2008 Woodie Awards
Annual convention draws fans of fantasy, science fiction
By Joseph Roman Flis
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Culture
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It began in 1975, and Chattacon 33 took place this year at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo on the weekend of Jan. 25-27.
Chattacon is the longest running speculative fiction convention in the Southeast, according to Rabbit Zielke. She is president of the Chattanooga Speculative Fiction Fans, Inc. (CSFF), which is the non-profit parent organization of Chattacon. Zielke is also producer at UTC's radio station WUTC FM 88.1, where she has a radio show called "Celtic Harvest" which airs on Sundays from 12 to 2 p.m.
"The CSFF encourages literacy through speculative fiction," Zielke said. "We hope the convention continues to grow."
According to Paul Cashman, director of the Hyatt Concourse at DragonCon, there are many of these kinds of conventions, and one of the biggest in the Southeast is DragonCon in Atlanta. Many of the conventions focus on particular things to set themselves apart from the other conventions.
"Chattacon has a more literary focus," Cashman said.
Cashman also said Chattacon is world famous for its Consuite. The Consuite was a hospitality suite located in the Grand Central Station building, and it provided free food and drink to registered attendees. Several bands provided entertainment in the Consuite throughout the convention.
Daniel Sims, a pre-graduate student from Chattanooga, said Chattacon has a very close, family-type vibe and is an annual reunion for those who have been going to it for years.
"Chattacon is like a small town that condenses out of nowhere," he said. "Everyone plays their part in the community, and at the end of the weekend it evaporates and everyone goes back to their everyday reality, until the next Con," Sims said.
Gary Poole has been attending the convention since Chattacon 15 and runs the Robot Battles competition. He said Chattacon is completely run by volunteers, who get a special rate on their registration for the weekend. He said the volunteers working at Chattacon do it for love of the convention.
