Pros Fandom History - post the third...

[byslantedlight]

Post One and Post Two are here, and I've added some more information this morning so that everything from Felicity Parkinson's article has now been included, and most of the information from Post Two. Now I need to go back and add in the extra info from Post One . Looking forward to the various pieces of promised info too - this is looking good, thank you!

As I mentioned the other day - if you have any information or memories from earlier days in Pros fandom (and really, I mean anything pre-today - the year 2000 is history, now! *g*) please, please comment below so that I can add it to the tale of our history! Did you go to a con sometime? Remember anything particularly wonderful about it? I believe M.Fae Glasgow used to do readings, Sebastian and HG wrote fic in bunk beds (ETA - confirmation here! *g*), and what did you get up to? Anything that's Pros fandom as a community, or that we've enjoyed as a community - as one of the many little communities that make up Pros fandom - I'd love to hear about it, and I'm sure everyone else would too. Let's not lose the history of what we've loved, of what's made us us! If Fanlore Wiki wants a page on Pros fandom history, then let's make it accurate, and not just good but bloody brilliant... *g*

Pros Fandom History So Far Known

1977
30th December 1977 - 17th March 1978 - Series One first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1978
7th October - 9th December 1978 - Series Two first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1979
27th October - 15th December 1979 - Series Three first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1980
7th September - 27th December 1980 - Series Four first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)


1981
"Enigma" fanzine, published by Blue Jay Press in the UK contains Pros fic Christmas Spirit - later reprinted by Blue Jay Press in Best of the Professionals (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

First Pros slash story written in the UK (1980 or 1981?) - Consequences by Tarot and A.N. Other (nb, these are their current pseudonyms for use on internet) (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

First Pros slash zine published for sale in the UK, a long story: Remember Angola (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)


1982
"Enigma" fanzine, published by Blue Jay Press in the UK contains Pros fic Bad Apple and Booby Trap - later reprinted by Blue Jay Press in Best of the Professionals (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Blue Jay Press published two long Pros stories in a single zine Dead Beat in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Privately printed and circulated Changing the Rules/Security Risk fanzine in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

Mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations. Ken Bulmer attended the first one" (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.

7th November 1982 - 6th February 1983 - Series Five first aired in UK (source: Dave Matthew's Official Pros Website)

Sebastian became involved in Pros fandom in 1982. Shortly after this she met ET and 10 other women at a wekend gathering, all of whom at some point wrote at least one Pros fic, including some of the "classic" Pros fics.prelude to a story at Sebastian's website: Foxhole on the Roof.


1983
Blue Jay Press published Pros stories in Impact 1 in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Second mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.


1984
Blue Jay Press published Pros stories in Impact 2 in the UK (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd)

Third mini-con Weekend in the Country was held in York, England - "basically get-togethers for a small number of fans to watch episodes and discuss stories and characterisations." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; comment here by inamac from information from lil_shepherd) At least one of the cons seems have been held at the Ashecroft Hotel in York (source: a con programme described here by metabolick.

"Australian fiction included the story 'Deadly Ribbons' and the 'straight' fiction zine Mixed Doubles 1 (1984). (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

The Hatstand Express (T.H.E.) first published in Australia, 1984 - "It consisted of letters of comment on the episodes, characters and fan fiction, as well as short stories, poetry and artwork." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

"Mixed Doubles was a British Professionals/Starsky & Hutch letterzine which was prodced from 1984 to 1989 along much the same format as T.H.E. but also included newscuttings about the actors." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)


1986
(Pre-1986 but not defined by date): "From the U.S. came the early stories 'Victorian Bed', 'Doyle's Dream' and 'Rules of the Game'. Zines were slower to follow but have included Teo Torriate (1986) and various issues of In the Public Interest. These have all been slash fiction. The U.S. zine British Takeaway remains one of the few mainly 'straight' fiction zines to be produced." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)


1987
10-12 April 1987, Weekend in the Country convention in Baltimore, USA, run by Laura Peck and Tacs (source: programme booklet owned by towerbridge2006; comment here by towerbridge2006)


1988
Oblique Publishing founded (1988-2003) (source: Oblique Publishing - About page)


1990
In Felicity Parkinson's article on Pros history, written in 1990, she says: "Fandom has also developed in Australia and the United States of America. Australian fandom had early contacts with British fans and later also through the U.S. United States fandom was slower to evolve, possibly because the series has not been so widely shown there. However, Zebracon, a U.S. convention for Starsky and Hutch fans, now also embraces Professionals fandom." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

"Short Circuit letterzine began publication in Britain in 1990, but "is now under U.S. editorship, again with a mixture of letters and fiction." (source: article written by Felicity Parkinson, and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009)

The first Zircon held, on the weekend of October 26th, 1990, in England. The programme is a mix of The Professionals and Starsky and Hutch It included showings of fanvids, discussion panels including discussion "on all aspects of zines", auctions, and a raffle. Discussions were led by Felicity Parkinson, Helen Raven, H.G., Jane Carnall, and various other people whose lj/internet names (if any!) are unknown to me! (source: copy of original Zircon programme, copied and distributed to attendees at the twentieth anniversary of the Nattercon convention, 2009; lj pseudonyms are from own knowledge, and are mostly not the names listed in the programme)


1991
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "Tracy (can't remember her last name, sorry) was the first one to start typing in circuit stories and sharing with a circle of her friends. This was about 1991-92. Late 1992, her circle was up to about 20, myself included. She was wanting to concentrate more on her writing, so asked me if I'd like to takeover effort of taking the hardcopy circuit stories and typing/scanning them and sharing them. So I did! Tracy and I talked and decided to start calling it The Professionals Library or Proslib, as it was no longer just a circle of friends, but fans from all over". (source: hagsrus in this comment below)

First "Writeshop" held, 7th-9th June 1991, based around writing Prosfic and co-organised by Helen Raven and Felicity Parkinson. Idea proposed for format of future Writeshops, that attendees submit short pieces of fiction for discussion. (source: comment from co-organiser of Writeshop 91, helenraven) "Writeshop" seems to have evolved at some point into "Write Time", although the format seems to be similar to that described here. "Write Time" is a continuing annual event as of 2009 (source: own attendance of Write Time in 2007 and 2008)


1992
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "As more and more fans got email, more heard about it and wanted to join. By 1993, the circle had grown to about 80. I emailed out a story every other day or so (it was growing that fast) and I would mail out diskettes (remember those 8-) to new members who joined." (source: hagsrus in this comment below)


1993
From Debbie Ramsey, of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "During 1993, I enlisted [Meri] to help me get people to help type, to talk to authors who were shy of having their stories in e-format. Seems funny now, but back then, this was all new. Lots of people were suspicious of the new medium. It opened up all kinds of questions about who controlled stories.

Meri thought it would be a good idea to store proslib on this new thing called The World Wide Web and created a web site called the Pros Online Circuit Archive to reach even more fans. Meanwhile, I bought up boxes of the hardcopy circuit from Karen Brandl and sent them to fans in the US, England, Germany and Australia to type up for Proslib. It was a fun, active time. Everything was so new and there was so much energy.

By the time I was up to 32 diskettes, thankfully burnable cds were in vogue and so was yahoo. I chose yahoo as the easiest way to send out weekly stories to the over 200 who were in Proslib. Up to that time, I just had an addressee list I maintained in my email." (source: hagsrus in this comment below)

"Fans started to make electronic copies of Pros fanfic for email, floppy-disk and ultimately the ProsLib CD distribution" (source: Circuit Archive - About page and msmoat, in comment below)


1995
Original CI5 listserv founded on the internet by Lorelei (source: msmoat, in comment below)


1996
Online Circuit Archive founded by Meri (archivist) (source: Circuit Archive - About page)

Dave Matthew's Official Professionals Website founded on 24th June 1996 (source: Dave Matthew's Official Professionals Website homepage)


2000
ProsLib Yahoo Group founded 1st March 2000 (source: ProsLib Yahoo Group front page)

CI5alltheway Yahoo Group founded 22nd May 2000. (source: comment to thread by hagsrus)

ProsSims Yahoo Group founded 20th August 2000 (source: comment here by hagsrus


2001
Pros-Lit Yahoo Group founded 19th August 2001 (source: Pros-Lit Yahoo Group front page.

From hagsrus (Frances), of ProsLib, on the origins of ProsLib in the USA: "I started actively helping with Proslib a year or so later [c2001] when I acquired a scanner and essentially took over as other demands on Debbie's time and energy became prohibitive. She was one of the very first people to whom I was introduced in the fandom by my original "pimp" and wonderfully generous in lending me stacks of zines as well as offering encouragement to write". (source: hagsrus in this comment below)


2002
Lewis Collins Yahoo Group founded on 3rd March 2002 (source: Lewis Collins Yahoo Group front page)

Martin's Place Yahoo Group founded on 18th August 2002 (source: Martin's Place Yahoo Group front page)


2003
ProsStoryfinders Yahoo group founded 30th January, 2003 (source: comment to thread by hagsrus)

Bodiesannao82347 Yahoo Group (Photo Archive only) founded 19th July 2003. (source: comment thread here by hagsrus)

AngelFishFanFic Yahoo Group founded 25th August 2003 (source: AngelFishFanFic Yahoo Group front page)

The Hatstand online archive founded September 2003 (source: taverymate recollection and saved posts as described here in this thread

Alijot's Professionals Recs website begun 2003/2004? (source: comment here by founder of Alijot's Recs, alicambs)


2004
the_safehouse founded 7th March 2004 (source the_safehouse user info page) by phantomas (source: my own knowledge from lj and other conversations)

Online Circuit Archive taken over by justacat (archivist) (source: Circuit Archive - About page)

Pros Language Yahoo Group founded on 23rd November 2004 (source: Pros Language Yahoo Group front page)


2005
Bodiesanna082347_2 Yahoo Group founded 29th January 2005 - please be aware that the group seems to be abandoned, and messages visible to non-members are of the relatively pornographic-junk-spam type, rather than anything relevant to Pros. (source: comment thread here by hagsrus)

ProsSlash Yahoo Group founded 24th June 2005 (source: ProsSlash Yahoo Group front page)

santa_pros founded 13th August 2005 by queenbamfie (user name since changed several times) for one-off Christmas fic exchange (source: santa_pros and own knowledge)

summer_of_78 founded on 11th December 2005 by queenbamfie (user name since changed several times) for one-off Christmas fic exchange (source: summer_of_78 and own knowledge)


2006
ci5hq founded 23rd April by empty_mirrors and przed (source: ci5hq user info page)

Nattercon 2006 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2006, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

discoveredinalj founded 13th July 2006 by empty_mirrors and byslantedlight (source: discoveredinalj user info page)

TV Lounge Forum founded some time around July 2006? Does anyone know more precisely? (source: TV Lounge Forum first introductions post)

pros_pearl founded on 13th December 2006 by hisluvpet to celebrate 30 years of The Professionals.


2007
pros_newsletter founded on 3rd May 2007 by paris7am (source: pros_newsletter user info page, and first pros_newsletter entry)

Nattercon 2007 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2007, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

prosfinder founded 18th June 2007 by probodie (source: prosfinder user info page)

First Close Quarters 2007 - USA-based Pros convention, July (?) 2007, Laurel Lakes, Maryland (Washington DC), USA. (source: own knowledge; comment here by hagsrus)

2007 CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2007 (source: own attendance!)


2008
Nattercon 2008 - UK-based Pros convention, May 2008, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

The Automatic Hatstand archive founded August 2008 for Pros writers to submit and control their own story archives.

pros_icontest founded 28th September 2008 by rochvelleth (source: pros_icontest user info)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2008 (source: own attendance!)


2009
loiteringpalely 18th March 2009 founded by byslantedlight as a place to source Pros zines and Pros zine information (source: loiteringpalely user info, archive and own knowledge!)

teaandswissroll founded 24th March 2009 by draycevixen, mikes_grrl, norfolkdumpling and saintvic (source: teaandswissroll user info page; comment here by hambelandjemima

Nattercon 2009 - 20th Anniversary of UK-based Pros convention, May 2009, Milton Keynes, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance!)

Close Quarters 2009 - USA-based Pros convention, July 2009, Washington DC, USA. (source: own knowledge)

Pros Writing Holiday 2009: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK. (source: own knowledge/attendance)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2009 (source: own attendance!)

2010

Notacon 2010 - Apparently no longer a Pros-centred con.

Pros Writing Holiday 2010: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK (source: own knowledge/attendance)

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2010 (source: own attendance!)

2011

Notacon 2011 - Apparently no longer a Pros-centred con, but reportedly a new Pros fan was invited, and there was much talk and sharing of Pros history, stories etc.

Pros Writing Holiday 2011: Week/end in the Country - Derbyshire, UK (source: own knowledge/attendance

CI5mas/Scarsdale Bash at The Scarsdale pub (used in Fall Girl), London, December 2011 (source: own attendance!)