About ConDor

History
Mission / Vision
Directory
Con Policies
Scrapbook
Media Kit
Links
Acknowledgements

1993 ~ Just when you thought science fiction conventions were extinct in San Diego, one appears out of nowhere.  Sci-fi conventions in Southern California were once like the California Condor – an endangered species.  However, just like the bird, they’re making a come-back!  Con-Dor is San Diego’s newest science-fiction media and literature convention, put together by the California Association for the Advancement of Speculative Media (C.A.A.S.M.), a non-profit organization.

Thus was the beginning of ConDor in 1993.  And what a start this fledgling convention had with Octavia Butler as the Literary GOH and J. Michael Staczynski as the Media GOH, good timing as Babylon 5 debuted just 2 weeks earlier.  The Town and Country Hotel was the venue and remained so for years to come.  Dianna Hildreth did a superb job as chairperson, bringing with her an experienced committee.  Con-Dor was so much fun, the crazed committee decided to do it again.

1994 ~ Back again for three days of fun and friends at the Town and Country Hotel.  Our Literary GOH was Jerry Pournelle, writer and lecturer, with aerospace industry experience that included the NASA Mercury and Gemini Projects.  Rick Sternbach, our Media GOH, was the Senior Illustrator and Technical Consultant on both Star Trek: TNG and Star Trek: DS9.

Programming expanded to four tracks. Casino Night at the Tiki Hut, Regency Dancing (a continuing favorite), and a Scavenger Hunt where the hunter is also the hunted were just a few of the activities scheduled for this year.  Franz Joseph, writer of The Star Trek Technical Manual and The Star Trek Blueprints from the original series was a guest. Unfortunately, he passed away only 3 months later.  He was a warm, kind, and generous person and ConDor II was very lucky to have him as a guest.

1995 ~ ConDor III was the best attended in it’s 12 year history, likely due to the impressive guests. Most notable was Jerry Doyle, also known as Security Chief Michael Garibaldi on TV's Babylon 5, a show extremely popular in science fiction fandom.  Jennifer Roberson, popular fantasy author, was our Literary GOH.  Our third GOH was John Iacovelli, Production Designer for Babylon 5.  Hmmm, can you sense a theme here?

ConDor Guest of Honors