Shoestringcon

A convention run in the UK by the Polytechnic Science Fiction and Fantasy Association at the University of Hertfordshire (Hatfield Polytechnic prior to 1992) in Great Britain from 1979 to 1992.

The first convention (and the series) was named 'Shoestringcon' so as not to be unfairly compared with that year's heavily-resourced British Worldcon Seacon '79.

In the earlier days, the convention usually had just one GoH who was wined and dined (a trip to the local Chinese restaurant with the committee was a thing). The events were held on Hatfield Poly campus, upstairs in the Elephant House (student building ), where attendees could also sleep overnight as well as get food and drink. Guests were given somewhere nicer to stay, such as a room in the halls of residence.

History at Concatenation

Convention	Dates	GoHs
Shoestringcon 1: Polycon	Autumn 1979	Ken Bulmer and Mat Irvine
Shoestringcon 2: Polycon 2	Autumn 1980	Ian Watson and 2000AD
Shoestringcon 3: PSIFAcon	May 9, 1981	Rob Holdstock
Shoestringcon 4: Economy	October 10-11, 1982	Bob Shaw
Shoestringcon 5: FTLcon	Autumn 1983	Iain Nicolson
Shoestringcon 6: Ib Con	Autumn 1984	Geoff Ryman
Shoestringcon 7: Knocon	October 4-6, 1985	Bryan Talbot
Shoestringcon 8: Articon?	Autumn 1986
Shoestringcon 9: Necroninecon	Autumn 1987	Ramsey Campbell
Shoestringcon 10: Decaid	Autumn 1988	Gwyneth Jones and Lorna Mitchell
Shoestringcon 11: STLcon	Autumn 1989
Shoestringcon 12: Ghengis Khon	Autumn 1990
Shoestringcon 13	Autumn 1991
Shoestringcon 14: Economy II	March 19-21, 1993	Storm Constantine

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Convention
	1979—1992

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