MantiCon
MantiCon is a science fiction convention hosted by The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc. (TRMN). The first four annual events were held 2015-2018 on Memorial Day weekend in Minnesota. Each year featured David Weber as the principal Guest of Honor. Additional guests varied by year, and often included David Weber's Honorverse co-authors.
MantiCon has since become the designation for TRMN-hosted conventions in other cities and at other times of the year, with a 2019 convention held in Utah.
MantiCon was conceived by TRMN founder and First Lord of the Admiralty Martin Lessem as a convention centered on Honorverse fandom and related military science fiction, drawing on the talent and experience of TRMN members to operate the event. He selected the Minneapolis area as the location because it is centrally located for US members, and because it had the largest concentration of local TRMN members.
The convention featured evening parties, a dealers' room, and multiple tracks of programming including discussion panels, author interviews, and childrens' programming. Gaming was a major component, with immersive Battletech pods and immersive spaceship bridges running Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator. Live entertainment included Harisen Daiko, a taiko drumming group.
TRMN's annual general meeting was held at MantiCon each year of the event, and the TRMN awards ceremony was a major event each year.
To date, MantiCon has been the largest gathering of TRMN members in one place, with members attending from at least six countries.
2015
29-31 May, 2015 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hilton. Featuring David and Sharon Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Marko Kloos. A catered banquet was held on Saturday night, with entertainment provided by professional ballroom dancers, as well as a performance by FLA Martin Lessem.
Operational Awards
See Orders:BuPlan Dispatch 1508-01
Peerages
The first MantiCon saw an unusually large slate of peerage creations and elevations (per the Roll of the Peerage):
- Elevations
- New Montana — David Weber elevated to Grand Duke
- New Ulyanovsk — Sean Niemeyer elevated to Duke
- New Essex — Robert Bulkeley elevated to Earl
- Karstadt Sea — Robert Jackson elevated to Earl
- New Cumbria — Elisa Randall elevated to Countess
- Creations
- Boundary Waters — Baroness (Laura Lochen)
- New Arlington — Baron (Christopher Wueve)
- Runnymead Fields — Baron (Mark Gutis)
- Nový Prerov — Baron (Ivo Heger)
- Tesseyman — Baron (Greg Marchand)
- Glencairn — Baron (Drew Drentlaw)
- New Mimas — Baron, life peer (Timothy Zahn)
- Leutzen Vale — Baron, life peer (Eric Flint)
- Allegheny-Mellon — Baron, life peer (Thomas Pope)
- Neu Sachsen — Baronin, Andermani (Laura Lüschen)
- Henesy — Steadholder, Grayson (Tom Saidak)
2016
28-30 May, 2016 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hilton. Featuring David and Sharon Weber, Manu Intiraymi.
Peerages
Per the Roll of the Peerage:
- Elevations
- Fontana Flats — Chrissy Killian elevated to Countess
- White Lion — William Knight elevated to Earl
- Creations
- Maelstromm — Steadholder, Grayson (David Melsome)
2017
26-28 May, 2017 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hilton. Featuring David and Sharon Weber, Captain Dale Dye, USMC.
Awards
- TRMN Forum Announcement of awards issued at MantiCon 2017
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Flag Promotions at MantiCon 2017
- MantiCon 2017 Operational Awards: Orders:Second Fleet Order 1706-A
- Achievement Awards issued for service at MantiCon 2017: Orders:Second Fleet Order 1707-B
Peerages
Per the Roll of the Peerage:
- Elevations
- Mountain View — Robert Bulkeley elevated to Duke (his New Essex earldom raised to the Duchy of Mountain View)
- Boundary Waters — Laura Lochen elevated to Countess
- Creations
- Camera Stellata — Baron (Matthew Parker)
- Redstone — Baroness (Heidi Nelson)
2018
25-27 May, 2018 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hilton. Featuring David and Sharon Weber, Timothy Zahn, Eric Flint, and Marko Kloos. This was the Webers' 25th wedding anniversary, and an elaborate vow renewal ceremony was held on the main stage.
- Photos from throughout the Manticon 2018 event
- Photos of the Wedding Ceremony
- After Ceremony Photos
- More photos from MantiCon 2018
Awards
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Peerages awarded at MantiCon 2018
- TRMN Forum Announcement of awards issued at MantiCon 2018
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Flag Promotions at MantiCon 2018
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Operational Awards for MantiCon 2018 participation (Orders:Second Fleet Order 1806-B)
Peerages
Per the Roll of the Peerage and the MantiCon 2018 peerage announcement:
- Elevations
- Wilson — Sharon Rice-Weber elevated to Countess
- Mars-Evans — Daniel Walker elevated to Earl
- Miyake-Jima — Jill McTavish elevated to Countess
- Creations
- McCovey Cove — Baron (Michael Garcia)
- Clear Lake (later renamed Long Beach) — Baroness (Cindy Van Wyhe)
- Clipper Island — Baron (Mark Gledhill)
- Silver Lake — Baron (Garret Bitker)
- New Florence — Baroness (Pamela Cole)
- New Caladan — Baron (Jeffrey Webb)
- New Halifax — Baron (Rob Marshall)
- Baudenvost — Baron von Baudenvost, Andermani (Philip Wohlrab)
- Duquesne Tower — Senator for Life, Haven (James Sena)
2019
4-7 July 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn & Dayton Conference Center in Layton, Utah, hosted by NASFIC 13 (Spikecon). Featured guests were David Weber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Vincent Villafranca, Bjo & John Trimble.
Awards
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Awards issued at MantiCon 2019
- TRMN Forum Announcement of Operational Awards for MantiCon 2019 participation
Peerages
Per the Roll of the Peerage and the MantiCon 2019 peerage announcement:
- Creations
- Black Thunder — Baron (Rob Folden)
- Grays Harbor — Baron (James "AJ" Olsen)
- Sutherland — Baron (Michael Houghtaling)
2023
1-4 July, 2023 at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, California, hosted by BayCon.
Awards
- Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty — Spring 2023 Honors (organization-wide awards, promotions, and peerages issued at MantiCon 2023)
- Operational awards for BayCon/MantiCon 2023 participation: Orders:Tenth Fleet Order 2309-02 (covering both BayCon/MantiCon 2023 and RadCon 2023)
- Additional BayCon/MantiCon 2023 awards: Orders:Tenth Fleet Order 2401-01
- Photos from the Tenth Fleet Awards Ceremony, 1 July 2023 at BayCon/MantiCon
Peerages
Per the Roll of the Peerage:
- Elevations
- Camera Stellata — Matthew Parker elevated to Duke
- McCovey Cove — Michael Garcia elevated to Earl
- Long Beach — Cindy Van Wyhe elevated to Countess (formerly Baroness Clear Lake)
- Sutherland — Michael Houghtaling elevated to Earl
- Creations
- Foxglove — Baron (Lisa Ann Wiedemann)
- Wolf Point — Baron (Samuel Walter Dietzmann)
- Acorn Valley — Baroness (Megan Krick)
- Belleau Wood — Baron (William T Farley II)
- Glacier Point — Baron (Geoffrey Vincent Kramer)
- Castine — Baron (Peter Gold)
- Bronte Creek — Baron (David Misener)
- Amberwolf — Steadholder, Grayson (Neil Simpson)
- Hohenheim — Andermani peerage (David Westover)
- Neu Potsdam — Freiherr, Andermani (Geoff Zoeller)
External Links
- MantiCon website (archived, December 2018)
- MantiCon Facebook page