Balticon
# Balticon

Balticon is the Maryland Regional science fiction convention, sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS). It has been held annually since 1966. The name "Balticon" is trademarked by BSFS.

## Overview

Balticon brings together over 1800 science, science fiction and fantasy professionals, creative amateurs, and fans on Memorial Day weekend each year for a 4-day multi-track event in or around Baltimore.

Balticon can be described as a "General" or "Big Tent" science fiction convention since, while the primary emphasis is literary, programming and activities cover a number of other areas, such as anime, art, costuming, science, Podcasting and new media, gaming, and Filk music.

Balticon is produced by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc., a 501(c)(3) literary society. It is run entirely by volunteers, who assume responsibility at many levels, ranging from gofers who sign up and run errands at the convention, to the Con Chair who may spend up to two years on planning and administration.

Activities and program items are developed by the convention staff with suggestions from program participants, and the literary program usually concentrates most heavily on the segment of genre in which the year's Guest of Honor publishes most of his/her work.

Some Balticon activities and tracks run 24 hours a day from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. Balticon also usually hosts a Robert Heinlein "Pay It Forward" Blood Drive at some time during the convention.

## Awards

BSFS presents the Compton Crook Award given for the best first novel in the Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror genre, during Balticon. The previous year's winner is invited back to present the award to the new winner.

The winner of the annual Jack L. Chalker Young Writer's Contest is announced at Balticon. BSFS sponsors this short story writing contest for Maryland residents or school attendees between the ages of 14 and 18, in the Fantasy or Science Fiction genres.

Beginning in 2013, the Baltimore Science Fiction Society began presenting the Robert A. Heinlein Award at Balticon Opening Ceremonies. BSFS is the sponsoring organization for the award, which was started in 2003 by Yoji Kondo, and is 50% funded by The Heinlein Society. The recipient is selected by a panel of judges originally chosen from among Robert Heinlein's fellow SF writers.

The Balticon Poetry Contest winners are invited to read their winning entries at Balticon, and they are published in the Balticon Convention Program Guide. Cash prizes and convention memberships are awarded.

The Masquerade is usually held on Saturday night, and awards are given for various categories in Costuming, including creativity, construction and presentation.

The Balticon Sunday Night Short Film Festival (BSNSFF) is a no-submission-fee competition traditionally held on Sunday night for short films in the Science Fact, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror genres. Currently, the audience votes to choose winners in animated and live-action categories.

Past Balticon Sunday Night Short Film Festival winners:

* 2006 THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX
* 2007 HIDE AND SEEK – Chris Romano, Creator/Director
* 2008 THE END IS NIGHT
* 2009 Best Animated BURNING SAFARI
* 2009 Best Live Action The Hunt for Gollum
* 2010 Best Animated ETA – Henrik Bjerregaard Clausen, director
* 2010 Best Live Action (tie) ANDROID LOVE – Lee Citron, writer/director
* 2010 Best Live Action (tie) THE LEGACY – Mike Doto, writer/director
* 2010 Best Specialty Short THIS TOO SHALL PASS (OK Go)
* 2010 Director's Choice Animated THE PAINTER OF SKIES – Jorge Morais Valle, writer/director
* 2010 Director's Choice Live Action MY FRIEND JOSH – Shaun Springer, director
* 2011 Best Animated ZERO – Christopher Kezelos, director
* 2011 Best Live Action DEAD ON TIME – Kostos Skiftas, Andreas Lambropoulos, directors
* 2011 Director's Choice Animated SINTEL – Colin Levy, writer/director
* 2011 Director's Choice Live Action CORBIN – Brent Weichsel, director

Balticon may also premier an independent feature-length film, and a locally (MD, DC, VA, PA) produced feature film some time during the 4-day convention, as well as several hours of panel discussions in Balticon's Filmmaking Program track.

## History

Prior to 1966, BSFS held an annual event for the election of BSFS board of directors. After several years, BSFS rented hotel space and invited an author to speak, as a guest of honor, at its election events. From this point forward, the event became an annual convention known as Balticon. Subsequently, BSFS election functions were moved to a different date.

Before 2001, Balticon was held on Easter weekend to take advantage of lower hotel costs and was three days long; however, in 2001 Balticon moved to Memorial Day Weekend and expanded to a full four days.

### Past conventions

| Event - Number - | Date | Location | Guests (listed GoH) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Balticon 1 | 10–12 February 1967 | The Emerson Hotel, Baltimore MD | no guest of honor |
| Balticon 2 | 9–11 February 1968. | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Samuel R. Delany |
| Balticon 3 | 14–15 February 1969 | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | L. Sprague de Camp |
| Balticon 4 | 13–15 February 1970 (Washington Birthday Weekend) | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Damon Knight & Kate Wilhelm |
| Balticon 5 | 12–14 February 1971 Washington's Birthday Weekend | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Harry Harrison |
| Balticon 6 | 18–20 February 1972 | Hopkins Hilton Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Gordon R. Dickson |
| Balticon 7 | Washington's Birthday Weekend, 16–18 February 1973 | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Poul Anderson |
| Balticon 8 | 15–18 February 1974 - Washington's Birthday Weekend | Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Frederik Pohl |
| Balticon 9 | Easter Weekend, 28–30 March 1975 (First Year On Easter) | Pikesville Hilton Hotel, Pikesville, MD | Hal Clement |
| Balticon 10 | 16–18 April 1976 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Isaac Asimov |
| Balticon 11 | 8–10 April 1977 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Philip Jose Farmer |
| Balticon 12 | 24–26 March 1978 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Anne McCaffrey |
| Balticon 13 | 13–15 April 1979 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Poul Anderson |
| Balticon 14 | 4–6 April 1980 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Algis Budrys & Sean Spacher |
| Balticon 15 | Easter Weekend 17–19 April 1981 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | John Varley |
| Balticon 16 | 9–11 April 1982 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Samuel R. Delany |
| Balticon 17 | 1–3 April 1983 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD | L. Sprague de Camp & Catherine Crook de Camp |
| Balticon 18 | 20–22 April 1984 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Parke Godwin |
| Balticon 19 | Easter Weekend 7–9 April 1985 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | R. A. MacAvoy |
| Balticon 20 | 28–30 March 1986 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Nancy Springer |
| Balticon 21 | 17–19 April 1987 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Roger Zelazny |
| Balticon 22 | 1–3 April 1988 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Spider Robinson |
| Balticon 23 | 24–26 March 1989 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | C. J. Cherryh |
| Balticon 24 | 13–15 April 1990 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Robin McKinley |
| Balticon 25 | 29–31 March 1991 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Nancy Kress |
| Balticon 26 | 17–19 April 1992 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Donald Kingsbury, Christopher Rowley, David R. Palmer, Sheila Finch, Thomas T. Thomas (Wren), Christopher Hinz, Elizabeth Moon, Josepha Sherman and Michael F. Flynn |
| Balticon 27 | 9–11 April 1993 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Allen Steele |
| Balticon 28 | 1–3 April 1994 | Hyatt Regency Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Mercedes Lackey |
| Balticon 29 | 14–16 April 1995 | Lord Baltimore & Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | James P. Hogan |
| Balticon 30 | 5–7 April 1996 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Robert Jordan |
| Balticon 31 | 28–30 March 1997 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Glen Cook |
| Balticon 32 | 10–12 April 1998 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Harry Turtledove |
| Balticon 33 | 2–4 April 1999 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | David Weber |
| Balticon 34 | 22–23 April 2000 | Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Octavia Butler |
| Balticon 35 | 25–28 May 2001 | Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Hal Clement |
| Balticon 36 | 24–27 May 2002 | Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Mark Rogers, Phil Foglio & Kaja Foglio |
| Balticon 37 | 23–26 May 2003 | Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Steve Miller & Sharon Lee |
| Balticon 38 | 28–31 May 2004 | Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Lois McMaster Bujold |
| Balticon 39 | 27–30 May 2005 | Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due |
| Balticon 40 | 26–29 May 2006 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Neil Gaiman |
| Balticon 41 | 25–28 May 2007 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Joe Bergeron, Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff, Michael R. Mennenga & Evo Terra |
| Balticon 42 | 23–26 May 2008 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Connie Willis, John Jude Palencar & Urban Tapestry |
| Balticon 43 | 22–25 May 2009 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Charles Stross, Kurt Miller, Mary Crowell |
| Balticon 44 | 28–31 May 2010 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Tanya Huff, Howard Tayler, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. |
| Balticon 45 | 27–30 May 2011 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Dr Ben Bova, Vincent DiFate, Philippa Ballantine, Bill and Brenda Sutton |
| Balticon 46 | 25–28 May 2012 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Jody Lynn Nye, James Robin Odbert, Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps |
| Balticon 47 | 24–27 May 2013 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Joe Haldeman, Rick Sternbach, Ada Palmer |
| Balticon 48 | 23–26 May 2014 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Brandon Sanderson, Halo Jankowski, Kenneth Anders, Marty Gear |
| Balticon 49 | 22–25 May 2015 | Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, MD | Jo Walton, Ruth Sanderson, Erica Neely, Charles E. Gannon, CJ Henderson, Alexandra Duncan, Jack McDevitt |
| Balticon 50 | 26–30 May 2016 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guest of Honor George R. R. Martin, Artist Guest of Honor John Picacio, Music Guests of Honor Bill Roper and Gretchen Roper, Fan Guests of Honor Martin Deutsch and B. Shirley Avery |
| Balticon 51 | 26–29 May 2017 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guest of Honor Eric Flint (unable to attend due to health issues), Artist Guest of Honor Donato Giancola, Fan Guest of Honor Geri Sullivan, Filk Guest of Honor Amy McNally, Special Guest Stephen Brust, Special Guest SM Stirling. |
| Balticon 52 | 25–28 May 2018 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guest of Honor Catherine Asaro, Artist Guest of Honor Galen Dara, Fan Guest of Honor Erwin Strauss (aka Filthy Pierre), Filk Guest of Honor Tim Griffin. |
| Balticon 53 | 24–27 May 2019 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guests of Honor Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch, Artist Guest of Honor Charles Vess |
| Balticon 54 | 22–25 May 2020 | Online, | Guest of Honor Wen Spencer, Artist Guest of Honor Lee Moyer, Music Guests of Honor Cheshire Moon |
| Balticon 55 | 28–31 May 2021 | Online, | Guest of Honor Seanan McGuire, Artist Guest of Honor Alyssa Winans, Music Guests of Honor Margaret & Kristoph |
| Balticon 56 | 27–30 May 2022 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guest of Honor Nancy Springer, Music Guests of Honor Jen Midkiff, Fan Guests of Honor Bruce & Cheryl Évry |
| Balticon 57 | 26–29 May 2023 | Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD | Guest of Honor Jane Yolen (unable to attend due to health issues, represented by Special Guest Adam Stemple), Music Guest of Honor Technical Difficulties 2.0, Artist Guest of Honor Ariel Burgess, Fan Guest of Honor Bryan "Bellz" Jordan |

### Virtual convention

Balticon 54 had been scheduled as an in person for 22–25 May 2020, but the in-person convention was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was reorganized to be a free online convention on the same dates. It took place over Zoom, Discord, and Second Life. Balticon 55, May 28 - 31, 2021, was also held as a virtual event. Admission to the virtual conventions was free in both years. A hybrid event was planned for Balticon 56. This was the first time a charge was required to attend virtual programming. Balticon 57 was in-person, with many events streamed and later available for viewing by those who had purchased tickets or virtual passes.

