Shirlene Ananayo Hollywood, FL


Convention
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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.