Keycon

A convention held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since 1984 and sponsored by WINSFA.

Keycon is a "social" convention which places an emphasis on panel discussions, personal interaction, and guest accessibility (for example, autographs from and photos with guests are generally available free of charge). The story is often told about the Keycon where Richard Hatch was a GoH; he played the "Battlestar Galactica" board game with fans in the gaming room (where he took on the role of a Cylon, and lost), and later he could be seen in the folk music suite singing and playing guitar with the fans. At Keycon, guests are usually not behind a table all convention long, separated from the fans: they are encouraged to be out and about, interacting with the convention membership.

Some perennial features of Keycon include: the Art Show, the Dealers Room, five to seven tracks of programming running all weekend long (the 2019 programme grid featured over 70 programming items to choose from), a gaming area, a costume competition followed by a dance on Saturday night, and a full floor of the hotel devoted to themed hospitality suites which change from year to year. At the end of the convention, after programming officially ends on Sunday late afternoon, the "Dead Dog" begins: a party involving the entire hospitality suite floor, often running into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Recent Keycons have also included a sing-along event (organized by Lillian Bryant and hosted by Joey Wensel), a trivia contest (run by Lillian Bryant and Joey Wensel), a live bad fiction reading audience participation panel (facilitated by Laurie E. Smith), the Newbie Dinner to welcome convention newcomers (hosted by Laurie E. Smith), pinball machines plus a pinball tournament (organized and managed by Yuriy Roman Mokriy), and a Childrens Programming track (run by Mama Kat).

See Through the Keyhole -- 25 Years of KeyCon Memories. Winnipeg, Canada: KeyCon Science Fiction Convention Inc. ISBN 978-0-9810076-0-1

Detailed history site saved from the deletionists

Convention	Dates	GoHs
Keycon 1	May 18-20 1984	Robert_Asprin, Phil Foglio, Patricia Wrede, Jeanette Eilke, Eric Carstead, George Freeman
Keycon 2	May 17-19 1985	Vonda Neil McIntyre, Tim Hammell, Steven Brust, Patricia Wrede, Crystal Marvig
Keycon 3	May 16-18 1986	Anne McCaffrey, Erin McKee, Beth Friedman
Keycon 4	May 15-17 1987	Keith Laumer, Ken Macklin, Barry B. Longyear, Steven Brust, Mike Glicksohn
Keycon 5	May 20-22 1988	Gene Wolfe, Charles de Lint, Kevin Davies, Phil Jennings, Dave Duncan, Judith Merril, Fran Skene
Keycon 6	May 19-21 1989	Lois McMaster Bujold, Harry Turtledove, Robert Pasternak, Patricia Collins Wrede, Steven Brust, Barbara Schofield
Keycon 7	May 26-27 1990	C. J. Cherryh, Jo Clayton, David Cherry, Patricia Collins Wrede, Mary Ann Harris, Charles de Lint, Geri Sullivan
Keycon 8	May 17-19 1991	Gordon R. Dickson, Joel Rosenberg, Adrian Kleinbergen, Kathy Routliffe, Bob Berlin
Keycon 9	May 14-17 1992	Terry Pratchett, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Reed Waller, Kate Worley, Dave Duncan, Larry Stewart
Keycon 10	May 21-23, 1993	Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Bob Eggleton
Keycon 11	May 22-24, 1994	Ben Bova, Dave Clement
Keycon 12	May 19-21, 1995	Guy Gavriel Kay, Richard A. Knaak, Crystal Marvig, Victor Raymond, Charles Lewis Grant
Keycon 13	May 17-19, 1996	Larry Niven, Tanya Huff, Dave Pruden, Sunshine Katz, Dave Hayward
Keycon 14	May 16-18, 1997	Kevin J. Anderson, Margaret Weis, Nene Tina Thomas, Ruth Thompson
Keycon 15	May 15-17, 1998	Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Frank Kelly Freas, Laura Brodia Freas, Connie Lyon
Keycon 16	May 21-23, 1999	David Drake, Den Beauvais, Michael Sheard, Al Jastram
Keycon 17	May 19-21, 2000	Jennifer Roberson, Laurie E. Smith, Dave Pruden, Robert Pasternak, Tim Hogue, Brian Downey, Michael Sheard
Keycon 18	May 18-20, 2001	Spider & Jeanne Robinson, Phil & Kaja Foglio, The Wild & Hairy Guys
Keycon 19	May 17-19, 2002	Charles de Lint, Pete Abrams
Keycon 20	May 16-18, 2003	Robert Sawyer, Carolyn Clink, Jolly Blackburn
Keycon 21	May 21-23, 2004	Dave Duncan, James Ernest, Donna Stevenson
Keycon 22	May 20-22, 2005	Steven Erikson, Lar DeSouza, Chris Barsanti, Nancy Fetterman
Keycon 23	May 19-21, 2006	Author Guest: Jacqueline Carey, Robert Sawyer, Frantic Films, Ruth Thompson, Barron Vangor Toth
Keycon 24 aka Keycon007	2007	Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, L. A. Williams
Keycon 25	May 16-19, 2008	Eric Flint, David Mattingly, Jane Yolen, Tanya Huff, Liana K. Luke Ski, Jennifer C. Wilkes
Keycon 26	May 15-17, 2009	John E. Kaufmann, Katherine Kurtz, Kelley Armstrong, Ed and Red, Luke Ski and Worm Quartet (ShoEboX)
Keycon 27	May 21-23, 2010	Julie Czerneda, Andee Frizzell, S. M. Stirling, Kari Ann Anderson, The Great Luke Ski and Worm Quartet
Keycon 28	May 20-22, 2011	L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Theresa Mather, Barbara Galler-Smith
Keycon 29	May 18-20, 2012	Timothy Zahn, Jonathan Maberry, Sue Dawe, Victor Schwartzman
Keycon 30	May 17-19, 2013	Lee Moyer, Richard Hatch, Steven Barnes, Ann Aguirre, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Lar deSouza, J. M. Frey, Cassondra Felton-Tufty
Keycon 31	May 16-18, 2014	Laurie Eli, David Gerrold, Tanya Huff, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Ian Sokoliwski
Keycon 32	May 15-17, 2015	David L. Clements, Liana K., Don Maitz, Elizabeth Moon, David Weber, Janny Wurts
Keycon 33	May 20-22, 2016	Jean-Pierre Normand, Peter David, Julie Czerneda, Karl Johanson
Keycon 34	May 19-21, 2017	Kelley Armstrong, Kitty Cat Creations, Laurie E. Smith, Thom Allison, Tamsen McDonough
Keycon 35	May 18-20, 2018	The Kamikaze Snowmen, Keith Baker. Sanya Anwar, Connie Reevie, Lawrence Reevie, Dr. David Clements, Liana K, Don Maitz, Elizabeth Moon, David Weber, Janny Wurts
Keycon 36	May 17-19 2019	Carrie Vaughn, Lee Moyer, Tanya Huff
Keycon 2020	CANCELLED (was May 15-17 2020)	Black Magic Craft, The PDX Broadsides, Steven Erikson

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Convention
Website	1984—

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