Philcon

(For the Worldcons and other "Philcons" see Philcon (Disambiguation))

A regional convention sponsored by PSFS in the Philadelphia area since 1936. It was known as the Philco in the 40s and as Phillycon in the 50s -- it is unclear just when Philcon caught on as the name of the gathering.

Note this is not related to the comic convention Phillycon which started in 2016.

The history of Philcon is unusually vague -- Harry Warner, for instance, mentions that he was unable to find out much for his histories of the 50s and 60s. This may be why Philcon does not label its conventions by number, but instead uses years. Prior to the year 2000, a two year designation was used, e.g., Philcon 92. From 2000 forward, four digits are used - e.g, Philcon 2000.

Philcon traditionally designates the featured author guest as the "Principal Speaker" instead of using the term Guest of Honor. It is also tradition to refer to Philcon as a conference, although the term convention is used at times.

In addition, a meeting of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society takes place Friday night during Philcon.

Website.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

Philco Philadelphia Conference; one of the annual gatherings held, usually in November, in Philadelphia under the sponsorship of the PSFS . The title was adopted in 1939 when "convention" had come to mean something larger than the former Eastern SF gatherings, but the annual PhilCos (the longest con-series in fandom) are numbered serially counting the First and Third Easterns as 1 and 2.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

Philco – Philadelphia conference. The title was adopted in 1939 when "convention" had come to mean something larger than the former Eastern S-F gatherings, but annual Philcos are numbered serially counting the First and Third Easters as 1 and 2.

Convention	Date	GoHs, Notes
First Convention	October 22, 1936	none
Third Eastern	October 30, 1937	none
1938 Philadelphia Conference	October 16, 1938	none
Philcon 1939	Fall 1939	none
Phillycon 1940	November 10, 1940
PhilCo 1942	January 1942	Belatedly announced for January 1942, but called off in favor of Boskone II.
Phillycon 1946	October 27, 1946
Phillycon 1947	1947
Phillycon 1948	November 21, 1948
Philcon 1950	1950
Philcon 1952	1952
Philcon 1956	November 10, 1956	Robert A. Lowndes, Sam Moskowitz, George O. Smith
Philcon 1957	November 9, 1957
Philcon 1958	November 15, 1958
Philcon 1959	1959	(mentioned in Warner 2)
Philcon 1960	November 5, 1960
Philcon 1961	November 17-18, 1961	Theodore Sturgeon
Philcon 1962	November 3, 1962
Philcon 1963	November 9, 1963	Fred Pohl
Philcon 1964	November 14-15, 1964
Philcon 1965	November 13-14, 1965	L. Sprague de Camp
Philcon 1966	November 12-13, 1966	Isaac Asimov
Philcon 1967	November 13-14, 1967	Willy Ley, Hal Clement
Philcon 1968	November 9-10, 1968	James Blish
Philcon 1969	November 14-16, 1969	Anne McCaffrey
Philcon 1970	November 13-15, 1970	Larry Niven
Philcon 1971	December 3-5, 1971	Keith Laumer
Philcon 1972	1972	John Brunner
Philcon 1973	November 9-11, 1973	Keith Laumer
Philcon 1974	November 8-10, 1974	Alfred Bester
Philcon 1975	November 14-16, 1975	Samuel R. Delany
Philcon 1976.1	January 14-16, 1977 (really)	Don Wollheim, Hal Clement, L. Sprague de Camp, Milt Rothman
Philcon 1977	November 11-13, 1977	Hal Clement
Philcon 1978	October 27-29, 1978	Michael Bishop, MIke Hinge
Philcon 1979	November 9-11, 1979	Joan Vinge, Karl Kofoed
Philcon 1980	November 14-16, 1980	Ben Bova, Kelly Freas, Robert Sheckley
Philcon 1981	December 4-6, 1981	Joe Haldeman, Darrell Sweet
Philcon 1982.1	January 14-16, 1983	C. J. Cherryh, Carl Lundgren
Philcon 1983	November 18-20, 1983	James Hogan, Real Musgrave
Philcon 1984	November 16-18, 1984	Larry Niven, Sean Spacher
Philcon 1986	November 14-16, 1986	Isaac Asimov, Michael Whelan, Frederik Pohl
Philcon 87	November 13-15, 1987	Robert Silverberg, Tim Hildebrandt, Timothy Zahn
Philcon 88	1988
Philcon 89	November 17-19, 1989	Philip José Farmer, Don Maitz, Poul Anderson Lois McMaster Bujold
Philcon 1990	November 16-18, 1990	Fritz Leiber, Frank Kelly Freas, Michael Bishop, Ellen Kushner
Philcon 1991	November 15-17, 1991	David Brin, Jean Giraud (Moebius) , Julian May, R. A. MacAvoy
Philcon 1992	November 13-15, 1992	Greg Bear, Boris Vallejo, Ray Harryhausen, Pamela Sargent, Tom Smith
Philcon 1993	November 12-14, 1993	Fred Saberhagen, David Cherry, Ian Watson, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly
Philcon 1994	November 18-20, 1994	Larry Niven, Jim Burns, C. J. Cherryh, Tom Smith
Philcon 1996	November 22-24, 1996	Frederik Pohl, Tom Kidd, Joan Vinge, Terry Bisson
Philcon 1997	November 14-16, 1997	Dan Simmons, Alan M. Clark, Gardner Dozois, Nancy Kress, Clam Chowder
Philcon 1998	November 13-15, 1998	Bruce Sterling, Bruce Jensen, Tom Savini, Walter Jon Williams
Philcon 1999	November 12-14, 1999	Katherine Kurtz, Jill Bauman
Philcon 2000	November 17-19, 2000	Vernor Vinge, Bob Walters, Poul Anderson, Karen Anderson
not held	2001
Philcon 2002	December 13-15, 2002	Connie Willis, Donato Giancola, David Gerrold, Nalo Hopkinson, Spider and Jeanne Robinson
Philcon 2003	December 12-14, 2003	Jack McDevitt, Greg Hildebrandt, Tim Hildebrandt, Peter David, Harry Harrison
Philcon 2004	December 10-12, 2004	Brian Aldiss and Joe DeVito
Philcon 2005	December 9-11, 2005	David Weber, David Mattingly
Philcon 2006	November 17-19, 2006	Charles Stross, Karl Kofoed, Tom Smith
Philcon 2007	November 16-18, 2007	Eric Flint, Sue Dawe, Kevin Roche, Andrew Trembley, Voltaire
Philcon 2008	November 21-23, 2008	Tim Powers, John Picacio, Scott Christian Sava, The Chromatics
Philcon 2009	November 20-22, 2009	Catherine Asaro, Frank Wu, L. A. Banks, Cory Doctorow
Philcon 2010	November 19-21, 2010	Peter S. Beagle
Philcon 2011	November 18-20, 2011	Cory Doctorow, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, S. J. Tucker
Philcon 2012	November 9-11, 2012	Catherynne Valente, Phil Foglio, David Kyle
Philcon 2013	November 8-10, 2013	Allen Steele, Charles Vess, Bob Madle, The Heather Dale Band with S. J. Tucker
Philcon 2014	November 21-23, 2014	Sharon Lee, Steve Miller, Bob Eggleton, Kyle Cassidy
Philcon 2015	November 20-22, 2015	Wen Spencer, Richard Hescox, Murder Ballads
Philcon 2016	November 18-20, 2016	C. J. Cherryh, Dave Seeley, L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Philcon 2017	November 10-12, 2017	Seanan McGuire, Don Maitz, Janny Wurts, Bed & Breakfast
Philcon 2018	November 16-18, 2018	Steven Brust, Gary Lippincott, Marshall Ryan Maresca
Philcon 2019	November 8-10, 2019	Tim Pratt, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Heather Shaw, This Way to the Egress
Philcon 2020	November 20-22, 2020 (virtual)	Max Gladstone, Romas Kukalis
Philcon 2021	November 19-21, 2021	Fran Wilde, Sara Henya

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Convention
	1936—

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