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Nebraska Science Fiction Convention Timeline

1990 - 1999

"Hey, Judy! Let's put on a con!".

1990

            Omacon 10 was the last Omacon, held August 3-5, 1990 at the Holiday Inn Central, and made an effort to bring as many of its previous guests back for the final event.  John Ford was the Author Guest of Honor, Kris Silver and Rick Stasi were Artist GOHs, astronaut Jack Lousma (who was on one of the Skylab missions) was Pro-Space GOH, Chris McCubbin was Gaming GOH, and Rick Sternbach was a special guest that year.  Robert Reed, Melinda S. Murdock, Lucy Synk, Mike Brown, Robert (J.R.) Daniels, Bjo Trimble, and Art Bozlee were Friends of the Con. Friday night featured "Parody,"a Jeopardy!-style trivia contest run by Rodney Ruff and Karl Rasmussen in which contestants competed for tacky, valueless prizes and which was ultimately won by Jack Nelson.

1991

             Impact 1 was held at the Holiday Inn Central on July 26-28, 1991. Robert Reed was Author Guest of Honor, Robert (J.R.) Daniels Jr. was Sci-Fi Artist GOH, Gary Delmatre was Fantasy Artist GOH, Scott Heine was Gaming GOH, Mike Gold was Comics GOH, along with Sarah Bliem, Darryl Cobbs, Rob Davis, Fredd Gorham, Clare Hawbecker, Phil Hester, Lorenzo Lazaro, Bruce McCorkindale, Steve Miller, Andre Parks, Rick Stasi, John Warren, and Jim Woodward. Activities included the Friday night “Alien Prom” fundraiser for the Omaha Food Bank that featured a performance by K’Elvis and a Saturday tour of SAC spearheaded by J.R. Daniels and Jerry Lintz.

            Nuke-Con 1 was held at the Quality Inn Crown Court in Bellevue, Nebraska with an attendance of 70.  The original sponsor of the convention cancelled the event without letting the committee know.  With help from the hotel, they held it anyway.

            A Creation Star Trek event, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Star Trek,was held October 19-20, 1991 at the Omaha Holiday Inn Central on  with George Takei (Mr. Sulu) as guest. The event included footage from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, as well as Star Trek music videos celebrating the individual characters (such as a retrospective of Spock to the tune of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For").

1992

            Costume-Con X, a rotating convention for SF/F costumers, was held May 22-25, 1992 at the Cornhusker Hotel in  Lincoln, Nebraska.  Co-chairs were Pierre and Sandy Pettinger. The theme was Native Americans and the Lifetime Achievement Award recipients were John and Bjo  Trimble.  Photos of some of the costumes presented are available at the Costume CONnections website.

            Impact 2 was held July 24-26, 1992 at the Holiday Inn Central. Barbara Hambly was Author Guest of Honor, Rick Harris was Artist GOH, Tom Prusa was Gaming GOH; other guests included Fredd Gorham, Chris McCubbin, Gary Delamatre, Robert Reed, and Robert (J.R.) Daniels. Program book was done as tabloid newspaper, The Occasional Planet, and featured story of “Giant Space Elvis Attacks Omaha,” as well as advice columnist Auntie Matter. Con suite was named “Horse Brutality” and featured adult-sized rocking horse named Whistler with rides for a quarter. The Friday night “Alien Prom” theme was “Return of the Elvis Clones”; a Parker Brothers-sanctioned Monopoly tournament was scheduled for Saturday night.

            Nuke-Con 2 was held at the American Legion Post #331 in Omaha, Nebraska. Guests included Stan West and Fredd Gorham. Another notable attendee was Wes Lovsmith, creator of the four-player chess game Fort Chess.

            A Creation Star Trek event was held at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on November 7, 1992 with James ("Scotty") Doohan.

1993

            A Trekfest with Michael Dorn (Worf) was held in Omaha on March 21-22, 1993. One of the guests attempted to flatter/embarrass Dorn by asking him to stand with his back to the audience in order to show off his derriere.

            Impact 3 was held July 23-25, 1993 at the Holiday Inn Old Mill. Larry Niven and Marion Zimmer Bradley were Author Guests of Honor, Lucy A. Synk was Artist GOH, and returning guests included J.R. Daniels, Phil Hester, Robert Reed, Fredd Gorham, Cliff Christiansen, Tom Prusa, and Scott Heine. The Friday night “Alien Prom” theme was “Surfin’ Safari.” The female robot in the pre-con promotional flyer bore a striking resemblance to con chair Rahlyns Falconer-Hartley. Rodney Ruff put together a Saturday afternoon trivia contest on short notice after learning he was scheduled to put one on upon reading the program book at the start of the con. The Saturday night masquerade was cancelled when the convention was interrupted by a tornado warning.

            Pseudo-Con I, an attempt to restart the Con*tretemps convention, was held August 6-8, 1993 at the Omaha Best Western Inn. Friend of con guests included Melinda (M.S.) Murdock, Paladium Games artist Newton Ewell, Cliff Christiansen, and Myrna “Dragon Lady” Logan. The convention's masquerade consisted of a hall costume contest won by the then-wife of the manager of Ground Zero Hobby's Bellevue store because the judges liked the way she was dressed.

            Maelstrom I was held September 17-19, 1993 at East Campus Union and Super 8 Motel in Lincoln, Nebraska. Richard Knaak was Author Guest of Honor, Cliff "Doc" Christiansen was Gaming GOH, and artist Erin McKee was among the other guests. The Trans-Iowa Canal Company (TICC) performed “Dances With Droids” as part of its “Takin’ ‘Em By Storm Tour.” (An extended “Director’s Cut” version would be performed the following April at Minicon in Minneapolis.)

            A Star Trek convention with Majel Barrett Roddenberry was held in Omaha, Nebraska on November 20, 1993.

            Nuke-Con 3 was held in the basement of St. Bernard's Church in Omaha, Nebraska with an attendance of 100. Guests included Stan West and Fredd Gorham, both returning from the previous Nuke-Con.

1994

            Andromeda One was held April 22-24, 1994.  Katherine Kurtz was Author Guest of Honor, W.J. "Bill" Hodgson was Artist GOH, Tom Prusa was Gaming GOH, Fredd Gorham was Comics GOH, and Scott Stewart was Fan GOH.  Authors Robert Reed, Tom Frye, State Senator David Landis, costume designer Robert Hillestad, and comic book guests Bill Hayes and Brian Schur rounded out their guest list. On Saturday, Rodney Ruff put on a Jeopardy!-style trivia contest, this one dubbed "Gyparody" in deference to the game show "Gyp-Parody" from an episode of Pinky and the Brain. Starbase Andromeda hosts photos of the convention on their website.

            Con*tretemps 8 was held June 17-19, 1994 at the Ramada Inn Central, 72nd & Grover. Robin Wayne Bailey was Author Guest of Honor, Nick Smith was Artist GOH, Roger Tener was Fan GOH, Rusty Hevelin was Toastmaster. Rick Setchell, Myrna Logan, Newton Ewell, Robert Cornett, Erin McKee, and Cliff Christiansen were Friends of the Con. The Trans-Iowa Canal Company (TICC) West performed “BabbelCon V” after opening ceremonies as part of their “Taking ‘Em By Storm Tour.”

            Impact 4 was held July 29-31, 1994 at the Holiday Inn Old Mill in Omaha, Nebraska.  M.S. Murdock was Author Guest of Honor, L.A. Williams was Artist GOH, Rob Davis was Comics GOH, William Spencer Hale was Gaming GOH, and Mike Worley was Fan GOH. Returning Hall of Fame guests were J.R. Daniels, Robert Reed, and Fredd Gorham. This was the last of the Impacts.

            Mach 1 was held September 3-5, 1994 at Red Lion Inn, Omaha. It was a comics and gaming convention sponsored by Tim Barrett, then-owner of Ground Zero Hobby in Bellevue. Artist guests included Ande Parks, Phil Hester, Mike Worley, Bruce McCorkindale, Anna-Maria Cool, Clarke Hawbaker, Paul Tobin, Darryl Cobbs, Dennis Delarosa, Marc Erikson, and Andrew Walls. Gaming guests included Jeff Uryasz, Fredd Gorham, James Andrysik, and Cliff Christiansen. An entire room was devoted to the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.

            Nuke-Con 4 was held October 28-29, 1994 at the Midlands Reception Center in Papillion, Nebraska. Guests included Merle Rasmussen, Fredd Gorham, and James Davis, founder of the APAzine Haymaker! This Nuke-Con introduced awards for Best Gamemaster and Best Player, won by Chris Culver (for his Boot Hill double-blind game) and Tim Dahmer, respectively. Rodney Ruff won four of the games he took part in, as well as the Beachcomber’s Contest prize of $50 in con cash.

            Maelstrom 1.75 was held September 10, 1994 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus Union Centennial Room in Lincoln, Nebraska. Predominately a gaming con fundraiser for Maelstrom 2; it also featured an anime room.

            Maelstrom 2 was held November 11-13, 1994 at the Villager Motor Inn in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Robert Reed was Author Guest of Honor, Ron Spencer was Artist GOH, Cliff "Doc" Christiansen was again Gaming GOH, and Les and Jeannette Roth were Fan GOHs. On Friday night, the video room was devoted to the worst science fiction movies from the 1950s onward. This was the last of the Maelstroms.

1995

            Andromeda 2 was held March 10-12, 1995 in Lincoln.   Robert J. Sawyer was Author Guest of Honor, Robert "J.R." Daniels was Artist GOH, Karl Rasmussen was Fan GOH and Sandy Veneziano was Media GOH.  Fredd Gorham, Robert Reed and the Lincoln Fantasy & Science Fiction Club rounded out their guest list.  Photos are again available at the Starbase Andromeda website.  This was the last of the Andromedas.

            Con*tretemps 9, known as "Verticon" for its placement of panel, video, and gaming rooms on separate floors of the hotel, was held June 23-25, 1995 at the Omaha Four Points Sheraton Inn on 120th Street between L and Q Streets.  Steven Brust was Author GOH, Mitch Bentley was Artist GOH, Jim Murray was Fan GOH, and Rusty Hevelin was Toastmaster. Myrna “Dragon Lady” Logan, Roger Tener, and Robert Cornett were Friends of the Con. An alert fan helped save the convention from a possible liability suit when he reported to the convention organizers that people who had not registered as guests were using the con's computer game room. This was the last of the Con*tretemps, billed as going “Out with a bang!” with the ConCussion (see under "1996") to follow.

            Nuke-Con 5 was held September 29-30  in the Midlands Reception Center in Papillion, Nebraska with an attendance of 154. Guests included Stan West, Tom Dowd, and Fredd Gorham. Rodney Ruff won Best Gamemaster for his Champions adventure Operation: Catapult, while Bill Kuhfahl was named Best Player. (For the next 12 months, whenever Ruff and Kuhfahl got together, Kuhfahl would turn to Ruff and say, “We’re the best!”)

1996

            A Trekday with James ("Scotty") Doohan was held March 10, 1996 at  the Holiday Inn Old Mill in Omaha, NE.Doohan entertained the crowd with his ability to do various accents and dialects, showing how Star Trek might have been different if the chief engineer had not been a Scot.

            Spring Campaign 1996 was held at the Ralston Legion Hall, 71st and Q Streets in Ralston, Nebraska. Organized by Rob Calloway, the con featured a number of role-playing games. During the day, attendees could look out the window and be treated to a spring snowfall.

            ConCussion 1 was held July 26-28, 1996 at the Ramada Inn in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (The Ramada Inn was formerly the Holiday Inn that had hosted several Con*tretemps.) ConCussion was an attempt to unify Omaha and Lincoln fandom by merging the staff of Impact, Con*tretemps, Maelstrom, and Andromeda. David Weber was Science Fiction Author Guest of Honor, while Lawrence Watt-Evans was Fantasy/Horror Author GOH. Larry Elmore was Artist GOH, David Means was Fan GOH, and Wilson "Bob" Tucker was Toastmaster. Other guests were Robin Wayne Bailey, Mitch Bentley, Rob Chilson, Glen Cook, Robert (J.R.) Daniels Jr., Bill Hodgson, Richard Knaak, Mickey Zucker Reichart, Cliff "Doc" Christiansen, Bob Cornett, and Myrna Logan. ConCussion introduced its casino night as part of Friday night activities.

            Nuke-Con 6 was held at the Holiday Inn Central in Omaha, Nebraska with a registered attendance of 198. Guests included Tom Prusa and Fredd Gorham. Rodney Ruff repeated as Best Gamemaster, this time for his Dungeons & Monopoly rules for playing Monopoly with polyhedral dice; however, Bill Kuhfahl was dethroned as Best Player by Emerson Towey. Nuke-Con 6 featured its first LARP, run by Wyrd Images.

            A Trekday with John DeLancie (Q) was held at the Holiday Inn Old Mill in Omaha, Nebraska on October 20, 1996.

1997

            Spring Campaign “Patterns of Chaos” held April 5, 1997 at Ralston Legion Hall, 71st and Q Streets in Ralston, Nebraska. Again organized by Rob Calloway, it featured Starfleet Battles, Shogun, Car Wars, a Magic: The Gathering tournament run by Cliff Christiansen, and open gaming for anyone in attendance to run whatever they brought with whoever they could get to play it with them. The question “Rodney Ruff, Where Are You?” was used as an additional drawing card on the flyer designed by John Davis. As with previous Spring Campaigns, it snowed the day of the convention. This was the last of the Spring Campaigns.

            ConCussion 2 was held July 25-27, 1997 at the Ramada Inn in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (The program book cover spelled the convention name as "Concussion"; however, the interior of the program book spelled the convention name as "ConCussion.") James P. Hogan was Author Guest of Honor, David Lee Anderson was Artist GOH, Rick Lancaster was Fan GOH, and Wilson "Bob" Tucker was Toastmaster. Local authors M.S. Murdock and Robert Reed were among the other guests, as were Mitch Bentley, Rob Chilson, Bob Cornett, J.R. Daniels, and Myrna Logan. Among ConCussion 2's events were a "Men In Black" Jail-and-Bail event, as well as a fannish version of MTV's Singled Out, in which none of the prospective dates were in fact single and available. The hotel's elevator broke down during the run of the convention and was repaired, only to break down two hours later.

            Nuke-Con 7 was held October 4-5, 1997 at the Holiday Inn Old Mill in Omaha, Nebraska. David Glewwe was Gaming Guest of Honor, while Fredd Gorham and Dan “SMIF” Smith were co-Artist GOHs. Despite the fact that the first day of the con fell on Rodney Ruff’s birthday, he did not make a three-peat of becoming Best Gamemaster. However, he did attract notice for donning beads and shells to play in a game of Murphy’s World and, at one point, dancing like Tina Turner.

1998

            Concussion 3 was held July 10-12, 1998 at the Holiday Inn Central.  Guests included Timothy Zahn, Steve M. Stirling, Laurell Hamilton, Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, Jeff Easley, Robert "J.P." (Just Plain crazy) Butz, Mickey Zucker Reichert, David Weber, Richard A. Knaak, Robert Reed, and Melinda (M.S.) Murdock.  Friday night activities included their annual casino night.

Nuke-Con 8 was held October 2-4, 1998 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on 120th and L Streets in Omaha, Nebraska, with a total registered attendance of 248. The con adopted the motto of "Escape reality -- play a game!" on its program book. Fredd Gorham was Artist GOH, while Steve Kenson was Gaming GOH. Kenson put on a benefit Shadowrun game for the Nebraska AIDS Project.

 

1999

            WillyCon was held for the first time, March 26-28, 1999, at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.  Guests included Jack McDevitt and Hap Henriksen.   WillyCon is a very small convention, with attendance is typically under 150, organized by the Wayne State Sci-Fi Club.  This of course means a very high guest to attendee ratio, allowing you to spend a lot of time with them.  Since the convention is held in the Student Union, on campus activities are limited to day and evening hours.  The Student Union locks up at midnight.

Concussion 4 was held June 4-6, 1999 at the Holiday Inn Central.  Connie Willis was the Author Guest of Honor, April Lee was the Artist Guest of Honor, and the Rev. Charles Piehl was the Fan Guest of Honor.  Tracy Hickman, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Robert Reed, Melinda Murdock, Mitchell Bentley and William Hodgson were the Friends of the Con.  The casino night was themed for the recently released Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Rodney Ruff hosted another "Gyparody" trivia contest, employing Jeannette Roth first as scorekeeper and then as contestant in a turn-about-is-fair-play arrangement from when she wrote the questions for a trivia contest he won the previous month at DemiCon.

            Nuke-Con 9 was held October 1-3, 1999 at the Four Points Sheraton. Local author and game rep Travis Heerman was the Author Guest of Honor, and local artist Fredd Gorham was the Artist Guest of Honor.  … Todd “the Torg Guy” Furler was named Best Gamemaster; Toni Siragusa was named Best Player. They had a registered attendance of 269. The convention was twice interrupted by fire alarms, causing everyone to be ushered outside. (Both alarms interrupted games run by Rodney Ruff, to his everlasting chagrin.)

 

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