ConCarolinas

ConCarolinas
Cee Cee, the ConCarolinas Winged Panther. Art by Robert Snare
Status	Active
Genre	Science fiction
Venue	Hilton Charlotte University Place
Location(s)	Charlotte, North Carolina
Country	United States
Inaugurated	2002
Attendance	1000-1300
Organized by	ConCarolinas, Inc.
Website
http://www.concarolinas.org/

ConCarolinas is a three-day-long science fiction convention held once each year in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted by ConCarolinas, Inc., a non-profit corporation.

It hosts a variety of fandom related events and functions. Guests generally include a variety of authors, artists, costumers and media celebrities. Group guests generally include SG-Operations, the 501st Stormtroopers, KAG (Klingon Assault Group), and Society for Creative Anachronism. Games (LARPs, role-playing games, etc.) are also featured.

2000-2001: The Genesis - From the ashes of a failed attempt to get WorldCon to come to Charlotte, a group of individuals headed up by Irv Koch, calling themselves the South East Convention Fandom, Inc. (SECFI), rallied support for a general science fiction convention in Charlotte. SECFI called upon experience from Cons like StellarCon, MACE (gaming convention), Roc of Ages, Babtrek and many more. Most of these people eventually became the first ConCom of ConCarolinas, with Fred Grimm as the Chairman and Ron McClung as Vice Chairman. At this time, the winged panther was chosen for a mascot.

ConCarolinas: The Prequel: May 2002- with Con Chair: Fred Grimm and Vice Chair Ron McClung, ConCarolinas started humbly as a two-day event. The guest list was small and comprised mostly local writers and artists like Jeanne Foguth, dgk goldberg, Keith Bailey, and Gary Griffin. Events at this Con were meant to be teasers for what was to come in 2003, including primarily gaming - RPGs, RPGA, board games and card games.

ConCarolinas 2003: May 30 – June 1. (Con Chair: Ron McClung, Vice Chair: Matt Holmquist) - The First 3-day ConCarolinas featured David Weber as their first Writer Guest of Honor, plus Karen Taylor as a Featured Writer Guest. Other guests included d.g.k. goldberg, Stephen Euin Cobb, Mary M Buckner, Elaine Corvidae, and Andy Duncan. Programming was expanded to have 3 rooms of panels all weekend. The Rocky Horror Picture Show by F5 Productions joined ConCarolinas for the first time. Several outdoor SCA events were planned as well as a wide range of literary and fandom panels.