The STARFLEET International Conference is the annual
business conference where members of
STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. meet the organization's leadership. The conference includes leadership meetings, information sessions, a formal banquet, an awards ceremony, and other events and entertainment.
History
STARFLEET is a nonprofit corporation based in
North Carolina, and the conference also serves as the required annual meeting of the corporation where members of the
Board of Directors, referred to as the Admiralty Board, and the officers of the corporation, known as the Executive Committee, meet in session. Initially called the "National Conference,"[1] the International Conference has been hosted in the United States because the majority of STARFLEET's membership resides in that country. Most conferences are stand-alone events, but some have been associated with nearby conventions; for example, in 1995, the conference was part of
DragonCon in
Atlanta, Georgia. Conference guests have included
Vaughn Armstrong,[2]Casey Biggs,[2]Robin Curtis,[3][4]Richard Herd,[2]J. G. Hertzler,[3]Chase Masterson,[5]Colm Meaney,[6]Tim Russ,[3]Roger Stern[3] and
Fred W. Haise.
In 2020, because of the
COVID-19Pandemic, the 2020 IC2020 was delayed until November. Due to the lateness of the event, a Virtual IC2020 was held ahead of the actual IC2020 online using
ZOOM on August 1, 2020. In early September 2020, IC2020 at BayCon in San Mateo, California was cancelled by the STARFLEET Board of Directors, the Admiralty Board, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Both IC2021 and 2022 were scheduled for
Tallahassee, Florida in June of those years but it was deemed that the Pandemic and its subsequent spike would affect it and the site managers agreed to push it back first to 2022 and then to 2023.
In December 2022, the STARFLEET Board of Directors (Admiralty Board), citing continued concerns of the COVID Viruses, voted to cancel the event. On January 5, 2023, the IC Committee announced that a team has been awarded the next Virtual IC.
Locations
1986 - June 13 to June 15 -
St. Louis, Missouri - 1st Starfleet Conference, held at the Clarion Hotel in association with Archon 10 fan convention.
1987 - July 10 to July 12 -
Hunt Valley, Maryland - Held at the Hunt Valley Inn, in association with Shore Leave IX.
1989 - August 25 to August 27 -
San Jose, California Held at the LaBaron Hotel in association with TimeCon 89.
1990 - August 31 to September 2 -
Kansas City, Missouri - Held at Adam's Mark Hotel in association with Delecon One.
1991 - July 12 to July 14 -
Hunt Valley, Maryland - Held again at the Hunt Valley Inn, in association with Shore Leave XIII.
1992 - July 3 to July 5 - Kansas City, Missouri - Kansas City Marriot Hotel, in association with Delecon Two. Special charity events at the 1992 IC raised money to benefit the
Children's Miracle Network.
1993 - July 2 to July 4 -
Arlington, Texas - Held at the Arlington Convention Center, the IC was branded as "Tex-Trek '93" and some events were opened to the public.[6] Guests included actor
Colm Meaney. per Communique issue 54 - Sheraton Hotel, Arlington, Texas
1994 - July 17 to July 19 -
Orlando, Florida - Held at Orlando North Hilton in conjunction with Vulkon 94
1995 - July 13 to July 16 -
Atlanta, Georgia - Held at Ramada Downtown in conjunction with Dragon Con/NASFIC
-- From 1986 to 1995 All Starfleet National Conferences were held in conjunction with another convention. 1996 marked the beginning of stand-alone Starfleet International Conferences --
2009 - August 6 to August 9 -
Greensboro, North Carolina - Held at Greensboro Airport Marriot - With the theme "One Small Step, One Giant Leap", this IC celebrated the 40th anniversary of the
Apollo 11 Moon landing[8] as well as the 35th Anniversary of STARFLEET International. The special guest was
Apollo 13 astronaut
Fred W. Haise.
2012 - August 3 to August 5 - Held at Whispering Woods Resort,
Memphis, Tennessee - "Trekkin' on the Mississippi" - Included Guest: Rod Roddenberry
2013 - August 1 to August 4 - Held at MCM Elegante Hotel,
Dallas, Texas - "Year of the Phoenix" - Included Guest: Vaughn Armstrong
2014 - August 8 to August 10 - Held at The Clock Tower Resort and Convention Center,
Rockford, Illinois - "Time is Fleeting", Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc.
2015 - August 21 to August 23 - Held at The Conference & Event Center,
Niagara Falls, New York - "Honeymoon in STARFLEET"
2016 - August 12 to August 14 - Held at Crown Plaza Louisville Airport,
Louisville, Kentucky - "Trekkin' II: Horsing around on the Ohio!"
2017 - August 18 to August 20 -
New Orleans, Louisiana - Held at the Crown Plaza New Orleans Airport.
2018 - August 10 to August 12 -
Minneapolis, Minnesota - Held at Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Mall of America - "Family Reunion".
2019 - August 2 to August 5 -
St. Louis, Missouri - Held at the Marriott St. Louis Airport. A new convention, IDIC Con, attempted to use the International Conference funds to spin-off, but failed.
2020 - August 1 - Virtual IC2020 - Hosted online on
Zoom (software) by the Starfleet International Conference Committee. IC2020 was to be held in
San Mateo, California was CANCELLED by the Admiralty Board, due to the
COVID-19 Pandemic.
2021 - August 7 - Virtual IC2021 - Hosted by the STARFLEET International Conference Committee. It was to be in
Tallahassee, Florida but this event was postponed until 2022 due to the ongoing
COVID-19 Pandemic.
2022 - August 13 - Virtual IC2022 - Hosted by the STARFLEET International Conference Committee. The event was postponed until 2023 due to the spike in the new Omnicrom variant as well as other variants of COVID-19. This is the third straight Virtual IC.
2023 - Date TBD - VirtualIC2023 - As the
Tallahassee International Conference having been canceled due to continued COVID concerns by the STARFLEET Board of Directors (Admiralty Board).
References
^Wickman, G. Fred (June 23, 1992). "Beam yourself right in there". Kansas City Star. p. E6. This science fiction and fantasy convention also is the Starfleet national conference. Proceeds go for a down-to-earth cause, the Children's Miracle Network.
^"'Star Trek' fan group to hold '08 conference in Ithaca". The Ithaca Journal. August 1, 2007. "Star Trek" fandom will beam into Ithaca when STARFLEET, a "Star Trek" fan association, holds its annual conference here in June 2008. [...] STARFLEET, a not-for-profit organization, uses the conference to take care of yearly business and have some fun, Adinolfi said. The Ithaca chapter beat out chapters in Greensboro, N.C. and Oklahoma City, Okla. to host the 2008 conference. The conference is being held in Denver this year and will feature actor Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on "Star Trek: Voyager." [...] [T]he conference will feature panels about STARFLEET, discussions on science fiction, a TV room for showing science fiction movies and a presentation from a Cornell staff member.[dead link]
^"Remembering Gene Roddenberry". StarTrek.com. October 24, 2003. Originally pitched as "Wagon Train to the stars," Star Trek was really a vehicle for Roddenberry to comment on contemporary issues under the guise of science fiction