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Convention Running Resources

Gary Swaty


Gary Swaty has been attending Science Fiction Conventions since the early 1970s. The first convention he worked was IquanaCon II, the 1978 Phoenix WorldCon. He worked Info Desk, Security and did supply purchase runs during the Con.

After that Gary confined himself to helping with Set-Up and Tear-Down at CopperCon and LepreCon until the 1990s. Sometime in the mid Nineties he was asked to be Filk Liaison to Phoenix Area Conventions for the Phoenix Filk Circle. He has been responsible for obtaining Filk GoHs and scheduling Filk Events at CopperCon and LepreCon since then.

Also he has the obtained bread and rolls for the conventions, assisted with Logistics and helped with other programing including that of the ConAdian WorldCon.

He has run Registration for HexaCon, World Horror and World Fantasy. He has run ConSuite for one HexaCon and worked it for others. He worked Ops at DarkCon 1 and was a General Henchman at Anizona 1, 2 and 3.

He was Chairman of both HexaCon 16 in October 2006 and CopperCon 28 in September 2008. He was Committee for Filk at FiestaCon/Westercon 62, held in Tempe, Arizona in July of 2009.

Gary Swaty
June 20, 1942 - February 11, 2024

Today we say goodbye to our friend Gary Swaty. He was a beloved part of Arizona fandom and he will be truly missed by so many in the community.


He's been attending science fiction conventions for half a century.
The first con he worked was IguanaCon II, the 1978 Worldcon, here in Phoenix. He chaired HexaCon 16 and CopperCon 28 and has worked most committee positions at a host of others, especially LepreCons and CopperCons, but also multiple Westercons, World Horror, World Fantasy, Anizona, MythosCon and RandomCon. Most recently he sponsored filk GoHs at CoKoCon.


Gary loved to read poetry on panels at various conventions. He was also a gaming fan and could be found at most of the local gaming conventions.


He was the editor's assistant for years on ConNotations. He's served on the boards of LepreCon, Inc., CASFS and WesternSFA and still held positions on all three when he passed.


He was honoured at LepreCon 42, who made him their Fan GoH.


Perhaps most of all, he's known for his association with filk, especially through the Phoenix Filk Circle, which he ran for many years.


Written by Dee Astell
Photo copyright Dee Astell


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