Con†Stellation

Con†Stellation is an annual general-interest science fiction convention held in Huntsville, Alabama. Held annually since 1982, Con†Stellation is hosted by the North Alabama Science Fiction Association. The convention was not held in 2014 but the sequence resumed with Con†Stellation XXXIII: Coma Berenices in October 2015.Con†Stellation historyNASFA was founded in Huntsville circa 1980 partly as a result of local fans meeting at a one-time convention named MidSouthCon, held in Huntsville that year. (This convention is not directly related to the annual convention of the same name in Memphis, Tennessee.) Club members quickly came up with the idea of starting their own science fiction convention. The first of these was a mini one-day con named ZerCon, in November 1981. While planning and executing ZerCon, the club came up with the name "Con*Stellation" (or "Con†Stellation") for a planned ongoing series of longer (three-day) conventions.The first Con†Stellation was held July 16–18, 1982, under the full name Con†Stellation I: The Pleiades. The time of year varied over the first few conventions, though at least one has been held each year since. In 1983-1984, the convention made the shift from a spring/summer convention to a fall convention. To aid the transition, a two-day mini-convention was held in December 1983, thus avoiding an extremely long gap between Con†Stellation II and Con†Stellation III. Because the convention had already started using Roman numerals for numbering the series, the mini-convention was numbered as Con†Stellation II.V, a deliberate, tongue-in-cheek, mix of Roman numerals and place notation from Arabic numerals. Con†Stellation III was held October 19–21, 1984, at the Sheraton Inn (GoH: Gordon R. Dickson, AGoH: Mark Maxwell, MC: Frank Kelly Freas, FGoH: Maurine Dorris, "Uncle Timmy")