WHY I QUIT CORE FANDOM To be honest, I was never really sure I was part of "Core Fandom". In VFW 111, Arnie Katz defines "Core Fandom is simply Fanzine Fandom. . ." and yet I was uneasy with the concept implying the center of Fanzine Fandom was contained within the confines of a jail-cell sized room holding maybe 6 people, only one of which actually publishes a fanzine. But if that's the meter by which someone can proclaim themselves "Kingfish", then far be it for me to say otherwise.  . .The gist of all this being, a friend and I decided to put on a general Science Fiction convention here in Las Vegas. The convention went on and as an event, was quite successful (Memory Book available HERE). The dust settled and life returned to normal. We received some glowing and some not so glowing reviews on-line for our convention. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and Xanadu Las Vegas was far from the perfect convention! But there appeared on-line, a number of comments - some by those who didn't even attend that were complete falsehoods and from the Vegrants came some rather snarky, misleading comments in print.  . .All this served to do was illuminate the hypocrisy of Core Fandom's preaching that "Fandom is a Family" and those whom I thought were my friends have only been interested in their own self aggrandizement.   How This All Got Started  . .Scott Anderson and I agreed on one thing: Las Vegas was sorely in need of its own annual convention. Why would Las Vegas be so devoid of genre conventions? Sure, CreationCon would annually blow in and blow out just as quickly and certainly satisfy its niche audience, as well as Richard Stott's ever successful Anime Vegas. SilverCon had a good run, but the steam has fizzled from local fandom. Corflu appears every few years, but they are a repulsive lot and singular of subject matter: themselves.  . .Years ago I asked Arnie why there were no general Science Fiction cons in Vegas to which he replied "Because we're too lazy". I found the answer peculiar - no, not that fans were lazy, that's a given, but the implication a convention is expected to run through Vegrant territory.  . .Originally, Xanadu Las Vegas was patterned after the WesterCons and Equicons of the '70s and over the course of two years, we chatted up WesterCons, LosCons, MountainCon and others, plus the local fans from Las Vegrants, VSFA, SNAFFU, the Star Trek Group and so on.  . .Like conventions of old, we wanted something inclusive, that fans of every stripe may attend and share their fannishness.   The Crux  . .We wanted Xanadu Las Vegas to be an annual event, planning on expenditures for guests; rooms, airline tickets, per diems, hotel charges and so on and thus we decided to run the convention as a business to take advantage of any tax breaks and business discounts - especially write-offs, should this thing go belly-up!  . .We had already been lectured by Joyce Katz on their dislike of what she referred to as "Big Tent" conventions, but we had no idea running the convention as a business would be such a hot-button in Core-Fandom that Joyce would liken to "Spitting on the church floor."   What happened  . .In the few months leading up to the convention there began a rash of pointed comments in print coming from the Arnie Camp beginning with the thinly veiled metaphor:The Ideal Convention (VFW 112) and his prognostication of things to come: "Scott, decided to try to put on an exploitative, commercial inspired convention called Xanadu." (VFW 114). From someone I had been friends with and supported for 20 years and brags "Fandom is a Family", call me madcap, but I expected something different.  . .Hell, even in jest, Bill Mills' suggestion that women who attend conventions bigger than Corflu are "Rotten Con-Whores" should have warned us there was already a lingering bias (Idle Minds 3). Not a single local group supported us nor even put a link from their websites or their publications.   When Things Went to Hell  . .It was becoming clear from our pre-registered members there would be little or no support from local fandom and if you weren't on the staff, you probably weren't coming. Could have been the economic downturn or just indifference on the part of local Fandom. Whatever it was, money had been paid to the hotel and we were beyond the point of no return. We then went after the ren-faire people, college students, libraries, book stores and so on.  . .Our only fannish support came from Christian McGuire and his merry elves who delivered and installed our art display.   The Aftermath   . .After two years of hard work, Xanadu Las Vegas had come to a close. Sure, there was room for improvement, but for a first-time convention essentially run by two guys and 4 volunteers, it ran remarkably smooth with every event and film screening running spot-on time. There were some good reviews, there were some not-so-good reviews. As the dust settled, I thought we could kick back and plan a course for the following year when suddenly, on the SNAFFU message board began a series of comments regarding the convention; not reviews, not observations, but statements that were clearly and amazingly bogus! As no surprise, these commentators just happened to be Vegrants, particularly Arnie's lap dog John Hardin, Linda Bushyager who even before the convention quipped “Some of us don’t want to attend that kind of convention” (Idle Minds 1) and Vegas ex-pat Ken Forman.  . .Arnie couldn't resist a few bon mots of his own, including: ". . .the fannish air seems a little sweeter now that it's done." and "Xanadu has apparently drained the energy and, possibly, the enthusiasm of the newer Vegas fans. . ." my plea to Arnie to tender the names of these exhausted newer fans that I may apologize, still remains unanswered.   Animosity  . .All of the foregoing caused me to re-evaluate my relationship with Vegrants and Core Fandom. They had to gloat, they had to spread untruths I could no longer ignore, and as sure as shootin', some fan somewhere will actually believe it. That came to pass with gullible Robert Lichtman's letter in Snaps 45: "I especially lament what you say here about the effect of Xanadu on some of the newer Las Vegas fans, and hope they will recover and fan on." What a jerk.    . .I wrote Joyce a letter bowing out of Vegrants, the crux of which is this:    . .We are taking a hiatus from "core" fandom for the foreseeable future.      . .After Xanadu, I was ready to take my licks, but the fusillade of mean spirited communications, particularly from Ken Forman, John Hardin, Linda Bushyager and others spreading complete baloney really showed me what side my bread was buttered on and served to point out an obvious truth: we were stabbed in the back by local fandom; those very same who claim fandom is a family, blah, blah, blah.   . .I now feel uncomfortable being around certain fans who have proven their sentiments do not lay with Fandom, but their own selfish interests. To this mix, add Bill's wacky outbursts and singing so loud no one can hear themselves think, and Jolie. . . just being Jolie, I don't see how it could become any more unpleasant; oh wait. . . adding Nic Farey, who I find appallingly unappealing on every conceivable level. When he starts his duet with Bill. . . I'm just glad I won't be there.  . .Please scratch us off the Launch Pad email list.    . .Followed by a companion email in which I replied to the various comments regarding Xanadu Las Vegas I felt were uncalled for, mean spirited and more importantly, untrue. You decide.   Replies to 10 Dumbass Statements About Xanadu Las Vegas!    . .These statements are copied from the SNAFFU message boards.   1)  Why choose "Xanadu" as a title? There's already an annual convention with that name elsewhere.  - Ken Forman    . .Why not?  Yeh, there is a defunct convention; there's also a poem, a resort in Africa, a gay bar, a steakhouse and a movie, but if you look closely (some closer than others), you'll see the name of the convention is actually: Xanadu Las Vegas.  We named it that for several reasons: a) It's in Las Vegas b) Literary; The Coleridge poem printed in PR 2, c) The Plaza is the hotel with The "Dome"  d) The fabled luxury hotel to be built in Las Vegas in 1975 called. . . .  “Xanadu Las Vegas” which you may find HERE.  And, for those who showed up (not you), will notice the main feature room was called "The Pleasure Dome", partly from the poem and partly from the Kenneth Anger film (Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome).   2)  My main surprise at Scott's (and Alan's) decisions was that they chose not to tap into the HUGE fan-based connections that Vegas has access to. Did you know, for instance, that Robert Silverberg really, really wants to be GOH at a Vegas convention? What about Greg Benford? He also would love the honor. I know these to be true because they both have expressed such sentiments to me. There are others in the SF business, including editors at DAW, for example. My point is, though, that both Scott and Alan KNEW these facts.  - Ken Forman    . .We had no knowledge regarding Silverberg or Benford and who told you we did?  I want names.  Not one local fan informed us of this, and God knows you didn't either.  What  "HUGE Fan-based connections?"  Why would you wait till now to tell us and why do you suppose Core Fandom would keep this secret from us?  Our website was on-line for two years and NOW we hear from you?   3)  Will science fiction convention fans pay to see a famous artist and an obscure science fiction author and a special effects guy who worked on some cool movies in the last century?  Apparently not. - John W. Hardin    . .Apparently they would, since the room for each one of our Guests of Honor was packed. Oscar winning Joe Viskocil packed the room and left with a standing ovation.  And to bring you up to speed, Joe has worked on over a dozen movies and scads of TV shows THIS century.  . .Brom is one of the leading gothic artists in the country who also packed the house.  He now has two recently (published books and a major motion picture in the works.  . .Robert J. Sawyer has written over 20 novels, scads of anthologies, short stories and nonfiction.  He is the winner of the Hugo, the Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Arthur Ellis Award, Grand Prix de I'Imaginaire, Homer Award, Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficción, Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award and the Seiun Award.   The new ABC-TV series, FLASH FOWARD is based on Robert's novel of the same title. Perhaps you have seen ads on ABC for this new show that debuts this September, and for which ABC expects to be a tremendous hit for the network.  . .Oh, and by the way, Robert J. Sawyer was also author guest of honor at LosCon 34.  I suggest, if you find him "obscure", the answer lies within.  . .Furthermore, if you thought our guests were obscure, talk to Ken, he has access to several well known guests, "HUGE Fan-based connections" and deigned not to share them with us.  Hmm, now why do you think he would do that...?   4)  Dealers were stuck behind tables, unable to attend events. - Linda Bushyager     . .Yes, that's what dealers do.  They buy a table and sit there; with any luck, they sell something.   5)  I can list possibilities that start at poor promotion, proceed to unexciting guests and end with contempt for fandom in general and local fans in particular. - John W. Hardin     . .Since 1960 I have done nothing if not support Fans and Fandom.  I have been to and worked on more conventions in the US and Europe than you can imagine.  Over the years, I've given away literally thousands of fillos and cover art pieces and certainly thousands of photographs. Locally, given art to SilverCon IV, T-Shirt art and scads of sketches, signage and money to Corflu and Toner. I'm the one that battled for the tribute to Walt Daugherty at WesterCon 61, I'm the one who created the FJA memorial publication on efanzines.com, I'm the one who had the Ackerman tribute published in Locus, regularly contributing scads of photos to the Vegrants and, if I may say so, for the past three years have been hosting the weekly Cineholics - always open to Fandom.  For the past 20 years, I've donated, shared, given, assisted and done for no doubt every fan in Vegas and have never asked for anything in return and I'm your poster boy for contempt?   6)  "Scott and Alan seemed to be under the impression that SNAFFU was too small to bother with, based on the size of our meetings. But actually this Yahoo group goes out to more than 50 people". . . - Linda Bushyager     . .I think Scott and I did a good job of approaching each and every local group, regardless of size.  . .The very first person we broached the subject of Xanadu Las Vegas was Arnie Katz who I wanted to do a fan history panel but quipped: "Big conventions make me itch".  At least Arnie was up-front blowing off Xanadu Las Vegas from the get-go and we never approached him for help again.  Scott and I spent an afternoon at Dead Poet's trying to enlist VSFA.  I did artwork for James Willey's WesterCon 61 project and also supported two of their Halloween parties and took scads of photos for them for which they never even said "Thanks" let  alone attend Xanadu Las Vegas.  . .For Corflu Blackjack, I created the ballot box, gave away gaboodles of art, created the program and T-Shirt art and took scads of photos.  For Corflu Silver, I donated plenty of art plus 50 hand drawn coffee cups and pre-con, donated more than a membership into the pot at Vegrants, while never claiming a membership for ourselves.    . .At Joyce Katz's request, Scott donated over $100 for 10 pizzas to publicize Xanadu Las Vegas.  The ensuing mêlée of ill-mannered slobs so rancorous for more pizza, caused Joyce to collapse and pop a nitro and Bill Mills to later exclaim:  "It was all Scott's fault for not buying more pizza”.  Not one person said "Thanks".   . .For WesterCon 61 I created an entire 20 page, highly detailed website separate from the official site, created 2 progress reports, all the logos and signage for the convention, sponsored Walt Daugherty's fan history display and helped the convention itself by delivering all the artists work to the post office following the convention.  Yet, one of the VSFA people stood up at a panel and declared  "Xanadu Las Vegas" to be the "Anti-WesterCon Convention".  Later, there was an apology but the deed was done.      “I saw no attempt from Scott to try to publicize the con to our group”.  - Linda Bushyager    . .Say, isn’t that you in the front row of the SNAFFU meeting Scott spent the better part of an hour drumming up enthusiasm for XLV? Afterwards, you were treated to a Xanadu party at Jacqueline Mason’s home. Plus, did we not give you space and a sign to promote SNAFFU at Xanadu Las Vegas?  . .Please tell me what else we could have done to get you to mobilize this massive organization of yours?  Or at least, get you to remember you were even there.   7) Alan seemed to indicate they were not aiming the convention at "literary" fans or trying to get them to come. - Linda Bushyager     . .Uhhhhhhh. . . . top billing for one of the leading SF authors extant?     In our three panel rooms, our programming broke down thusly: 11 Panels directly on creative writing 16 Panels with movie/TV guests 5   Panels on Science, Food, Ecology and Costuming 3   Panels on Art    . .Not only that, but our panel rooms were named: 4SJ, Welles, Verne and Melies, which goes 3 to one in the favor of literacy.  AND from our auction on Sunday, we raised over $300 for a local charity: "Spread the Word Nevada" promoting literacy in children.   8)  The independent film program took over as the largest focus of the convention. - Linda Bushyager    . .Yes it did, and why?  Because we were supported by local filmmakers and none of the 50 souls you think you have sway over showed up.  That would have thrown the mix in the opposite direction wouldn't it?   9)  Saturday night dance has no hosts or music. -  John W. Hardin    . .Not only did we have a very human host and DJ but we were also playing music videos on a 12'x12' screen.    10)  I’ve done many things for cons both large and small and I have always done them without asking for compensation. - Arnie Katz Snaps #44    . .That’s an interesting statement for someone who has spent a lifetime begging people to donate things to your own projects, you’re just as commercial as the next guy.  Try putting on Corflu without compensation and see what happens. What do you think memberships are?  What people should think about is what they get for their money.  $60 memberships to Corflu gets three days waiting for someone to donate food to a room full of ill-mannered do-nothings.  $50 to Xanadu Las Vegas got three days of approachable celebrities, continuous movies, costumes, dealers room, creative guests and positive programming.  Our guests were the people you will later be compensating to see their movies, watch their TV shows and read their books.  . .In retrospect, there were many things we could have done better, especially if we were given support by local fandom we clearly asked for and truly expected would come. It appears chatting up those local groups was a big waste of time.   Return to Top of Page Oh My Ghod, There's even more in Chapter 2>