Feel free to use this page as a reference yourself, if you find it useful. I'll update it from time-to-time, usually several times a year, at least to make sure the links are correct.

Convention	Where	When	My Comments
Corflu 18	Boston, MA	March 30 - April 1, 2001	Corflu is a fanzine fan's convention. I've never been, but I know several people who have gone in the past. Corflu fans also often seem to go to Potlatch, too.
Minicon 36	Minneapolis, MN	Easter Weekend, April 13-15, 2001	Minicon has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years, which I've missed since moving to California. The 2001 Writer Guest of Honor will be Ken MacLeod, whose work I have enjoyed a lot recently. There is a discussion mailing list about Minicon, to which you can subscribe.
WisCon 25	Madison, WI	Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-28, 2001	WisCon is an excellent, programming-heavy convention, which I helped out with for a few years. This year's guests of honor will be Nancy Kress and Elisabeth Vonarburg.
BayCon 2001	San Jose, WI	Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-28, 2001	The biggest Bay Area SF convention. I have not yet been to one.
Readercon 13	Burlington, MA	July 13-15, 2001	I understand Readercon caters to (no surprise here) people interested in written science fiction. I've never been to one, but it sounds interesting!
The Millennium Philcon	Philadelphia, PA	August 30-September 3, 2001	This will be the 59th World Science Fiction Convention.
SiliCon 2001	San Francisco Bay Area, CA	October 19-21, 2001	I know nothing about SiliCon, and apparently a specific site for it has not yet been chosen. Check their Web site for news, I suppose...
ConJosé	San Jose, CA	August 29-September 2, 2002	This will be the 60th World Science Fiction Convention.
Torcon 3	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	August 28-September 1, 2003	This will be the 61st World Science Fiction Convention.

If there are Web pages for any cons that I don't know about, or if there are cons that I have completely forgotten about within a few hours' drive of Madison, please let me know.

Other SF Convention Web Resources

• Andy Peed's Convention Compendium
• Science Fiction Convention Webring
• SF-Lovers Convention Listings, at the SF-Lovers Archive at Rutgers University
• Stilyagi Air Corps Calendar of Events, a large list of national fannish events

Conventions I've Been To

Convention	Where	When	My Comments
Potlatch 10	San Francisco, CA	February 23-25, 2001	My first west coast convention, Potlatch is a small book-oriented convention. I didn't care much for the "book of honor" (Theodore Sturgeon's Thunder and Roses; see here for more), but the convention was fun, with some good panels, and the opportunity to see some friends from out of town. Well-stocked - if physically small - con suite, too. Mmm, the chocolate fondue!
WisCon 24	Madison, WI	May 26-29, 2000	Guests of honor were author Charles de Lint and Madison fan Jeanne Gomoll. Jeanne - whom I've known for a few years - had a blast! She was one of the founding members of WisCon and indeed of Madison fandom. The con itself had its usual good programming, and the art show has been getting better each year and was really excellent this year. sadly I ended up being outbid on both of the piece of art I wanted! Sob!
Windycon 25	Schaumburg, IL	November 13-15, 1998	Windycon 25 was a little better than 24, but I was still disappointed. There is virtually no programming on Friday, and I feel that the dealer's room is getting a bit stale, as there are fewer used book dealers and more jewelry/toy/T-shirt dealers, which don't really attract me. Phil Foglio was the high point of the con, and I was pleased to meet Stephen Leigh, as well.
Mad Media 5	Madison, WI	September 25-27, 1998	Guests of Honor included Harlan Ellison, Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Timothy Zahn, and Stephen Furst. I only went for a day, but it was a great day, with terrific panels with Ellison and David, and I got a wonderful autograph by Gaiman of my copy of his Sandman "Season of Mists" hardcover.
WisCon 22	Madison, WI	May 22-25, 1998	Another good WisCon. I had a chance to work the registration desk with Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow and all-around neat lady, and Sheri S. Tepper's GoH speech was riveting.
Minicon 33	Bloomington, MN	April 10-12, 1998	This was a pretty good con, and I saw several entertaining editor-centered panels featuring GoH Gardner Dozois, plus Patrick & Theresa Neilson-Hayden, and Jim Frenkel. Bought a lot in the dealer's room, enjoyed the art show, and discovered that conventions start losing my interest after about 9 pm once all those things shut down. I also got well-and-truly miffed at all the $%^&* costumers who kept blocking the hallways to be photographed. Aargh!
Windycon 24	Schaumburg, IL	November 7-9, 1997	I was quite disappointed in this Windycon. Programming seemed very thin (there was almost no programming on Friday at all!), the con suite was moved from its excellent quarters on the fourth floor to a rather dingy room on the first, which made the first floor even more crowded, and, well, that was enough to make it a lackluster convention for me. I may well not go next year, given my experience this year.
Congenial 8	Racine, WI	September 26-28 1997	Congenial may be on its last legs, as attendance was pretty low this year. This may be because First Contact was over the same weekend. At any rate, I had a good time hanging out with some friends.
LoneStarCon 2	San Antonio, TX	August 28-September 1 1997	This was the 55th World Science Fiction Convention. It was pretty good, but not great. I wrote an essay on my experience there (although it improves in my memory over time).
WisCon 21	Madison, WI	Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26, 1997	Another excellent Wiscon, I enjoyed the superb programming, and was particularly entertained by guest Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow, which was the co-winner of the 1997 Tiptree Award.
Minicon 32	Bloomington, MN	March 28-30 1997	I was really looking forward to this con and seeing guests of honor C.J. Cherryh and Michael Swanwick, but I ended up contracting food poisoning and spent most of Saturday sleeping, which kind of killed the con for me. I got better, but it was very disappointing.
Windycon 23	Schaumburg, IL	November 8-10 1996	It's worth noting that Windycon has an excellent film room. I got to see 12 Monkeys at the con on their big screen.
WisCon 20	Madison, WI	May 24-27 1996	Guests: Ursula Le Guin, Judith Merrill, and many more. This was an outstanding convention, with superlative programming, a good consuite and dealer's room, and plenty to do. Perhaps the best con I've yet been to.
Congenial 7	Racine, WI	May 10-12 1996
Minicon 31	Bloomington, MN	April 5-7 1996	I was rather disappointed in this one; programming seemed rather scant, and I find their function space to be rather oppressive, with few convenient places to sit down that aren't off in a corner somewhere. On the other hand, the dealer's room and art show were great, especially the Ed Emshwiller art retrospective.
WindyCon 22	Schaumburg, IL	November 10-12, 1995
Congenial 6	Rochelle, IL	September 1-3, 1995	I produced the one-shot fanzine for this relaxacon, which turned out to be enough of a pain in the ass that I've decided to take at least one year off from it. I like editing the fanzine, but photocopying it is a bitch, sometimes.
WisCon 19	Madison, WI	May 26-29, 1995	I'd lived in Madison for nearly four years by this time; you'd think I'd have attended a Wiscon by then. But no, this was my first one.
Minicon 30	Bloomington, MN	April 14-16, 1995	I had a great time seeing GoH Vernor Vinge, who is one of my favorite authors. This was also the con at which I discovered programming, which it turns out is one of the things I really enjoy at cons.
WindyCon 21	Chicago, IL	November 1994
Minicon 29	Bloomington, MN	April 1-3, 1994
Congenial 5	Madison, WI	July 24-26, 1993
Congenial 4	Madison, WI	July 1992	This was my first con.

hits since 1 July 1996.