Ottawa Science Fiction Society
Encyclopedia
The Ottawa Science Fiction Society, Inc., or OSFS (pron:"Oss-Fuss") is a membership fan club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
. It
is the oldest continuously operating science fiction
club in Ontario.
Summer Picnic. Except for the annual Summer Picnic, there is no regular meeting during the months of July and August, though some specialized social events are occasionally organized.
It maintains a web site on the National Capital Freenet
and publishes (at irregular intervals) an amateur magazine
called The Ottawa Science Fiction Statement.
around a hundred for most of the first decade and a half of its existence.
In addition to holding monthly meetings, OSFS has done many notable things over the years.
it was an science fiction fanzine
that published fiction & articles by OSFS members, as well as local writers and artists. Some notable contributors besides Saunders were Galad Elflandsson
, John Bell and Charles de Lint
all of whom went on to be professionally published writers.
Maplecon - Ottawa's first fully fledged Science Fiction Convention
, it was held at the Skyline Hotel just blocks from Ottawa's Parliament Hill
in October 1978. Started by StarWolf to give 'direction' to OSFS. It was co-chaired by Jocelyn "Bink" Tait and her husband (now deceased), Frank. In its second year, it merged with an event run by the local comics club, called the International Comic Collectors Club (aka I.C. Cubed), and comics joined the mix. This led to a rapid expansion of the convention. Maplecon grew to a membership of around a thousand attendees, with many notable guests from both Science Fiction and Comics. This rapid growth caused concern about liability, and the "Committee for Change" was formed by a group of concerned members. Its aim was to convince OSFS to spawn off Maplecon as a separate organization so that if Maplecon failed catastrophically, it would not also sink OSFS. This also freed Maplecon from OSFS's control, which had a mixed outcome. An overseer corporation was formed called Ottawa Fandom Inc (aka OFI), and ownership of Maplecon was sold to OFI for one dollar. Eventually, without oversight by OSFS, the Comics aspect overwhelmed the SF&F written word aspect, and that spawned conventions to meet the wants and needs of the literary fans. First was Pinekone and later, CAN-CON
. Another ramification of Maplecon's rapid growth was that it moved to Carleton University. Although this dramatically lowered the cost of the accommodations, it also dramatically lowered the quality of the accommodations. This became a frequent complaint, and is one of the reasons cited as why Maplecon lost attendance. The last Maplecon was number 13, held in 1992.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It
is the oldest continuously operating science fiction
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
club in Ontario.
Current activities
Regular monthly meetings are held on the last Sunday of the month, from September to June with the exception of the December Holiday Party and theSummer Picnic. Except for the annual Summer Picnic, there is no regular meeting during the months of July and August, though some specialized social events are occasionally organized.
It maintains a web site on the National Capital Freenet
National Capital Freenet
Founded in September 1992 by people affiliated with Carleton University, National Capital Freenet , is a non-profit community organization internet service provider, with the goal of linking people in Canada's capital of Ottawa.NCF was the second free-net set up worldwide and was patterned after...
and publishes (at irregular intervals) an amateur magazine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
called The Ottawa Science Fiction Statement.
History
OSFS was founded in 1977 by Marc "StarWolf" Gerin-LaJoie who was President for the first two years. Initial membership was around 150, and remainedaround a hundred for most of the first decade and a half of its existence.
In addition to holding monthly meetings, OSFS has done many notable things over the years.
Past notable activities
Stardock - Edited by Charles R. SaundersCharles R. Saunders
Charles R. Saunders also credited as Charles Saunders is an African American author and journalist currently living in Canada. During his long career, he has written everything from novels both fiction and non-fiction, to screenplays and radio plays.- Background :Saunders was born in Elizabeth,...
it was an science fiction fanzine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
that published fiction & articles by OSFS members, as well as local writers and artists. Some notable contributors besides Saunders were Galad Elflandsson
Galad Elflandsson
Galad Elflandsson is an Canadian fantasy writer. In the 1980s, Elflandsson was a member of a group of fantasy writers who met at the House of Speculative Fiction bookstore in Ottawa, Canada, which he also managed. Other members of the group included Gordon Derevanchuk, Charles de Lint, Charles...
, John Bell and Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
all of whom went on to be professionally published writers.
Maplecon - Ottawa's first fully fledged Science Fiction Convention
Science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of various forms of speculative fiction including science fiction and fantasy. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies and...
, it was held at the Skyline Hotel just blocks from Ottawa's Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
in October 1978. Started by StarWolf to give 'direction' to OSFS. It was co-chaired by Jocelyn "Bink" Tait and her husband (now deceased), Frank. In its second year, it merged with an event run by the local comics club, called the International Comic Collectors Club (aka I.C. Cubed), and comics joined the mix. This led to a rapid expansion of the convention. Maplecon grew to a membership of around a thousand attendees, with many notable guests from both Science Fiction and Comics. This rapid growth caused concern about liability, and the "Committee for Change" was formed by a group of concerned members. Its aim was to convince OSFS to spawn off Maplecon as a separate organization so that if Maplecon failed catastrophically, it would not also sink OSFS. This also freed Maplecon from OSFS's control, which had a mixed outcome. An overseer corporation was formed called Ottawa Fandom Inc (aka OFI), and ownership of Maplecon was sold to OFI for one dollar. Eventually, without oversight by OSFS, the Comics aspect overwhelmed the SF&F written word aspect, and that spawned conventions to meet the wants and needs of the literary fans. First was Pinekone and later, CAN-CON
CAN-CON (convention)
CAN•CON, or more completely "CAN•CON: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature", is a periodic science fiction and fantasy convention in Ottawa put on by The Society for Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature...
. Another ramification of Maplecon's rapid growth was that it moved to Carleton University. Although this dramatically lowered the cost of the accommodations, it also dramatically lowered the quality of the accommodations. This became a frequent complaint, and is one of the reasons cited as why Maplecon lost attendance. The last Maplecon was number 13, held in 1992.