This list of past Minicons is in chronological order (which is not the same as numerical order). Location, dates, and guests of honor are noted when known.
| No. | Date/Year | Location | Theme | Guests of Honor | Special Guest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 6, 1968 | Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota | A Strange New World of Science Fiction | Gordon R. Dickson, Charles De Vet, Clifford Simak | |
| 2 | April 4-6, 1969 | Andrews Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | |||
| 3 | April 3-5, 1970 | Dyckman Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | The Minneapolis in '73 Convention! | Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, Clifford Simak | |
| 4 | June 18-20, 1971 | Curtis Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | Lin Carter | ||
| 5 | October 15-17, 1971 | Andrews Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | The Genghiscon! | — | |
| 6 | April 7-9, 1972 | The Stereo-opticon! | Ruth Berman | ||
| 7 | April 20-22, 1973 | Hyatt Lodge; Minneapolis, MN | The Minneapolis in '73 Con! | Larry Niven (pro), Rusty Hevelin (fan) | |
| 8 | April 12-14, 1974 | Dyckman Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | Kelly Freas (pro), Bob Tucker (fan) | ||
| 9 | October 11-13, 1974 | Judy-Lynn del Rey and Lester del Rey | |||
| 10 | April 18-20, 1975 | Holiday Inn; Minneapolis, MN | Poul Anderson (pro), Gordon Dickson (fan), Lester del Rey (toastmaster) | ||
| 11 | April 16-18, 1976 | Leamington Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | Edmond Hamilton (pro), Leigh Brackett (pro), Leigh and Norb Couch (fans), Jackie Franke and Rusty Hevelin (toastmasters) | ||
| 12 | April 8-10, 1977 | The Dododecacon | Ben Bova (pro), Buck Coulson and Juanita Coulson (fans), Joe Haldeman (toastmaster) | ||
| 13 | March 24-26, 1978 | Nothing is as it seems | Samuel R. Delany (pro), Spider Robinson (fan), Bob Tucker (artist), Krissy (toastmaster) | ||
| 15 | April 13-15, 1979 | Radisson; Minneapolis, MN | The other 10% | Theodore Sturgeon (pro), Tom Digby (fan), Rick Sternbach (artist), Robert E. Vardeman (toastmaster) | |
| 16 | April 4-6, 1980 | Déjà Vu | C. J. Cherryh (pro), Jon Singer (fan), Ken Fletcher (artist), Nate Bucklin (musician), Bob Tucker (toastmaster) | ||
| 17 | April 17-19, 1981 | Jack Vance (pro), Jerry Boyajian (fan), Reed Waller (musician), Kathy Marschall (artist) | |||
| 14 | April 9-11, 1982 | Radisson; St. Paul, MN | Forward, Into the Past | John Varley (pro), Clifford D. Simak (fan), Spider Robinson (musician) | |
| 19 | April 1-3, 1983 | Backward, Into the Future | Larry Niven (pro), Pamela Dean and David Dyer-Bennet (fans), Dave Sim (artist), Spider John Koerner (music), Steven Brust (toastmaster), Nostradamus (proxy) | ||
| 18 | April 20-22, 1984 | Leamington Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | We know what we're doing and you don't. Trust us. | Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (pro), Dave Wixon (fan), Stephen Hickman (artist), S.P. Somtow (musician), Rusty Hevelin (toastmaster), Bob Tucker ("smooth") | |
| 20 | April 5-7, 1985 | Radisson South; Bloomington, MN | Let's you and I get normal for a change | James P. Hogan (pro), The Permanent Floating Riot Club (fan group, the name is a tribute to Larry Niven), The White Women (musicians), Stu Shiffman (artist), Jerry Stearns and Kara Dalkey (toastmasters) | |
| 21 | March 28-30, 1986 | Now we're just immoral and fattening | Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm (pro), Denny Lien (fan), Ken Fletcher (artist), Anne Passovoy (musician), Diane Duane (toastmaster) | ||
| 22 | April 17-19, 1987 | Still Crazy After All These Years | David Brin (pro), Fred Haskell (fan), Erin McKee (artist), Jerry Stearns (music), Robert Bloch (toastmaster) | ||
| 23 | April 1-3, 1988 | Spring Forward, Fall Over | Eleanor Arnason (author), Eric Heideman (fan), Frederik Pohl (editor), Crystal Marvig (artist), Richard Feynman (science, posthumous) | ||
| 24 | March 24-26, 1989 | Zen and the Art of Fan Maintenance | Harry Harrison, George "Lan" Laskowski, Fritz Leiber, Barry B. Longyear | ||
| 25 | April 13-15, 1990 | The Silver Edition | Jane Yolen, Kim Stanley Robinson (author), Patrick Price ("arthur"), David Thayer a.k.a. Teddy Harvia (artist), DavE Romm (fan), Earl Joseph (science) | ||
| 26 | March 29-31, 1991 | Think of it as Evolution in Action | George Alec Effinger (author), David Cherry (artist), Al Kuhfeld, Ph.D. (science), Suzanne V. Tompkins and Jerry Kaufman (fans), Jon Singer (lunch) | ||
| 27 | April 17-19, 1992 | Don't Ever Be A Dodo | Lois McMaster Bujold (author), Ctein (artist), Dave Van Ronk (music) | ||
| 28 | April 9-11, 1993 | Suite, Savage Minicon | Susan Allison (editor), Diane Duane (author), Peter Morwood (author), Kathy Mar (music), Don Fitch (bless his sweet heart), John M. Ford (interesting person) | ||
| 29 | April 1-3, 1994 | It seemed like a good idea at the time | Tom Doherty (publisher), Jack Williamson (author), Rusty Hevelin (fan), Phil Foglio (artist) | ||
| 30 | April 13-16, 1995 | Some Assembly Required or "Would You Like Fries With That?" | Vernor Vinge (author), Robert L. Forward (science), Jody Lee (artist), The Bhigg House (fan group) | ||
| 31 | April 5–7, 1996 | Coming to a Galaxy Near You | Suzette Haden Elgin (author), Ed Emshwiller (artist, posthumous), Joe Siclari & Edie Stern (fans), David Ossman (audio) | ||
| 32 | March 28–30, 1997 | Even Chaos has a Pattern | Algis Budrys (author), C. J. Cherryh (author), Tom Doherty (publisher), Tom Lopez (audio), Patrick Nielsen Hayden (fan), Teresa Nielsen Hayden (fan), Michael Swanwick | ||
| 33 | April 10–12, 1998 | Heisenberg Probably Slept Here | Gardner Dozois (publishing), David Langford (fan), John M. Ford (toastmaster) | ||
| 34 | April 2–4, 1999 | Hilton & Towers; Minneapolis, MN | Octavia E. Butler (author), Mark & Priscilla Olson (fans), David Nee (bookseller) | ||
| 35 | April 21–23, 2000 | Maureen F. McHugh (author), John Berkey (artist), Lenny Bailes (fan) | |||
| 36 | April 13–15, 2001 | Ken MacLeod (author), Jo Walton (fan), Leslie Fish (musician) | |||
| 37 | March 29–31, 2002 | Emma Bull (author), Will Shetterly (author), Arthur Hlavaty (fan), Rick Berry (artist) | |||
| 38 | April 18–20, 2003 | Millennium Hotel; Minneapolis, MN | Robert J. Sawyer (author), Carolyn Clink (poet), Sue Mason (fan), Steve Macdonald (musician) | ||
| 39 | April 9–11, 2004 | Walter Jon Williams (author), Sharyn November (editor), Deb Geisler (fan) | |||
| 40 | March 25–27, 2005 | Sheraton; Bloomington, MN | Minicon Fortean | Terry Pratchett (author), Fastner & Larson (artists), James Young (fan) | |
| 41 | April 14–16, 2006 | XLi, Robot | Harlan Ellison (author), John Picacio (artist), Doug Friauf (fan) | ||
| 42 | April 6–8, 2007 | And the question was...? (in reference to the number 42) | Charles de Lint (author), Charles Vess (artist) | ||
| 43 | March 21–23, 2008 | Digging up the Future | Alastair Reynolds (author), Wayne Barlowe (artist, in absentia), Shawna McCarthy (editor), Nate Bucklin (fan) | ||
| 44 | April 10–12, 2009 | Karl Schroeder (author), Stephan Martinere (artist, in absentia), Seth Shostak (scientist) | |||
| 45 | April 2–4, 2010 | Brandon Sanderson (author), Daniel Dos Santos (artist) | Moshe Feder (editor) | ||
| 46 | April 22–24, 2011 | Not yet dead from the neck up | Charles Stross, (author in absentia), John Scalzi, (author), Chas Somdahl, (musician) | ||
| 47 | April 6–8, 2012 | DoubleTree Minneapolis South; Bloomington, MN | The minions are coming... | Ted Chiang (author), Christopher J Garcia (fanzine), Frank Wu (artist), | Brianna "Spacekat" Wu (game developer) |
| 48 | March 29–31, 2013 | The Game of Life | Julie Czerneda (author), Richard Tatge (fan) | ||
| 49 | April 17–20, 2014 | Pirates and Airships | Catherynne Valente (author), Janny Wurts (author), Don Maitz (artist) | ||
| 50 | April 2–5, 2015 | The Gold Edition | Jane Yolen (author), Larry Niven author, Brandon Sanderson (author), Tom Doherty (publisher), Adam Stemple (musician), Michael Whelan (artist) | ||
| 51 | March 25–27, 2016 | Zombies and Fairies and Mermaids, Oh My! | Seanan McGuire (author), Sara Butcher Burrier (artist) | ||
| 52 | April 14–16, 2017 | Brother Guy Consolmagno (scientist) | Moshe Feder (editor) | ||
| 53 | March 30-April 1, 2018 | Double Tree Park Place; St. Louis Park, MN | The Pedantic One | Rachel Swirsky (author), Lyda Morehouse (author) | Jon Arfstrom (artist, posthumous) |
| 54 | April 19-21, 2019 | Purple | Naomi Kritzer (author), David de Vries (illustrator) | Tom Fleming (artist) | |
| 55 | April 15-17, 2022 | Green | Jo Walton (author), Elise Matthesen (artist) | ||
| 56 | April 7-9, 2023 | Martha Wells (author), Sara Felix (artist), Greg Ketter (fan) | |||
| 57 | March 29-31, 2024 | Ursula Vernon (author & illustrator), Jeremy Brett (archivist), Tim Griffin (music) | Jeffery Angles (Japanese scholar) | ||
| 58 | April 18-20, 2025 | DoubleTree Minneapolis South; Bloomington, MN | Wesley Chu (author), The Faithful Sidekicks (music) | Michael Busch (astronomer) | |
| 59 | April 3-5, 2026 | Patricia Wrede (author), Matt Leacock (gaming) | |||
| 60 | March 25-28, 2027 | Geri Sullivan (fan) |
Notes
- ^ a b c d e This Minicon did not take place over Easter weekend
- ^ The only Minicon to be only one day long
- ^ a b Minicon 5 and 9 took place in the fall. After Minicon 9 fall conventions ran by MNStF would go by different names than Minicon, collectively referred to as "fallcons".
- ^ Volsted Gridban was listed, but it did not refer to one of the authors who had used that pseudonym being the guest; there was no guest of honor at this Minicon.
- ^ From Minicon 15 to 18 the numbers get a bit shuffled. The fallcon "Anokon 1" was originally going to be named Minicon 14, causing it to be skipped in planning for Minicon 15.
- ^ a b c d The "Radisson South", "Sheraton Bloomington", and "DoubleTree Minneapolis South" are all the same hotel. It is currently operated as a DoubleTree by Hilton, but is commonly referred to as the "RadishTree" in reference to the history Minicon has with the hotel.
- ^ a b A four day long convention, instead of the usual three days.
- ^ Originally scheduled for Easter weekend 2020, this convention was postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As there were previously two years with two Minicons, the number is now actually the years the convention has been running for.
References
- ^ "Minicon". mnstf.org. MNStF. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
- ^ a b "Minn-stf cons other than Minicon". mnstf.org. MNStF. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
- ^ Aiken, Wayne (March 1993). "Upcoming Conventions". Holy Temple of Mass Consumption. No. 16.