The final frontier? LI's premier sci-fi convention may beam out of SBU
By Gregory Zeller
February 29, 2008 | 12:34 PM Like seconds ticking down toward a warp-core breach, time may be running out on I-Con. At least, the popular science fiction convention's days at Stony Brook University may be numbered. With construction work set to begin on the university's indoor sports complex, I-Con will be searching for a new home, at least temporarily, after this year's convention concludes April 6. I-Con 27, slated to kick off April 4, promises to be one of the annual convention's biggest events ever, according to Richard Hutter, a support specialist with the Research Foundation of the State of New York and corporate secretary for Icon Science Fiction Inc., the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization behind the curtain. A full slate of comic book and memorabilia dealers, film screenings and medieval attractions — as well as galactic who's-who of special guests — should draw upwards of 7,000 visitors over three days, Hutter said. Among the big names slated to attend: Actor Tim Russ, who played Vulcan science officer Tuvok on "Star Trek: Voyager"; Hugo Award-winning author Harlan Ellison; "Star Wars" actors Ray Park (Darth Maul) and Daniel Logan (Boba Fett); and actor Ernie Hudson of "Ghostbusters" fame. Attracting recognizable faces from the sci-fi universe has not been a problem for I-Con, despite its humble beginnings (in 1981, Hutter noted, "Mudcon" — held at a Stony Brook University that was largely under construction —attracted about 500 curious onlookers). Over nearly three decades, the event has grown like a gamma-irradiated scientist (or multiplied like a tribble?), taking its place at the grown-up table of cosmic conventions, according to Hutter. "There are at least four or five [sci-fi] conventions every week across the country, ranging from conventions that attract anywhere from a couple of hundred [visitors] to 80,000," he said. "We're in the high end of the spectrum." The convention's impressive size, ironically, is what's endangering its short-term future. I-Con 27, Hutter noted, will fill the sports complex on SBU's western campus, as well as a number of buildings along the university's academic mall. But when I-Con 28 rolls around next spring, the sports complex will be in the middle of a multimillion-dollar upgrade, leaving the spaced-out convention ... well, spaced out. "Our event is so large, there are only so many places you can hold it," Hutter said. I-Con 29 may beam back to SBU in 2010, he added, "depending on timing and the space available." But just where I-Con 28 will materialize remains to be seen; Hutter cited negotiations with Suffolk County Community College and at least two regional hotels, including the Holiday Inn-Ronkonkoma, where I-Con guests are known to congregate. "We really don't know what's going to happen [with I-Con 28]," Hutter said. "We're very dependent on the type and amount of space we have. It all depends on who our guests are, and how we manage the various tracks of programming." It's I-Con's multitude of programming tracks that has made it such a relative hit. Icon Science Fiction Inc. has become "an umbrella for many other groups," Hutter said, citing a diverse cross-section of media, hobbies and personalities that previously enjoyed no single focal point. Everything from Japanese Anime to Ewoks to the Society for Creative Anachronism (which offers sword-fighting demonstrations) is represented at I-Con, making the convention a premier portal to sci-fi/fantasy realms. "We're the entrance point for people who have never been to a science fiction convention before," Hutter noted. "So many people say 'I-Con was my first.'" And the convention — which according to its Web site (iconsf.org) is "designed to encourage literacy, creativity and interest in science and technology" — is family friendly. Besides a regular slate of children's programming, event organizers have toned down some of the fantasy genre's more adult themes, including overt sexuality and weaponry. "If we see something [sexually] inappropriate on an anime dealer's table, we'll have them remove it," Hutter said. "And there's no guns allowed. If it looks like a gun, you can't carry it around." Icon Science Fiction, which has never hosted a convention off SBU soil, has been an interstellar cash cow for the university. Between rental and permit fees, Hutter estimated the amount his group pays the school every year "pushes 100K," money it raises largely through membership dues. Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny did not return several calls seeking comment on I-Con's future, so for now you'll have to slingshot around the sun and time-warp into the future to see who's going to get that money in subsequent years. "Our goal is not to make money," Hutter said. "Our goal is to put on an event as cost-effectively as we can. Where we do it all depends on timing, and the space available."