I-CON
(There are many "Icons" — here's a disambiguation page for them.)
I-CON, located at Stony Brook on Long Island, NY, was a three-day festival that began in 1982 and was designed to encourage literacy, creativity and interest in science and technology through science fiction and its related genres. For most of its life it was closely associated with Stony Brook University (Previously SUNY Stony Brook). The name I-CON is short for "Island Convention."
It was run by ICON Science Fiction Inc., a tax-exempt educational foundation founded by members of the Science Fiction Forum.
It gave out the I-CON Sam Moskowitz Award, the Raymond Z. Gallun Award, and the Iconosphere Award.
Preceded by SUNYcon (April 14, 1973), Mudcon (May 8, 1977), and Brookcon (October 28–30, 1977), all held on the Stony Brook University campus, I-CON started in 1982 and was held annually through 2012 at Stony Brook University, except for 2009, when it relocated temporarily to the Brentwood campus of Suffolk County Community College, due to planned construction at Stony Brook.
In the spring of 2012, I-CON was informed that the Stony Brook University Sports Complex would again be unavailable due to construction in 2013. ICON Science Fiction, Inc. scouted several possible locations on Long Island as an alternative venue, eventually entering into an agreement with Hofstra University, but due to financial problems ICON, Inc., decided to postpone I-CON 32, with plans to raise funds via smaller events and return in 2014. This did not happen and while the group ran a smaller, new convention called LI-CON, there was no I-CON 2013–16 until I-Con 32 returned in 2017 at Suffolk County Community College, in Brentwood, New York. It seems to have resumed its hiatus since then.
| Convention | Dates | GoHs |
|---|---|---|
| I-Con I | March 12-14, 1982 | Jim Frenkel |
| I-Con II | May 6-8, 1983 | Isaac Asimov, Janet Jeppson |
| I-Con III | March 30-April 1, 1984 | Hal Clement |
| I-Con IV | March 29-31, 1985 | Larry Niven |
| I-Con V | April 4-6, 1986 | Jack Williamson |
| I-Con VI | March 27-29, 1987 | David Brin |
| I-Con VII | April 15-17, 1988 | Poul Anderson |
| I-Con VIII | March 31-April 2, 1989 | Fred Pohl |
| I-Con IX | March 30-April 1, 1990 | C. J. Cherryh |
| I-Con X | April 19-21, 1991 | Dan Simmons |
| I-Con XI | April 3-5, 1992 | Roger Zelazny |
| I-Con XII | April 16-18, 1993 | Lucius Shepard |
| I-Con XIII | April 15-17, 1994 | Harlan Ellison |
| I-Con XIV | March 31 - April 2, 1995 | Nancy Kress |
| I-Con XV | April 12-14, 1996 | George Alec Effinger |
| I-Con XVI | April 4-6, 1997 | Joe Haldeman |
| I-Con XVII | March 27-29, 1998 | Norman Spinrad |
| I-Con XVIII | April 9-11, 1999 | Lois McMaster Bujold |
| I-Con XIX | March 31 - April 2, 2000 | Joe R. Lansdale |
| I-Con XX | March 30 - April 1, 2001 | Timothy Zahn |
| I-Con XXI | April 19-21, 2002 | F. Paul Wilson |
| I-Con XXII | March 28-30, 2003 | Barry Malzberg |
| I-Con XXIII | March 26-28, 2004 | Connie Willis |
| I-Con XXIV | April 8-10, 2005 | Ben Bova |
| I-Con XXV | March 24-26, 2006 | Terry Brooks |
| I-Con XXVI | March 23-25, 2007 | Liz Williams |
| I-Con XXVII | April 4-6, 2008 | Charlaine Harris |
| I-Con XXVIII | April 3-5, 2009 | |
| I-Con XXIX | March 26-28, 2010 | Robert J. Sawyer |
| I-Con XXX | April 15-17, 2011 | Joe R. Lansdale |
| I-Con XXXI | March 30-April 1, 2012 | David Weber |
| 2013-2016 | Not held due to funding difficulties | |
| I-Con 32 | March 17-19, 2017 | Cory Doctorow |
| 2018-2020 | Not held |
Contents
Awards[edit]
I-CON gave out a number of awards. It is unclear how the winners were chosen or by whom.
Raymond Z. Gallun Award[edit]
An award presented beginning in 1987, originally the I-CON Lifetime Achievement Award, for "outstanding contributions to the genre of science fiction." The award was named for SF author Raymond Z. Gallun.
2006 is latest year we can find information about it.
| Date | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1987 | Donald A. Wollheim |
| 1988 | Lloyd Arthur Eshbach |
| 1989 | Hal Clement |
| 1990 | Sam Moskowitz |
| 1991 | David A. Kyle |
| 1992 | Robert Sheckley |
| 1993 | L. Sprague de Camp & Catherine Crook de Camp |
| 1994 | Conrad Ruppert |
| 1995 | Forrest J Ackerman |
| 1996 | Damon Knight & Kate Wilhelm |
| 1997 | Julius Schwartz & Harlan Ellison |
| 1998 | Frederik Pohl |
| 1999 | Carol Emshwiller |
| 2000 | Algis Budrys |
| 2001 | Arthur C. Clarke |
| 2002 | Ron Goulart |
| 2003 | No Award |
| 2004 | No Award |
| 2005 | Ben Bova |
| 2006 | Tom Doherty |
I-CON Sam Moskowitz Award[edit]
An award presented by I-CON beginning in 1998, for "significant achievement or contributions to SF/Fantasy/Horror fandom."
The award is named for SF fan/critic/historian/anthologist Sam Moskowitz. Not to be confused with the Sam Moskowitz Archive Award.
2002 is latest year we can find information about it.
| Date | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1998 | John L. Coker III |
| 1999 | David A. Kyle |
| 2000 | James Gunn |
| 2001 | Hal Clement |
| 2002 | Charles N. Brown |
ICONosphere Award[edit]
An award presented beginning in 2000 "in recognition of Excellence in Behind-the-Scenes work in Science Fiction."
| Date | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Flat Earth Productions |
| 2001 | Ray Harryhausen |
John Pilkington Award[edit]
This award, given in memory of John Pilkington, one of I-CON’s most dedicated and reliable staff members was given to a guest of I-CON who over the years has been a significant part of the convention. The recipient was someone the senior staff felt had been long dedicated to the growth, and reputation of the convention.
In 2001, the only year we have information about, it went to Harlan Ellison, “whose regular visits and tireless energy have made his appearances a favorite of so many of our fans.”
| Convention | |
| 1982—2017 |
| 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. |
