We have a lot of links, so we've divided them into sections. Please feel free to use these links to jump to a specific section, or just browse down the page to see if anything catches your interest.

If you want to suggest a link, email the URL and details to the LASFS webmaster. We don't guarantee it'll be linked, though you'll be informed of the decision.

• Organized Fandom Conventions
  • LASFS Conventions
  • Westercon®
  • General Fandom Conventions
  • Specialized Fandom Conventions
  • Convention Listings
• Fannish Discussions
  • Fannish Discussions (electronic)
  • Fannish Discussions (paper)
• Fannish Jargon (Fanspeak)
• Funds
• Science Fiction Libraries
• Other Southern California SF Clubs
• Radio
• Photos
• LASFS History
• News of Interest to LASFS members
• Art and Writing by LASFS members
• Tours

Organized Fandom Conventions

Unlike so-called media conventions, the conventions of what's sometimes called organized [science fiction] fandom are largely run by volunteer effort, with the result usually being a weekend where amateurs and professionals join as panelists (and a number of rooms host competing panels), open discussion plus snacks in the con suite, a dealers room, an art show, nighttime parties in hotel rooms, dances, singing, gaming, and other activities.

Think of a fan-run convention as a family reunion, except that the attendees are related by common interests instead of by genetic ties.

A number of LASFS members belong to SCIFI Inc. (the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, Inc.), which has put on a number of LA area conventions.

LASFS Conventions

La-La Con: A Spring-time Relaxacon held at the LASFS clubhouse each year. It is affectionately dubbed "LaLaCon" but each year has a new name.

Loscon: An LA area convention held each year on Thanksgiving weekend. Each year has its own name and theme. There's an Article about Loscon in the Jewish Journal.

Westercon

A major accomplishment of the LASFS in the late 1940s was the creation of the annual West Coast Science Fantasy Conference (Westercon). At this time the only SF conventions were in the New York/Pennsylvania/New Jersey area, plus the annual World Science Fiction Convention which had come to Los Angeles in 1946 but was usually held in a city east of the Mississippi. Two LASFS members, Walter Daugherty and Dave Fox, felt that the fans in Western cities deserved their own annual convention. In 1948 the LASFS started the Westercon in emulation of the Worldcon. Los Angeles-area fans held the first three Westercons until the convention was well-enough established that fan clubs in such cities as San Diego and San Francisco were ready to host it. The Westercon has met in cities ranging from Vancouver, BC to Honolulu, HI to Boise, ID to El Paso, TX.

The Westercon's Bylaws specify the LASFS as the archive of Westercon business and the default administrator in the case of the failure of any individual Westercon (which has never happened). See Westercon to find out when and where this year's and next year's conventions will take place.

Westercon is a registered service mark of LASFS, Inc. It is held every year on a weekend near the 4th of July, in the western part of the United States (as defined in its bylaws).

General Fandom Conventions

Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention): The gathering of fans of SF books, television, movies, comix, etc. from all over the world; members vote to award the Hugo Awards: Traditionally, the Worldcon takes place on or near the Labor Day weekend, but this tradition is sometimes broken.

Baycon Memorial Day weekend convention in the Silicon Valley

Condor: A late winter convention in San Diego

Specialized Fandom Conventions

Anime Los Angeles: a January anime convention in the Los Angeles area

ConChord: a filksong convention held annually in the San Fernando Valley in August or September. Filk singing began in organized science fiction fandom and still has considerable overlap with it.

Consonance: a March filksong convention in the Silicon Valley

Costume-Con: a convention for people who delight in creating costumes. The convention has its roots in science fiction and fantasy conventions and historic re-enactment type events, but all forms of costuming are welcome.

DunDraCon: a February roleplaying convention in Northern California

Gallifrey One: Doctor Who, British media

Gaylaxicon the annual international Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror convention for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people and their friends.

Mythcon: Annual conference of the Mythopoeic society

The Society for Creative Anachronism: The kingdom of Caid (Southern California): see their Calendar for tourneys and other get-togethers.

Convention Listings

Answers.com Convention Listings by Jenga
Locus
Lycos
SciFiSpace - Convention Calendar
Yahoo

Fannish Discussions

Fannish Discussions - electronic

apa-lasfs: a Yahoogroups mailing list. Click to subscribe. Mention your interest in fandom so the manager will know you're not a spammer. Note: There is no legal relationship between this mailing list and the LASFS, but many of the mailing list members are LASFS members.

LiveJournal LASFS Community: You'll have to sign up with Live Journal to make comments.

rec.arts.sf.fandom: a newsgroup, also referred to as "rasff" ("razz-eff")

rec.music.filk: a newsgroup

Silicon Soapware: a monthly personalzine by LASFS member Tom Digby (now living in the Silicon Valley) archives , with subscription instructions at the bottom of each zine, plus ss_talk, a mailing list with most comment chains initially based on the zine and subscription instructions at the bottom of each zine.

Fannish Discussions - paper

APA-L: Collated every Thursday evening at the start of the LASFS meeting. Go to the APA-L room on the west side of Freehafer Hall (the back building. Newcomers may pick up a free copy on each of their first three meetings. Bring 29 copies of your zine to a LASFS meeting, and you'll get a copy of that night's APA-L. Official Collator: Marty Cantor

Many other fannish APAs (Amateur Press Associations) exist. See Wikipedia's List of APAs .

Science Fiction Libraries

Worldwide SF Libraries

UC Riverside's Eaton Collection: Its collection of fannish memorabilia includes the Pelz and the Patten collections.

Other Southern California SF Clubs

Enigma: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Gaming at UCLA

Orange County Science Fiction Club: contact DaveRMoore@aol.com. OCSFC also has a Yahoo! group.

Planet Lambda: a science fiction club for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and trans-gender people and their friends. Meetings are held monthly at different locations in the greater Los Angeles area. Now a member of the Gaylaxian Science Fiction Society

Fannish Jargon (Fanspeak)

Donald Franson's A Key to the Terminology of Science Fiction Fandom
Fancyclopedia II (edited by Dick Eney)

Funds

LASFS Funds: Donations to LASFS are tax-deductible. Contact the Treasurer to donate to one of these (except Pillar Funds)

The Building Fund: This fund pays for all clubhouse-related expenses.

The Century Fund: The purpose of the Century Fund is to provide funds for the expansion of the premises of the LASFS either through the purchase of real estate, purchase of a new clubhouse, or the construction of a new clubhouse. The Century Fund may also be utilized to provide a resource of emergency recover for the LASFS.

A Pillar Fund memorializes a specific dead LASFS member. Pillar Funds have been set up for Michael Mason and Allan Rothstein.

The Video Fund: Provide funds for video equipment

General Fan Funds:

TAFF—the TransAtlantic Fan Fund
DUFF—Down Under Fan Fund

Radio

Hour 25

Photos

LASFS History

Roxy Mills's Fan History (see LASFS in the 60s)
Helen Smith's memories
LASFS Wikipedia article
Forry autobiography part VIII
Archive of LASFS Fanzines from the 1960s
Article about "Imagination," from All Our Yesterdays
Article About Ray Harryhausen
Memories of the VALSFA
Info and some photos of Evans-Freehafer Award winners
Partners in Wonder: Women And the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965 by Eric Leif

News of Interest to LASFS members

File 770

Locus Online

Ursa Major Awards: Annual Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Award for excellence in the furry (aka "funny animals") arts

Art and Writing by LASFS members

Writings by Larry Niven

"Niven's Laws"
"Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex"
"Down in Flames"
You can find other Niven stories here.

And it's not on the webpage but if you've got Niven's All the Myriad Ways or N-Space, reread "What Can You Say about Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers," which was loosely based on Tom Digby

Fallen Angels, by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn

Rotsler's Rules for Masquerades

Filk: SF fans have been writing songs (sometimes parodies, sometimes to original music) since at least the 1940s, but they didn't start calling them "filksongs" until the early 1950s. That was when Lee Jacobs mistyped "folk" as "filk" in a fanzine article on folk music. Karen Kruse (later Karen Anderson) liked the word and used it to describe the long-standing fannish phenomenon, and the use caught on. See Karen's December, 1955 SAPSzine article on filksongs.

Jerry Pournelle's website: Chaos Manor

John DeChancie's website (complete with a mini-novel)

Kay Shapero's Website: Filks, Furries and Fanzines

News about Fred Patten

"On Thud and Blunder," by Poul Anderson

We also have two collections of artwork by Jack Harness, stored at Yahoo Groups.

Cultoons1
Cultoons2

Tours

JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

• JPL Tours (Pasadena)
• Goldstone Deep Space Communication Complex (near Barstow)

"Son of Ackermansion": Forry Ackerman welcomes visitors to his home most Saturdays between 11 AM and noon. Call first, just to make sure that it's okay: 323-666-6326, 4511 Russell Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90027.