NonCon (Florida convention)

NonCon was a one-time, fan-run convention in Tallahassee, Florida. 
The focus of the con was the actor Mark Lenard. 
The con was run by The Mark Lenard International Fan Club and took place August 8-10, 1980. 
This convention was a precursor to TerraCon, which was held a few years earlier also in Tallahassee, Florida.
The con itself sounded like it was full of chaos and snafus, from a clueless hotel staff at Best Western Tallahassee, to printing errors in the program, and promised programming failing. A few con reports described some unpleasantly intense fans who came on way too strong, but most fans (at least in the second to the last issue of the club's zine, Despatch, were overwhelmingly positive. 
Supporting memberships were $5, and fans were sent an autographed photo of Lenard, the program book, and a tape (presumably audio) of some of the convention.
Portions of the con, and an interview with Lenard, were taped and shown on two television stations: WFSU TV (the local university station) and WCTV (the local CBS affiliate).
Lenard donated forgo a fee and donated his time. He donated most of the prizes including scripts to the two un-aired episodes of The Secret Empire and publicity photos of other roles. He also brought a squeaky movie projector for the films. Despite this, the con lost money as hotel room rental, various equipment, food, flowers, his plane ticket (despite Lenard's offer to fly coach), and other requirements of cons are expensive. The club presidents announced a sale of merchandise to make up the difference. 
The sale of club merchandise also corresponded with the fact that the long-running club permanently shut down a few months after this con occurred. It was likely that the club president's experiences at several disappointing cons by other clubs (Starbase Baltimore and Southern Con) added to their frustrations and exasperation with fans and fannish life. Saville and Metzke were also likely very burnt out trying to keep too many balls in the air, losing money, and Lenard's increasing lack of desire to engage with the club. They closed down the Mark Lenard International Fan Club with a long and resentful open letter. See You are holding in your hands the final issue of DESPATCH.
==Some Con Activities==
* a theater performance by Lenard (an original play called "Henry Miller: Pornographer or Puritan," a recitation of "Casey at the Bat," and some other things)
* a picnic with Hawaiian food (luau-style), swimming, alligators, boat rides,and frisbee at Wakulla Springs 
* a seminar by Lenard called "Acting for the Various Media; Television, Screen and Stage"
* a Klingon-speaking contest 
* fans acting out the last two episodes of The Secret Empire, with Lenard doing the casting
* watching episodes and movies starring Lenard
* presentation of the AGS Awards 
* Lenard brought the Klingon appliances (head masks/gear) for the recent Star Trek film and the gorilla appliance and chimp appliance (the latter worn by Roddy McDowall) from Planet of the Apes; a fan was chosen to be "made up" like an ape by Lenard
== Early Descriptions==
 
From the December 1979 issue of A Piece of the Action: 
From the May 1980 issue of Despatch: 
==Con Report: From One of the Organizers==
From Despatch #44: 
==Other Con Reports==
 
==References==
Category:1980 Conventions
Category:Conventions in United States