Transcribed by Doug

 

WELCOME TO
SWANCON XV

By Don Griffiths B-)

The Fifteenth Western Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. Fifteenth? Already? Time flies when you’re having fun…

Seriously though, I have been attending SF conventions for 13 years, the first being SwanCon 3. Considering there is no formal organisation to manage the succession of SwanCons, it seems amazing that year after year volunteers emerge to form committees for subsequent SwanCons, including three National Conventions.

I will be happy to stand corrected, but from the minimal research I’ve done I believe that as far as Australian conventions go, fifteen consecutive years is a record. The Natcon has been going for twenty eight years, but this of course moves from state to state.

With the risk of being boring, I’ll repeat my message from Progress Report One. The reason, I believe, for SwanCon’s success is our ability to attract new devotees of our particular madness. Each year a group of new faces emerge from the convention with an enthusiasm that is stunning. Stunning, in that is, until you think back to when you got involved. The second year of my involvement with SwanCon saw me on the committee for WA’s first National convention. So a particular welcome to people who are attending SwanCon for the first time.

To the many of you who have been involved in SwanCons before, welcome back. It is the continuity you provide that maintains the unique flavour of SwanCon.

Finally a word about our theme, “Survival in a Dark Future”.

This was dreamed up when looking at the year 1990. Some of you may remember a TV series called 1990 about a totalitarian Britain. The ideas that developed from this are many and varied. SF authors for years have been dwelling on the topics of Cautionary Tales, ever since Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein and Herbert George Wells wrote The Time Machine. We hope the theme will provide a platform for stimulating debate.

In closing, I will quote the Coordinator of SwanCon 10:

 

“Have fun, enjoy”