Welcome to the Twenty-First Century

Nebraska Science Fiction Convention Timeline

2000 - present

At the turn of the millennium, digital cameras begin documenting events.
So watch for links to photo archives from these conventions

2000

Willycon Y2K ("The Bugs Are Out") was held March 24-26, 2000 in the Student Union on the campus of Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. Catherine Asaro was the author GOH was, and Mark Ferrari was the Artist GOH. This was the first year for WillyCon's annual short story contest, as well as their Sunday morning writer's and artist's workshops. In addition to hard science panels offered by the college faculty, a dance exhibition preceded the costume contest and strolling filksingers sang at the start of each panel discussion. Photos of the convention are available at the WillyCon photo archive.

ConCussion 5 was held at the Settle Inn at 650 North 109th Court in Omaha on July 14-16, 2000. Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzel) was Media Guest of Honor; P.N. Elrod, C.S. Friedman, and L.E. Modesitt served jointly as Author GOHs. Mickey Zucker Reichert, Melinda Murdock, Robert Reed, and William Hodgson were among the Friends of the Con. The theme for the con suite that year was the Food Network's Iron Chef, which ran continuously on videotape during the run of the convention. Sheard was the delight of the convention, serving as the moderator for all the panels he was on and even helping with tear-down after the convention was over. Con volunteer Cliff Christiansen ended up being assigned to oversee the dealer's room, game room, con security, as well as shepherding Sheard Saturday night. For his efforts, the convention in essence bought him a piece of dragon artwork that is now hanging on his living room wall.

Nuke-Con 10 was held October 6-8, 2000 at Ramada Inn Airport near Eppley Airport and Carter Lake. This was Nuke-Con's tenth anniversary; guests included artist Fredd Gorham, game designer Shane Lacey Hensley, and author Michael A. Stackpole.

2001

Alphacon, a Star Wars media convention,was held at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on May 4-6, 2001. Guests included Star Wars celebrities: Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzel), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Warwick Davis (Wicket W. Warrick), MIke Quinn (Nien Nunb/Ree-Yees/Sy Snootles/Yoda/Wol Cabbashite), Femi Taylor (Oola), Mercedes Ngoh (Rystáll), Paul Blake (Greedo), Maria de Aragon (Greedo), Mike Edmonds (Logray/Jabba Puppeteer), Bill Hootkins (Red Six -Porkins), Richard Le Parmentier (Admiral Motti), Shannon Baksa (Mara Jade), Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing), and Jeremy Bullock (Boba Fett). Other guests included actors: Carel Struyken, Gunnar Hansen, Dick Warlock; directors: Jeffrey Cioletti, Dave Macomber, Kevin Rubio, James DeRuvo, and Dave Bundtzen; comic book artists: Matt Busch, Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Phil Hester, and Ron Spencer. The local chapter of the 501st Rebel Legion and the Omaha Fan Force were formed at this convention.

WillyCon 2001: "A Space Oddity" was held March 16-18 at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. Julie E. Czerneda was the author GOH, Frank Wu was the artist GOH, and their very first fan GOHs were the Pfeiffer family: Bryce, Karen, Georden, Elizabeth, and Beatrice. (WillyCon chose its fan guests from fans who had regularly attended previous WillyCons.) Other guests included Terry Hickman, Gene Stewart, and Trent Walters. John and Belinda Jamison (John Jamison, Bookseller) introduced the convention to Friday night chocolate parties. M.E. Picray (adult), Kassandra Montag (Middle/High School), and Brad Wardyn (Elementary School) were the short story contest winners. The program book also featured a 32-question science trivia contest, which was won by Rodney Ruff, who missed only one question and received a Dawson's Creek shirt as a prize. Photos of the convention are available at the Willycon photo archive and the Midamericon Fan Photo Archive.

ConCussion VI moved from Omaha to Lincoln this year; it was held June 29-July 1, 2001 at the Cornhusker Hotel. Elaine Cunningham, Richard Knaak, and Robert Reed were their author Guests of Honor, Thomas Manning was their Artist GOH was, and Travis Heerman was their Gaming GOH. Photos of the convention are available at the Midamericon Fan Photo Archive. ConCussion 6 was lax in making sure its panelists attended their scheduled panels; for two panels at least, none of the panelists showed up. (In one instance, the audience held the panel without them; in the other instance, the audience gave up and left the room.) This was the last of the Concussions.

Nuke-Con 11 was held October, 2001 at the Ramada Inn Airport. Their guests included artist Fredd Gorham and game creator Mark Arsenault (Gold Rush Games). Photos of the convention are available at from Fredd Gorham.

2002

WillyCon 4 was held April 5-7, 2002 at the Student Union of Wayne State College. James P. Hogan was Author Guest of Honor, Terese Nielsen was Artist GOH, and Paul Clites was Fan GOH. The convention included an art show, game room, palm readings, dealer room, writer's workshop, pancake breakfast, and chocolate party. The program book featured a crossword puzzle contest created by Hogan, which Rodney Ruff won by dint of filling in nearly all the squares in the puzzle to win a talking Qui-Gon Jinn action figure. Photos of the convention are available at the Willycon photo archive. (Clites, a fan of Hogan's work, would unfortunately die of unknown causes in June of the following year.)

Nuke-Con 12 was held October 2-4, 2002 at the Days Hotel on 108th & M Streets in Omaha, Nebraska. Their guests included artist Fredd Gorham, Cheapass Games President James Ernest, and Kenzer and Company Vice President Brian Jelke. Bill Johnson was named Best Gamemaster, while Matt Smith was named Best Player. Photos of the convention are available at from Fredd Gorham.

2003

WillyCon 5 was held April 4-6, 2003 at the Student Union of Wayne State College. Wil McCarthy was Author Guest of Honor, Lucy A. Synk was Artist GOH, and John & Belinda Jamison were Fan GOHs. The convention included an art show, game room, palm readings, dealer room, writer's workshop, pancake breakfast, and the chocolate party. Lori Z. Scott was the Adult division short story winner, Sarsh Replogle received honorable mention in the Middle/High School category, and Michael J. Scott won the Elementary School division. A Sunday afternoon spring snowstorm brought the convention to an unexpected early end. Photos of the convention are available at the Midamericon Fan Photo Archive.

Nuke-Con 13 was held October 3-5, 2003 at the Days Hotel in Omaha. Their guests included artist Fredd Gorham, fantasy and science fiction author Jean Rabe, and Game System author, Rich Wulf. Bill Johnson was named Best Gamemaster, while Ryan Pretz was named Best Player. Photos of the convention are available at from Fredd Gorham.

2004

WillyCon 6 was held March 26-28, 2004 at the Student Union of Wayne State College. Eric Flint was Author Guest of Honor, Mark Pennington was Artist GOH, and John "Buck" Debnam was Fan GOH. As before, the convention featured an art show, game room, palm readings, dealer room, writer's workshop, pancake breakfast, and the chocolate party. Victor Obershaw was the Adult division short story winner, while Claire Thalken won in the Middle/High School division, and Katelyn Roth won in the Elementary School division. Photos of the convention are available at the Willycon photo archives.

Nuke-Con 14 was held October 1-3, 2004 at the Days Hotel in Omaha. Their guests included artist Fredd Gorham, who was given the designation of Artist Guest Emeritus, and Hero Games guru Steve Long. This was the final year for the con's Best Gamemaster and Best Player awards, with Bill Johnson winning once more as Best Gamemaster. (Johnson had informally requested to be excluded from the Best Gamemaster contest, but it was decided to drop the contests themselves instead.) Photos of the convention are available at Fredd Gorham.com.

2005

WillyCon 7 & Young Authors Conference was held April 8-10, 2005 at the Student Union of Wayne State College. Julie E. Czerneda returned as Author Guest of Honor, joined by Rhondi Vilott Salsitz as co-Author GOH. A.B. Word was the Artist GOH, and Rodney Ruff, a.k.a. "The Man of Trivia" was the Fan GOH. All the usual suspects were present: art show, game room, palm readings, dealer room, writer's workshop, pancake breakfast, and the chocolate party, along with a Jeopardy!-style trivia contest put on by Rodney Ruff, who also emceed the masquerade and provided fabric prizes to the winners of both events. The short story contest was won by E.E. King in the Adult division, Jack Welsh in the Middle/High School division, and Gabriel Kyne in the Elementary School division. Photos of the convention are available at the Willycon photo archives.

Nuke-Con 15 was held September 30-October 2, 2005 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Matt Ragan of Reaper Miniatures was Gaming GOH, Fredd Gorham was Artist Guest Emeritus, and Aaron Williams was Comics GOH. For this year, Nuke-Con attempted to expand beyond its usual focus on gaming to include a presentation on filksinging by Rodney Ruff, an exhibit on medieval history presented by the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a masquerade run by Leah Watts, and exhibitions by the 501st Legion. Photos of the convention are available at Nuke-con.com.

2006

WillyCon 8 & Young Authors Conference was held March 31-April 2, 2006 at the Student Union of Wayne State College. Robert Reed and Kate Klise were Author Guests of Honor, John and Denise Garner were Artist GOHs, the Townsend Clan were the Fan GOHs. All the usual suspects were present: art show, game room, palm readings, dealer room, writer's workshop, pancake breakfast, and the chocolate party. The short story contest was won by Janter Portiner in the Adult division, John Shannon in the Middle/High School division, and Brittany A. McNally in the Elementary School division. Photos of the convention are available at the WillyCon photo archives.

Nuke-Con 16 was held October 6-8, 2006 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. David Wellington was Author GOH, and Fredd Gorham was Artist Guest Emeritus. Photos of the convention are available at FreddGorham.com.

Orge-con 1 was held October 6-8, 2006 at the Days Inn in Bellevue Nebraska. Photos of each of the three day: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Anime Nebraskon 2006 was held November 17-19, 2006 at the University of Nebraska Student Union in Lincoln, Nebraska. Attendance was estimated at 350 people. Sandy & Peirre Pettinger judged a costume contest that had over 60 entrants.

2007

WillyCon IX was held April 13-15, 2007 once again at the Student Union on the campus of Wayne State College. James Alan Gardner was the Author Guest of Honor, Taki Soma was the Artist GOH, Terry Hickman was the Fan GOH, and Will Pereira was their first Alumni Fan GOH. All the usual suspects were present: art show, game room, dealer room, writer's and artist's workshop, pancake breakfast, and the chocolate party. Panels ranged from Nebraska fan activity to the Great Pluto Debate and the Science of Super Heroes.

OtakuOmaha 2007 was held June 8-10, 2007 at the Carlisle Hotel on 10909 "M" Street in Omaha, NE. This was the first Anime Convention held in the Omaha area. Their guests included: Cardcaptor Will English, Bob & Emily DeJesus, Chris Hazelton, Kenyth Mogan, Amanda Tomasch, and Brent Wooley. Photos from this convention are available at the MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive.

Nuke-Con 17 was held September 28-30, 2007 at the Skutt Student Center on the campus of Creighton University in Omaha, NE. This year's guests were Author and Game Creator; Bruce Glasso and Artist Guest Emeritus; Fredd Gorham. Many changes came with this change in venue. The concession Nuke-Con stand was replaced by Creighton University eateries, with the anime room actually being in one of them (it had five flat screen televisions mounted on its ceiling). Instead of a single large hall: most of the gaming occurred in the ballroom, the RPGA events moved to a smaller room on the second floor, with LARPs on the top floor leading to their outdoor venue. "Fear" dominated the computer gaming arena. Several individuals published photos from the convention: Brother Bob, Mark Wooge, Anime Nebraskon 2007 program book cover

Anime NebrasKon 2007 was held November 16-18, 2007 at the Student Center of the University of Nebraska Lincoln campus. This year's guests included Manga Artist, Steve Bennett; Freelance Artist and Character Designer, Shannon Townsend; Writer, Richard Townsend; Voice Actress, Tiffany Grant; and Co-founder of ADV Films, Matt Greenfield. Photos from this convention are available at the MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive.

Currently, Nuke-Con, NebrasKon, OtakuOmaha, and WillyCon are the only science fiction conventions taking place in Nebraska. If you would like to help develop a recurring convention in the Omaha metro area, please E-mail your name and contact information to webmaster@osfes.org.

Also, if you have any more information on past science fiction conventions in Nebraska (old program books are a wealth of information), or photos you are willing to share on the web, please contact: webmaster@osfes.org. We are especially looking for information on Beddescon, Lin-Con, MageCon South, NebrasKon, and any other cons we haven't heard of.