SwanCon XI – Con Book – The Chairman’s Piece

Being page 1 of the SwanCon XI Con Book. Transcription by Anna Hepworth.


WELCOME everyone to another fun-filled SWANCON, thinly disguised as the 1986 Australian National Science Fiction Convention. After trial and tribulation we have finally got it all together. First of all, let me tell you a story. At SWANCON IX, a certain fan was given an award by the chairman of that convention. Somewhat mystified and puzzled as to why he received it, he then indulged in a few room parties and ended sitting in the hotel stairway with a few other fans, somewhat the worse for wear. There he was, sitting there, thinking inebriated thoughts when a wonderful idea formed. ” Perth in ’86, what a great idea ! ” And thus SWANCON XI and its chairman was formed. And I’ve never looked back (well, once or twice). There is a moral to this story. Stay sober at conventions (not you, me ! ). From that small acorn all this has grown.

Swancons have a tradition of being relaxed, enjoyable cons with plenty of fun tinged with just the right amount of serious discussion. SWANCON XI will continue maintain this traditional flavour. For our Professional Guest of Honour we have the wonderful C.J. Cherryh, an author familiar to all of you, and whose works are very popular all over the world. A filksinger, party-goer, fan – C.J. Cherryh will be yet another popular GOH for SWANCON ! ! Jack Herman is to be the Fan GOH for SWANCON XI; for those of you not entirely in the know, Jack is a Sydney fan who has been involved in fandom for probably longer than he would care to tell us. Jack has been involved in running conventions (he has my sympathy), publishing and contributing to fanzines, and many other activities, some of which we can’t talk about. Come and see Jack battle the forces of evil at the Business Session on the Saturday morning. It should be one of the highlights of the day.

The programme has been slaved over for many months and we hope that we have developed a programme with something of interest for everyone. There are some new ideas, some old items revamped, and the traditional SWANCON items such as the Fan Olympics, Fan Physical Fitness and the Committee Pie Throwing, the last of which I am not looking forward to.

For those of you attending a convention for the first time here in WA, you’ll soon come to realise that most people at Swancons are, at least, slightly crazy but generally friendly and approachable. So let down your hair and join in the fun too.

I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank all the members of my committee (see mug shots elsewhere in the programme book) who worked long and hard to get this show on the road.

Additionally, there were many non-committee people who have put much time and effort towards the success of the convention and I send a great big thank-you to all of you too.

On that note, I shall end my little chairman’s rave and bid all a very a happy Easter and equally enjoyable con.

[signature: E J Harding]

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