CONSUITE or CON SUITE

By Leah Zeldes Smith
from Ditto 14 Progress Report 1, 2001, http://www.zeldes.com/fan/ditto/ditto14.html

n. The hospitality suite at a convention, where all members are welcome to sit and relax, chat with other fans and help themselves to the provided refreshments.

This is a North American phenomenon; at most overseas cons, the bar provides a similar, if costlier, function. The size of the convention is inversely proportional, usually, to how central the consuite is to the social life of a particular con. At smaller events, everyone hangs out in the consuite; at larger ones, room parties are a more significant social venue. It’s unknown when the consuite itself originated.

Roy Lavender, Ditto 14 Progress Report 2

I know Don Ford referred to Room 101 as the consuite in 1949 and (without digging up a copy) I’m fairly sure I used the term in “The Cinvention Scene Dimly,” my con report.