Schuster Star Trek Conventions

Schuster Star Trek Conventions ("Townsley Cons") were a series of 1975-1981 Star Trek conventions.
These cons were first run by Al Schuster, a former member of the committee that ran Star Trek Lives!. Several of these cons were titled" "The International Star Trek Convention." After Al Schuster split with the Star Trek Lives! conventions in 1975, the name "International Star Trek Convention" went with him. 
This split with "Star Trek Lives!" was due to large differing points of view related to profit, vision, and promotion. 
Schuster then added John Townsley as his business partner. 
Eventually, Schuster's franchise began holding "Schuster Star Trek Conventions" events in other cities such as Atlanta and Philadelphia. Many of these conventions were organized under the name Tristar Industries "These conventions, were done at the time by the now-long defunct "Tristar Industries"(it wasn't an "industry" as much as it was a few people who organized things) of Staten Island, which essentially picked up the baton left by Joan Winston's bunch, in 1976." -- , Bob Eggleton, 2008 The last two cons (1981) were produced by "Capital Expositions" which was the same company and address but with a different name.
These cons were closely entwined with Townsley and Schuster's for-profit business, April Publications.
 
More from Fancyclopedia: 
 
=="Star Trek America" Replaced the Fan-Run Cons... And Then in Turn, Was Replaced by Creation Con==
Star Trek cons followed a familiar fandom life-cycle, one fueled by money.
"Star Trek America" had moved into prime fannish territory as a for-profit venture, only to be ousted less than ten years later by an outfit with similar goals but deeper pocketbooks -- Creation Con.
==Specific Schuster Cons==
Also see Star Trek Christmas Festival, a mini-con in 1977.
 
===The Cons Listed by Their Informal Names===
Below are the cons, some with more informal names. Also, fans were very casual in how they referred to these series of cons, often calling them titles that were a fusion of the "official" names, as well as the Star Trek Lives! series of cons. This makes sorting these early cons out very tricksy.
Some cons may be missing in this line-up
* Fourth Annual International Star Trek Convention (January 10-12, 1975, New York City)
* Star Trek Philadelphia (August 7-10, 1975, Philadelphia)
* 5th International Star Trek Convention (January 15-18, 1976, New York City)
* Bi-Centenntial-10 ( September 3-6, 1976, New York City)
* Washington D.C. Star Trek Expo (July 9-11, 1976, Washington D.C.)
* Star Trek Philadelphia (July 14-16, 1977, Philadelphia)
* Star Trek America (February 18-20, 1977, New York City)
* Star Trek America (September 2-5, 1977, New York City)
* Star Trek World Expo (February 18-20, 1978, New York City) 
* Star Trek Atlanta (June 30-July 2, 1978, Atlanta)
 
* Star Trek Philadelphia (July 14-16, 1978, Philadelphia)
* Star Trek America (September 2-4, 1978, New York City)
* Star Trek World Expo (February 17-19, 1979, New York City)
* Star Trek America (September 1-2, 1979, New York City)
* Star Trek Philadelphia (July 4-6, 1980, Philadelphia) (This con likely did not occur. See remarks in Right of Statement #2.)
* Star Trek America (August 30-Sept 1, 1980, New York City)
* Star Trek Philadelphia (January? 1981, Philadelphia)
* Star Trek Space Expo (February 7-8, 1981, New York City)
* Star Trek Space Expo (July 4-5, 1981, Hazlet, New Jersey)
* Star Trek America (September 5-7, 1981, New York City)
==Schuster: a 1976 Video Interview==
See Al Schuster, along with Harlan Ellison, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig discuss cons, the "cult" of Star Trek, fan exploitation, violence in Star Trek, and a whole lot more.
* Star Trek cast on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow, 1976, Part 4, Schuster appears at about 2:12
* Star Trek cast on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow, 1976, Part 5, Schuster appears at about 5:03
 
==Over-Reaching, Greed, and Other Complaints==
In 1976, Al Schuster notified fans that, due to financial difficulties, plans for his Seattle convention have were canceled. a notice in A Piece of the Action #37 (May 1976) 
In early 1978, David Arey ("Audio-Visuals, Tristar Industries Inc., STAR TREK AMERICA, STAR TREK PHILADELPHIA, STAR TREK ATLANTA") wrote a letter to Warped Space #37, addressing fan complaints about fan experiences at the Schuster Cons: 
A fan in 1976 repeated a rumor: 
In 1979, Peter David wrote a metafic, one which roasted Al Schuster, as well as other BNFs; the topic was the fictional "Bison 10" convention. See What If They Gave A Convention And NOBODY Came?.
===Fan Comments Regarding These Cons and Profit, Size, Quality===
====1978====
 
 
 
 
====1981====
 
====1983====
 
====1987====
 
====2007====
====2008====
===Press Commentaries===
====1976====
From a 1976 article in the UK newspaper, "The Guardian,": 
From a 1976 article in the "New York Times": 
==References==
Category:Star Trek TOS Conventions
Category:1975 Conventions
Category:1970s Conventions
Category:1980s Conventions
Category:Conventions in United States
Category:Star Trek Conventions