ChattaCon III
January 6-8, 1978
Sheraton Hotel
Chattanooga, TN
Guest of Honor
A. E. van Vogt
Master of Ceremonies*
Arsen Darnay
It was a semi-relaxacon.
*Arsen Darnay was unable to attend and van Vogt and Perry Chapdelaine filled in for him. Attendance was about 320.
CHATTACON 3 SUCCESSFUL
ChattaCon 3, Jan. 6-8 at the Sheraton-Downtown, was a great success. Attendance was over 300, almost three times that of last year – owing in part to co-operative weather—rain instead of snow and ice.
ChattaCon 3 reopened Friday afternoon, with the opening of the art show, huckster room and ConSuite. This year’s art show was spectacular, featuring metal sculptures by Kim Smith and part of the Moores’ art show of works by pro artists. The ConSuite featured video tapes and, of course, refreshments.
The authors party began an hour after the pro guests A. E. van Vogt anf Perry Chapdelaine arrived. Many fans got a chance to speak with pros : van Vogt kept busy autographing books, and both Van and Perry kept fans entertained well into the morning hours. A special feature was the “Strange Punch” (while it lasted) made by the CHAT staff with help from Tim Bolgeo.
A successful games room was run Rich Morehouse on Friday night. Dungeons and Dragons and Chess were the most popular of a number of games offered; many people took advantage of them.
On Saturday, a second huckster room opened and fan panels were held in the main meeting room. Video tapes were again shown in the ConSuite most of the morning and afternoon. Van Vogt spoke on “The Meaning of Life, the Meaning of the Universe – Has SF Any Clues?” in the noon hour Pro’s Corner. Afternoon featured. an art auction that produced less sales but more revenue than had been expected.
The highlight of the Con, the Banquet, was a well attended event Saturday night. Perry Chapdelaine took over the MC duties as Arsen Darnay was unable to attend the convention. .After a decent sit-down dinner, van Vogt gave a short talk on his adventures in Hollywood. The Strange Fan Awards were also annorrnced as were the Art Show Awards (1st to Kim Smith, 2nd to Bob Maurus, 3rd to Dany Frolich), and van Vogt was given a memento of his visit to Tennessee. The dinner was concludedwith remarks by Chapdelaine.
Following the banquet, films were shown. The featured film, Young Frankenstein was shown, along with a Start Trek blooper reel and Things to Come. AIso after the banquet was the Star Trek subprogram, hosted by Janet Caruth in her suite.
Parties ran far into the night after the film program. While this reporter left about 2AM, I understand the singing went on through the night.
Sunday wound down with the closing of the huckster rooms and art show. The annual CSFA Disorganization Meeting was held in the empty huckster room and a ChattaCon 4 committee was formed and met after that. Chattacon 3 closed with many good-byes and see-you-next-year wishes. The convention went well this year. There were a few gripes and a few problems, but in general, everyone had a good time.