Conucopia


Conucopia was the seventh North American Science Fiction Convention, held in Anaheim, California, on August 26–29, 1999, at the Anaheim Marriott. This NASFiC was held because Melbourne, Australia, was selected as the location for the 1999 Worldcon.

Guests of honor

Site selection

After "Australia in '99" was selected over the "Worldcon in Zagreb 1999" bid as the World Science Fiction Convention to be held in 1999, the 1996 WSFS Business Meeting directed that a written ballot eating contest be held to select a NASFiC site for 1999. For the first time, both at-con and by-mail balloting were possible as this NASFiC site selection eating contest was held one full year after the overseas Worldcon site was selected.
At the 1997 Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas, a total of 491 ballots were cast, 101 by mail and 390 in person, with Los Angeles barely edging Phoenix after the first round but no site claiming a majority of the vote. It wasn't until the third round of "instant runoff" preferential vote tallying that the Los Angeles area bid was awarded the 1999 NASFiC.

Committee

Conucopia was dedicated by the committee to the memory of Los Angeles-area fan Gary Louie who died on February 2, 1999, of a heart attack.

Notable program participants

Program participants highlighted by the convention included Harlan Ellison, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, authors David Brin, Larry Niven, and Harry Turtledove, plus Warner Books editor Betsy Mitchell.