A brief guide for new and returning community members
Swancon is a small, conference style convention that shares some traits with academic and knowledge industry conferences e.g. concurrent panel and workshop streams throughout the event, and others with larger pop-culture conventions, such as a traders room full of books, gaming supplies and unique fannish goodies to peruse and purchase. It again differs from both these kinds of events in that it is 100% volunteer fan run and is shaped by community interests and community contributions.
Each Swancon is run by an independent committee of volunteers that changes from year to year and is overseen by the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation to ensure continuity and sustainability. Each committee is free to add their own flair and flavor to the years con and has full discretion over the theme, the guests, the venue and the program, which means every con is unique and can differ quite considerably given the diversity of our community. That said, there are a few traditions that you can expect to see from year to year and these are the things that make a con a Swancon.
Concurrent Panel Streams
The staple of a Swancon program is the panels and discussions that happen continuously throughout the event. Panels and presentations are curated by the committee (and typically by a lead programer) from suggestions and proposals from the wider community. A well rounded program will have a diverse set of moderated discussions and presentations on a wide range of SF fan centric topics. At a typical Swancon you can expect to see discussions about specific genres and genre tropes, different aspects of writing, including fan fiction and transformative works, discussions about authors and their works, about genre film and TV, art, comics, costuming and more. It is also common to have expert presentations on science fiction adjacent topics that help to enhance an understanding and appreciation of elements of the genre. There is also a good dose of fun and frivolity thrown in for good measure with items such as fan karaoke and trivia.
Family Stream
The Swancon community has worked hard to make the event inclusive to young and old and a dedicated group of fans have created and maintained a family stream that is welcoming and engaging to fans of all ages. This programing stream usually takes place in a parent/child friendly area of the convention space and typically includes items such as arts and crafts, popular family friendly board games, plush toy making and the very popular plush toy wars tournament, and an equally popular nerf shooting gallery.
Board Gaming and Video Gaming
Swancon will typically have a large area devoted to board gaming for various impromptu and casual games as well as scheduled game tournaments. Gaming happens continuously throughout the event and it is not uncommon for community members to attend for the gaming stream alone. In more recent years Swancons have also developed a stand alone video gaming stream that also includes opportunity for casual gaming in addition to structured tournaments. This years video gaming stream is set to include Portal 2 Co-op time trials, a Smash Bros tournament, a Pokemon meet up and Pokemon Go group walk, a MineCraft co-op session and a Soul Calibre mini tournament.
Masquerade Party
Something that differentiates swancon from other pop culture events is that programming usually starts in the morning and goes through to late at night. The feature of Saturday nights is often a masquerade party where con goers can dance, chat, be social and generally party on. Although costumes are not mandatory they are definitely encouraged and this is a great opportunity for fannish cosplay. Swancon 50 will hold a masquerade party on the Saturday of the convention with the theme of ‘Golden Years of Future Past’ and prizes will be awarded for best costume on theme and best costume overall. DJs will play fan favourites throughout the evening and a short caberet performance showcasing the talents of our community has been planned for an extra dose of entertainment.
Awards
Each year Swancon hosts the WA Science Fiction Foundation Awards – commonly known as the Tin Ducks – to celebrate WA creatives producing work in the spec fic field. Awards are typically held on the Sunday night of the con (as they will be for Swancon 50). As Swancon 50 is host to the NatCon the awards ceremony will also include presentation of the 2026 Ditmar Awards, a popularly voted award that recognises outstanding works by Australian creatives in the spec fic field.
Dealers Room
A regular feature of Swancon is a room dedicated to sellers of fan friendly wares including books, games, art, pop culture curiosities and other specialised items. You may also find displays from other local community groups and events with information about their offerings. A swancon dealers room tends to be a much more specialised affair than the exhibition hall type offerings of recent mega-cons and you can expect about a dozen stall holders at a Swancon.
Business Meetings
Okay, I know this one sounds boring to a lot of people but hear me out. Each year a Swancon/WASFF business meeting takes place (and a Natcon Business meeting if it Swancon is the Natcon that year). This is the annual WASFF AGM and it is your chance to get involved and share the love that is running a Swancon. At this meeting WASFF committee members are elected and potential committees of future Swancons have the chance to present their ideas and bid to be the committee in charge of putting on the next con. Future con coms are selected by majority vote so participants at the meeting get to directly choose the direction of the next event. See, much more exciting than you though, right?
Casual Social Catch Ups
A fantastic feature of Swancons is the opportunity for socialising with like minded community members with shared interests. With lots of casual hang out space and often a bar or cafe at the venue it is not unusual to hear attendees say they had so much fun talking with other attendees that they hardly attended any of the formal program at all.
However you choose to spend your time at Swancon the diversity of our event means there is plenty on offer for fans of all kinds.
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