CONduit is an annual general interest science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 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...

 held in May in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

. CONduit was founded in 1989 but took two years to plan its first convention. While there are other genre conventions in Utah, CONduit is the largest general interest convention, and provides a means for professionals to meet and network with other professionals, as well as a way for fans to meet and enjoy each other's company.

Each year, CONduit has a charity auction to benefit a local charitable cause. In years past, this auction benefitted Reading for the Future

Reading for the Future

Reading for the Future is an international group which encourages literacy and reading through the use of speculative fiction. Some regional groups collect new and used books which are then distributed free of charge to schools and libraries...

, a non-profit organization which promoted literacy through speculative fiction. The RFF Utah Student Writing and Art Contest was sponsored in part by CONduit. However, RFF ceased operation in January 2010. CONduit is also a founding member of the Utah Speculative Fiction Council

Utah Speculative Fiction Council

The Utah Speculative Fiction Council is a non-profit organization designed to allow all the different speculative fiction related organizations in Utah to have a common forum which fosters discussion and inter-group cooperation—a guild of sorts...

.

Notable local guests have included Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy author. A Nebraska native, he currently resides in American Fork, Utah. He earned his Master's degree in Creative Writing in 2005 from Brigham Young University, where he was on the staff of Leading Edge, a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine...

, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Tracy Hickman

Tracy Hickman

Tracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...

, Anne Wingate

Anne Wingate

Anne Wingate, born in 1943 as Martha Anne Guice, is a mystery writer currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Most of her mysteries are set somewhere within Texas. She is an adult convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this sometimes shows in her works...

, Dan Willis

Dan Willis

Dan Willis is an author of young adult and other fantasy novels in the Dragonlance series created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. He lives in Utah.-Biography:...

, Bradley Williams, Eric James Stone

Eric James Stone

Eric James Stone is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. He won the 2004 Writers of the Future contest, and has published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, InterGalactic Medicine Show, and Jim Baen's Universe...

, James Dashner

James Dashner

James Dashner is an American author of children's fantasy series and adult books, including The 13th Reality series and the Jimmy Fincher Saga. His novel The Journal of Curious Letters was chosen for a 2008 Borders Original Voices pick...

, Dave Wolverton

Dave Wolverton

Dave Wolverton is a science fiction author who also goes under the pseudonym David Farland for his fantasy works. He currently lives in St. George, Utah with his wife and five children.-Career:...

, Paul Genesse

Paul Genesse

Paul Genesse is a writer of young adult fantasy novels and a cardiac unit nurse at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. His first book, The Golden Cord, was a best seller for Five Star Publishing.-Biography:...

, Kevin Wasden

Kevin Wasden

Kevin Wasden is a science fiction and fantasy artist, illustrator, and comics artist from Utah. He has illustrated book covers, magazines, and gaming manuals. He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he studied psychology before switching to art and illustration...

, and Howard Tayler

Howard Tayler

Howard V. Tayler is the award-winning creator of the hugely successful webcomic Schlock Mercenary. He worked as a volunteer missionary for the LDS Church, then graduated from Brigham Young University...

.

CONduit 21: Caped CONduit

CONduit 21: Caped CONduit was held May 27-29, 2011 at the Radisson Hotel in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The guests of honor were author Carole Nelson Douglas

Carole Nelson Douglas

Carole Nelson Douglas is an American writer. She is best known for two popular mystery series, the Irene Adler mysteries and the Midnight Louie mystery series....

 and filk singer Joey Shoji.

CONduit 20: Space Pirates of CONduit

CONduit 20: Space Pirates of CONduit was held May 28-30, 2010 at the Radisson Hotel in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The guests of honor were author Barbara Hambly

Barbara Hambly

Barbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...

 (who was guest of honor at the first CONduit) and artist Kevin Wasden

Kevin Wasden

Kevin Wasden is a science fiction and fantasy artist, illustrator, and comics artist from Utah. He has illustrated book covers, magazines, and gaming manuals. He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah where he studied psychology before switching to art and illustration...

, creator of the Technosaurs webcomic.

CONduit 19: Evil Overlords of CONduit

CONduit 19: Evil Overlords of CONduit was held May 22-24, 2009. The guests of honor included author Dave Wolverton

Dave Wolverton

Dave Wolverton is a science fiction author who also goes under the pseudonym David Farland for his fantasy works. He currently lives in St. George, Utah with his wife and five children.-Career:...

 (who also writes under David Farland) and artist and cartoonist Howard Tayler

Howard Tayler

Howard V. Tayler is the award-winning creator of the hugely successful webcomic Schlock Mercenary. He worked as a volunteer missionary for the LDS Church, then graduated from Brigham Young University...

, creator of the webcomic

Webcomic

Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....

 Schlock Mercenary

Schlock Mercenary

Schlock Mercenary is a comedic webcomic written and drawn by Howard Tayler. It follows the tribulations of a star-travelling mercenary company in a satiric, mildly dystopian 31st-century space opera setting...

.

CONduit 18: Chronicles of CONduit

Held 23-25 May, 2008 at the Radisson

Radisson Hotels

Radisson Hotels is one of the leading, full-service global hotel companies with more than 420 locations in 73 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named after the 17th-century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson...

 in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

• Michael A. Stackpole
  Michael A. Stackpole
  Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, but raised in Vermont...
  
   (author)
• Theresa Mather (artist)

CONduit 17: Shadows of CONduit

Held 25-27 May, 2007 at the Radisson in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

• David Weber
  David Weber
  David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
  
   (author)
• Mike Dringenberg
  Mike Dringenberg
  Mike Dringenberg is a German/American comic book artist best known for his work on DC/Vertigo's Sandman series with writer Neil Gaiman after original artist Sam Kieth's departure.-Biography:Dringenberg was born in Laon, France...
  
   (artist)

CONduit 16: Wizards of CONduit

• L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
  L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
  L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is an author of 56 science fiction and fantasy novels. He is best known for the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce....
  
   (author)
• James M. Carson (conceptual artist for movies such as Spider-Man 3
  Spider-Man 3
  Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
  
  )
• Sam Longoria
  Sam Longoria
  Sam Longoria is an American independent filmmaker and former Hollywood visual effects engineer.Longoria began making movies in 1970 at the age of 14...
  
   (director, producer, actor, writer for film and theatre)

CONduit 15: Dragons of CONduit

• Tim Powers
  Tim Powers
  Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
  
   (author)
• Charles Vess
  Charles Vess
  Charles Vess is an American fantasy artist and comic-book illustrator who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the work of artists and illustrators such as Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha...
  
   (artist)
• Dr. Susan J. Napier
  Susan J. Napier
  Dr. Susan Jolliffe Napier is Professor of the Japanese Program at Tufts University. She was formerly Professor of the Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, and a visiting professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University...
  
   (anime)
• Shannon Hale
  Shannon Hale
  Shannon Hale is an American author of young adult fantasy and adult fiction.-Biography:Shannon Hale is the author of ten novels, including the best-selling Newbery Honor book Princess Academy, the "Books of Bayern" series, two adult novels, and two graphic novels that she and her husband co-wrote...
  
   (writer to watch)

CONduit 14: Reloaded

• Steve Miller
  Steve Miller (writer)
  Steve Miller is the grandson of poet and WBAL radio personality Dorothea Neale. He graduated from Reisterstown, Maryland's Franklin Senior High School in 1968 after learning how to make chapbooks as editor of the school’s literary magazine, Junto.- Biography :Steve attended University of Maryland,...
  
   & Sharon Lee
  Sharon Lee (writer)
  Sharon Lee is an American writer. She is the co-author of the Liaden universe novels and stories, as well as other works, and individually the author of two mystery novels....
  
   (authors)
• Tracy
  Tracy Hickman
  Tracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...
  
   & Laura Hickman (gaming)
• Dr. Jordin Kare
  Jordin Kare
  Jordin Kare is a physicist and aerospace engineer known for his research on laser propulsion. In particular, he was responsible for Mockingbird, a conceptual design for an extremely small reusable launch vehicle, and was involved in the Clementine lunar mapping mission.Kare is also known as...
  
   (science)

CONduit 13: The Nightmare CONtinues

• Harry Turtledove
  Harry Turtledove
  Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
  
   (author)
• Lynne Goodwin (artist)

CONduit 12: CONduit of the Rings

• Christopher Stasheff
  Christopher Stasheff
  Christopher Stasheff is an American science fiction author and fantasy author whose novels include The Warlock in Spite of Himself and Her Majesty's Wizard . He has a PhD. in Theatre and also teaches radio and television at Eastern New Mexico University in New Mexico...
  
   (author)
• Newton Ewell
  Newton Ewell
  -Career:Newton Ewell has done artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, including interior art for the Treasure Maps set , and was an interior artist for both SJR2 Realmspace and SJR7 Krynnspace , as well as the War Captains Companion . He also designed ships and created map art for...
  
   (artist)
• Jack Donnor (media)

CONduit 11: A Space Oddity

• Alan Dean Foster
  Alan Dean Foster
  Alan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
  
   (author)
• Larry Elmore
  Larry Elmore
  Larry Elmore is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, and the comic strip series SnarfQuest...
  
   (artist)
• Three Weird Sisters
  Three Weird Sisters (band)
  Three Weird Sisters is a band from Atlanta, Georgia. The group performs filk music with harp, double bass, guitar, and bodhran accompaniment. Their albums include Hair of the Frog and Rite the First Time....
  
   (filk)

CONduit 10:Night of the Living CONduit

• 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....
  
   (author)
• Brian Durfee (artist)
• MaryAnn Harris
• Steve Jackson
  Steve Jackson (US)
  Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...
  
   (gaming)

CONduit 9: Deep Space CONduit

• Terry Brooks
  Terry Brooks
  Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
  
   (author)
• Michael Goodwin
  Michael Goodwin
  Michael Kemper Goodwin was an important architect in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He also served two terms in the Arizona House of Representatives in the 1970s.-Early life:Michael Andrew Goodwin was born in San Antonio....
  
   (artist)
• Bjo & John Trimble
  Bjo Trimble
  Betty Jo Trimble , universally known as Bjo ,is a significant figure in the history of science fiction fandom...
  
  

CONduit 8: Pirates of CONduit

• Dr. David Brin
  David Brin
  Glen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:...
  
   (author)
• Arthur Roberg (artist)
• D.C. Fontana

CONduit 7: CONduit of the Gods

• Timothy Zahn
  Timothy Zahn
  Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
  
   (author)
• Phil
  Phil Foglio
  Philip "Phil" Foglio is an American cartoonist and comic book artist best known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy work.-Early life and career:...
  
   & Kaja Foglio
  Kaja Foglio
  Kaja Foglio is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.-Early life and education:Born in...
  
   (artist)
• Steve Jackson
  Steve Jackson (US)
  Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...
  
   (gaming)

CONduit 6: Captain CONduit

• Fred Saberhagen
  Fred Saberhagen
  Fred Thomas Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his Berserker series of science fiction short stories and S.F...
  
   (author)
• Leonard Parkin (artist)
• L. Dean James
  L. Dean James
  L. Dean James is an American fantasy and horror writer. Her novel Winter Scream, co-authored with Chris Curry, was nominated for the 1991 Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.-Novels:*Sorcerer's Stone...
  
  

CONduit 5: CONduit the Barbarian

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an American writer. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream....
  
   & Dean Wesley Smith
  Dean Wesley Smith
  Dean Wesley Smith is a science fiction author, known primarily for his Star Trek novels, movie novelizations, and other novels of licensed properties such as Smallville, Spider-Man, X-Men, Aliens, Roswell, Men in Black, and Quantum Leap...
  
   (authors)
• David Cherry (artist)
• Elizabeth Gilligan
  Elizabeth Gilligan
  Elizabeth Gilligan is a fantasy author who lives in San Francisco, California. Her short story Iron Joan was on the preliminary Nebula Award ballot in 2003...
  
   & Katherine Kerr

CONduit 4: King CONduit

• C. J. Cherryh
  C. J. Cherryh
  Carolyn Janice Cherry , better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is a United States science fiction and fantasy author...
  
   (author)
• Liz Danforth
  Liz Danforth
  Elizabeth T. Danforth is a figure of note in the game industry. Although primarily recognized as an illustrator, she is an editor, writer, game scenario designer, and game developer.-Creative works:...
  
   (artist)
• Jennifer Roberson
  Jennifer Roberson
  Jennifer Mitchell Roberson is an author of fantasy and historical literature.Roberson has lived in Arizona since 1957. She grew up in Phoenix, but in 1999 relocated to Flagstaff. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Northern Arizona University in 1982 as an adult student...
  
  

CONduit 3: Bride of CONduit

• Larry Niven
  Larry Niven
  Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
  
   (author)
• Frank & Laura Brodian Kelly Freas
  Frank Kelly Freas
  Frank Kelly Freas , called the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists", was a science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years.-Early life, education, and personal life:...
  
   (artists)
• Cat Faber (filk)

CONduit 2: Son of CONduit

• Roger Zelazny
  Roger Zelazny
  Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
  
   (author)
• Liz Danforth (artist)
• Mike Stackpole (gaming)

CONduit

• Barbara Hambly
  Barbara Hambly
  Barbara Hambly is an award-winning and prolific American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction...
  
   (author)
• Derek Hegstead (artist)
• Erick Wujik (gaming)

Sources: