Maggie Egan
Ana Voltz
T. Aaron Cisco
Michael Merriam
Andy Merrill
MarsCon is a fan-run science fiction convention for all ages held every March in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. At MarsCon you’ll find multiple programming tracks, parties, Guest of Honor presentations, science and science fiction, our art show, film/anime, gaming, and dealers rooms, charity auction, and masquerade. But wait, there's more! Our Con-In-a-Con Comedy Music track attracts performers—and listeners—from across the country.
News From MarsCon:
| Actor GoH | Maggie Egan | |
|---|---|---|
| Artist GoH | Ana Voltz | |
| Author GoH | T. Aaron Cisco | |
| Author GoH | Michael Merriam | |
| Comedy Music GoH | Andy Merrill |
| Program Schedule | (updated 3rd of August 2024 02:28 pm) |
|---|---|
| Pocket Program Schedule | (updated 1st of March 2024 04:29 pm) |
Our theme for 2024 is That’s Classified! - which covers all manner of things beyond your need to know: mysteries... spies... conspiracies... secrets... you get the idea. Get the inside dope at MarsCon 2024.
Attention Comedy Music Fans!
MarsCon 2024 has mainstage concerts for you Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In addition to Guest of Honor Andy Merrill, you can hear The Great Luke Ski – Insane Ian – Power Salad – Nuclear Bubble Wrap – Holy Bongwater – Scooter Picnic – and, appearing for the first time at MarsCon, Jake Dewar.
You can help support the Comedy Music track by buying the 2024 Fund Raiser MP3 Album. $30 gets you nearly 4 hours of live concert excerpts from MarsCon 2023.
The latest news about the Comedy Music Track can be found at https://marsconcomedy.com.
- - - - MEDIA BRIEFING - - - -
Security Clearance Level : Burn Before Reading
So what do you do when you have NOTHING but a great team assembled?
It was barely weeks before MarsCon 2023. With no signed hotel contract, no Guests of Honor (GoHs) signed up, no theme, not even a weekend picked, prospects for MarsCon 2024 were shaky at best. All I really had going for me, stepping back into the roll of Con Chair for the second year in a row, was a FANTASTIC team of ConCom members ready and willing to go again.
The publications dept was holding the back cover for an ad for 2024, but what to put on it when you had almost NO info to share?
The TV was running news about a Chinese spy balloon spotted flying over the U.S. and ads for that summer's 'Mission Impossible' movie. Well, many Sci Fi films have a secret military team or lab or spy element to them, so maybe we could say that we "Can't Disclose" the usual con promo info because it was ALL "CLASSIFIED." Yeah that just might work. A good 'Cover Story'.
So I made a quick, highly redacted ad and even quicker closing ceremony skit, and we were off and running, to who knows where…? It was a solid start though, and the announcement of our highly classified theme was well received.
After con, getting a signed hotel contract was the first thing, and it was already in the works before the con. Not a problem. Ok, so now we have a when and a where. Time to get the GoHs nailed down. Enter the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes which lasted through the summer and forbid their members from appearances or even entering discussions for appearances until after new contracts were signed. Argh!!! I do support what unions do for their members, but the timing in this instance…
So we made a quick promo video with lots of help from 'Murf' of Town Square TV and the 'Scenes from a Hat' players and the little information we had, posted it out there on social media, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.
By then, we had found two excellent local writers and a talented local artist willing to sign on as our Guests of Honor, along with a few featured guests who also weren't subject to the strikes. Through the Herculean efforts of the Great Luke Ski, we secured a fantastic comedy music guest and three fourths of the main stage programming. We could at least 'leak' that info. Still no signed Media GoH. We made a 2nd promo 'leak' video.
As the strike ended, we entered serious discussions with Mrs Egan about joining as Media GoH…but things take time, stuff happens—fires, floods and other stuff. Then, FINALLY, the last piece of the puzzle was in place and could be revealed.
Now it is just 2 weeks before con as I write this. Things are going slightly better than expected. So I want to pause and take this opportunity to thank my amazing ConCom, co-chair, guests, panelists, presenters, musicians, artists, volunteers, dealers, party hosts, supporting organizations, hotel staff and attendees who jumped off this cliff with me, hoping we could finish building this plane before we hit bottom. And WE did build the plane, and it flies great.
Send questions about MarsCon to info [redacted; use the online forms] @marscon.org, we’ll do our best to send answers!
More about MarsCon may be found at...
• Comedy Music: marsconcomedy.com
• Discord: https://discord.gg/CfQQDk4fS7
• FaceBook: www.facebook.com/Marscon
• Twitter/X/TwiX: https://twitter.com/MarsconMpls
MarsCon is brought to you by the Fans Educational Network for Science Fiction (FenSF, Inc), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Tax deductible donations always accepted.
(If you are searching for the Marscon in Virginia Beach, VA click here.)
That’s Classified!
March 8-9-10, 2024
Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
3800 American Blvd. E. / Bloomington, MN 55425
© 2023, FenSF