Westercon

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. There is conflicting information about who originated the idea: The westercon.org website lists Walter J. Daugherty as having proposed the motion, while 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.

The first Westercon was chaired by Evans and held September 5, 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 were unable to function, the LASFS Board of Directors would be 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.

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 [i.e., 1958] was always some place in California.

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Convention
	1948—

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