One standard feature of Capricons is the "Phineas T. Track," more recently called the "Lake Wobegon Track." This is an entire hoax track of programming, usually indicated by taking place in a fictional room of the hotel with a dead panelist, a fictional panelist, and a living panelist.
Capricon's mascot is Capricious the Goat, who appears on most of its advertising and program books and gave the name to the at-con newsletter, Goat Droppings. At the con, one concom member is tasked to wear a Capricious the Goat costume during various events.
Convention |
Date |
Location |
GoHs |
Capricon 1 |
February 20-22, 1981 |
Holiday Inn in Evanston, IL |
Wilson Tucker, Terry Carr, J. R. Holmes, Mary Jane Holmes |
Capricon 2 |
February 26-28, 1982 |
Radisson Hotel in Chicago, IL |
Gene Wolfe, Mike Stein |
Capricon 3 |
February 1983 |
Radisson Hotel in Chicago, IL |
Stephen R. Donaldson, Otlie Foglio, Phil Foglio |
Capricon 4 |
February 1984 |
Continental Hotel in Chicago, IL |
Paul O. Williams, Jeff Duntemann |
Capricon 5 |
February 22-24, 1985 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
Frederik Pohl, Darlene P. Coltrain |
Capricon 6 |
February 28-March 2, 1986 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
David R. Palmer, Tim Allen |
Capricon 7 |
February 1987 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
[[Jerry Oltion]]], Stephen Hickman. Joan Hanke-Woods |
Capricon 8 |
February 1988 |
Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL |
Lawrence Watt-Evans, Kay Reynolds, Kathleen Meyer |
Capricon 9 |
February 1989 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
Howard Waldrop, Ken Fletcher |
Capricon 10 |
February 1990 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
P. C. Hodgell, Todd Cameron Hamilton, Bill Higgins |
Capricon 11 |
February 21-24, 1991 |
Lincolnwood Hyatt in Lincolnwood, IL |
Ellen Kushner, Beth Meacham, Becky Thomson |
Capricon 12 |
February 20-23, 1992 |
Marriott Lincolnshire Resort in Lincolnshire, IL |
Terry Bisson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Paul Park, Steve Scherer |
Capricon 13 |
February 18-21, 1993 |
Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL |
Terry Pratchett, Darlene P. Coltrain, George Laskowski |
Capricon 14 |
February 1994 |
Wyndham Hamilton in Itasca, IL |
Connie Willis, Mary Lynn Skirvin, David Dyer-Bennet |
Capricon 15 |
February 16-19, 1995 |
Wyndham Hamilton in Itasca, IL |
Nancy Kress, Sue Blom |
Capricon 16 |
February 8-11, 1996 |
Wyndham Hamilton in Itasca, IL |
Sean Stewart, Scott Gustafson, Michael Stein |
Capricon 17 |
February 20-23, 1997 |
Hyatt Oak Brook in Oak Brook, IL |
Robert J. Sawyer. Chair: Doug Winkler |
Capricon 18 |
February 5-8, 1998 |
Holiday Inn O’Hare in Rosemont, IL |
Josepha Sherman, Steve Hockensmith |
Capricon 19 |
February 11-14, 1999 |
Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL |
David Weber, Todd Cameron Hamilton, Phoenix |
Capricon 20 |
January 27-30, 2000 |
Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL |
Larry Niven, Chris Luchini, Joseph Stockman |
Capricon 21 |
February 8-11, 2001 |
Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL |
Allen Steele, Geri Sullivan |
Capricon 22 |
February 7-10, 2002 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Dr. Demento, James Ernest, Kaja Foglio, David Abzug |
Capricon 23 |
February 6-9, 2003 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Tim Powers, Amy K. Brown, Bill Roper |
Capricon 24 |
January 29-February 1, 2004 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson, Kimberly Reck, Bryan Palaszewski |
Capricon 25 |
February 10-14, 2005 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
James P. Hogan, Shaenon K. Garity, John Morse |
Capricon 26 |
February 9-12, 2006 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Peter S. Beagle, Bryan Palaszewski, Kat Eggleston, Michael Longcor, Mary Crowell, Nick Pollotta, Jody Lynn Nye, Bill Fawcett, Phyllis Eisenstein |
Capricon 27 |
February 8-11, 2007 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Lois McMaster Bujold, Erin McKee, Cat Faber, Peter S. Beagle, Bryan Palaszewski. Chair: Gretchen Roper |
Capricon 28 |
February 14-17, 2008 |
Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights, IL |
Mike Resnick, John Baur, Mark Summers, Don Maitz, Michael Longcor, Janny Wurts, Tori Baur, Tom Smith, Bill Sutton, Brenda Sutton, Bryan Palaszewski |
Capricon 29 |
February 19-22, 2009 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, |
Sharon Shinn, Gary Lippincott, Christian McGuire, Barry Childs-Helton, Sally Childs-Helton, Bryan Palaszewski |
Capricon 30 |
February 11-14, 2010 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, |
[[Frederik Pohl]]], Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, Lucy Synk, Alice Bentley |
Capricon 31 |
February 10-13,2011 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
John Scalzi, John Picacio, Janice Gelb, Stephen Boucher |
Capricon 32 |
February 9-12, 2012 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Cory Doctorow, Les McClaine, Steven H Silver, Javier Grillo-Marxuach |
Capricon 33 |
February 7-10, 2013 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Daniel H. Wilson, Karen Ann Hollingsworth, Helen Montgomery |
Capricon 34 |
February 6-9, 2014 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
S.M. Stirling, Tom Peters, Tadao Tomomatsu, Jan Stirling, Silent Nightmare, Sherrilyn Kenyon |
Capricon 35 |
February 12-15, 2015 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Matt Forbeck, Alexander James Adams, John Bivens, John Anealio, Patrick Hester, Elizabeth Huffman, and Margaret Weis |
Capricon 36 |
February 11-14, 2016 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Scott Lynch, Eric Wilkerson, Mark Oshiro, Stacey Gordon, Wendy Zdrodowski, and "Mae the Bellydancer" |
Capricon 37 |
February 16-19, 2017 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Beth Revis, Nilah Macgruder, and Meg Frank |
Capricon 38 |
February 15-18, 2018 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Timothy Zahn, Sarah Wilkinson, Dave McCarty, Monica Valentinelli, and Matt M. McElroy |
Capricon 39 |
February 14-17, 2019 |
Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, IL |
Seanan McGuire, Phil Foglio, Doug Rice, Carrie Dahlby, Matt M. McElroy |